Have you outgrown your accounting software? Six signs, and what comes next

Most businesses do not outgrow their software overnight. It happens a spreadsheet at a time: a separate file for stock, another for project costs, a third to combine two companies’ figures. Each one made sense when it was created. Together they mean month end takes longer every quarter.

• Month end relies on spreadsheets outside the system.
• You run more than one company and combine their figures by hand.
• Stock, projects or jobs need costing the software cannot do.
• You trade in several currencies, or across borders, every week.
• Approvals and access controls are too basic for your team.
• Reports take hours to build and are out of date when finished.

Choosing well

Write down the processes that hurt and the reports you need, then look at add-ons to your current software before replacing it. If you do move, choose for the next five years, test with your own data, and plan the switch for the start of a financial year.

The cost of a new system is mostly people’s time: setting it up, moving data and learning it. Budget for that, not just the licence.