Why iplicit is changing the way accounting software is implemented

Why iplicit is changing the way accounting software is implemented

Many finance leaders know their software needs upgrading but are put off by the thought that the change would be painful.

Recent research by iplicit sought to uncover the reasons so many organisations don’t upgrade their finance system – and found concerns about implementation were a major factor.

Expense, lack of internal resources and the fear that the transition would be complicated were all cited. So were concerns that the organisation might have to run two systems in parallel to avoid losing old data.

From its inception, iplicit aimed to drastically reduce the cost and upheaval of implementing new software.

Some complicated enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can take anything up to 75-120 business days to implement, spread over a year or more. iplicit was determined to challenge that model and can be implemented in as little as 16-18 business days, compressed into a single calendar quarter.

iplicit implementation

iplicit’s team of implementation consultants is led by Sam Curtis, Customer Service Director. She draws on her years of experience implementing not only iplicit but many other finance systems.

The implementation process starts with a Project Kick-Off discussion about what it will involve, how long it will take and what the customer wants their iplicit set-up to look like.

Each party agrees on what their team needs to do and what the customer’s requirements are – including what data must be brought across from an old system, what financial reporting will be required, who will have access to the system and who needs training.

All this is summarised in a Project Initiation Document (PID) which is signed off before implementation begins.

Getting into the sandbox

iplicit provides plenty of opportunity for customers to decide what they want from their finance system and how it should be configured.

A “sandbox” environment is set up using some real data, so users can get hands-on and begin making decisions about how the system should be customised.

As the process goes on, the sandbox is refined to reflect the way the customer wants the live system to work.

Data is moved into the new system so everything can be tested, with revisions made as necessary and the customer deciding when everything is good to go. Training is delivered as required, through hands-on experience, demonstrations, videos and webinars.

The system can go live all at once or in phases, depending on the customer’s requirements.

iplicit's UK-based customer support team remain on hand to deal with any queries – and put any requests on a wish list for future development.

The onboarding and implementation process has helped iplicit earn rave reviews on sites like G2 and Capterra as well as generating plenty of word of mouth referrals. The business has almost no customer “churn”.

Ian Newman, Director at the business Corrotherm, which switched to iplicit from Exchequer, says: “We’ve had four accounting systems over the past 30 years and no migration was ever as smooth or as quick as the experience we had with iplicit.”

Jane Williams, Head of Finance and Business Support at Reading Students’ Union, who switched to iplicit from QuickBooks, says: “I’ve changed accounts packages a number of times in my career and you’ve got to get the implementation right.”

She adds: “Both the implementation and support desk at iplicit were brilliant. They were very quick, very supportive. I can’t fault them.”

Louise Zandstra, Director of Finance and Enterprise at The Charleston Trust, which switched to iplicit from Sage 50, says: “Having gone through one quite bruising implementation process with a non-finance system, I couldn’t afford to have another experience like that.

“But iplicit was a dream. iplicit’s implementation consultant was great at training everybody remotely. I’ve done these things as on-site, all-day sessions in the past and it’s really draining, but with this one, we built the knowledge up over time and consequently I feel I really understand the system.”

You can find out more here about iplicit’s implementation process, or take a quick virtual tour of the software, or get in touch for a demonstration.