As your company grows, so will your needs and wants from your accounting software. You are going to want features that are just not available in your “run-of-the-mill” platform. But the real question is when should you be looking to upgrade? How do you know that you are ready for a more comprehensive system? Here are six signs to be on the lookout for so you know when to make the switch.
Need to Reduce IT Costs
Often times as software updates are pushed out to help your old program run better and be more efficient, you’ll see that the hardware it is installed on cannot or will no longer support the software. Now you are spending time troubleshooting and tying up IT resources. This, in turn, slows you and the company down from focusing on your primary mission.
Lack of Real-Time Metrics and Reporting
There may be times when you or your company get in the habit of telling customers that you can “have them the numbers by the end of the day.” The preferred option would be to have those numbers right on hand, accurate, and up to date. If you find yourself pulling multiple reports, double-checking them, consolidating them in Excel, and then getting back to your customers – whether internal or external – this is a good sign that it is time to make a change to a software that updates in real-time. Having your metrics and reporting as current as possible is the best way to communicate true and real expectations.
The Need to Customize Reporting
As your company grows, the type of reporting you rely on will expand and change. You may find yourself needing to track different types of data – sometimes on pieces of information that you simply weren’t focused on previously. Reporting that is easy to modify and expand, then pull together into a centralized dashboard, saves you time as well as keeps the right information in front of the right people. Of course, if you are saving time, you are also saving money. Not to mention being able to make more of an impact on productivity and your goals by making decisions with better information
Reduce Labor-Intensive Processes
If you notice that you are spending more time training your staff to use the software than actually using it, it may be time to switch to software that is more user-friendly. This allows your company to be more productive and prevents the need for constant retraining when updates are made, which can be quite labor-intensive and counterproductive.
Minimize Significant Downtime
When most people think of computers, they think of updates. If you find those updates require time and effort to install it may be time for a change. This may be yet another sign to switch to a software that does the updates on non-peak hours automatically and doesn’t require massive month-long upgrade processes just to get to the current version.
Multiple Locations
When you and your team are constantly on the go, you need anytime, anywhere access. This is the time when you want to start looking for a solution that answers that need and gives you that ability. Intacct’s solution is cloud-based and offers you access to your data at any place or time.
