5 Signs It's Time To Replace Your On-Premise Legacy System

Finance is most effective when departments and functions work cooperatively with one another. It’s important to note that certain accounting systems aren’t properly incorporated with other enterprise-level systems and technologies, which can lead to tedious workarounds and delayed workflow as you handle competing standards and rekey the same data in various systems.

Some businesses cling to tried-and-true software, preferring not to tamper with what has served them faithfully for many years. Growing companies can no longer rely on antiquated technologies to meet their needs. On-premise versions of Sage and other legacy software may be useful for some businesses, but Sage Intacct and other cloud-based solutions can help your company grow.

If your company has encountered one or more of the following 5 signs, it might be time to switch to cloud accounting software.

1. Excel is Taking Over Most of Your Reporting

The growth of a business often means more complex reporting, and so if you find that your on-premise legacy system can’t keep up with your growing reporting needs, that’s one sign you are due for an upgrade or a switch.

For instance, because the program lacks dimensions and computed fields, you may not be able to analyze your data as thoroughly as you want. Some clients increase the number of lines in their chart of accounts as a proxy for dimensions. While this might aid in reporting, it can also cause data quality concerns and trouble appropriately labeling GL items.

Making the switch to a cloud-based accounting system can help you save time by eliminating the need to create reports in Excel. With calculated variables, you can easily mix financial and non-financial data, including the income made by each sales agent.

2. You’re Failing to Meet Your Reporting Deadlines

Although Excel is a useful tool, if you are generating 40–60% of your reports in Excel, it can cause delays and missed deadlines.

Cloud-based accounting solutions give real-time dashboards that highlight key data and allow you to drill down for more information, making your business’s reporting even more accessible and helpful for everyone in your organization.

3. You Manage Multiple Entities and The Close Period Requires More than 10 Days

Some on-premise legacy systems are outdated and are unable to meet the demands of businesses with different company units. As a result, setting up a new corporation might seem like a completely new endeavor. All the entities are isolated from one another, customizations must be changed, and the chart of accounts must be recreated.

This means that consolidations can take several hours or even days to execute since inter-entity transactions must be manually inputted to guarantee that the books are balanced. These delays ultimately slow down how quickly you can close the accounts, creating the impression of a never-ending loop.

Cloud-based accounting software can minimize the time it takes to close by up to 79% and increase productivity throughout your company by over 65%. What’s more, is that most cloud systems can manage multiple entities.

4. You Cannot Access Your Accounting System Remotely

With many corporations embracing the innovation of technology and taking a “work from home” route, you may need an accounting system you can access remotely, and your legacy system might not be able to cater to those needs.

Cloud-based software, however, gives you the ability to work from the office or set up a remote access server, which is perfect for the contemporary corporate environment. Your team may continue to be productive with remote work despite the uncertainty around when everyone will be going back to the office.

5. Your Business is Expanding but Your Legacy System is Failing to Keep Up

Although it undoubtedly assisted you in growing the company, you could discover that your on-premise legacy technology is unable to keep up with your current expansion. You could feel that your current accounting software is holding you back as you add company units, grow into new markets and regions, or even create totally new lines of business. You could be managing additional subsidiaries, for instance, with more currencies, tax locations, legal systems, distribution networks, and product expenses.

Why You Should Consider Switching to Cloud-Based Sage Intacct

Automated Techniques for Daily Effectiveness

Automation is only one of the numerous benefits of employing cloud-based accounting software. With Sage Intacct, the processes of data entry, creating regular bills, paying subscriptions, and even scheduling reports are all automated and no longer require manual labor. Even more, the program can guarantee that the transactions are reported in the proper location or category and will highlight any inconsistencies.

On-the-Go Accessibility

There’s no denying that desktop accounting software had its time in the sun. But, with more people working remotely and using mobile devices, it only makes sense to migrate to the cloud. This way, your team always has access to reports and data, no matter where they are. Plus, cloud computing technology makes it easy to track expenses by importing transactions in real-time. No more waiting on paper copies and receipts from employees.

Real-Time Reporting

With legacy accounting services, it can be difficult to get an accurate picture of your company’s financial status. This is because paper-based procedures make it hard to tell exactly how your organization is functioning. Since it takes so long to manually import all the data, you’re continually playing catch-up.

Luckily, Sage Intacct makes it easy to fix things. You can identify problems sooner and make better decisions when you have access to the most up-to-date charts, reports, and KPIs. Plus, the handy dashboards help you to see the data so you can get a new understanding of your business’s financial situation.

Improved Accuracy

With Sage Intacct, you won’t have to spend any more time manually entering data and scanning for errors. All your transactions are imported straight from your accounts, so you can be guaranteed that your data is more precise than ever. Even if you don’t use accounting software, it can help you compute your taxes more accurately.

To achieve more accurate reconciliation results, your Sage Intacct cloud software is equipped with technology that makes it possible to correlate all your invoices and deliveries together. In the event of any mistakes, the program will alert you.

Speak to a Professional

Still undecided about whether or not migrating to the cloud is the best option for your organization?

Learn more about Sage Intacct in Bangert’s Blog!

5 Signs It’s Time To Replace Your On-Premise Legacy System