Anyone who has acquired an existing firm or decided to move their accounting business to a cloud-based system will be aware of the myriad costs and unexpected delays that occur in transitioning Practice Management (PM) Systems. There are a number of considerations your firm should take into account to get the most effective outcome from such transitions. A consultant with industry knowledge can help tailor the process to your firm’s specific needs, ensuring a smoother transition and quicker realization of productivity benefits.
Accountants are typically cost-sensitive, so the idea of paying a third party additional fees may, on face value, seem an unnecessary cost, especially where you have internal resources that can assist with the task. One challenge is that many implementation consultants in software companies don’t have a background in the accounting industry and may overlook the nuances of moving from one software platform to another. Software companies generally have a best-practice model. However, transitions can vary significantly from one practice to the next, and reporting and processes may not perfectly align. Being prepared for how to deal with these changes in advance can make a significant difference in the smoothness of the transition and when productivity benefits manifest.
If you’re making a change, do it thoroughly. Strategically evaluate your firm, its business models and processes and develop a technology stack that makes it more efficient and allows you to easily scale. This is another reason to get professional support from an implementation consultant that understands the accounting industry well. Again, each software company has their own implementation consultants but you want someone who is going to develop an integrated solution that benefits your business.
A further benefit to taking a holistic approach when looking to update your tech stack, is that if you make an integrated change, your team won’t have to learn new processes that may change again in a few months or a year. The constant training and retraining leads to change fatigue and process confusion resulting in negative impact on staff productivity and utilisation.
The truth is, there’s no perfect time to make a major software transition. Most implementations take months, and it can take over a year for everything to run smoothly. However, making the commitment and having the right change management in place will yield the best results. Further, making the commitment to approach tech changes holistically rather than in isolation will achieve the best results with minimal disruption to your people, processes and clients.
