Guidelines For a Successful Implementation of a New Financial System

Introduction

This whitepaper outlines essential guidelines for a successful implementation of a new financial system. At Creative, we understand the significance of such an investment and aim to assist organisations in achieving their strategic and operational objectives. This whitepaper details the key aspects to be considered when implementing a financial system in order to take full value from the process.

Strategic Objectives

Implementing a new financial system is a substantial investment of time and resources. It should only be undertaken when it aligns with your organisation’s strategic objectives. These objectives may include:

• Improving Cash Flow – Enhancing cash flow is often a primary goal for organisations. Companies’ objectives may involve streamlining the accounts receivable and payable processes, automating invoicing, or providing real-time insights.
• Better Visibility of Profits  – Visibility of profit is essential for making informed business decisions. A company may want robust reporting and analytics capabilities that enable them to monitor profitability at various levels, such as product lines, departments, or customer segments.
• Meeting Customer Deliverables – In today’s competitive business landscape, meeting customer expectations is paramount. An upgrade to your financial system represents a huge opportunity in this regard, be it through faster order processing, better inventory management, or more accurate billing.

It is important to note that you must communicate your objectives both internally and to your partner to ensure alignment throughout the scoping, planning, and implementation phases of the project in order for your goals to be fulfilled.

Internal Buy-In

Organisations succeed or fail based on the people within their team, so gaining internal buy-in at an early stage is critical for project success. Below are some tips to ensure your team is fully onboard:

• Change Management – Implementing a new financial system represents a significant change for your organisation, hence you should develop a change management strategy that addresses the following:
  • Assess the impact of the change on different teams and individuals.
  • Identify potential resistance to change and create plans to address it.
  • Communicate the benefits of the new system and how it aligns with the businesses strategic objectives.
  • Provide training and support to help employees adapt to the new processes.
• Employee Engagement – Implementing a new system impacts your employees and can be daunting and stressful. The only way to mitigate this is by engaging your employees in the decision-making process. Encourage them to share their insights and concerns about the strategic objectives and about the new system. This not only helps identify potential issues but also fosters a sense of ownership and involvement in the project.

Success Criteria

Defining success for each area impacted by the project is essential for measuring the effectiveness of the implementation and evaluates whether your strategic goals were achieved. To build a comprehensive success criteria, you should consider the following aspects:

• Process Improvements – Identify specific process improvements that the new system should deliver. For example:
  
  • Shortened financial reporting cycles.
  • Reduced manual data entry.
  • Faster invoice processing times.
  • Provide training and support to help employees adapt to the new processes.
• Staff Productivity – Measure how the system will impact staff productivity. Will it reduce the time spent on manual tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities?
• Customer Satisfaction – Track improvements in customer satisfaction. Will the new system lead to faster order fulfilment, more accurate billing, or improved customer support?
• Financial Metrics – Set financial metrics such as return on investment (ROI) and cost savings targets. Clearly define how the new system will contribute to these financial goals. It is important that you define exactly what the success of the project implementation will look like across your whole organisation at the beginning of your journey. This can then be used as a guide throughout the project to ensure alignment with your strategic objectives.

Shared Vision

It is important to bring your objectives and success criteria together and create a shared vision which aligns your entire organisation with these goals. To achieve this, you should:

• Leadership Alignment – Ensure that your leadership team is fully committed to the project’s goals and outcomes. Leadership focus is crucial for driving change and maintaining focus throughout the implementation.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Facilitate collaboration across departments and teams. Cross-functional teams should work together to ensure that the new system meets the needs of various stakeholders.
• Continuous Improvement – Acknowledge that the project extends beyond the initial implementation. Encourage a culture of continuous improvement, where feedback is actively sought, and adjustments are made to further enhance system performance.

Internal Project Management

Efficient project management is vital for keeping the implementation on track. Your partner should provide a project lead to work with their consultants and your team, but there are plenty of things you can also do from your side, such as:

• Project Manager – Appoint a dedicated project manager internally who will oversee all aspects of the implementation. This individual should have the authority to make decisions, manage resources, and resolve issues promptly.
• Resource Allocation – Carefully allocate resources, including personnel, time, and budget, to ensure that the project proceeds smoothly. Monitor resource usage to prevent bottlenecks or delays.
• Effective Communication – Establish clear lines of communication between project teams, stakeholders, and your partner’s consultants. Regular status meetings, progress reports, and issue resolution protocols should be in place.

Thinking About Your Customers

We strongly suggest that you consider your customers as central to your project to ensure you do right by them. To do this you should take into consideration:

• Customer-Centric Approach – Adopt a customer-centric approach to system design and implementation. Identify how the new system will enhance the customer experience and satisfaction.
• Data Analysis – Leverage customer data within the system to gain insights into customer behaviour and preferences. Use this information to tailor your services and offerings.
• Support and Training – Ensure your staff are trained to use the new system effectively. Provide resources and support to address questions or concerns during the transition. By focusing on these aspects, you can align your new financial system implementation with your customers’ needs and expectations.

Standardisation of Processes

In the past there was a big focus on customisation – project leads would request their systems be entirely bespoke to accommodate the nuances and eccentricities of their particular processes. However, this led to systems that were at times difficult and expensive to maintain as well as leading to new staff having to learn a ‘one-off’ model that they had never used before. It also created major headaches when legislation necessitated further system change. To prevent this and ensure feasibility of use in the long term, your partner should implement a standardised foundation, then add functionality and processes through the great App community available on the core systems. There are numerous benefits from standardising processes, such as:

• Scalability Standardised – processes will ensure your system can scale easily as your organisation grows.
• Ease of Integration – Standardised systems are typically easier to integrate with other software and technologies, reducing the complexity of future IT projects.
• Compliance Standardised – processes can simplify compliance efforts, making it easier to adapt to changing regulations without significant system modifications.

By embracing standardisation, you will position your organisation for long-term success and adaptability.

Time for Your Staff to Fulfil Their Tasks Within the Project

The success of the go-live is dependent on your team providing your partner with all the necessary data and information, not to mention the significant time required for comprehensive testing. You must make sure your staff has the time and resources they need:

• Data Preparation – Allocate time for staff to gather and input data into the new system. Insufficient time for data preparation can lead to inaccuracies and delays.
• User Training – Invest in comprehensive user training to ensure that staff can effectively operate the new system. This includes training on system features, data entry procedures, and reporting capabilities.
• User Acceptance – Testing (UAT) Allow sufficient time to thoroughly test everything delivered by your partner as part of the UAT. Testing should encompass all system functionalities, and any identified issues should be addressed before the Go-live phase.

Attention to Detail at Scope Stage

Your partner should provide you with a questionnaire designed to extract all key information during the scope process. It is critical that you provide clear, detailed responses to ensure there are no nasty surprises later on and the project aligns with your expectations.

• Detailed Requirements – Clearly define detailed system requirements, including specific functionalities, data structures, and integration points. This clarity will prevent scope creep and help your partners consultants tailor their solutions to your needs.
• Scope Control – Establish a robust scope control process to manage changes and additions. This process should involve careful consideration of how each change aligns with strategic objectives.

Ultimately the more detailed and clear you are at this stage, the more successful the project will be, and the outcomes will align with your strategy.

Communication

It is no secret that effective and transparent communication is fundamental to most tasks, so with a project of this magnitude it needs to be at the front of everyone’s minds. To help promote the success of this project you should endeavour to:

• Stakeholder Communication – Maintain open and transparent communication with all stakeholders, including executives, department heads, project teams, and your partners consultants. Regular updates and progress reports are essential.
• Issue Resolution – Establish protocols for issue resolution. Timely communication and resolution of challenges are crucial for maintaining project momentum.
• Change Communication – When changes or modifications are necessary, communicate these changes clearly to all affected parties. Ensure that staff and end-users are aware of how changes will impact their roles and processes.

The 7 Deadly Sins of System Implementation

1. Not involving the team from the start – Someone within your finance function spots an exciting opportunity to upgrade the system, but they don’t take the team on the journey with them. It becomes an individual project built around the biases and limited knowledge of one person, and by the time everyone else is brought in the damage has already been done.
2. Prioritising speed over function – This is one of the more common mistakes we see. The decision maker will have the end of the financial year or some other arbitrary date in mind, and insist that the system is up and running by then. Our response is to point out that they’re likely to have this new system for the next 10 years, so do they really want to get it quick? Or would they rather get it right?
3. Not having enough project resource – Occasionally we’ll be contacted by someone within a finance function who’s been tasked with implementing a new system, but when we begin asking questions it quickly becomes evident they have not been allocated sufficient resources, and neither do they have the authority to expand those resources. This is a particularly tricky challenge as it requires that individual to completely reset expectations within their organisation.
4. Conflicted priorities One of the most pernicious scenarios occurs when the finance function splits into silos, each with their own competing interests and priorities. There is a lack of consideration as to how changes will affect other people or the organisation at large.
5. Insufficient budget – Much like #3, sometimes cost expectations are just too far removed from reality. The decision maker insists on a budget that doesn’t nearly correlate with desired outcomes, and all but guarantees disappointment before the work has begun. In this situation we are very clear about the necessary budget, and then it is their decision how to proceed.
6. Lack of project sponsor at board level – This can be a recipe for disaster. The individuals within the finance function will be working their hardest to manage the implementation, but they just won’t have the authority to overcome the inevitable challenges, nor the influence to manage key stakeholders and ensure a smooth transition culturally. These things have to come from the top.
7. The worst offence of all – The person leading the project wants to do what they did in their old system in the new system. Needless to say this entirely defeats the object of implementing a better system (with all its opportunities for automation and efficiency) in the first place. This person always exists somewhere in the accounts function – we just have to hope they’re not the person in charge!

The 4 Traits That Define The Best Project Leads

No matter who you work with, there will need to be someone that manages the project from your side, and acts as the main point of contact for the service provider. The best project leads all share the same 4 traits:

1. High levels of organisation – There are a lot of plates to spin and if one drops to the floor it’ll create a whole lot of mess. The person in charge needs to be a superb multi-tasker with an instinctive ability to prioritise. Formal project management experience is not necessary, but what does matter is that they’re a person who can get things done while keeping a firm handle on the overall task schedule.
2. Empathy and emotional intelligence – With so many stakeholders, each with their own competing interests and agendas, the project lead has to be able to build strong relationships and get under the skin of what success looks like for each party. They need to be respectful of people’s time and understand how to motivate and influence a variety of personality types.
3. Authority – Along with their soft skills, they also need the ability to say “No”. Ideally this authority should be formally recognised within the organisation, with a clear understanding by all that their requests are to be taken seriously. Without the necessary clout, certain parties may pressure the project lead to prioritise their own agendas, while others may simply ignore the requirements of the project entirely.
4. Deep system knowledge – This person cannot do their job if they don’t understand the landscape in which they’re operating. They need significant understanding of historical processes, as well as the new processes and technology the project will introduce.simply ignore the requirements of the project entirely.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the successful implementation of a new financial system requires a holistic approach that encompasses strategic alignment, internal support, clear success criteria, and effective communication. By following these guidelines, you can navigate the complexities of such a project with confidence and achieve your desired outcomes. And regardless of how the project has gone, we advise that you always implement a wash up to determine what went well within the project, and what could be improved. It is important to evaluate the success of the project to ensure things that did not go as planned do not reoccur in future projects.

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