Define Your Objectives

Introduction

This post can be thought of as a reality check. The fact that you want to change systems is laudable, but what are your real objectives? As with any business investment, there has to be some concrete objective by which returns can be measured. You cannot invest your organization’s precious monetary resources, including the time each person will invest in this project, without first defining exactly what you want to accomplish.

So let’s begin to assemble an objective for this accounting / ERP selection project. It doesn’t have to be a long statement, containing so much babble that it makes no sense to anyone. That’s counterproductive. Objectives are like vision statements. They are a long-term target; something that people can grasp as this complex undertaking proceeds.

Primary Objective

In order to create a starting point for the creation of a valid statement of objectives, let’s define what might be called a primary objective.

 Create a structure for greater success by analyzing and improving all of the factors that add value to the organization.

The point here is that your objective shouldn’t necessarily be expressed in terms that even refer to the accounting / ERP system. The accounting / ERP system does nothing by itself, and therefore cannot be thought of in terms of an action that leads to improvement. The accounting / ERP system will allow people to work more efficiently (hopefully), serve internal and external customers more effectively, and provide people a greater wealth and depth of information that will help them make better decisions.

Strategies

While the Primary Objective is short, it doesn’t really deal with any of the factors that lead to greater business success. Strategies are the general descriptions of how objectives will be achieved. Once the strategies have been defined, we can define the tactics or individual tasks that will ensure that the strategies are achieved. The selection plan itself is a tactical document. Our task now is the description of how each success factor can be improved. Let’s begin by asking some questions, the answers to which might help us shed more light on what our strategies should be.

• What does the company need to do well in order to succeed?
• How should each of the factors listed contribute to the overall success of the organization?
• To what extent does the accounting / ERP system affect each of the factors listed?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of the success factors listed?
• What non-accounting / ERP system related improvements need to be made?
• What accounting / ERP system related improvements need to be made?
• Do certain aspects of the organization need to be changed because they might have a negative impact on the accounting / ERP system?

The point I’m trying to make here is that you cannot launch into a software selection project without taking your business apart piece-by-piece and then reassembling it so that improvements are made in the business itself as well as the accounting / ERP system. While the accounting / ERP system influences the degree to which you can reach your business objectives, the business itself influences the degree to which your informational objectives can be achieved.

Informational Objectives

I think the point has been made with respect to the fact that the business and the accounting system are inseparable. Our primary objective is the selection of a new business management system, so let’s define an objective.

Select a product that meets the strategic, functional, operational, and information needs of the organization, while at the same time allowing people to carry out their job responsibilities efficiently and effectively. In short, select a product that does what you want it to do and is seen as a friend and true business partner by those who will be asked to operate it.

Selection Strategy

Once the objective of this selection project has been defined, we will need to define a broad strategy, expand that strategy slightly, and then define the tactics we will follow in the selection plan itself.

Complete the project as quickly as practical by adopting a methodology that combines all of the necessary selection elements into a rational series of steps that are easy to understand and follow. In the broadest of terms these elements are education, organization, specification, analysis, evaluation and decision.

Summary

No one has ever said that selecting accounting / ERP software would be easy, even for small companies. Each element of the project is important and builds on those preceding it. This is but the first step. If you don’t understand why you are changing systems, then there is no hope the system will be able to meet all of your requirements or those critical to your success as a business. Business management systems are no more than vehicles by which specific business objectives are achieved. If the objectives are not clearly defined or make sense, the business management system will fail to have any lasting effect on your bottom line.

We will continue to look at the role accounting / ERP systems play in your business in the next post by justifying the decision to automate. The fact that you have created a set of well defined objectives doesn’t necessarily mean that these objectives can be achieved in a practical sense. It’s the same process you would go through when purchasing a complex piece of machinery. You might know how the machine will fit into your operations and the effect it may have, but you have to prove it in more concrete terms. That’s what we will do in the next post; make you justify the decision to purchase a new accounting / ERP system.