How to switch your finance software smoothly

Switching account software isn’t just about upgrading tech—it’s about optimising processes. Outdated systems slow you down, create inefficiencies, and can even put financial data at risk.

Conversely, modern finance software offers automation, real-time insights, and seamless integrations that save time and minimise errors.

Switching accounting software can give your accounting team access to a range of additional capabilities. For example, built-in reporting and analytics allow them to generate reports that help stakeholders make smarter financial decisions.

If your current system isn’t meeting your expectations, it’s time to switch to future-proof cloud accounting software.

Start by assessing your current system to identify gaps and inefficiencies. Next, key stakeholders—generally the finance and IT teams—should be involved early to ensure everyone’s aligned on goals.

You need a data migration plan before you implement new software. Clean and organise data beforehand to avoid transferring obsolete or incorrect information and minimise downtime and errors. Once data is ready for migration, collaborate with your new provider to map out the migration process and create a realistic timeline.

Train your team on the new system to shorten the learning curve. Schedule hands-on sessions and provide resources to help them feel more confident about the new software.

Following this process can minimise operational disruptions that come with transitioning to a new system.

The most effective method is to plan and implement the update in three phases (planning and preparation, implementation and training, and go-live and post-implementation). Here are the steps you can follow to update your accounting system with minimal disruption:

• Assessment: Start by identifying inefficiencies with an assessment of the current system. Bring in finance and IT experts to build support and address potential concerns.
• Find a software solution: Choose a solution that aligns with your business needs, considering scalability, integrations, and user-friendliness.
• Data prep: Clean and organise data before migration.
• Planning: Work with the software provider to map out the implementation process and work on backup strategies.
• Team training: Educate users to maximise system adoption and efficiency.
• Testing: Run real-world scenarios to identify and fix issues before implementation.
• Go live: Transition fully while monitoring for post-implementation adjustments.

The 3 phases needed when changing an accounting system include:

• Planning and preparation: During this phase, assess the gaps in your current system, select a system that can bridge them, and clean and organise your data to prepare it for migration.
• Implementation and testing: Migrate data, test the system thoroughly, and address issues before going live.
• Go-live and post-implementation: Transition fully to your new system, train your staff, and monitor performance to ensure smooth operation and address adjustments.

Here’s a quick overview of the process of choosing an accounting system:

• Evaluate business needs: Consider your company’s size, industry, growth plans, and any specific pain point in your current system. Zero in on a handful of systems that meet your criteria.
• Look at the feature set: Narrow down your list further by analyzing each system’s feature set. Modern systems typically include features like automation, scalability, reporting capabilities, and integrations with existing tools like payroll and inventory software. Request demos or trials to test software in real-world scenarios for your specific use cases to ensure it fits your needs.
• Iron out details with the vendor: Assess vendor support and discuss implementation timelines. Prepare a list of questions based on past experiences and pain points to avoid surprises later.
• Consider your budget: If you’re a startup, you’ll do just fine with relatively low-cost small business accounting software. Mid-sized businesses might be better off choosing a more advanced solution that supports the complexity of their financial processes. This ensures you’re not paying for features and capabilities you don’t need.

Transferring data to a new accounting system requires planning to ensure accuracy and minimal disruption. Here’s a quick overview of the process:

• Evaluate and clean data: Start by cleaning your current data and cleaning it—remove outdated, duplicate, or irrelevant records.
• Export data: Export organised data from your current system in a format compatible with your new system, such as CSV.
• Map data fields: Align data fields from old software to match the new system’s structure and ensure consistency.
• Test with sample data: Import a small sample dataset into the new system to test the process and identify potential issues.
• Full data migration: Transfer all data into your new system once the test import is successful.
• Reconciliation and review: Cross-check key financial figures, such as balances and transactions, to confirm accuracy.
• Finalise and backup: Back up all data and ensure it’s accessible in the new system for day-to-day operations.

Setting up new accounting software starts with defining an implementation timeline and roadmap. Once you have these, here are the steps you need to take to set up new accounting software:

1. Install or access the software: Install the accounting software on your device if it's on-premise or set up online access credentials if it’s a cloud-based solution.
2. Configure company details: Enter company information, like your business name and tax details.
3. Set up accounts and chart of accounts: Customise the chart of accounts to reflect your unique financial structure and ensure categories align with your needs.
4. Migrate data: Transfer key data, including customer records, supplier details, and opening balances for all accounts. Ensure that this is done accurately by cleaning data beforehand.
5. Integrate systems: Link your accounting software with other tools in your tech stack, such as inventory management, payroll, and CRM, to enable frictionless data exchange between them and streamline processes. See if it’s possible to integrate your banking software into your accounting system to pull your bank feed and record transactions automatically.
6. User setup and permissions: Add team members and assign roles with appropriate access levels to ensure security.
7. Test the system: Run sample transactions, reconcile balances, and review reports to confirm everything’s functioning as it should.
8. Train your team: Provide hands-on training sessions to shorten the learning curve and help employees understand how to use software effectively.
9. Go live and monitor: Transition fully to using new software. Monitor operations closely and make adjustments as necessary.