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Change is difficult. We all understand this. The main problem is that change for everyone is inevitable. The problem is that some businesses think that they are immune to change. They think they can simply keep doing things the old way.

I have been involved in many business discussions with owners, managers and controllers; where I know they can greatly benefit by modernizing their management systems and processes. Based on the requirements and from listening to the business owners and management it is clear that they have a areas that can be improved; so clear that we guarantee the value and solution in many cases. However, they are not always convinced and want to continue to handle things the same way as before. “They want to think about it”. These businesses wanted their new system to perform and look like their existing system because “that’s what they know” and are completely unwilling to embrace any aspect of “changing” their system.  The question is why? What was the point of going through all the stress and inconvenience of an upgrade if you aren’t interested in making your business more streamlined and improving the procedures and processes? The current versions of Sage or any software for that matter have way more functionality and flexibility than their predecessors. It is an evolving tool that changes as requirements, technology and people change.

So, our advice for these businesses and organizations is to continue to use their existing systems until ready to make a change. Ultimately, it is like any type of change, you must be ready for it and want it otherwise you will resist transitioning and it will ultimately fail.

Our best advice sometimes is the stop thinking and just do it. Inaction is not a solution.

It’s not quite the chicken or the egg conundrum, but putting a management accounting system implementation ahead of a business process review doesn’t make sense. It should be the opposite, in fact – you should always get a business process review before implementing a management accounting system.

Does your company struggle with making changes stick? Many companies have learned how to lead change through an eight-step approach that continues to gain advocates almost 20 years after its inception.

In Gary Harpst’s book, Six Disciplines Execution Revolution, he writes “Everyone needs to understand that there is no one on earth who wants to do what he or she should be doing all of the time.” You may see yourself in this statement – I know I do. Like me, you might very clearly understand that you must work continuously to improve your processes, your relationships with customers, and the quality of your work. But, like me, you may sometimes grow weary of change.

Whether it is company growth or the annoying accumulation of system inefficiencies that serves as a catalyst, you're at the point where you realize it's time for a change. And there's great news: with the tools and resources currently available, upgrading your system is less intimidating and less expensive than you think.