Key Steps to Take When Adopting New Accounting Software

By Paul Ursich

Accounting software has certainly changed the way industries function. These systems eliminate numerous manual components of financial organizations while offering businesses countless ways of analyzing and improving corporate performance.

Hence, when a myriad of software solutions are at your fingertips, how can you capture the greatest dynamic structure for your business? Execute the following actions necessary to acquire the desired and worthwhile results:

Strategize

  1. Grasping your establishment’s individual demands. To begin your expedition, it is critical to undertake a strategic need analysis that can tackle operational, managerial and financial concerns. Take your time while immersed in this vital step, as it can help you avoid future issues.
  2. Familiarize yourself with key members of the implementation team, both internally and externally. Craft a timeline with reportable milestones to keep track of noteworthy achievements and observe what is to come. This step can assist in uncovering an accurate representation of the path where your firm is purportedly headed.
  3. Be aware of daily operations. To help construct and streamline the most beneficial reports possible, understand that there is a joint approach for not only the accounting group, but the habitual operations of the day-to-day business of the company. Correspondingly, these reports do not solely consist of numbers, but also assist in professional decision-making with dashboards and “flash reports.”
  4. Deciding on levels of customization. It is imperative to fully recognize the way systems gathers and stores information. What is the difference between internal network and the cloud? Is there sand replication? How often are updates pushed out? How do alerts work? How are costs up front and annual maintenance costs calculated? These are substantial questions to ask when electing to tailor the software for your business.
  5. Software can contain divergent forms of complex language. To confirm that the system your firm wants to operate is up-to-date and compatible with other systems presently in use, extensive research on potential products is strongly recommended. Additonally, become fluent with how the version of software you are buying is constructed and executes certain tasks. Remember, the cost structure can fluctuate as your company flourishes and new requests emerge.

Investigate

Be sure to compare yourself to other companies in your industry to see what types of programs they currently manage or can recommend. You can also visit software review websites to gather input on a particular package. There could be legal concerns, financial concerns or other unforeseen problems that could be damaging if not swiftly recognized during your selection process.            

It is imperative to analyze each software product, taking a meticulous look at each aspect of a software system. Conducting numerous assessments before closing in on your unparalleled match will help lift your business off the ground and transform it into a comprehensive success.

As director of CFO Advisory Services at Wiss & Company LLP, Paul Ursichreviews clients’ accounting processes and procedures to help increase overall efficiency. Reach him at pursich@wiss.visioncreativegroup.com or 973.994.9400.

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