30 Aug What other things to look for as you decide on a Financials ERP

Lowering operating costs and performing core business activities optimally are the main reasons driving automation of Finance and for selecting a Financials ERP. But when we work with customers we often ask their views and priorities on certain areas to help them narrow their choices down. Often these areas seem minor while originally selecting ERP but become quite critical later on so we like to embed them into the decision making process.

Built in analytics: Access to more quality information for aiding decision making is important. This results in smarter decisions. A thorough analysis of embedded analytics capabilities in Financials ERP packages should be done. Self-reporting capabilities and robustness of corporate scorecards and even role specific KPI’s capability should be analyzed.

Collaboration needs: Financial data needs to be accessed by a lot of users. These include not only Finance decision makers and financial data teams in different locations, but increasingly Line of Business leaders, owners of profit & loss in different functions and any cross functional team member responsible for setting strategy. It is critical that the Financials package be assessed on ease of collaboration and access without compromising security.

Faster closing times: Many large companies in Pakistan still spend up to ten days closing their books. The ERP Financials software must come with global best practice efficiencies built into key processes to enable a three day close. This also means more automation of the closing itself.

People love Excel: A common challenge we often face post ERP Financials implementation is how much people love their Excel. Excel is a dependable, useful, comfortable tool and beloved of Finance professionals. Uploading/ integration of Excel and indeed any other third party tool depending on the uniqueness of a business should also be a part of the Financials ERP selection process.

We hope we were able to add some perspective to the Financials ERP selection process. The journey is not easy but it is well worth it.

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