Your finance system should make running your business easier, not create more work for your team. But as organisations grow, the systems and processes that once worked well can gradually become barriers to efficiency, visibility and decision-making.
Jamie Kirby, Account Executive at Mysoft, works with organisations to understand their financial challenges and explore whether Sage Intacct could support their requirements.
Drawing on his conversations with finance leaders across different industries, Jamie shares the warning signs that suggest a finance system may no longer be fit for purpose, why businesses often delay making a change and what to consider before choosing a replacement.
The warning signs
When your finance system starts creating more work.
One of the clearest signs that a finance system is struggling to meet business requirements is when teams spend more time working outside the system than within it. Spreadsheets, manual workarounds and disconnected systems can gradually become part of everyday operations. Reports that should be straightforward to produce might take days to prepare, and by the time the information reaches decision-makers, it may already be out of date.
These challenges don’t necessarily mean the software has stopped working. Often, the business has simply grown beyond what its existing systems were originally designed to support. As organisations expand, financial processes become more complex, reporting requirements increase and the need for reliable, accessible information becomes more important.
When systems can no longer keep pace, finance teams are left filling the gaps themselves.
What Finance Leaders Need
Less manual work, more meaningful insights.
Despite differences between industries, Jamie finds that finance leaders often share three common priorities: faster access to information, confidence in their financial numbers and fewer manual processes that introduce the risk of errors. Increasingly, organisations are also exploring automation and AI to improve efficiency and reduce the administrative burden on their teams.
But the wider objective goes beyond saving time.
Finance leaders want to spend less time managing everyday processes and more time understanding business performance, identifying opportunities and supporting strategic decisions. By reducing repetitive tasks and improving access to reliable information, finance teams can move away from constantly gathering and preparing data towards using it to guide the business.
The Challenge of Change
Why businesses delay replacing their finance systems.
Replacing a finance system is a significant decision, particularly when finance sits at the centre of so many business operations. The possibility of disruption can make organisations understandably cautious about introducing change. Instead, businesses often turn to quicker solutions. An additional spreadsheet might solve an immediate reporting problem, while a manual workaround can help a team overcome a limitation in its existing software.
Individually, these adjustments can seem manageable. However, as they become embedded within everyday processes, they can become increasingly difficult to remove. Over time, the business becomes more dependent on workarounds that were originally intended to be temporary.
Jamie explains that organisations often begin seriously considering a replacement only when these processes start failing or creating wider business problems. But waiting until that point can make the decision more urgent than it needs to be.
Knowing When to Act
Don't wait until the problems become too great.
For finance leaders, recognising the right time to review existing systems doesn’t necessarily require a major failure. The warning signs are often already visible in the day-to-day experiences of the finance team. If employees regularly mention manual workarounds, lengthy reporting processes or difficulties accessing information, it may be time to investigate whether the current system is still meeting the organisation’s needs.
Jamie’s advice is to start by speaking with the people using the system every day. Understand their responsibilities, ask where they experience frustrations and identify the processes that consistently take longer than they should. These conversations can reveal challenges that aren’t always obvious from a leadership perspective.
Starting this process early also gives businesses something valuable: time.
Rather than being forced into a rushed decision because the existing system has become unsustainable, organisations can explore their requirements, evaluate their options and plan their next steps with greater confidence.
Choosing the Right Solution
Look beyond the software itself.
When businesses begin evaluating finance software, functionality is naturally an important consideration. However, Jamie encourages organisations to look at the bigger picture. A finance system shouldn’t operate in isolation from the rest of the business. The ability to connect financial information with wider operations can help organisations gain greater visibility and make better use of the information available to them.
Equally important is choosing the right implementation partner.
A good partner should take the time to understand how the entire organisation operates, rather than focusing solely on the finance department or a list of software requirements. At Mysoft, this begins with an in-depth discovery process, exploring existing workflows and understanding why particular activities are carried out in certain ways. Sometimes, that means challenging established processes.
Just because something has always been done a particular way doesn’t necessarily mean it remains the most efficient approach. By understanding the reasons behind existing processes, businesses can identify opportunities to improve how they operate rather than simply transferring the same challenges into a new system.
Looking Ahead
Start with your business, not the software.
For Jamie, one of the most important pieces of advice is also one of the simplest: don’t begin your finance transformation journey by looking at software. Start by looking inwards.
Understand where your organisation is experiencing frustrations, which processes are creating unnecessary work and what your business needs to achieve over the next three to five years. Only then should you begin exploring which technology is best suited to supporting those ambitions.
For finance leaders, the key takeaway is that replacing a finance system shouldn’t simply be about fixing today’s problems. It should be about understanding what your business needs to achieve next and choosing a solution that can support that direction.
The earlier you begin those conversations, the more opportunity you have to make a considered decision rather than reacting when your existing processes can no longer keep up.
HEAR FROM JAMIE
Watch the Full Conversation.
Hear directly from Jamie Kirby, Account Executive at Mysoft, as he explores the warning signs of an outdated finance system, why businesses delay making a change and what finance leaders should consider before investing in a new solution.