Depending on the type of data the source document contains and the type of system into which it is to be converted, there are programs designed to assist data conversion services as they make the transition. Think of them as translators, translating your data from one language to another. However, unlike translating languages from French to Spanish, data conversion isn’t quite a flexible. In a language conversion, if there is not phrase that expresses the word, “gross,” the translator can add a series of words that express that the “gross” item was unseemly to the point of being unpalatable, or give an explanation of that particular English word until understanding takes place. When data conversion services take data from one format to another, the process can only convert the actual data that is there. Data conversion does not allow for any added characters, formatting, or explanations. Most document conversion systems will take a document down to its bare bones, with no bold type faces, color, or variations in font size. Document conversion will only take the information in the original document and make it readable in the new one. Human interaction is required to add the aspects that made the original document unique.
In accounting programs, if the original data did not allow for the comparison of accounts within the program, the new program will not allow for that function either until someone tweaks the newly created program to capture and compare those accounts. This example points out that, as sophisticated as document conversion is, it still has its limitations.