Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/696186
June 2016 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 23 FROM THE TRENCHES • More g ra nu la r it y a nd cont rol of ap pl ic at ion s , w it h a role - ba s e d security interface • More reporting and analytics options • More third-party solutions available to solve difcult issues and special- ized industry needs • Sizing considerations • Implementation budget - $15,0 0 0 to $1MM • H istor ica l VA R model (a lt houg h that is changing with many vendors – Open Systems, Epicor, etc.), so you may wind up dealing direct with the publisher • Company size not hard and fast • 5 – 2,500 employees • $1MM-$1B revenue • Sma l ler compa n ies w ho do ha rd things (grants, job costing, manufac- turing, international, etc.) will need higher-end SMB solutions than EE/ revenue guidelines may dictate Ty pically, a few key questions about size, complex ity, locations, multi-currency, and ty pe of busi- ness will flter products quickly to a few candidates that are a " best ft". Most publishers have refned their products so far that they target micro-verticals, that is to say a very specifc need. For example, industrial fasteners, plumbing , f looring or electrical supplies are micro-verticals best served by a few products from the myriad of products available. What are a few SMB product examples? A nd for that mater, who are the key players? In increasing order of sophistication, this list represents the best of the 300 or so providers in the U.S. market (products were sorted within the company for increasing capabilities, too, and a high end product pushed the publisher further down the list): • Intuit • CYM A • Sage • 50/50c • 100/100c • 300/300c • Live • 500 • X3 • Specialty • Financial Force • Open Systems • OSAS • TRV ERSE • Exact • Macola ES • Globe • SYSPRO • Intacct • Acumatica • NetSuite • Microsof • Dynamics • GP • SL • NAV • A X • SA P • Business One • ByDesign • Deltek • Epicor • Eclipse • Prophet 21 • Epicor ER P • Infor • Distrib SX.e • Syteline • Fourth Shif • Infor 10x W hile there are a number of other good products that could be named, it is important to pick a publisher that has a long term record. Your organiza- tion is likely to use a properly selected SMB product for up to ten years, and you'll want the company and product to provide all the support you need during that timeframe. Further, mature products have more of the kinks and bugs worked out. Your job should be to make sure that the implementation project is managed properly, not debug a new system like we frequently did in the 1980's and 90's. If you'd like to check that a prod- uct you are considering is good for your business or your clients, please send an email providing the name of the product, and some background information as noted in the few key questions and outline above. Classical mistakes and misguided selection A lthough some vendors are tr ying to claim that the feature wars are over, note that these claims are usu- ally made by publishers that lack features in their products. Te good news is that most products don't have glaring defciencies like they did 20+ years ago, which drive a very detailed needs analysis with tools like Te Accounting Librar y. We still fnd merit in this feature based approach. However, a reasonable alternative is to do a process map- ping and a gap analysis. Failing to do enough analysis on the front end of an implementation is still the key reason for failure in SMB and ER P implementations. A simple process to follow can be found at w w w. ac c ou nt i n g sof t w a re world .c om/ a r t ic le s-w h ite -paper s/selec t ion- steps. A great installer can still make a marginally capable product work, but most businesses are best served by selecting the right product with a competent installer. One fnal caution, contacting a publisher or VA R before you have done some preliminar y work can cause a number of problems includ- ing not locating the best installer because you are treated as a "claimed lead", and you may early be sold on the wow factor of a demonstration instead of the thoughtful work of fnding a product that fts the busi- ness best. Improper selection can lead to cost and schedule overruns and complete project failures. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12