6 ERP Implementation Best Practices + Considerations

Implementing a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can feel like trading one headache for dozens, but limping along with manual reporting and systems that can’t scale hurts even more.

Once board packets take days, subsidiaries confuse your ledger, or automation stalls under spreadsheets, you’ve crossed the “must-change” line.

Ashley Honeyman, COO/CFO at Consero Global, and Jennifer Daniel, VP of Onboarding, with decades of combined experience with ERP implementations, shared insights on the complexities involved, mistakes to avoid, and implementation best practices that every finance leader should know before rolling out a new ERP.

Signs You’ve Outgrown Your Current Systems

Many organizations reach a scale where their existing financial systems can no longer support their growth and operational needs. 

If your company is experiencing one or more of the following, you may need a new ERP:

“When your board or your team need advanced reporting, if you’ve got an Excel workbook with 15 tabs that requires three business days to do inputs, reconciliations, clean up, that’s a really good sign that you need to evaluate a new general ledger or ERP to solve for that for you.”

Implementation Options

There are generally three options for a new ERP implementation, each with its own set of considerations.

Unlike with VARs, a FaaS partner will be utilizing the new system and owning the reporting inputs and outputs. “A FaaS partner has to own the outcome—so we won’t put in a process that won’t work, because we’re the ones running it tomorrow.”

Traditional ERP vs. FaaS Implementation

Key Considerations for ERP Rollout

Honeyman and Daniel highlight six crucial considerations for finance leaders ahead of a successful ERP implementation.

1. System and Partner Selection

The right ERP system and implementation partner is paramount to the success of the project.

Start here:

• Identify the Problems:  Map the specific problems you are trying to solve (e.g., reporting, automation, revenue recognition, or all of the above).
• Evaluate System Capabilities: Know the ERP players (Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, etc.) and vet their suitability for your use cases and requirements.

• Map Finance Workflows: Your current workflows versus your desired finance workflows. Be cautious not to replicate inefficient existing processes.
• Assess Partner Expertise: Select a partner (VAR or FaaS) that brings the necessary system and industry expertise, can complete the implementation on time and within budget, and can solve your pain points.

“With FaaS, the infrastructure is already defined, reducing implementation complexity significantly,” says Honeyman.

Companies like Insurity show what’s possible when you start with Consero’s ready-built FaaS platform. They rolled three acquisitions onto one clean general ledger in months leveraging Consero’s pre-configured tech stack, proven industry playbooks, and team of experts.

2. Implementation Scope and Complexity

Defining a realistic implementation scope and understanding the inherent complexities are crucial for managing expectations and avoiding project derailment.

Scope considerations:

FaaS Advantages

Honeyman experienced the FaaS advantages firsthand, utilizing Consero for two ERP implementations at PixelMEDIA.

“It literally was 60 days: we started in April and were live June 1. Consero pulled all our data and I focused on policies and future-state processes.”

3. Cost and ROI

With a new ERP, the price tag is front-loaded; the payback is efficiency. 

“Your ERP investment is about efficiency, accuracy, and strategic improvements, rather than immediate financial return,” says Honeyman.

“Technology is a large up-front cost; sometimes there isn’t an immediate dollar ROI—what you’re buying is speed, accuracy, and visibility.”

“Understanding that and thinking through that ahead of system selection is going to be very important so you have alignment with your internal stakeholders.”

4. Design and Infrastructure

A well-thought-out design and robust infrastructure are fundamental to a successful ERP implementation. Great reporting is baked—not bolted—on later.

“ERP design should focus on end-state reporting and operational needs rather than replicating current processes…You can only report on the infrastructure you put in place—so reporting should be at the forefront of every decision.”

Key Takeaways:

• The effectiveness of an ERP implementation is directly tied to the quality of its design and the underlying infrastructure.
• Reporting requirements must drive every AP, AR, and RevRec field you configure.
• Organizations need to assess their ability to create this framework in collaboration with their chosen partner and internal teams.
• Considerations include: system configuration, user roles and permissions, data integration strategies, the overall architecture of the solution, and scalability.

“Your implementation is only as good as your design and the infrastructure you put in place. You need to understand your ability to create that framework with your partner and with your in-house team.”

If your team is inexperienced with ERP system design, FaaS providers like Consero offer built-in best practices for immediate use, and bring VP of Finance-level advisors to map reporting-ready structures Day 1.

5. People and Processes

The best technology in the world will fail if the wrong team is running it, and the success of an ERP hinges on internal leadership and their ability to design scalable systems.

Best Practices:

Given the significant upfront investment and the complexity of the project, it pays to bring in a qualified partner to supply the people and processes for the implementation.

In Honeyman’s case, with Consero handling the reporting after the ERP implementations, “we ended up audit-ready with our full ASC 606 policy – something I never got from a traditional ERP project.”

6. Scalability and Flexibility

Choosing an ERP system that can scale with the organization’s growth and adapt to future changes is essential for long-term value. A key objective is avoiding the need to revisit the ERP selection and implementation process in a few years due to limitations in scalability.

• Select a system and implementation approach that can accommodate future growth and evolving business needs.
• Consider the flexibility of the system to adapt to new business models, product lines, or regulatory requirements.

Another important (and overlooked) consideration is your vulnerability to price increases as you grow. Negotiating flexibility upfront is crucial.

“Systems are a lot more rigid when you buy direct—once you need a new module, you’re a captive audience.”

Actionable Tips:

Alternatively, FaaS is designed specifically for easier scalability, and is pre-built to adapt to changing business needs in growth.

With Consero, pricing is pre-negotiated, so expanding to a new module or entity is a service-tier adjustment rather than a license battle.

Consero Can Help

Rolling out an ERP is neither quick nor easy, but it can be transformative if you match scope, partner, and people to your business objectives.

For companies with tight timelines, lean teams, or aggressive growth goals, outsourcing the whole finance stack to a Finance as a Service partner like Consero compresses deployment from years to months and shifts ownership of both technology and outcomes to a partner built for it.

Choose the path that lets you stop wrestling spreadsheets and start acting on real-time insight. Get in touch with us today for a complete ERP rollout playbook.