Six ways to make moving from Exchequer simple

If it’s something as important as an accounting package, it will be embedded into your working day. And whatever its drawbacks and limitations, you’ll probably have found workarounds that have also become part of the daily routine. 

A recent iplicit webinar was aimed at users moving on from Exchequer – the on-premises system that was many people’s finance software of choice for a generation. 

A straw poll of the audience showed how rarely people switch systems: 82% had been using Exchequer for 10 years or more. But a growing number of finance leaders recognise a need to change. 

iplicit Director Paul Sparkes told the event: “Over 400 organisations have already moved across to iplicit now from Exchequer. That represents over 10,000 daily users.” 

Paul addressed six ways in which iplicit helps make it easier to switch away from Exchequer.

1. Data migration is simple   

Many people fear that moving data across from the old finance system to the new one will be impossible – or at least horribly complicated. But iplicit was designed to make that process simple. 

“There’s live data, so you can carry on and go live with a new system, but there’s also what to do about your history,” said Paul Sparkes, who was involved with Exchequer for 20 years.  

“Because of the experience we have throughout the iplicit organisation, we have an understanding of how to get that information out very quickly and easily,” he said. 

The historic data sits behind a tab in iplicit called ‘Archive’ so people can use a read-only version of it whenever they like.

2. iplicit is simple to use   

The basics of finding your way around iplicit will feel familiar to Exchequer users. 

“The feedback that we get all the time from our customers – and those in particular that have migrated from Exchequer – is how simple and easy iplicit is to use,” Paul Sparkes told the webinar. 

“iplicit has a strong familiarity in terms of how we navigate around. It feels comfortable – and you've got an awful lot of features that you've been asking for over many, many years with your existing Exchequer solution.” 

Customers can take advantage of online tutorials and the expertise of a UK-based support team offering help online or on the phone. 

3. Powerful reporting – including Excel add-ins 

“I don’t know many Exchequer users that don’t love the power of its Excel reporting,” Paul Sparkes said. 

Exchequer’s live links with other software enabled users to build management and board packs quickly and simply. “As somebody who spent such a huge amount of time in the world of Exchequer, it was without doubt one of the number one reasons people selected that solution,” he added. 

“One of the great things about iplicit is that we have the same type of technology, albeit with the new, modern Office 365 – and this enables our users to design management reports and board packs in a simple way. 

“We even have people who have their board or management packs already in place and they can simply do a ‘find and replace’ and migrate their existing packs if they’ve used a similar chart of accounts. 

“That's a really great feature but that's just one of many elements of our powerful reporting. We also work with features such as Power BI, there’s our own dashboard and tools built into the system and you can design any onscreen enquiry for different people around the organisation to view their data quickly and easily.”  

4. No need for right to use licences 

“One of the areas that causes a huge amount of concern – not just with Exchequer but for many organisations moving away from legacy systems – is that their incumbent providers often say you’re required to pay for a ‘right to use’ licence for a number of years post-termination,” Paul Sparkes told the webinar. 

“One of the great features of iplicit is that we've designed a way to import history from older systems.  

“We’ve designed an archive data facility that allows us to import that old data. In the event of an order from HMRC or another organisation, or even if you want to be able to do comparatives with previous years, the iplicit archive data facility gives that ability to users of our system.  

“We believe that to be unique. I think that’s a really powerful feature and it actually removes one of the biggest barriers both in terms of cost but in terms of concern about moving away from your old legacy system.” 

5. Exchequer knowledge   

A number of key iplicit personnel were involved with Exchequer in the past – including Director Paul Sparkes, Solutions Consultant Guy Burton and CFO Rob Steele, who was among Exchequer’s founders.  

“We’re among 14 people that were involved with the Exchequer business at some point along the journey,” Paul said. 

“That includes people in our support team, our implementation team, our solutions consultants, a huge array. That DNA is at the heart of iplicit and has helped us make that migration simple and painless for many, many users.” 

6. Simple monthly pricing  

Users who have been shopping around for a cloud accounting system can find themselves weighing up a lot of pricing information – and struggling to compare like with like.  

“iplicit has a very simple pricing system,” said Paul. 

“You pay a monthly fee for iplicit depending upon a number of factors, including number of users and what modules or features you’re using. That monthly fee includes all of our regular monthly upgrades to the system, all the online support and all the phone support.” 

Find out more about iplicit 

iplicit's webinar, Migrating from Exchequer, is available to watch on demand. Or you can get in touch for a personalised demonstration.