Here’s something you already know: your company’s finance team relies on operations, and operations often needs finance’s help. That’s why it's so important that the various teams within a company communicate as openly as possible. An improved setup and standardised tools are essential for closer collaboration – and that’s a huge challenge. So, how do you take it up?

You have a choice to make when you pick an ERP solution for your company. 1/ Buy the solution from a software publisher and hire an integration consultant. But having three people in a marriage can be tricky. 2/ A better, easier and more effective option is to choose someone who does both: a software company who’ll also integrate the solution.

This is a story about a crime. And one that came at a very high price. One day, you leave the office with your heart pounding: you’ve just found out how much your management software actually costs. The sums don’t lie. Your ERP solution should have helped your company leap forward, but it’s holding you back. After this shocking discovery, you write one single phrase in bloody letters on the back wall of reception: “our ERP solution killed us”. What happened? How can you explain this crime? How can you get justice? Let’s investigate this heinous act together.

Do you have an ERP solution? Like any piece of software, ERP has its limits. How do you know if your chosen solution has passed its “use-by date”? Here are the top 5 signs that it’s time to change your ERP software!

Digital transformation has become a buzzword. “Company X has completed its digital transformation”, “service Y is undergoing a digital transformation” or “here are the latest trends in corporate digital transformation” – it’s everywhere. This revolutionary shift to a “digital first” approach seemingly came out of nowhere. But is it aptly named? Instead of transformation, shouldn’t we actually be talking about evolution?

The success of your architectural projects now also depends on how your company manages its data. When you’re competing for tenders and allocating work to subcontractors and co-contractors, you have to keep up to speed and deal with more complex invoicing demands. How can you optimise your firm’s internal management, oversee projects more effectively and meet clients’ exacting standards?

Before you pitch an ERP solution to your board, you have to do some serious preparation. It’s very simple: without the board’s approval, you won’t get the software package. The first step is to set out why you want to use a new tool.

There is a major challenge for service companies - the control of how employees spend their time. Why?

• To calculate the profitability of projects,
• To allocate the right resources at the right time,
• To add value to the work of teams,

To monitor, analyse and make the necessary corrections.

The adoption of a new, integrated ERP software package is a project that can give rise to multiple stumbling blocks for employees. This reluctance is caused by the human nature of different staff members who may be more or less difficult about being moved out of their comfort zone. Removing these stumbling blocks requires clear, positive and unfailing support from management.

"I'm a CFO in a service company and sometimes, I have to say that I feel like I'm on my own!"

We sympathise with you, and even though we can't offer a miracle cure, here are some simple rules to follow. They come from work on the ground and are, therefore, pragmatic and can be applied rapidly.