You’re finished with juggling a number of spreadsheets simply to trace your restricted funds. You’re completed with guide approval processes for bills. You’ve made the choice to change to a contemporary fund accounting system.
You’ve discovered the proper companion. Now comes the half the place all of the planning and analysis pays off: implementation.
To do a fund accounting implementation course of proper, there’s a good quantity of group, information clean-up, and coaching concerned. However it doesn’t need to be disturbing. The excellent news is that it’s doable to arrange your nonprofit group for fulfillment. With the proper mindset and planning, you’ll be able to set up and execute a seamless fund accounting software program implementation that meets your wants—each for immediately and for the longer term.
Mindset: A Essential Device in Your Accounting System Implementation Toolbox
Important change requires vital preparation.
Earlier than moving into the main points of rolling out new fund accounting software program, concentrate on the large image. Mindset issues. Envisioning the method from end-to-end permits these in control of a system change to anticipate questions, considerations, and ache factors from all staff members and stakeholders affected by the brand new system.
By approaching the method with a proactive mindset, implementation groups can set themselves up for a clean transition by addressing potential hurdles and setting timeline expectations early.
Avoiding Roadblocks
Coalescing each member of your group across the similar targets and expectations might help you keep away from a number of widespread roadblocks earlier than they get in the best way of your implementation.
Change anxiousness and resistance: Studying a brand new system is usually a robust promote for nonprofit professionals whose schedules are already filled with each day duties. Present how the modifications will make processes sooner, extra environment friendly, and extra correct—and have a optimistic affect on the entire group.
Limitations in present system design: In case your group has maxed out the capabilities of your present accounting system, it might be difficult to think about what may very well be higher. Encourage your staff to maneuver into optimistic “what if” pondering.
Know-how ecosystem and interplay: Your new fund accounting software program will solely be one a part of your group’s general know-how ecosystem. Guarantee everybody understands the way it will match into and work with current methods, processes, and job features.
Understanding the Timeline
Implementing a brand new fund accounting system usually requires effort and time from a number of events. Articulating this to your staff not solely units applicable expectations, but in addition permits customers to higher perceive the implementation course of and get enthusiastic about new functionalities on the horizon.
How lengthy it takes to implement new fund accounting software program will range from one group to a different. Blackbaud’s consultants have managed implementations that have been began and completed inside a five-day workweek, however they’ve additionally overseen implementations that lasted 9 months or extra.
For many organizations, the best fund accounting system implementation timeline is round 90 days, cut up roughly evenly amongst three phases:
- Preparation and planning (days 1–30)
- Configuration (days 30–60)
- Testing and go-live (days 60–90)
The most important components that have an effect on timelines are the targets the group is making an attempt to perform and the variety of stakeholders who have to have a voice within the dialog.
As you set an implementation timeline, keep in mind that some phases—testing, specifically—require vital time from a number of staff members whereas they’re nonetheless performing their day-to-day obligations within the legacy system.
Getting everybody on the identical web page by way of targets and mindset will assist keep away from surprises later within the course of.
Preparation and Planning: Getting Your Fund Accounting System in Order
This part of implementation captures your nonprofit group’s targets and paints an image of the way you need the software program to operate each on the day it goes reside and several other years down the highway. The extra thorough you will be within the strategy planning stage, the much less seemingly you’ll really feel any after implementation.
After you have a transparent understanding of what your group hopes to perform by transitioning to a brand new fund accounting system, you’ll be able to start to make particular preparations involving the group’s folks and processes.
Listed here are some key inquiries to ask:
Folks
Perceive how folks in your staff work together with the present system and make sure you’ve recognized all relevant use instances.
- Who will want entry to the system or the info, and what degree of entry ought to they’ve?
- Are the employees members who will use the software program skilled in nonprofit accounting? Are they comfy utilizing new instruments?
- What assets, coaching, and assist will you and your staff want by means of the implementation and past?
- Who needs to be a part of the implementation staff?
The scale of your implementation staff will range by group, however it is best to embrace a various set of roles. Herald individuals who have quite a lot of expertise ranges, together with those that are within the fund accounting system day-after-day and who use the system as soon as a month to view experiences or submit an expense. The strategy planning stage can also be a good time to start the coaching curriculum, so folks know how one can use the system when it comes time to check.
Processes
The flexibility to articulate present processes and desired outcomes is important when adopting a brand new system. It helps you determine and doc modifications in processes and workflow and can guarantee your staff is provided for a clean transition.
- What’s concerned in your nonprofit group’s end-to-end monetary processes? Are these procedures documented, and do paperwork want updating?
- What processes will be optimized to offer worth and provides folks actionable information used to make strategic choices?
- How are monetary experiences compiled?
- How is the prevailing system reconciled?
- Is your group constant when it comes to naming conventions?
- What information must be transferred from legacy methods?
Undergo every of your processes step-by-step to seek out room for enchancment or reimagine higher procedures. That is additionally the time to confirm that processes are following good accounting practices.
Along with contemplating how your monetary methods run immediately, take into consideration what you will have three, 5 or 10 years into the longer term. You need to arrange your new system in a method that can enable your group to develop.
That is all a part of defining the scope of labor. For it to be best, it’s essential to doc each side of the plan. Solely with full documentation will you have the ability to perceive whether or not you met your targets and if the implementation was successful.
Configuration and Testing: Creating the System You Want
Many fund accounting methods supply customers a number of methods to perform the identical activity. For that purpose, a giant a part of designing and configuring your system is figuring out one of the best ways to mirror your processes throughout the system.
Use this chance to rethink the best way your group operates and picture whether or not there may very well be a brand new method that works higher to your staff and your targets. Perceive how your monetary processes work with different software program—similar to a fundraising CRM—and what information must be shared between methods. Lean in your implementation guide to find out how different organizations have tackled related challenges.
Your implementation staff will make it easier to create a mapping doc, which specifies how accounts or funds in your outdated system will transfer into the brand new system. This can be a useful gizmo for uncovering gaps in your system design. Work on it all through your planning course of so that you could incorporate your findings into the ultimate configuration.
As soon as your system is totally configured, you and your staff ought to check the brand new system as a lot as doable to make sure it’s working as meant. Look again on the documentation you created within the planning part to know whether or not the brand new atmosphere is assembly the required targets and necessities.
In case you’ve put in all of the upfront work, then your precise go-live day might really feel anticlimactic. Even so, take this chance to have a good time all of the onerous work and hours that went into the implementation!
Wanting Lengthy-Time period: Supporting Success Over Time
With new fund accounting software program in place, it’s now time to make sure everybody on the staff has the coaching, assets, and time they should be taught the brand new system.
Along with coaching supplies, your software program vendor seemingly supplies assets similar to a consumer neighborhood or instructional occasions the place you’ll be able to be taught from subject material consultants and trade friends. Ask your guide how one can recommend new product options and produce must their consideration.
And don’t let go of these scope paperwork simply but. Combine any long-term targets you recognized into your group’s five-year plan, being certain to account for a way your new software program might want to scale as your nonprofit grows.
For extra suggestions and examples, obtain the free greatest practices information for monetary software program implementations.