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Four signs that you need to update your finance system (and how to do it well)

At Insight Associates, we frequently come into contact with growing, ambitious businesses who are frustrated with the tools at their disposal.

Many are using the entry-level finance system that the company adopted when it was founded and, whilst it was fit for purpose at the time, it no longer provides the functionality or visibility they require.

However, many of the more scalable options on the market come with a hefty price tag and are technically complex to implement – leading to businesses putting off what they know will likely be a long and painful process. We solve this issue by migrating all of our clients over to iplicit – an award-winning, truly cloud-based accounting solution that is easy to install and designed specifically for growing and mid-sized businesses.

But how do you know you are ready to upgrade your finance system? And how do you do it in a way that truly benefits your business and sets it up for the next stage of its development?

In this blog, we’ll talk about the following tell tale signs that it’s time to treat your finance function to an upgrade:

  1. You keep coming up against frustrating barriers
  2. Your current systems don’t ‘talk’ to each other
  3. You don’t feel fully in control
  4. Your current data isn’t giving you enough visibility to make good business decisions.

We’ll also go through some of the factors you might want to consider to ensure that your new solution is fit for purpose and caters to your business’s evolving needs, both now and in the future.

1. You keep coming up against frustrating barriers

If you are using a legacy on-premise system or even a cloud-based accounting solution designed for small businesses, you’ll probably find that you are increasingly straining at the edges of the software’s limitations.

For example, are you struggling to implement a highly requested hybrid working model due to VPN connectivity issues or the fact that staff can only access some data or functionalities at the office? Does your software lag when you have a higher than normal number of users logged in? Are you getting fed up with duplicating work because you have a number of different systems that are not designed to integrate with one another, leading to data ‘bottlenecks’ and a reliance on manual processes? You might also find that you’re encountering an increase in data entry and other human errors because your staff are struggling to cope with an increased volume of transactions.

Whatever the barriers you might be facing, the feeling that you’re pushing at the edges of your software’s capabilities or that you’re being held back from working in the way that you want to is a sure fire sign that your current systems are no longer fit for purpose.

2. Your existing systems don’t ‘talk’ to each other

Has your finance department, through no fault of its own, become the gatekeeper of data because it is too bogged down in processes to answer people’s requests for real-time information? Does your team spend most of its time re-keying data because existing business systems don’t talk to each other?

The best accounting systems will have the ability to integrate with other tools, allowing data to flow from CRM systems, project management platforms and payroll systems through effective integration. The right software can also automate many of the laborious tasks which can slow down a finance team, easily taking care of such functions as revenue recognition, revenue management and consolidation.

Here are some of the negative consequences your business might experience when your systems don’t talk to each other properly and things start to slip through the gaps:

  • You have lots of manual accounting processes that cannot be automated in your existing system
  • Everything is manual entry and often duplicated
  • You’re relying on people, rather than the system, as a workflow
  • You regularly get chased for payment because you’ve missed a purchase order
  • Staff grumble about the company’s finance processes (particularly expenses).

3. You don’t feel fully in control

Many organisations are open to fraud and are not sure if their current systems would catch incorrect processing or fraudulent activity. Inability to control user access or provide segregation of duties are key weaknesses in old systems.

Purchase orders are a common way that businesses gain increased control over spending as they grow, giving a clear idea of spending commitments ahead of time. If spend management is a challenge for your business and you don’t currently have a PO process (or the current process is heavily manual or email-based), this is a key indicator that something needs to change.

It’s also vital to be able to ensure the security of supplier bank accounts and to have auditable measures in place for the approval, control and processing of payment runs. A good accounting system should also give you control over sales processes.

4. Your current data isn’t giving you enough visibility to make good business decisions

Your management information is the base upon which you make decisions that have the power to fundamentally affect the future of your business.

And yet, the reality is that most management information is late, created on multiple spreadsheets, and generally not helpful or accurate enough to run organisations effectively. Many organisations lack a simple, global view of their finances in a single system, meaning they have to consolidate them manually, offline. They also don’t have the capability to look at their data from all the angles they want to – for example, according to different teams or regions.

If you are finding that your data is not providing valuable insights or your systems don’t have the flexibility to show you the multiple dimensions you’re looking for, then it might be time to look for a more advanced solution.

Choosing the right upgrade for you

At Insight Associates, we always say that businesses should be looking to invest in systems that they can grow into, not out of. Often, when we first migrate a client across to iplicit, they might not be using all the functionality it offers. They might not even be using the majority of it. But, three years down the line, they are finding that they need more and more of the features it offers and still aren’t even touching the sides.

So, here is how to ensure that your chosen accounting system will support you as you grow. If you follow these steps, you won’t find yourself once again hitting those frustrating limitations a few years down the line.

1. Gap analysis

This should be the start of any system change – identifying the gaps between where you are now and where you want to be.

Start off by analysing each key process in your finance function and asking what works well and what could be improved. That way, you can analyse each potential system according to how well it fills the gaps in your current processes.

2. Talk to people

Your gap analysis won’t be nearly as successful if it’s undertaken in isolation. It’s the people on the ground, who are coping with the challenges presented by your current tools and systems day in, day out, whose contribution will be the most vital.

Speak to your finance team about the frustrations and challenges they are experiencing as things currently stand, and get to understand the features and capabilities that would make the most difference to them.

However, talking to your people shouldn’t just be limited to the finance team – management, investors, operators, sales and support functions in your business will all have their own valuable insights on where the current problems and frustrations lie.

3. Do your research

When you’re investing in something as important as a new finance system, you’re going to want to do your research. Have you done any initial research to find out what’s out there? Have you asked other companies what software they use and their experience with it? Have you read vendor case studies and testimonials from organisations similar to yours?

You’ll want to find out all the fundamental information you need to make an informed decision on the solution that will work best for your business. For example:

  • Do you have a vendor shortlist based on your requirements and product demonstrations?
  • Do you understand each potential vendor’s service level agreements (SLAs), response times, contract and support arrangements?
  • Have you requested detailed quotes around how the system will be charged for, and any maintenance costs?
  • Do you understand how users will be paid for? How do your shortlisted vendors handle single user licences or general (concurrent) licenses?
  • Have you taken sufficient references to ensure vendors will deliver to your needs?
  • Have you arranged good demonstrations, with your own data or context, and arranged time with each vendor to see how the chemistry works?

iplicit – meeting the needs of growing and ambitious businesses

We’ve spent three decades working with businesses across a wide range of industries to professionalise their financial management and set them up for a better future. So, we’ve got some pretty decent experience in the solutions that work for businesses who are growing out of entry-level and legacy systems.

iplicit is the best cloud-based accounting solution that we have ever come across for growing, ambitious businesses. It gives our clients the high-quality finance infrastructure they need to implement efficient processes, keep their assets safe, and deliver good quality, forward-looking management information that actively works to drive the organisation forward. We have been working with iplicit since it launched in 2019, and with its founders for over 20 years, and have complete trust in them and their software.

If, after reading this blog, you feel that you are seeing the signs within your own business that your finance system could do with an upgrade, then we’d love to speak to you and tell you about iplicit in more detail.

You can also click here to read a testimonial from the Swarovski Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the global jewellery brand, which focuses on some of the significant improvements that iplicit has been able to drive within their organisation.

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