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strategizing Accounts Payable Automation

Overnight Success? Let Strategy Guide Your AP Automation Expectations

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Every day, more finance leaders at growing companies buy into the value prop of best-in-class, cloud-based financial management and accounting software. But that doesn’t mean they’re ready to put their money where their mouth is—not yet, anyway. What they have is a chicken-and egg situation: They want to “get strategic” and know they need to make the investment to get there, but they’re afraid the implementation of new technology won’t yield game-changing results fast enough.

They’re probably right, especially if they go into the endeavor with such lofty expectations. Overnight ROI isn’t realistic, but the ROI will appear—and, at some point, it will “take off” to the delight of all stakeholders, thanks largely to the strategic insights it affords finance leaders. When introducing game-changing technology that will eventually live up to its name, success is often dependent on a well-considered plan of attack.

It Takes A Strategy to “Get Strategic”

As we’ve discussed, The Biggest Benefit of Accounts Payable Automation is the strategic value it delivers to your finance and accounting organization—and to the business at large. This value is achieved by improving AP processes, reducing manual workloads, attaining operational efficiencies, enhancing data collection and reporting, and more. The quality of work goes up along with the volume of actionable insight. With more to bring to the table, CFOs and their teams are able to contribute to the strategic conversation and impact the company’s growth in new ways.

Strategic prowess is key—it’s where technology is taking finance leaders. But before they can get down to the business of strategizing they need to take care of other business first. It’s business that can be taken care of, however, by implementing the right technology. Yet consider these findings from Grant Thornton’s 2017 CFO Survey:

  • CFOs’ biggest priorities are increasing cash flow (45%), reducing costs (41%), and strategic planning (40%).
  • 46% believe that their IT platforms lack the ability to operate effectively and require future investment.
  • The barriers standing in the way of future technology growth include managing costs (51%), maintenance of legacy systems (41%) and seamless business integration (40%).

If upgrading their IT environments and adopting technologies like cloud computing and advanced analytics is what it takes to increase cash flow, reduce costs, and “get strategic,” then what’s the hold-up? Decision-makers might need some additional guidance on the matter. 

Get Help Pressing “Go” on the Investment

Recognize that increasing cash flow and reducing costs requires a new approach to accounting processes—it requires technology-driven automation. Deloitte’s assertion, presented in their Strategies for Optimizing Your Accounts Payable report, boils down to the fact that optimizing working capital requires accounts payables optimization! It takes management commitment—yes, a strategic commitment and investment in technology—to:

  • Centralize accounts payable processing and reporting
  • Move the organization toward a paperless processing environment
  • Enable more robust governance practices
  • Improve supplier relationships
  • Create management workflows
  • Strengthen purchasing approval processes

As these processes and workflows improve, your finance and accounting teams will gain the time and insights they need to focus on strategic initiatives. But how long will this take? When will these results be seen?

You should partner with a technology vendor who can help you customize your approach—so you can start seeing results.

  • Set up your software to to work with your existing systems and processes
  • Show you how to use the technology and tools in the effectively way
  • Grow with the technology as gain efficiencies, and growth into future.

Get in contact with us to learn more.

Financial Services and Cloud Accounting

Focus on Customers Drives Cloud Computing Adoption in Financial Services

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Remember the “no-internet policy?” It wasn’t so long ago that companies were keeping their employees from exploring the world wide web on company machines. But as all-things-internet have become ubiquitous, including mobile devices and, yes, cloud computing in the workplace, hopping online to get things done—to perform essential professional tasks, let alone browse favorite website—is commonplace. No wonder Gartner reports that by 2020, a corporate “no-cloud” policy will become as rare as a “no-internet” policy is today. Read more

Questions to Ask Cloud Accounting Vendor

6 Questions to Ask to Narrow Down Cloud Accounting Vendors

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If you’re outgrowing QuickBooks or simply looking to simplify and automate your processes by moving accounting to the cloud, the process for building a long list and then narrowing it down to a short list can be a challenge. As part of the narrowing-down process, you will spend a lot of time demoing the software and discussing it with the sales team for each vendor.

As you narrow down your options, it’s important to understand what you’re looking for and how the solution will fit into the equation. This is why we have developed a non-exhaustive list of important questions to ask—and what you should expect in terms of an answer.

Question 1: How Much Uptime Can You Promise?

The uptime discussion is one of the main things that can separate vendors, and should be one of the first things you look for. Uptime is generally discussed in terms of “nines,” as in “how many nines can you promise,” and shouldn’t be taken lightly, as each nine promised is a testament to the company’s commitment to the customer:

  • Two Nines (99%): 3.65 days per year, 7.2 hours per month, 1.68 hours per week
  • Three Nines (99.9%): 8.76 hours per year, 43.8 minutes per month, 10.1 minutes per week
  • Four Nines (99.99%): 52.56 minutes per year, 4.32 minutes per month, 1.01 minutes per week
  • Five Nines (99.999%): 5.26 minutes per year, 25.9 seconds per month, 6.05 seconds per week

While five or more nines is often reserved (and priced) for mission critical applications like telecommunications, utilities, and more, your cloud provider should be able to promise and deliver more than two nines. Often, the sweet spot for SaaS applications is right around three nines, meaning you will see no more than ten minutes of unplanned downtime per month.

However, the real way to judge a vendor is not by promises made, but promises kept. For instance, a leading vendor in the cloud space promises 99.8% uptime, but delivers a 12-month rolling average of 99.987%—nearing the five nines “promised land.”

Question 2: Have You Worked in Our Industry Before?

While the answer is probably yes (the cloud accounting and ERP market is relatively mature), the real question you should be asking is “have you had success with our industry?” It’s common for a vendor to have product or service pages for many different industries, but few case studies pertaining to the industries. It’s important to look at these case studies and success stories for companies like yours in size, needs, and industry.

Question 3: How Much Will It Cost to Get Up and Running?

Another of the natural advantages of a cloud-based accounting software, there are still differences in start-up pricing and implementation. This is an example in which time is quite literally money, as you will be charged for each hour of migration, training, and other necessary services.

The biggest differentiator in this equation is the scope of the implementation—how deep will the software reach into your organization? Suites will naturally take longer to implement, but it will be a one-time project. Single-focus best-of-breed applications can be done quickly and easily, but you may have to complete multiple, less disruptive projects. We discuss the Implementation process in our blog series, Eight Things to Look for in Accounting Software, Part 2.

Question 4: How Will Ongoing Pricing Work?

Pricing is one of the key advantages of SaaS-based applications, generally allowing a move away from licenses, which in turn helps to offer more transparency and ease decision-making. With this in mind, as you compare vendors, one of the most common structures you will see is the per-user, per-module pricing.

In this, it’s important to know what you’re getting, how much it will cost, and how much it will cost for additional users—some users will need additional access, functionality, and modules. Know what you’re getting, how much you’ll be paying, and how much it will cost to add users, modules, or more as your business expands.

Question 5: Is There a Process for Requesting New Features?

At some point, you’ll be using a software, and think, “wow, wouldn’t it be nice if I can do [this]” or “how much easier would my job be if the software could do [this]?” One of the advantages of the cloud is that updates are much more flexible and frequent. Rather than having to wait a year for new patches, cloud accounting applications offer much more frequent updates—up to four times a year.

Knowing this, it’s important to understand the process for requesting new features. Is it easy to ask? Will you be given the same opportunity to request as a large business? How does the vendor narrow down what will be added in the release?

Question 6: How Often Will These Updates Come Through?

As we said, cloud software updates more frequently and easily than an on-premises offering (updates are hands-off; often you walk in to an update the next day or on a Monday). However, the more moving parts that a software has, the less frequent or focused an update will be. This is a main difference between suites and best of breed offerings—suites add a lot of complexity to the equation, so R&D money is spread across multiple products.

Conclusion

When you look to change accounting software, it’s just as important to plan as it is to find the right software. If you know what you want, you will be able to narrow down vendors with minimal stress. Stay tuned for an upcoming blog in which we discuss some of the internal discussions you will need to have before you even start looking at new cloud solutions, coming early next month. If you’re ready to learn more about the power of Sage Intacct for your growing business, contact us today.

ROI of Cloud Accounting

Exploring The ROI of Cloud Accounting

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“What’s our ROI going to be?” If you’re considering moving your company’s accounting practices into the cloud, this is one of the top questions on your mind. You’re making a change to the way you manage your finances—and updating your technology is a big step in the right direction. But how can you be sure that your investment in a cloud-based solution is going to pay off and keep yielding returns?

Why the Cloud Delivers Faster Time to Value

A cloud environment, put simply, affords a growing business more agility and flexibility than any of their traditional alternatives. Consider the on-premise systems and boxed software programs that reside on your business machines (servers and PCs): they require you to maintain an IT infrastructure, which can be costly to establish and take care of. They’re costly from the get-go.

With cloud-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, on the other hand, users access their apps, tools, and data over the internet. Their computing and delivery models make them inherently more cost-effective and scalable for long-term value. Take a look at these powerful stats:

  • Cloud application projects deliver 2.1x the ROI of on-premise ones, up 24% since 2012. (Nucleus Research)
  • Sage Intacct customers experience an average ROI of over 250%when switching to Intacct. (Sage Intacct)

Let’s take a closer look at what impacts the ROI of a cloud accounting solution:

Lower Implementation Costs

Cloud deployments, finds Nucleus Research, incur 63% lower initial consulting and implementation costs than on-premise ones. As we just stated, adopting a cloud accounting solution doesn’t require the purchase of new hardware and software licenses, or even the hiring of a skilled IT staff.

Moving financials to the cloud is a straightforward process for companies with basic infrastructures. They can upgrade to a best-in-class system without adding complexity to their tech environment. That means getting up to speed with web-based software is a faster, easier, and can provide results in a matter of a few short weeks—sometimes sooner.

Learn more in How Upgrading to the Cloud Lets You Hit the Ground Running.

Lower Maintenance Costs

According to Strategy&, the total cost of ownership for a cloud-based solution can be 50-60% less than for traditional solutions over a 10-year period. And Nucleus Research reports that on an ongoing basis, companies spend an average of 55% less on personnel to support cloud applications compared to on-premise deployments and they use an average of 91% less energy to boot.

These savings can be attributed to the cloud software vendors’ subscription model. Customers pay a per-user subscription fee for use of the software, hosting, and support, making the arrangement highly scalable as the company grows and adds new functionality and users. And vendor’s IT team—not your internal IT team—manages the upgrades, patching, user support, etc. It’s part of the service you pay for, enabling you to focus on building your business, not your IT systems.

“Automatic” Savings and Productivity Gains.

When your business replaces manual processes and workflows with automation, cost savings tend to follow naturally. Automating key financial and accounting processes is essential to saving time, increasing data accuracy, and ultimately, lowering costs. But don’t fail to take into account your employees’ ability to work from anywhere and on any connected device. And this includes users from the back office to the executive suite. There’s a great deal of ROI-supporting “power” in the real-time insights users can uncover 24/7. Take a more detailed look in How the Cloud Provides Real Time Insights for Real Time Decision Making.

Features and Functionality

Cloud-based software solutions are ideal for companies in the midst of growth. A cloud environment is an ecosystem that’s ready for evolution. Cloud accounting software suites typically come standard with core functionality that can be expanded as your business needs change—as your company takes on new clients, partners with more vendors, adds locations or product lines, etc. It’s easy to plug wew cloud accounting software modules into your existing workflow without a great deal of programming or “moving around” of data. This holds true for integrations, too, as cloud software is built with flexible APIs that enable seamless connecting of business systems.

The net result of this scalable product enhancement is that your business can grow without significant additional investments—and with each addition of new functionality, your team is able to add more value. Find out How Cloud Accounting Lets Users Take Control of Process.

Contact us to learn more about our cloud technology services and solutions.

Trade Contractor Accounting Challenges

Three Financial Time Drains for Trade Contractors

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There are over 10 million trade service contractors, and while some operate as single independent contractors, many others operate in a larger business unit, with large-scale time management, purchasing, and accounting needs, run either by a business manager or staff who needs to manage purchasing, labor, billing and more.

Whether you’re in the business of electrical work, plumbing, HVAC services, data networking, roofing, painting, carpentry, sheet metal, or one of the many other trades, your industry faces some unique back office challenges.

With this in mind, one of the biggest concerns is likely this: You’re doing more and more work each month, and expected to get it done in the same amount of time. While you used to be making or supporting decisions that positioned your company for growth, nowadays you’re struggling to just complete the basics. In essence, you’re working in your business, not working on it.

Working in vs. Working on Your Trade Contractor Business

For an accounting professional, manager, or other business leader at a trade contractor, working in your business is simple: spending your day completing the necessary tasks in line with your job description.

However, when you’re working on your business, you’re getting all of the necessary tasks done, but also doing work to improve the business. This could include anything from highlighting opportunities for purchasing to save money, finding new opportunities for the project department to improve efficiency, or even finding ways to generate new business. Simply put, working on your business is where the money is made.

Unfortunately, one of the problems that trade contractors face is that leaders constantly get caught up in the minutiae of the daily grind and lose sight of the big picture. With rare exceptions, the people at a business want to help said business grow, but they often lack the processes or technology to do so.

If you really want to start focusing on the big picture, you need to take a step back, look at your everyday tasks, and look for certain things you can automate, so you to get back to working on your business.

Three Necessary Time Drains Preventing You from Working On Your Business

While the trade may differ, the process of accounting for it is relatively similar, and if you’re like most, you waste away on manual processes surrounding one or more of the following tasks.

Contracts, Completion, and Revenue Recognition

Much of your work is based in contracts, and whether you’re looking at the current way of doing business (PCM/CCM) or the ones about to take hold (performance obligation), bringing everything together poses challenges and creates a lot of work.

If the current method seems laborious, the new standards about to take hold will create a new set of challenges, as the contractor task force has been among the most vocal of the AICPA working groups who have noted implementation challenges. For businesses with outdated, manual processes, this means you will be doing a lot more work transitioning to the new standard and managing contracts under it.

The Cure: Technology Designed with ASC 606 in Mind

Revenue Recognition for trade contractor organizations can be a complex series of decisions and paperwork—both under the new and old standard. However, with major changes on the horizon, having plans, processes, and technology in place can be the first step in a successful transition to new standards. Sage Intacct was built to make contract management under the new standard simple, handling the complex requirements and providing peace of mind for accounting and project teams.

Learn more about the new standard and how Sage Intacct is ready to tackle the challenges it presents here.

Project Cost and Profitability Tracking

You have to answer a lot of questions on a daily basis. Will this job be completed on time? On budget? Do we have the people to take this job on this date?

Back-office professionals at trade contractors need to be able to answer these questions quickly, efficiently, and accurately. If your answer to any of these questions was “I don’t know” or “let me get back to you,” you don’t have a complete picture of your business. You need to have a complete view of each project—from materials to labor—before, during, and after the project. More importantly, it’s vital that you can come up with answers to these questions quickly.

The Cure: Speed through Automation, Visibility Through Dashboards and More

By automating your processes and setting up dashboards, you can receive and present information quickly, clearly, and compellingly—when and where you need to present it. Sage Intacct offers the right project insight when and where you need it. Whether in the form of dashboards, analytics, or project accounting-focused design, Sage Intacct can handle anything a finance team at a trade contractor can throw at it.

Cash Flow

Just as you need to look at projects before, during, and after, you need to be able to present a cash flow statement for both these projects and for the organization as a whole. This is the job not only of the back office, but of the project manager as well, who needs to be able to accurately present a schedule of values.

Financially savvy companies use standardized processes to ensure that the ability to be cash flow positive exists earlier in the project. PMs need to understand that their goal is to define a revenue recognition strategy that ensures a good cash position for their projects.

The Cure: Anytime, Anywhere Access for Those Who Need It Most

To make this happen, trade contractors need to combine automation with mobility, allowing project managers to access the numbers, submit costs, mark up the costs based on predetermined standards, and get all of this to billing—whenever and wherever. However, thanks to the cloud, providing access to the people who need it is easier than ever. Sage Intacct was recently recognized for its cash management function. Learn more about the feature and how it can make everything from billing to planning easier here.

The Challenges in Accounting for Trade Contractors Don’t Stop There

These are just a few of the time drains that finance and accounting professionals at trade contractors face every day, month, quarter, or year. However, by taking steps to increase automation, mobility, and reporting, the jobs mentioned above can be completed in less time, so you can get back to working on your business.

Sage Intacct provides the automation, reporting capabilities, and analytics you need to make decisions and prepare for the road ahead. Whether you need to manage a team of 10, 100, or 1,000 contractors, Sage Intacct can grow with you, working with other technology you need to manage your business.

How Churches Can Embrace Modern Finance

How Church Financial Leaders Can Break Their Spreadsheet Habit

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Spreadsheets. Used to manage everything from personal activities and budgets to organizational financial activities, the latter of these poses a multitude of dangers for religious organizations who try to manage funds, cash flows, and expenses using them.

The use of spreadsheets is prevalent in finance, but poses a danger, as a majority of spreadsheets contain errors. Worse, the time spent copying, manipulating, and pasting data is time better spent driving the organization’s strategy or focusing on the mission of your religious organization. Today, we’d like to share with you the dangers of spreadsheet gluttony and how to break your religious organization’s spreadsheet habit.

The Pains of Spreadsheet Gluttony

Spreadsheet gluttony is just one of the seven deadly sins of financial management—joining other common pain points like lack of compliance and slothful tracking—but it is often the most painful and risky ones that plagues financial leaders at churches.

Inaccurate Fund Management

When it comes to managing the different funds at your religious organization, your job includes disbursing, recording, and reporting how the church is managing its funds. When you use spreadsheets, however, you can’t guarantee speed or accuracy in doing this, and the distribution of money into different funds and the management of said funds becomes more challenging with growth.

If you can’t manage the funds, you can’t share in detail what you’re doing with parishioners’ money (which we will discuss below) and you risk the tax man’s hammer. An improperly filed Form 990 can result in the loss of tax exempt status. Learn more about the Form 990 here.

Lack of Detail

The biggest pain of spreadsheets is the lack of insights they provide into the numbers. Even if you are an expert at writing formulas and building relationships between data, this is still only scratching the surface of what could really be measured.

Now you may be thinking, “I don’t need all of these bells and whistles,” but when push comes to shove, you have to realize that your parishioners are more taxed than ever and have more choice in where they send their money as well. This means you need to share with parishioners that you are making good use of their money, as well as knowing when to ask for more.

Details matter, and being able to communicate these details efficiently and accurately to stakeholders, parishioners, and institution leaders was one of the biggest challenges we highlighted in our last blog, Three Common Annoyances Faced by Church Financial Teams.

Less Time Focusing on the Mission

It’s unlikely you got into managing the finances at your religious institution for the lucrative paycheck. It’s more likely you joined for the rewarding work and to help more people to find the grace of religion.

When you rely on spreadsheets and other antiquated processes in accounting, you are taking time directly away from this mission. By automating your processes, you can take the time back your time so you can give back more (or recognize the hidden value of wasting time).

Conclusion

An overreliance on spreadsheets is just one warning sign that your church is outgrowing its accounting software. If you are plagued by extended times generating reports, getting information to decision makers, or even buying paper, it’s time to learn about your options.

At rinehimerbaker, we are focused on helping your church, synagogue, or other religious institution to select, implement, and operate accounting software and other complementary applications. We welcome you to download our guide for organizations outgrowing QuickBooks, to take a look at Intacct’s 2017 Buyers Guide to Selecting Accounting Software, and to read the following to learn even more:

Real Cloud vs Fake Cloud

Don’t Fall into a Faux Cloud Trap

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In sunny Florida, we rarely see clouds of the meteorological sense, but when they are around, it’s important to know what they mean—because stormy skies may mean we need to board up or batten down the hatches. At rinehimerbaker, we are well-versed in technological clouds, and would like to send out a PSA—don’t fall for “faux clouds.” Today, we would like to break down the differences between real cloud and  fake cloud, and share with you what each means for your growing business. Read more

Seven Deadly Sins of Financial Management

Infographic: Seven Deadly Sins of Financial Management

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As your business grows, you begin to notice that the challenges of today take a little bit longer to address than they used to. With more growth comes more data, and with more data comes more time needed to complete basic tasks like closing the books each month. Unfortunately, in the wake of growth, too many businesses commit one or more of the following sins that limit visibility and cause business pain.

Related: What to Do When You Realize You’re Outgrowing QuickBooks

Seven Deadly Sins of Financial Management

A recently released infographic took a look at common business practices that hinder growth, especially when you’re outgrowing entry-level accounting software like QuickBooks, noting the following seven sins that finance leaders commit, many of which can slow your business to a grinding halt:

  1. Scattered Business Data: How much harder is it to close the books each month than it was last month or last year? As you grow, you have more financial data being generated each month, and managing this data in spreadsheets or on paper is not a good solution.
  2. Departmental Silos: Did you get that email? How about that invoice—that was sent three weeks ago? Communication between departments can make for a huge drag on company productivity, and for many organizations the best way to connect a multitude of departments is to set up an enterprise social network that cuts down on email strings and puts data in front of the necessary users when and where they need it.
  3. Spreadsheet Gluttony: Did you know that 88% of Spreadsheets have errors? With 89% of companies using spreadsheets for planning budgeting and accounting, a pretty hefty amount of organizations could have a fatal mistake somewhere in their books. Learnmore in our recent article, “Don’t Rely on Spreadsheets and Luck—There’s a Better Way.”
  4. Slothful Tracking: Another deadly sin is one that affects more than just finance. When an organization uses laborious manual processes for expense management, they are only managing and measuring, not optimizing. By moving expense management to the cloud, you could see cost savings of over 20% or more.
  5. Stale Financial Data: With so many manual processes in place, data not only takes forever to gather, it is inaccurate and has a short shelf life. Companies looking to overcome this should take a proactive stance, seeking a forward-looking system that can calculate information when you need it, where you need it, and based on the drivers you want.
  6. Lack of Compliance: With new ASC Revenue Recognition standards on the horizon, as well as increasing scrutiny into the numbers from customers and investors, compliance is a necessity moving forward—and spreadsheets can’t cut it.
  7. Antiquated Technology: Many of the solutions available to growing businesses were designed before the dawn of the internet, not for the modern needs of the modern business. Without forward-thinking technology, your organization is stuck in the past and unable to focus on technology.

See the Entire Infographic

The following infographic shares more about how you can gain absolution for these sins, so that you don’t end up in accounting hell (or worse—jail).

Related: Three Reasons Your Accounting Team Wants Intacct

Seven Deadly Sins of Financial Management

Gain Absolution with Modern Accounting

If you want to fight off expense tracking sloth, spreadsheet gluttony, and more, you need to swallow your pride and understand that it’s not you, it could be your processes or systems. Learn more about taking control of your organizations financial future by downloading the whitepaper, Eliminating the Risks of Spreadsheets in Finance, as well as by perusing the 2017 Buyer’s Guide to Accounting Software.

Ready to learn more? rinehimerbaker has released a new whitepaper for companies outgrowing QuickBooks.

Outgrowing QuickBooks—How to Know It’s Time to Change shares some of the biggest challenges that businesses face when growing, and the opportunities they have to ease growth.

Learn more by reading the first 3 pages of the whitepaper below:

Accounting Software Features

Eight Things to Look For in an Accounting Software (Part 2)

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At rinehimerbaker, we know accounting. We also are pretty well versed in accounting software. We recently discussed some of the most important features you should be looking for from a new accounting software, and would like to continue that discussion in part two of this two-part series.

Note: Part one highlighted the importance of having focused software that eases your day-to-day and month-to-month operations, ready to grow with you. See part one of this series here.

5: Implementation

As you look into new accounting software, two of the most complex and time consuming processes you will face—regardless of the vendor or partner—is the implementation and training process. You are entrusting someone to move a lot of information from your old accounting software to your new one and set your company up for success.

In this, it’s important to look for an accounting software that meets your timeframe while still allowing you all of the functionality you will need. Knowing what to expect during the process—timeframes, costs (direct, indirect, and hidden), and more—can help prevent the project from getting derailed.

We’ve discussed some of the key factors in a recent blog, How Long Does It Take to Implement a New Accounting System?

6: Short Learning Curve

In addition to implementation, any end users will need to learn about the software—new features, how to accomplish basic tasks, how to accomplish advanced tasks, and more. This decision can’t be understated, because some of the software options on the market today require a highly specialized skillset to do something as simple as generate or customize a report.

There are many factors that go into how easy—or hard—it is for your team to learn a new accounting software, including:

  • Whether it is a best of breed (only train specific users) or suite (train for every module you implement),
  • The age of the solution (older software is built on older and more complex code—less point-and-click operation)
  • The initial focus of the software (the more bells and whistles, the more training—solutions that grow and become more robust when you need them to be are easier to train)

These are a few considerations and decisions need to be made based on the overall technical aptitude of your team and ability to learn new products. This should be discussed with vendors, implementation/training partners, and customers of the software who are similar to your organization.

7: Integration

As we discussed in our Suite vs. Best of Breed article, integration is one of the key selling points of best-of-breed options, as point solutions are designed to do one thing well and allow other departments to choose what’s best for them as well. Suites often have much more complex (read costly) integrations that rely on hand-coding to operate if you choose to use something from outside of the vendor’s suite.

Whether you’re looking for a suite to handle all of the following or are looking for the best of the best based on your needs with a best-of-breed option, you should be looking for convenient “point-and-click” integrations (straightforward enough not to require IT skills) with commonly used applications such as:

  • CRM and sales force automation, like Salesforce.com
  • Human resources
  • Inventory and fixed assets
  • Project management
  • Payment processing
  • Payroll and ACH

Learn more about some of the options you have in the Intacct Marketplace, a resource for business software purchasers looking to connect applications.

8: Support

Whether you’re purchasing directly through the vendor or through an industry- and location-focused reseller like us, you should expect a knowledgeable, supportive, and focused partner who can walk you through the purchase, implementation, training, and long term operation of the software.

Support from Partners Means Support from Vendor to Partner

A good vendor and partner should be recognized for their reseller/partner program, as quality vendor-to-partner training is the first step in customer success.

Each year, CRN—a magazine for the solution provider industry—ranks channel programs based on a vendor’s ability to prepare their partners for success and only gives five-star ratings to the best of the best. It’s a good way for companies who are considering reselling a specific software to decide on whether or not the investment is worth it, but it’s also a good way for you to learn if your partner will be well-trained and able to help you.

If you love slowly progressing slideshows, you can view the 5-Star vendor guide here. If you’d like us to get to the point, our accounting software vendor of choice, Intacct, received top ratings in the cloud category.

Getting Focused Support: It Pays to Work with Someone in Your Location

If you’re looking for a partner to implement and train, it’s helpful to work with someone who knows you. Some states and locations will have different needs, and it’s important to have a support partner who understands your needs. As a company who started as an accounting firm and expanded to focus on the software game, we know all of the laws and regulations that face your Florida business, and are able to get to know you very well.

Conclusion

Choosing a new accounting software is a tough process that should be done with the input of everyone who will be using it. Knowing not only what to look for but who to work with can separate a successful implementation from a failure.

It’s important to shop around—for both the software and resellers. Think of your accounting software decision as you would a more complex kitchen remodel. You’re not only deciding on whether you want a Viking, a Wolf, or a Thermador, you’re also deciding on the people who have to be walking around your house during the remodel process. The same goes for a software implementation project.

We think you’ll like us at rinehimerbaker. Get in contact with us to learn how we can help you.

Additional Reading

Learn even more by reading the just-released 2017 Buyer’s Guide to Accounting Software and the Intacct Guide, Essential Features of a Modern Accounting System.

Features to Look For in Accounting Software

Eight Things to Look For in an Accounting Software (Part 1)

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When you’re outgrowing an entry-level accounting software, you know what you don’t want: The headaches, hassles, and time drains that come from the manual processes and underwhelming functionality. However, as you look toward a new solution, it’s important to know what you do want from your next solution.

In this two-part series, we look to share with you some of the important things you should be looking for in an accounting system built for your business as it grows and matures over the next five, ten, or twenty years. In part one, we will be discussing the importance of a solution built for your industry, why you need to be thinking long-term, how to get the information you need when and where you need it, and how to get the reports you need based on the business drivers you choose.

In part 2, we will be talking about why you need something that’s easy to learn, ready to integrate, ready to help you, and built for the modern business. See Part 2 of What to Look for In Accounting Software here.

1: Industry Focus

For growing businesses, you may have been able to survive at first with a generalized product that could handle the basic needs of your business. But as you continue to grow, you notice that you need the numbers and workflows built around your business—a professional services firm needs effective hours tracking and expense management while a distribution firm needs insightful purchasing and inventory management while a franchise needs multi-entity design.

While there are few niche accounting software options, solutions like Intacct have the focus and resources to design their solutions around your specific industry, thanks in part to their best-of-breed design (focused solely on accounting—plays well with complementing applications), experience in the middle market (nearly two decades), and highly effective product teams who know your industry and its needs.

Add on top a network of partners like us, and you have the design, knowledgeability, and support to use the software to the best of your abilities.

2: Scalability

One of the biggest mistakes that a company can make is to focus too much on the present and ignore the future. It’s why newspapers are failing (sad!) and the term digital disruption is actually a thing—companies ignoring possible changes in the future that ultimately sink them.

However, you should always be thinking growth, and shouldn’t be looking for an accounting system that will only suit you for the next year or two. An accounting software should be with you for at least the next five years and should be able to grow with your business.

Seek out an accounting software that supports your business growth and can prove it—with case studies of businesses sized similarly to you today and where you intend to be in a 5-, 10-, or 15-year period.

3: Immediacy/Automation

One of the first signs that you’re outgrowing your current accounting software is that it’s taking longer and longer to close your book each month and that it’s becoming harder and harder to generate the reports you need in a timely manner.

This is why you need to ditch the spreadsheets, and take full advantage of automation in order to stand tall during a period of growth. A few things you should look for:

  • Real-time GAAP, IFRS, FASB, Sarbanes-Oxley, regulatory, and compliance reports with over 150 included templates that give you the capability to drill down to the transaction level
  • Multiple ledgers (AR, AP, order management, and cash management ledgers) that can process transactions independently without degrading GL performance, and reduce the time it takes to close your books and report on business results
  • Multiple books, such as simultaneously keeping books on an accrual and a cash basis, to allow you to easily report business results to multiple stakeholders based on their needs and report preferences
  • Custom workflows and system access so that you can maintain separation of duties, match an accounting workflow to your organization’s business processes, or provide read-only access to stakeholders like executives and auditors

Learn more about the dangers of spreadsheets and the importance of automation here.

4: Insightful Reporting

As you grow, it’s likely that you have more people to whom you must answer. It also means you can’t be wasting time and money waiting on a third party to code custom reports because of the immensely complex reporting needs of some accounting software or ERP options.

However, thanks to automation and point-and-click reporting in Intacct, you can have answers to questions from sales, customer service, board members, or investors in minutes—not days. Better yet, you can customize these reports based on your business drivers, specific metrics or workflows. Learn more about reporting functionality in Intacct here, or get even deeper understanding of it by reading this data sheet.

Conclusion: Finding What’s Right for Your Business

As an Intacct Partner, rinehimerbaker has the skills you need to learn, implement, and operate your new accounting software in the cloud. Learn more about Intacct, as well as our services for businesses like yours by contacting us.