It’s imperative for businesses to remain competitive and current. Today, technological advancement occurs rapidly so many businesses have outgrown what their current solution can provide.
When a business is looking to switch from financial management systems, the top discovery questions that should be asked are:
• What processes do you automate today?
• Which capabilities are you lacking?
• What additional capabilities do you hope to add?
The reason to ask these questions is oftentimes businesses fall into the trap of replacing an existing system with a new solution without filling in the gaps of their current processes. It’s important to identify these gaps and find the right solution that meets your current business needs as well as one that has the ability to adapt and address your future business growth.
Examples of common accounting system functional gaps that have been resolved by switching to Sage Intacct include:
- Reporting deficiencies
- Limiting general ledger chart of accounts
- Multi-entity management limitations
- Outdated user interface
- Lack of workflow approvals
- On-premise accounting system
Reporting Deficiencies
Outdated ERP reporting can be labor intensive and often requires reformatting in Excel. The batch-based transaction posting creates a lag between transaction entry and reporting. With Sage Intacct, dashboards and reports deliver instant visibility and eliminate the need for Excel-based reports. Simple, user-defined dashboards serve up information in real time without the need to run reports and empower users to get the information they specifically need.
Limited General Ledger Chart of Accounts
Older financial management systems use segmented general ledger accounts. This results in a huge chart of accounts as well as financial reporting challenges. Sage Intacct uses a modern, dimensional account structure which streamlines both the chart of accounts and reporting. The general ledger becomes your data warehouse as the need for external reporting tools are eliminated. The flexibility of the general ledger is one of the many reasons Sage Intacct is endorsed by the financial community and is the only preferred provider of the AICPA.
Multi-Entity Management Limitations
Multi-entity management requires an add-on solution for intercompany. Consolidations are done through reporting using a reporting tool. In Sage Intacct, multiple entities share the chart of accounts, customers, and vendors. Consolidations and eliminations are automatic, providing immediate visibility to the consolidated results. Sage Intacct’s entities work together, not separately, which means no more data silos.
Outdated User Interface
The older ERP user interfaces are outdated. Even with re-engineered web screens, users find their current system lacks ease-of-use functionality and is not intuitive for new users. The modern, intuitive user interface of Sage Intacct provides fast user adoption with ease-of-use functionality, including dashboards and process flows as well as Artificial Intelligence tools such as GL outlier detection.
Sage Intacct also has built-in social collaboration tools to create a secure social layer across all finance processes. Most financial systems force users into email to clarify the status of processes, discuss and resolve exceptions, or to interpret and discuss trends in performance metrics. Using email for collaboration introduces inefficiencies by making employees swap back and forth between applications and by increasing the risk that important process issues are neglected due to email overload. Collaboration capabilities facilitate greater collaboration, expedite decision making, and ultimately accelerate business processes which makes companies more competitive.
Lack of Workflow Approvals
Third-party products are required needed in order to create workflow approvals. Sage Intacct includes automated, configurable workflows to eliminate manual approval processes out of the box. Varied workflow approvals are available throughout the core product including value-based approvals, manager-based approvals, user-based approvals, transaction-type specific approvals, and alternate approver functionality.
Choosing the right software delivery model
If you have been considering a new financial management solution, you have likely run into the different software delivery model options available today. It’s important to determine early on what the best delivery model is to best meet your business performance needs.
- On-premise solutions
- Hosted solutions (single tenant)
- Cloud solutions (multi-tenant)
On-Premise Solutions
On-premise solutions are the traditional model for accounting solutions, one that most businesses have used for many years. A business licenses the software and runs it on their own servers. The capital and operating expenses to deploy, operate, support, customize, integrate, and upgrade should also be a consideration. On-premise solutions are still viable solutions, especially for companies with trusted IT infrastructure, investment capital, and support expertise. Examples of on-premise solutions are Sage 100 (MAS 90), Sage 300 (Accpac), Quicken, and Microsoft Dynamics (GP or Great Plains).
Hosted Solutions (Single Tenant)
Outsourcing the software solution in a hosted environment at a remote data center provides expert support and services as well as eliminates the responsibility of maintaining the internal hardware infrastructure. Upfront large investment capital requirements are minimized with hosting and businesses will typically have a unique instance on a dedicated server (single tenant). Users access the system over the internet, seeing the screens being generated at the hosting provider.
Cloud Solutions (Multi-Tenant)
Cloud-based financial solutions, often referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS), were built for the internet age. These systems are always “on”, delivered via a web browser, available on a subscription basis, and are multi-tenant, meaning an organization can unlock only their own data, but work from a shared system—a single set of resources, application infrastructure, and database. Upgrades are performed by the provider at no additional cost and no downtime to business continuity.
Is a Cloud Solution the Right Fit For You?
If you need a flexible and agile financial management system that is relatively easy to implement, configure, and update, then a SaaS might be the right solution. Ask yourself the following five questions.
- Do I need “anytime, anywhere” accessibility?
This is a key benefit of moving to the cloud. Entire finance teams can work from anywhere. Access to the accounting solution is accomplished using only a secure web browser and an internet connection.
- Do I need to accelerate business processes without increasing headcount or IT budget?
Cloud-based financial management and accounting implementations were found to deliver more ROI than on-premise software. Avoiding the capital investments and operating expenses associated with an on-premise system return considerable financial advantages. Additionally, time savings and process efficiencies drive higher ROI. Cloud systems greatly accelerate crucial financial processes with extensive automation and integration capabilities. Rid yourself of manual data entry, paper-based processes, and spreadsheet maintenance.
- Do I need my accounting solution to integrate with other systems?
Cloud systems provide a pre-built integration framework via APIs and web services. Built-in integrations with external applications such as Salesforce.com means saying goodbye to costly custom programming and maintenance.
- Do my managers have access today to relevant KPIs?
Tired of sending outdated reports or spending hours creating specialized reports for each department? Cloud financials provide real-time visibility through dashboards to management teams so that everyone can see the key performance indicators that apply to their specific departments. Employees can also view restricted dashboards, enter/approve expenses, create purchase orders, all without visibility to the core financial information.
- Does my finance team struggle with inefficient processes?
Cloud systems are built to provide company-wide operational efficiencies. Streamline the consolidation and close process, coordinate purchasing workflows, and create budget dashboards for department managers to increase operational alignment across the organization. Avoid the limitations of single-user systems like Quickbooks that traps valuable financial information in silos. Free up the finance team from time-consuming tasks so they can concentrate on deeper financial analysis.
If you are thinking about migrating from Sage 300, contact Equation Technologies. We developed a migration utility that streamlines Intacct implementations.
When it is time to evaluate vendors and financial management solutions, we hope you will consider Equation Technologies and Sage Intacct. We can get you signed up for a demo, provide product information specific to your industry, help you get a 30-day free trial, or simply discuss the pros and cons of switching systems.
