How to implement new finance software successfully

How should you approach implementing new finance software? 

A new software system will naturally work best if you’ve thought hard about what you want from it. 

In an earlier post, we told how Russell Frayne advocates a “blank sheet of paper mindset” when choosing a new system. That means looking at the future requirements of the organisation, rather than replicating what’s in the system at present. 

Matt Lewns, Partner Manager for iplicit’s accountancy channel, said organisations often begin with a list of “non-negotiables” that they need from their software. As they discover what a more modern system can do, other items often move from “not needed” to “nice to haves”. 

“The worst thing you can do when you change software is lift your existing processes and put them into the new software – because I can almost guarantee your existing processes are designed to work around the flaws of your existing product,” he said. 

“This is a chance to readdress existing processes as well as change systems. 

“You need to address the here and now, but how scalable is that product for the future?” he added. 

“You want to do something once and do it properly.” 

Russell says this process can help initiate important conversations within a business. 

“I normally like to leave that with the management team as an exercise while I go off and talk to the individuals performing the tasks and do a process review,” he said. 

“When I come back, they’ve had this session that they probably should have every 12 months, not just about the finance function, but ideas for the business going forward. It’s a great thing to see.” 

What does new finance software require from your team? 

Technology won’t transform an organisation unless the people and processes are in place to support it, Russell and Matt agreed. 

Matt said: “The software could be perfect but if you don't have a good implementation process and you don't have good buy-in and change management, then you're not going to get the benefits of the new system.” 

He said it was important that the client’s staff were given time to devote to the change. 

He said: “You need to have those scoping sessions, those solution design meetings, you still need to do user acceptance testing, which is basically your free hit before you go live to make sure that it's working in the way that you described it to us or the way that we interpreted it.” 

Russell said “skimping on the people part” can lead to bottlenecks in the implementation process.   

“Time investment for people to get up to speed and using the system is really key,” he said. 

How complicated is it to implement new software? 

Many people know how costly and disruptive it can be to implement the big ERP systems designed for large businesses. 

“A lot of people think the implementation of these mid-tier solutions is overly complex because they're used to the horror stories of going all the way up to a large scale, ERP, full-blown solution,” says Russell. 

Matt said those ERP systems tend to be complex to implement because many modules have to be connected in line with the customer’s requirements. This is a world away from the “out of the box” functionality that many people know from entry-level products like Xero and QuickBooks. 

iplicit was designed to be implemented within a three-month period. 

The process starts with a solution design meeting where “we really scope out every area of the system that you want to use”, said Matt. 

“Then we go off and we build the system accordingly and that's probably a couple of days of work over a couple of weeks. 

“That's when the training starts. Training and user acceptance testing takes up a big chunk of that three-month period,” he said. 

“We're going to train you on how to use the system, but at the same point you're going to go in and try and break the system. That's the period of time to find errors, to find faults, and you'll be doing user acceptance testing in your own environment with your own data in there.” 

Training is tailored to each user group, whether that’s full-time finance staff or people who only need the system for expenses claims. 

“We'll also build out all of the reports that you need for your business and create your workflows, your dashboards, your invoice templates etc,” said Matt 

Should you run two finance systems in parallel? 

Should you switch off your old system before going live with the new one? Or should you run both for a while to make sure the figures in the new system are correct? 

Russell Frayne said organisations often want the “safety net of running the two in parallel”. 

Matt said: “We strongly recommend that you just have a cut-off date and go live. The user acceptance testing, if done properly and if embraced by the client, eliminates all of those errors because you're doing your checks and balances at that point.” 

He pointed out that organisations adopting a new system were usually changing other things, like their chart of accounts structure of reporting formats. 

“So you’re never comparing apples with apples and when you're trying to stack the two up against each other, it just doesn't make sense,” he said. 

He added: “If you've got a system at the minute where you've got a lot of manual workarounds, how do you know that data is 100% accurate if you're trying to compare the two?  Who's to say that the old system is always going to be correct?” 

What’s the best time to go live with new finance software? 

Is it best to go live with a new system at a key time such as financial year-end? 

“We can go live with iplicit at any point in time,” said Matt. 

“We’d probably recommend it's at least at the end of a VAT quarter. Some people like to go into financial years, but we can go at any time.” 

Russell said many clients favour changing at year-end. While this is a time when processes are being finished and information rounded up, it presents risks. 

“Too many people leave that way too late,” he said. 

“Year-end is the biggest pinch point for the finance team. So when you're trying to get their time for process review, for understanding their requirements, for understanding their training needs, delivering training, migrating data, user acceptance testing, the worst time to do that is year-end.” 

His own recommendation is to go live at the end of a VAT quarter.  “Sometimes it's easier to move at a VAT quarter than it is a year-end because people often rely on their year-end. They want it perfect and they want to then have done the year end accounts in order to then move that data,” he added. 

Weighing up price vs value 

If the choice and implementation of a new system is done well, the benefits can be substantial. 

Russell said having workflows connected in a single platform, with the ability to “slice and dice” data and have many people using the system at the same time, has been a “game changer” for clients. 

Matt summarised the biggest advantages: “I think it's access to real time information and it's streamlining your processes so that your team can spend time on value added tasks rather than manual workarounds.” 

He said systems should be judged on value rather than just price. “It's the time that you're saving, it's the information that you're getting access to,” he said. 

“That will just bring huge value to your organisation across the entire board for all stakeholders, not just the finance team.” 

Russell agreed: “We’ve had conversations with clients where price wasn't even on the table. It wasn't a factor they were discussing until they needed final sign-off. It was all about the value. 

“What's it delivering? How's it improving the way that they run the business and the way that people work?” 

Find out more

You can watch Gravita’s full webinar for more about how iplicit helps medium-sized organisations or take a quick tour of the system.