Choosing your new finance system

In this guide;

• Set the scope
• Look for manual processes
• Ask your team
• Speak to the wider business
• Set up a long-list
• Refine your shortlist
• Get some references
• 7 big mistakes people make choosing new financial software

Set the scope

Before you even start to look at possible candidates for your new financial system you need to set the scope. This means speaking with your key stakeholders about what you are and aren’t going to consider.

For example, you may only be looking at a core financial system to replace an old and tired piece of technology.

Or you may want to look at an entire financial suite from accounting to expenses, from project accounting to purchase orders.

In practice, we find that looking at the wider picture and understanding how the finance system will interact with other systems is key to a successful switch.

Confining the scope of the choice process to simply an accounting system could lead to your organisation missing out on some valuable benefits of integration.

It is really important that you set the scope from the start because projects have a tendency to take on a life of their own with people adding in requirements and deliverables as they go along, leading to a project overrun and an overspend.

By all means, add in extra things but do so in extra phases that will be looked at after you have completed the main project.

So for the early part of the choice process, you need to focus on producing a requirements list. This is simply a list of all the things that you would like to see in your new system.You could categorise some as ‘must-haves’ and some might just be ‘nice-to-have’, but producing a list in this way will give you a clear sight of what you are looking for from a system provider.

Look for manual processes

One of the biggest benefits of a new financial system is that it can automate or even totally eliminate processes that have become very manual and very unwieldy. So a good starting point is to find the jobs that you do on a daily basis that just take too much time.

Identifying your pain points in this way then leads you to start to produce a requirements list. An illustration of this would be where you are doing manual bank recs. This could lead you to say that you want a system that has automated bank feeds and matching so that your people only need to deal with unusual transactions.

Don’t get sucked into the trap of trying to replicate your existing processes though. Make sure that you look as far as possible to eliminate work rather than simply transfer it to your new system.

Ask your team

Next, go to your team.

Ask them what things take ages to do? What things need more attention than others and what things would really transform the way they do their work.

We can promise you that they will come up with things you haven’t even thought of and they will probably have some very good ideas about how tasks can be eliminated using new technology.

You may also find that some of your team have worked on really good systems in previous companies that might be useful for your long list.

Speak to the wider business

So you have worked out what your finance department needs but what about the wider business. Remember that finance has to become much more about adding value to your organisation than simply crunching numbers so speaking with the wider business will give you more ideas about features that can be added to your requirements list.

You may also find that other departments are also looking at projects to revitalise their systems so there could be synergy. It will also stop you from specifying that your finance system must connect to an HR or CRM system that another department is about to replace!

It’s also helpful to speak with your IT and compliance people to find out some of the more technical requirements so that you can ensure your final pick will be suitable for your data security environment.

By the time you have spoken with your key stakeholders, you should be developing a good idea of what you need and your requirements list should be growing nicely.

Set up a long-list

Now we move to the point where you look outwards to the market and you’ll want to produce a long-list.

This is a list of all the systems that could be useful for you.

At this point, you are not ruling anything out but more having a look at the market to see what is available.

The good part about this is that you may find features of systems that you haven’t thought of and that you may want to add to your list.

Refine your shortlist

Now you have a long list and a set of requirements, it is time to compare the latter against the former.

At this point, we’d suggest setting up your marking scheme. For example, you may decide that cost is a key differentiator, that shortlist systems must meet all of your must-have requirements and then that you’ll score each based on certain criteria.

But it is important to decide how you will choose before you refine your shortlist to stop bias creeping in.

You may be surprised at how many you cull initially because they simply can’t deliver your must-have requirements so the first pass at producing a shortlist can be quite quick, but you will get to a point where all the remaining systems look superficially like they can do the job.

You can then match against your nice-to-haves which should reduce your shortlist further.

You want to get to a point where you have around three or so systems that you will test.

You can then arrange to have demonstrations to make sure that your desk research has been accurate.

Get some references

In the same way as you’d do a bit of a background check on a potential recruit, you need to check the background of a system.

Make sure that you get some references from companies that have already adopted their system and then follow these up with their finance team to see if the hype matches up to the reality.

These companies don't have to be in the same sector as you, but it is helpful if they use the system in the same way. So for example, if you are an advertising agency that charges by project, you could look at builders, architects or even software companies who charge in the same way.

These ‘reference sites’ are invaluable as they allow you to ask the customer’s project team specific questions about the system, the project and how they have found support for their new system.

You can ask how it works in practice and if they have any tips that might be useful but make it clear they can refuse to answer anything that they feel uncomfortable about and steer clear of asking any commercially sensitive questions.

We would suggest that you send a ‘thank you’ afterwards in the shape of a box of chocolates or biscuits that the team can share!

9 common mistakes people make choosing financial software

Financial software has been around long enough now that there is a good history of projects that have been less than successful.

The good news is that these projects provide valuable learning experiences for us as we look to choose our own systems.

So what mistakes do people commonly make?

They are seduced by looks

We have all been guilty of buying something because it looks nice rather than because it works well, so don't be seduced by a good looking system, make sure you choose based on facts.

They don’t speak with reference sites

Make sure you speak with existing customers to find out how they’ve found the system in real-life and what issues they had on the project so you can learn from their practical experience.

They forget to factor in growth

People often choose systems based on what they need now, forgetting that in a busy company they may need much more functionality in the future. So choose a system based on what you will need in the future too.

They ignore security

Data security is really important, both from a company strategic point of view but also in respect of GDPR. Make sure you choose a system that is secure.

They don’t worry about connectivity

Integration of systems is one of the best things about modern systems so make sure you choose something that has great connectivity with a marketplace of apps and an easy to use API.

They don’t check out the support

Support is one of those things that you don't value until you need it. Make sure you check that your software partner provides support after the project as well as during it.

They forget about internal resources

Putting in a new financial system takes a lot of hard work and effort so make sure you are properly resourced internally so that you can make your project a success.

They don’t allocate a budget

Unbelievably many companies don't allocate enough budget to their software project (or indeed, any budget at all). You don’t get something for nothing so make sure your team is properly resourced.

They don’t include the wider business

Make sure that you speak with heads of departments and senior managers to find out what they need.

Need to know more?

If you are at the start of your switching journey then we’ve produced a hub specially designed to make it easy to navigate your way through your project.

Our Switching financial systems hub has blogs, videos and podcasts that will help you plan and execute a faultless financial system switch.

You can even download our comprehensive Everything guide to switching finance systems that will give you all the information you need.

And feel free to download our free Excel worksheet that will give you a handy checklist to manage your system choice.

Good luck with your switch and if you’d like to see Access Financials in action, why not book a call and let us show you how we can help.