Ranging from high volumes of transactions to more complex reporting, many businesses seek additional capacity to support growth.
Starter Accounting Solutions, including Quickbooks, Xero, Wave, and Freshbooks, have been trusted allies to small businesses, offering a user-friendly and low-cost solution for everyday accounting tasks. However, once these companies grow in scale, their operational complexity will likely outstrip the capability and challenge the limits.
More scalable platforms that include advanced functionalities are NetSuite and Workday have emerged as go-to options for businesses moving beyond solutions like QuickBooks. This article explores signs that it’s time to transition, the advantages of alternative platforms, and how businesses can make a seamless switch to solutions that better fit their needs.
When Starter Accounting Solutions Starts Holding You Back
For companies in the growth stage, the threshold point for outgrowing QuickBooks is usually a milestone in the business journey. These are the main warning signs for companies to look beyond such levels of functionality:
Increased Volume and Complexity of Data Transactions
QuickBooks will become slow and susceptible to errors when dealing with very high volumes of transactions or more substantial historical data. Crash tendencies and file corruption are indicative signs.
Need for More Complex Reports
Growing businesses require more comprehensive financial analytics, such as live dashboards, custom reports, and consolidation of data between entities. QuickBooks is typically inadequate for such sophisticated analytics.
Complex Operations
Multi-location, multi-entity, or multi-currency operations can easily expose the shortcomings of QuickBooks with regard to consolidation and support for multi-currencies.
Integration Limitations
While relying on other tools for CRM, ERP, inventory management, or marketing, the integration capabilities of QuickBooks might not be adequate for efficient operations.
Scalability Challenges
Designed for small to medium-sized businesses, QuickBooks lacks the scalability and advanced automation needed to support large enterprises or highly dynamic industries.
Exploring Alternatives: NetSuite and Workday
When Starter Accounting Solutions, such as QuickBooks, no longer meets your needs, it’s time to consider platforms that can handle your business’s complexity and scale. NetSuite and Workday are two of the leading solutions, each with unique benefits tailored to growing organizations.
NetSuite: A Comprehensive ERP Solution for Growing Businesses
NetSuite is an on-demand enterprise resource planning that suits business houses that wish to have one Platform where financial management, operations, and customer relationships are undertaken.
Why Choose NetSuite?
- End-to-End Integration: NetSuite integrates financial management, CRM, inventory, and e-commerce in a single suite. This eliminates the use of various tools and reduces data transfer.
- Scalability and Flexibility: Built for businesses of every size, NetSuite grows with your business. It features advanced modules for financial consolidation, demand planning, and supply chain management.
- Real-Time Reporting and Analytics: NetSuite allows customizable dashboards, real-time KPIs, and robust analytics, allowing businesses to see their performance clearly and in action.
- Global Operations Support: Multi-currency, multi-language, and multi-subsidiary functionalities make NetSuite perfect for businesses with international operations.
- Process Automation: Automates routine transactions such as billing, revenue recognition, and inventory tracking to ensure efficiency and accuracy.
Outgrowing your accounting software signals the success and growth of your business. However, the effort required to implement an enterprise software solution should be justified by the numerous advantages it brings.
Workday: Financial and Workforce Management Made Easy
Workday is a cloud-based solution that outperforms all others when it comes to financial management and human capital management (HCM), making it the perfect solution for operationally focused and workforce optimization-oriented organizations.
Why Choose Workday?
- Consolidated Finance and HR Management: Workday integrates the financial and human resource data to provide an all-around view of business performance and workforce dynamics.
- Enhanced Financial Planning: With features such as scenario modeling, real-time insights, and predictive analytics, Workday enables businesses to make informed decisions.
- Compliance: Workday supports compliance with global accounting standards, tax regulations, and workforce laws to ensure that businesses are always audit-ready.
- Mobile-First Design: Workday’s intuitive, mobile-friendly interface allows users to access data and perform tasks from anywhere, enhancing productivity.
- Scalable for Enterprises: Workday is designed for large, complex organizations for businesses that need robust reporting, advanced budgeting, and detailed workforce analytics.
Other Alternatives to Consider
While NetSuite and Workday are top choices, other platforms may align with specific business needs:
- SAP Business One: Best for small to medium-sized enterprises needing advanced analytics and ERP capabilities.
- Microsoft Dynamics 365: A versatile solution that integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft ecosystem, offering financial, CRM, and ERP functionalities.
- Zoho Finance Suite: Affordable and user-friendly, Zoho is a great option for businesses transitioning from QuickBooks.
- Xero: A cloud-based solution tailored for SMEs, offering strong multi-currency support and seamless integrations.
Making the Transition: A Step-by-Step Guide
Switching from QuickBooks to a more mature system needs careful planning and execution. Here are a few considerations:
Business Needs
Find pain points and future goals. Determine whether it’s more complex reporting, more extensive scalability, or multi-entity support-what your business is looking for in a new system.
Engage Key Stakeholders
Please work with your finance, IT, and operations leadership to ensure they all have the same priority set and expectations.
Choose the Right Platform
Assess options like NetSuite, Workday, and others for your specific needs, budget, and industry.
Data Migration Planning
Collaborate with professionals to map and migrate financial data accurately with minimal downtime and errors during the transition process.
Team Training
Train employees fully so they can be confident in using the new system.
Monitoring
Track performance after the system has been implemented to tackle problems immediately and gain the maximum value from it.
Final Thoughts
As businesses grow, their financial systems must grow with them. When starter accounting software can no longer keep pace, transitioning to robust platforms like NetSuite or Workday can unlock new efficiencies, enhance reporting capabilities, and support long-term scalability.
Ready to find the right solution for your business? Contact Applied Accountancy today. Our team can guide you through selecting and implementing the best Platform to meet your unique needs.
Applied Expertise: financial management, accounting software, scalability, complexity, data transactions, reporting, integration, CRM, ERP, inventory management, marketing, multi-currency, multi-location, multi-entity, growth stage, enterprise resource planning, cloud-based solution, demand planning, supply chain management, real-time KPIs, global operations, process automation, financial planning, human capital management, workforce optimization
