A dialogue overheard
BC Consultant:
I don’t see US accountants needing this.
Microsoft Principle Program Manager:
You mean they have no use for intelligent document management, data capture and journal/purch. doc creation with accounting guidelines?
We are in a time where we need to challenge the way we perform core jobs. Don’t think about the details of how it will work but think about the process and the concept. We would like to challenge the way these processes are done and believe we can automate that much more and increase the quality of bookkeeping.
Of course, it would be up to the individual to determine how much automation is allowed and where human intervention is necessary.
My experience
In my experience working with accounting and finance, when asked why they do something the way they do, the answer is frequently “Because that is how it is done.” Is that a valid reason to keep doing it that way?
Finance and Accounting departments are often the last to be considered in an ERP implementation so they are pre-conditioned to not dream about what could be but rather only consider what is required. We need to keep looking toward automation, keeping GAAP in mind, and not letting what customers are doing now put a limitation on it. It is our job to find out what isn’t working as well as it can and propose solutions.
Just because BC works so well with Excel, doesn’t mean that managing the business using Excel is the answer. It will be sometimes, but if you aren’t thinking about what could be, you will be stuck with the same challenges you’ve always faced. Paraphrased from Albert Einstein and something I think about frequently, “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”
The customer’s eyes – wide open
How many times have I been in discovery and the client themselves is surprised by what they hear is a current process and how error prone and time sucking it is? We need to create the opportunity for the customer to see what can be better and then let the customer decide whether to pursue that better way. Whether it’s built into BC, an extension or a well-conceived and executed marketplace application, the consultant tasked with helping them should not be the reason customers aren’t moving forward.
Sharing the Righter Way
I am certain you know at least one person that at one time said replacing paperwork in the warehouse wasn’t anything too important. Look how far we’ve come in operations. It’s time finance processes got the same care and feeding. It is our job to help customers see the possibilities and find The Righter WayTM of working, for them, in Business Central. That way may not include any accounting process automation, or maybe it will. If we don’t probe into the possibilities, we are just order takers.
