Page 11 - Bottom Line Vol. 30

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN SWITCHING ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS - CONTINUED WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN SWITCHING ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS - CONTINUED

KEY PHASES OF AN
ACCOUNTING SYSTEM CHANGE

1. DISCOVERY & PLANNING

What Happens: Define your goals. Assess current
processes, user roles, and data sources. Decide what
features and functionality matter (e.g., integration,
cloud based, dashboards). Select vendor or system.
Create project timeline and budget. 5. GO LIVE &
POST IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT
What to Watch Out For: Scope creep. Hidden costs
(customizations, training, data migration). Under What Happens: Switch over. Monitor performance
estimating time needed for change management. closely. Be ready to troubleshoot; adjust workflows
Hardware concerns – including your current staff or reports as real usage uncovers unexpected issues.
– should be evaluated during this process. Collect feedback. Plan for periodic reviews.

2. DATA CLEANUP & MIGRATION What to Watch Out For: Business disruption if
issues occur during mid close periods. Cash flow
What Happens: Extract legacy data. Clean up or compliance problems if reports are inaccurate.
historical records (eliminate duplicates, obsolete User frustration if the system is not intuitive or if
accounts, incorrect categorizations). Map data support is delayed.
fields to the new system structure. Test migration
with sample data. Ensure backups. TIPS FOR A SMOOTH TRANSITION

What to Watch Out For: Poor data quality causing The process of transition is going to be difficult –
delays. Loss of integral historical data if mappings anyone who says it will be easy is lying or trying to
are wrong. Data security and privacy concerns. sell you something. However that does not mean this
process needs to be like pulling teeth. Some times for
3. CONFIGURATION & CUSTOMIZATION a smooth transition: POTENTIAL RISKS &
► Engage stakeholders early: Involve all departments HOW TO MITIGATE THEM ► Employees may resist change due to fear of job disruption,
lack of understanding, or perceived complexity. There
What Happens: Configure the chart of accounts, that touch accounting data—finance, operations, IT, and will always be one or two “that’s not the way we’ve
user permissions, and workflows. Customize leadership. Having more minds involved as appropriate As with any other process, there are significant risks always done it” folks in the group, but involving key
reports, dashboards. Set up integrations with can help to flesh out potential issues and bottlenecks when changing accounting systems. The worst case is users in system selection and design decisions to build
payroll, banking, inventory, etc. Determine access early on. to spend time and human capital for a half launched or ownership is a great start, along with townhalls and
controls and approval chains. ► Set realistic expectations: Systems are not magic. worst case a failure to launch with the system – both feedback sessions to listen to the concerns of the daily
Some tasks may be slower initially; processes may outcomes we have seen. users.
What to Watch Out For: Over customization change. If you are expecting turn-key results you are ► Implementation costs can escalate due to scope creep,
leading to complexity and cost. Neglecting failing to plan and frankly planning to fail. underestimating internal resource needs, or unexpected Making an accounting systems change is a major
the needs of key stakeholders or power users. ► Prioritize change management: Communicate customization requests. To avoid this, establish a realistic undertaking—but when done thoughtfully, it can
Integrations that do not work as expected. frequently. Provide good training. Have “super users” budget with a contingency buffer and require a detailed unlock efficiencies, improve transparency, and support
and internal champions. Above all – your implementation proposal from the vendor. Also – while the customized better decision making. That all said – you are not going
4. TESTING & TRAINING partner is key. A good implementation team is the most bells and whistles may seem nice, make sure you are to make this omelet without breaking some eggs – this
important part of the change. only doing the mission critical customizations. process will be one that is very time consuming and

What Happens: Run parallel tests: old vs new. User ► Maintain data integrity: Clean data before you migrate. ► Delays in implementation can disrupt financial can push the stress level of your accounting and finance
acceptance testing with real business scenarios. Verify with test runs. Keep backups. Even if you are reporting cycles, impact compliance deadlines, and team. Walking in with a clear expectation of what
migrating years of detailed data to the new system, its erode stakeholder confidence. While some of these are you want to accomplish and understanding that this
crucial to keep access to the old data available. going to be (or should be!) expected growing pains – a
Train Staff: Accounting, operations, management. delay to go live can severely hamstring the project and process will likely take longer than you expect and have
Develop user guides and documentation. ► Plan for ongoing evaluation: The transition doesn’t the team. In order to avoid this, develop a phased rollout growing pains is vital to a successful implementation.
end at go-live. Schedule structured check-ins at 30, 60, plan with clear deliverables and dependencies, with With strong planning, stakeholder involvement, and
and 90 days to assess performance, gather feedback, and
What to Watch Out For: Resistance to change. refine workflows. This iterative approach helps optimize executive level sponsors to ensure accountability and ongoing support, the transition does not have to be
Insufficient training or support. Testing that does system usage and ensures long-term success. like with the monetary budget, allow for buffer periods. painful; it can be transformative for the whole business.
not cover worst case scenarios or month / year ends. EDWARD MCWILLIAMS, CPA
PARTNER
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