ERP Implementation: 6 Best Practices From 500+ Rollouts

ERP implementation is the process of selecting, configuring, and deploying an enterprise resource planning system to unify your financial data, automate manual workflows, and replace tools that can’t scale.

It’s one of the highest-impact projects a finance team will take on, and one of the riskiest. Consero’s research found that 88% of CFOs underestimate the time it takes to migrate finance processes to an enterprise-grade ERP — with nearly half saying they underestimated by a significant margin.

Most failures trace back to avoidable mistakes in partner selection, scoping, and design. Consero Global’s COO/CFO Ashley Honeyman and VP of Onboarding Jennifer Daniel — with decades of combined ERP rollout experience — broke down the best practices that separate successful implementations from costly misfires.

Here’s when to upgrade, how to choose a partner, and why some companies deploy in 30 days while others stall for 18 months.

What is an ERP Implementation?

ERP implementation is the end-to-end process of planning, configuring, testing, and deploying enterprise resource planning software within an organization. A typical implementation involves mapping existing finance workflows, migrating data from legacy systems, configuring modules for your chart of accounts and reporting needs, training users, and managing change across departments.

For mid-market companies, traditional ERP implementations with a VAR (value-added reseller) take 9–18 months and cost $80K–$150K+ in professional services, before annual software licenses. Finance as a Service (FaaS) providers like Consero compress that timeline to 30–90 days by deploying a pre-configured, AI-enabled tech stack with built-in best practices, and they own the ongoing system administration so your team doesn’t have to.

Signs You Need a New ERP

Many organizations reach a scale where their existing financial systems can no longer support their growth and operational needs. Last year, Consero found that 22% of finance leaders cite outgrowing their current accounting software as a top challenge, and another 23% pointed to system integration complexity as a major pain point.

If your company is experiencing one or more of the following, it’s time to evaluate a new ERP:

Reporting limitations: Your board packets take days to assemble, you’re maintaining an Excel workbook with 15 tabs just to reconcile numbers, and advanced reporting requires extensive manual effort.

“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.”

No automation in AP, T&E, or reconciliations: Heavy reliance on manual processes is no longer sustainable for businesses that want to scale, particularly in accounts payable processing and internal approvals.

Stalling global expansion: Your current system can’t handle multi-subsidiary or multi-currency growth. QuickBooks, for example, hits its limits fast when you start adding entities.

Data redundancy and reconciliation headaches: Significant time spent re-entering and reconciling data across disconnected systems points to a lack of integration.

Technology firefighting instead of strategy: When more time goes to troubleshooting system issues than focusing on strategic business goals, the current stack is holding you back.

Single points of failure: Frequent system breakdowns and a constant firefighting culture suggest deeper, systemic problems that a patch won’t fix.

Implementation Options: DIY, Outsourced, or FaaS

There are generally three paths to a new ERP implementation, each with different trade-offs in control, speed, and risk.

Direct With a VAR Partner

You select an ERP system and partner with a Value-Added Reseller for the implementation. The VAR brings system expertise; your company brings business and accounting knowledge.

• Key requirement: Your team is responsible for mapping, cleansing, and loading the data.
• Pros: Direct control over system selection, VAR provides technical expertise, greater customization options.
• Cons: Requires significant internal expertise, your team owns data migration, higher risk of delays and scope creep.

Outsourced Bookkeeping or Accounting Provider

You engage an existing bookkeeper or accounting provider to handle the implementation. This works if your provider has sufficient systems experience — or they may partner with a VAR to fill the gap.

• Pros: Leverages existing accounting relationships, provider already knows your business processes, potentially cost-effective.
• Cons: Limited to the provider’s system capabilities, may lack deep ERP implementation expertise, dependent on their availability.

Finance as a Service (FaaS) Partner

You partner with a provider that delivers an end-to-end solution: the technology, implementation, and ongoing management of the finance function.

FaaS partners like Consero deploy pre-configured tech stacks and bring deep ERP implementation expertise, significantly reducing risk, cost, and timeline.

• Pros: End-to-end solution, pre-configured stacks, faster deployment (30–90 days), reduced risk, ongoing management included.
• Cons: Less direct control over implementation, ongoing service dependency, vendor relationship considerations.

Unlike a VAR, a FaaS partner uses the new system and owns the reporting inputs and outputs day-to-day. As Honeyman puts it:

“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

Implementation Best Practices

Honeyman and Daniel highlight six critical areas that finance leaders need to get right for a successful ERP implementation.

1. Choose the Right ERP System and Implementation Partner

The right ERP system and the right implementation partner are the two decisions that determine whether the project succeeds or stalls.

Start here:

• Identify the problems you’re solving. Map the specific pain points — reporting gaps, lack of automation, revenue recognition complexity, or all of the above.
• Evaluate system capabilities. Know the major ERP players (Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, etc.) and vet each one against your use cases and requirements.
• Map your finance workflows. Document current workflows versus your desired future state. Be cautious about replicating inefficient processes in a new system — that’s one of the most common mistakes.
• Assess partner expertise. Select a partner (VAR or FaaS) that brings the necessary system and industry expertise, can deliver on time and within budget, and can solve your specific pain points.

Tip: Modern stacks, such as Consero’s SIMPL platform, combine an ERP backbone with best-in-class third-party apps like BILL, Brex, and Planful — so you’re not locked into a single vendor’s ecosystem for every function.

Consider FaaS advantages: FaaS offers a pre-built, integrated tech stack tailored to specific industries, eliminating the lengthy software selection process while providing access to proven best practices. “With FaaS, the infrastructure is already defined, reducing implementation complexity significantly,” says Honeyman.

Companies like Insurity show what’s possible. They rolled three acquisitions onto one clean general ledger in months using Consero’s pre-configured stack, industry playbooks, and expert team.

2. Define Your ERP Implementation Scope

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

Scope considerations:

1. Timeline expectations: ERP implementations typically take 9–18 months to go live, with a high risk of delays and budget overruns. Phased rollouts focusing on core functionality first are common.
2. IT involvement: Implementations — especially with VARs — require significant involvement from IT due to integrations with existing systems and third-party tools.
3. Cross-functional requirements: Collaboration across departments (IT, Sales Ops, HR) is essential to ensure the new system meets everyone’s needs, not just finance.
4. Hidden complexity: Implementations often uncover more detailed requirements as the project progresses, expanding scope and timeline in ways nobody anticipated.
5. Internal team demand: Your finance team will need to dedicate significant time to the build, testing, training, and eventual ownership. This can strain resources and lead to burnout.
6. Data migration: VAR statements of work typically put data cleansing and loading on your team. Migrating data from legacy systems is a hidden iceberg. “Junk in, junk out” — the quality of your data migration determines the quality of everything downstream.

FaaS advantages: Consero offers significantly faster deployment (30–90 days) thanks to the pre-integrated tech stack and defined processes. Consero also handles technical administration and owns the data migration, reducing the burden on your team dramatically.

Honeyman experienced this firsthand, using 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. Understand 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 Your ERP Infrastructure for Reporting

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.

Think future backwards: Build your chart of accounts, dimensions, and master data from the future backwards — think molecule families, product lines, COGS as a “department,” and so on. This approach prevents the costly redesigns that happen when reporting needs outgrow the original structure.

“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. Staff and Manage Change During ERP Rollout

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

Leadership and vision: Your implementation is only as good as the person you put in charge. Controllers tend to replicate yesterday’s processes; you need someone who reimagines tomorrow’s.

Team identification and planning: Identify the in-house teams or outsourced partners who’ll be involved in both the implementation and the ongoing management of the ERP. Staff gaps during the project are one of the top reasons implementations stall.

Process optimization: Ensure the new workflows are designed to solve the identified problems and improve efficiency — not just replicate old, broken processes in a new interface.

Change management and training: User adoption can make or break an ERP rollout. Structured training, clear communication, and visible executive sponsorship are non-negotiable.

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

Consero FaaS advantage: FaaS implementations bring external expertise that significantly reduces internal workload and risk. Consero’s FaaS includes documentation of key policies, preparing companies for audits immediately after implementation. Consero supplies a full bench: VP of Onboarding, GAAP-savvy accountants, and audit-ready memos delivered by go-live.

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.”

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.

6. Plan for Scalability From Day One

Choosing an ERP system that can scale with your organization and adapt to future changes is essential for long-term value. The goal: avoid revisiting the ERP selection process in a few years because of scalability limitations.

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

An 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:

• ERP license risk: With direct ERP licenses, adding a module later can forfeit original discounts and trigger price spikes.
• Negotiation timing: Your leverage is highest before you sign. Insist on multi-year price caps.

Future-proof questions to ask:

1. Can the revenue recognition module handle new contract types?
2. Can integrations support a new CRM down the road?
3. Who remaps the data when the business pivots?

FaaS scalability advantage: FaaS is built specifically for easier scaling. Consero bundles technology and people, so costs scale predictably with modules instead of triggering license renegotiations every time you add a new entity. Expanding to a new module or entity is a service-tier adjustment.

After Go-Live: Monitoring and Optimization

The first 90 days after go-live are where you find out if the design actually works.

What to plan for:

• Hypercare period: Allocate dedicated support resources for the first 30–60 days after go-live. Users will hit edge cases, integrations will need fine-tuning, and reporting will require validation against prior-period data.
• Ongoing optimization: ERP systems aren’t “set it and forget it.” Processes evolve, new reporting needs emerge, and modules may need reconfiguration as the business grows.
• Ownership clarity: Define who owns the system post-implementation — internal IT, your finance team, or your FaaS partner. Ambiguity here leads to drift and underutilization.

With Consero’s FaaS model, ongoing system administration, optimization, and support are included in the service. Your team doesn’t inherit a system to manage — Consero operates it and continually improves it as your business evolves.

Consero Simplifies ERP Implementation

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

For companies with tight timelines, lean teams, or aggressive growth goals, outsourcing the entire finance stack to a Finance as a Service partner like Consero compresses deployment from months to weeks 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.