The Accounting Library: A Good Tool?

We are a small ($5 mil, 20 people), fast-growing manufacturer/distributor of diesel engines controls. Most in-house work is design, assembly and test. Most assembly is make-to-order, although some is build-to-stock. Components are generally fabricated by contractors, although we do some low-volume fab in-house. I handle IT and we will either expand the IT staff or outsource in the future. We anticipate being a $10 million to $15 million company in a few years. Currently we use JobBOSS but it is no longer adequate. The accounting and its limited integration to job control make every financial analysis difficult. Having lived with the JobBOSS problems as well as ones we created ourselves, I want to "get it right" from the start. My research has identified candidates but I am leaning toward buying The Accounting Library (TAL) software to clarify our requirements and rank vendors. Two keys are excellent financials and multicurrency support since we import and export. Given our requirements do you think TAL is a good investment? Secondly, is a short list of Dynamics NAV, Dynamics GP, Syspro, Vantage, MAS 500, MAS 200, Intuitive ERP and Southware Excellence a good start? I realize TAL helps but an expert opinion is more valuable than software. The budget target is less than $100,000 for software and initial implementation. We want to go live in about 6 months with basic operation (accounting, inventory control, etc.). I think our IT infrastructure should work for the next couple of years. Finally, I've read a lot on implementation strategy but wondered what you would recommend. A lot depends on the vendor but I expect to be very hands-on and need guidance to make sure our team stays on course. And I know we will have more work after the initial rollout and I want to stay on track there also. Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!

You didn't say how important a top-notch MRP/ERP system was for your company, but I'm going to assume that's also a major requirement. If so, then TAL probably isn't the right choice, as it won't help you understand your MRP/ERP issues and pick an appropriate piece of software to handle them. So, despite the relatively low cost, I don't think TAL is a good start.

On the second question, I think you have a good list of initial candidates, though I'm not sure that Southware will meet your manufacturing needs. I also don't think the budget or implementation time are unreasonable; in fact, I think you should be able to do the implementation much faster, depending on how much data you need to move to the new environment.

The thing you have to be careful about is the 3X growth that you are anticipating: you'll have to make sure that you specify an upgrade/enhancement strategy that will potentially meet those needs, and factor those long-term costs into your choice.

Finally, it's hard not to recommend finding a consultant, particularly one familiar with your industry and/or companies your size, who can help you design and manage the acquisition and implementation of your new system. There's enough at stake - particularly in a small company like yours - to make sure you get it right the first time. Please feel free to contact me directly and I'd be happy to recommend someone who might be able to help.

Best of luck,

Josh