Shop the Implementation

The success of your Sage Intacct implementation largely depends on the expertise and collaboration style of the implementer. Beyond certification and reputation, take your time to assess and compare personalities, proposals, and patience.

So, you’ve chosen Sage Intacct as your new accounting and ERP system - congrats! I know the selection process can be stressful in and of itself and you still may not be sure you made the best choice for your organization. Now, the other half of this decision involves choosing a partner to help you implement Sage Intacct and establish a long term relationship for ongoing support.

I wish it was possible to plug and play with Sage Intacct, but the beauty of its design is that it provides a strong framework for accounting and internal controls, yet stays flexible enough for you to customize in a way that fits your business best. You, the accountant admin, can actually do quite a bit of this customization on your own without any knowledge of development. However, that learning curve would probably delay your “go live” by several months.

It is certainly worthwhile to choose an implementation partner to get the system up and running. They can provide great value by sharing their experience and best practices. It is also beneficial to find a partner that can provide support long term, as they will know you and your configuration very deeply. 

Here are some tips to consider when choosing a partner to guide your implementation:

It comes down to the individuals, not the firm ranking or reputation. Like many service providers, think hair salon or realtor, I hope you choose an implementation consultant based on the individual(s) and not just because you like the brand name or because they claim to have a good reputation and years of combined experience.

As part of the proposal process, ask to meet the actual consultants who will be assigned to your implementation team. Make sure they understand your industry and have adequate experience with the Sage Intacct modules you have purchased. Make sure they seem like a good fit for your team. You will probably be spending at least 2-5 hours per week with these individuals. 

The lowest bid may not always be in your best interest. More and more, we  see implementation proposals bid with minimal hours or as fixed fee engagements. I recommend sticking with hourly proposals, but be realistic about the hours it may take to be successful.

The low hour implementation proposal assumes minimal configuration. They may even state that they will not “touch” your system, but will only coach you to do the configuration yourself. This creates a lot of extra hours and stress for you to budget and plan for internally.

Implementation proposals in this range also assume that their role is solely to help stand up the system. They will usually ask a set of general questions related to preferences, and you will be required to provide them the templates with your decisions around Chart of Accounts and Dimension usage.

There will not be deep conversations around redesigning the Chart of Accounts or aligning processes and policies to fit with the new design structure. This may seem fine in the moment, but once you are live in the system you and your team may feel disappointed in the results. You may feel you made some bad choices and wish that you could redo things.

How much support will your team need? I find that assessing the accounting team and employee users in advance helps me to estimate how much time will be necessary to get them through the transition. Often, team members are averse to change and may even feel threatened or nervous about the upcoming changes brought on by the new accounting system.

Processes often change, and people need time to let the new concepts sink in prior to go live. And as much as these topics are discussed and practiced in advance, it usually requires additional hours after go live to assist each business user with their day-to-day tasks. They want assurance that they have grasped the new concepts and that they are following the new processes correctly.

There are often new types of transactions that come to light at this time as well. Implementors should reserve enough hours to make themselves available for this type of coaching and troubleshooting until the first 1-2 months of transactions have been processed in the new system.

These pointers may seem like common sense, but they are often overlooked because the customer trusts that they will get the same implementation experience and result no matter which partner they choose. Ticktie Consulting is a Sage Intacct Implementation Partner and does not sell direct Sage Intacct software subscriptions. Ticktie Consulting can assist in recommending whether you purchase your Sage Intacct software subscription directly from Sage or from a Sage Value Added Reseller (VAR). Ticktie Consulting can be engaged to implement or support your Sage Intacct software, regardless of who holds your product subscription.