Time for New Accounting Software? Now is the Time to Start Configuration!

Summer is winding down! The weather is fine and our thoughts turn to…. accounting software?

Yes, if your company has been considering a move to a new accounting software platform such as Unanet, now is the time to act if you want to be up and ready to go for a January 1, 2025 system launch. Most new system configurations can take three to six plus months to configure and implement, so it is wise to start the process as early as you can.

Some of the benefits of starting the configuration process include:

• Having more time to review and discuss setup choices and make decisions; This is important with any new system as you want to ensure the setup is correct for your business.  You also want to be able to take the time to test the setup under multiple scenarios in a non-production environment to ensure the desired results are achieved.

 

• Ensuring you will be up and running on 1/1;  The toughest part of a configuration can be a mid-year start.  When you start with new software in the middle of a year, you end up with a partial year in one system and part in the other.  The best outcome is to be able to start using the new software at the beginning of the year to ensure a full year of data will be in the new system. This facilitates trending reporting during the year without having to cobble together offline data.

 

• Providing more up-front time to learn the new software and processes.  Some software is intricate in its setup. Configuration and processes can be significantly different and / or more complex than in the predecessor system.  Having more time to learn the new software and its nuances is always beneficial.  Staff that are not sufficiently trained at Go-Live can be detrimental to the adoption and long-term success of the system, and in our experience, this is often an unintended consequence of short implementation timelines.

 

• For Government Contractors, compliance and reporting will be a much easier task if a full year of data is in the new system (ICE, Status reports, etc.). Remember, the new system is the system of record as of the new system Go Live date.

 

• For auditing purposes, a full year of data in any new system is preferable.  Should auditors have to review two systems during an audit this will increase the time needed by the auditors, and therefore the overall cost of the audit.

 

While not an all-inclusive list, these are many of the reasons to start moving on a new accounting system for 2025 now. This will help ensure your company has a proper amount of time and bandwidth to plan and execute the configuration for a successful system launch in January. Ultimately, the success of any system comes back to the implementation. If you aren’t getting what you need out of your current system and are interested in transitioning to Unanet, this is the time to get rolling. Contact us to get started!