We hosted two lively and productive CFO Roundtable sessions last week in Menlo Park (at Morgan Stanley) and San Francisco (at CBRE), focused on upgrading ERP systems. The events were well-attended by heads of finance representing a great mix of early stage and middle market companies from a wide variety of industries, who came to share their perspectives and learn from their peers.
Takeaways from the sessions:
Trigger points for upgrading from Quickbooks to NetSuite ran the gamut.
- Company growth – multiple entities, product launches, multi-currency
- Hiring an audit firm
- Inventory Management
- Investor reporting requirements
- Board Member’s request
Convincing your CEO to invest in a more robust ERP
- Helping the CEO see the value of the accounting/finance function
- Investing early will prevent higher costs vs. converting when the company is larger
- Scalability
Pitfalls to avoid when implementing a new ERP system
- Appoint a project manager within your company as implementation lead/primary point of contact to work with the vendor
- Consider both current and future state of the company and develop a long-term strategy when looking at business requirements and system functionality and overall capabilities
- Revenue recognition capabilities – does it support ASC 606, commissions, etc…
Upgraded to an ERP system but not using its full functionality
Reasons included:
- No training/insufficient training
- Only got through Phase I
- Implemented by predecessor
Ways to address:
- Performing an optimization review
- Provide training for current team
- Review work flows and user profiles
- Integrate with software currently being used or look at ways to automate with the system
Options to consider if you aren’t ready for a more robust ERP system
- Accounting structure is straightforward – i.e. single entity, inventory management is not an issue
- NetSuite BPO or similar programs
We also had a great discussion on alternative software solutions to automate and simplify your process:
- Zuora – Accounts Receivable Solution (i.e. global payments, subscriptions, analytics)
- Intaact – Core Financials and Reporting (cost effective for non-inventory products)
- Blackline – Reconciliation
- Xactly – Sales Commission
- Workato – Workflows, Integration and Automation.
The event was hosted by: Jan Berthold/Heffernan Insurance, Kelly Borland/Deloitte, Christina Bui/Kranz & Associates, Steve Lee/CBRE, and Garry Whitfield/Morgan Stanley, and our subject matter expert, Anna Matveeva/Kranz & Associates.