A small business can gain a lot from any form of accounting system. These advantages are increased with an integrated accounting platform, which continuously receives and transmits a steady flow of data throughout your financial processes. Rekeying data is unnecessary, thanks to an integrated system that keeps your records current.

An integrated accounting system combines all accounting operations into a single, self-balancing program. This implies that switching between systems to re-key data, such as switching between an order management system and a standalone accounting system, is not necessary. This removes the chance of human error. Additionally, since the numerous ledgers and functions update instantly and in real-time, reconciling them is unnecessary.

The business as a whole gets reliable financial information much more promptly as a result. This facilitates management's ability to quickly reverse course and make wise business decisions based on accurate and timely data.

What Benefits Can an Integrated System Offer?

In standalone or non-integrated accounting, data from the company's ordering system must be manually entered into the accounting system. This encourages human error and results in perpetually outdated accounting data. When managers are given outdated and maybe inaccurate information, they might not be able to make the best decisions.

On the other side, an integrated system enables easy data transfer between modules. Due to the fact that everything enters into the accounting software as soon as orders are completed, you may see the business financials in real-time. Additionally, employees are more productive since they are not wasting time duplicating information or verifying that one feature is consistent.

Depending on the modules in your system, you may be able to automatically carry out some rather complex accounting procedures, such as task costing or sales commission computations. Due to the fact that basic bookkeeping software does not "talk" to your order management system or customer relationship management system, it is difficult to determine which costs, commissions, or individuals are connected to which works or projects.

Why Choose Especia for this task?

Our advisory staff has extensive knowledge of both the mainstream and specialised service providers in this market. In order to ensure that all system functionality is used, we oversee installation after applying our experience and discipline to the selection process. We typically remain on site to support internal teams as they make the switch to a new system, gently guiding them away from the status quo and toward the greater capabilities offered by the new system.

Clients with new integrated accounting systems frequently benefit from our outsourced back-office accounting service, managed by a committed team of experts who emphasise efficiency and maximising output from the software.

These types of contracts often begin with a number of interviews to determine the organisation's and management's needs. Our team then gathers quotations from a small number of providers and creates a conversion strategy. Our unbiased approach assists clients in navigating the confusing world of We work with clients throughout the process and after the new system is implemented. We work hard to reduce disruptions and maximise system utilisation.

Steps Taken to Implement Accounting System Successfully

• Analyse, plan and comprehend - Start from the beginning. The first phase in the implementation process should be a thorough evaluation of your business requirements and procedures to determine what is working well and which elements of your business may require improvement or refinement. These business needs will then be integrated into your project strategy, which will drive the rest of the execution.

• Design, Develop, and Build - Using the project strategy created in Step 1, the project team will build your pilot system. This is used to validate the project plan's business processes and operation of the system.

• Train, Test, and Accept — Step 3 entails instructing your employees on the best practices and methods to deliver the required functionality, building on the lessons discovered in the pilot system and utilising test data imported from your old system. Reviewing the findings from this testing and training stage is necessary before obtaining a sign-off confirming that the development made thus far is acceptable and consistent with the implementation's overall objectives.

• Execute and Go Live - Your new accounting system should be finished after using the knowledge you've learned. Your old data has been moved to the new system one last time, and the entire project team is on-site and prepared for the last migration to the new system.

• Ongoing assistance - Now that your new system has been successfully launched, Especia will continue to offer ongoing assistance. This can be given, along with the installation of any fresh updates, through a support desk.

Business Advantages of Implementing An Integrated Accounting System

The following are some advantages of an integrated accounting system:

• No reconciliation is required: The requirement for reconciliation within the profits shown by both records is avoided because only one set of accounting records is preserved.

• Help you finish your books 10 times quicker: The task of shutting accounts is awful and devastating. They postpone and carry it out every month or year. However, they are unaware of how much time can be saved and how instantaneous shutting can remove difficulties from the system. Consider working with data from your company's five or six months old accounting software. It will be difficult for accountants to understand, which will cause the closing process to take longer. Due to automatic data transfer, integrated accounting software enables instant and extremely quick closing. Since it is an all-inclusive integrated accounting system, accountants don't have to hunt down and find payments from their financial reporting platforms to balance the sheet.

• Easy to comprehend: The procedure is really easy to use and comprehend. It usually gets rid of pointless complexity.

• Low Costs: Because the strategy reduces duplication of effort, running this system costs less. As a result, the approach can be considered cost-effective.

• Cross-checking: Numerous statistics from cost and financial records are cross-checked. This guarantees the correctness of cost and financial data statistics.

• Streamline your procedure: Confusion and irritation are the only outcomes of using multiple accounting platforms for distinct duties. Other teams involved in accounting tasks will not comprehend the procedure, resulting in back-and-forth questions and justifications. Let's imagine that the HR department is attempting to use the travel planning tool. They will start the booking there, and a finance team member will give the operation the go-ahead. The accounting team creates and syncs the transaction afterwards. Centralised spend management tools enable everyone to do their duties in harmony inside a single system.

• Global Perspective: A company's accounting system is viewed holistically through an integrated accounting system.

• Convenient: The integrated accounting system is simple to use and simple enough for a layperson to understand.

• Fewer manual data entering steps: It can be time-consuming and more prone to human error to manually enter data from one system to another. The requirement for human data entry is decreased by an accounting software integration solution that transfers data from accounting systems automatically. This method produces fewer mistakes and frees up time for more strategic company duties.

• Current data: Accounting software connections offer a real-time, two-way synchronisation of all the accounting data that enters and leaves your company. Your new accounting platform will reflect any modifications made to an existing accounting system and vice versa. This two-way data flow gives team members the insights they need to make better-informed strategic decisions.

Methods For Implementing Such a System

There are three different methods for implementing systems:

• Parallel running: It is the process of setting up and adjusting to a new system while users continue to work on tasks that require the old system. The safest course of action is this. It offers the advantage of enabling all potential issues to be found and resolved prior to switching over. However, because users frequently enter the same data more than once, it usually necessitates a large time investment from them.
• Phased adoption: It describes an implementation that takes place over time. For instance, day-one requirements often include financial ledgers, payment processing, and reporting. But once these are established, capabilities like eProcurement can usually wait. Costs for integration are typically greater with this method.
• Big Bang Adoption: The transition between the two systems takes place on a particular day. The old system is no longer used after that point (aside from for reference and archives), and everyone immediately begins using the new one. If improperly executed, this strategy may cause delays, user annoyance, and financial overruns. Users frequently temporarily leave the new technology under high-pressure situations and fall back on manual procedures in the hope that they can "catch up when things calm down."

How to Know If It Is Right For You?

If any of the following apply to you, using integrated accounting software may be advantageous:

• Vital functionalities are missing from your software: The functionality team members require to speed up accounting-related chores is not available in your current accounting software products. For instance, while your CRM system enables teams to access contact information for invoicing, ledger or fund analysis is not performed. Or perhaps your current accounting system is outdated or open-source and lacks contemporary features, making it unable to provide a real-time picture of accounting activities. Teams can complete accounting duties in one streamlined system by integrating their CRM or bookkeeping system with integrated bookkeeping software.

• Your fintech stack is incorrect: Integrating accounting software enables you to create the ideal fintech stack that not only enhances team productivity but also aids in the achievement of your company's objectives. You can incorporate digital technologies that add the most value for team members and develop a specialised accounting system that is advantageous to your business.

• Complex systems cannot be used by your team: Due to a lack of training resources, team members may not be able to use complex order management systems or other digital technologies. Because teams only need to utilise one system rather than numerous programs to perform accounting duties, an accounting integration platform has a reduced learning curve.

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How Can Especia Help?

We assist you in determining which business processes may be most effectively automated, utilising payroll software for accountants. Following are our step-by-step guidelines and predefined criteria:

• Assisting the client's team with data migration

• Assisting the client's business in creating a procedure manual for the new system to ensure optimal performance

• Making sure that the team receives training so they can use the software properly

• Mapping out and fully comprehending all company processes

• Identifying the tools that can be integrated into software for an integrated accounting system

• Researching and locating the most appropriate, already-installed software

• Putting together pros and cons report for the chosen integrated systems to determine which is best

• Giving the customer a copy of the report and consulting with the client to reach a decision

• Coordinating with the system's manufacturer