Most anyone who builds budget models these days is aware of the problems inherent in spreadsheets. Dozens of software solutions are now available with several new ones hitting the market each year that offer reasonably priced solutions for small & mid-sized companies to move budgeting and forecasting into a robust package. The question becomes: "How do you find the right software?"
While larger companies can afford to pay consultants $20,000 to help set up demos and find the right software to meet their needs, $20,000 is even more than you're hoping to spend on the actual software implementation. Since you don't have the time or money required to make the right software selection, I am writing this guide on the top 10 things you can do for FREE to make your evaluation effective.
1.Get “Unbiased” Software Reviews:Get the real story from the companies using various software packages and track down 3rd party sources. For example, read the reviews posted on www.capterra.com under the budgeting software section. See if any of the reviews resonate with you. If all the reviews are from the same company or a given vendor that contacts you has zero reviews, ask them why and demand a customer review that is not from the vendor website. Ever notice how the reviews on vendor websites tend to always be pretty positive...
2.Make Vendors Pay to Contact You:Have a 10-minute conversation for free with the folks at www.findaccountingsoftware.com. 100s of Software vendors will bid to purchase your contact info and this way, only the right 3-5 software vendors call you. In other words, stop looking and let them find you! Also, these guys at Find-Accounting-Software ask you a series of questions that will focus you on your requirements and they are good at translating what you say into "vendor-speak" so that you are effectively communicating your requirements to 100s of vendors for FREE!
3.Network on LinkedIn:Get active on www.LinkedIn.com which is an excellent free resource when used correctly. Post your question and give as much info about your company and specific goals and watch as others react and share their experience with various budgeting software solutions. My recommended groups to post are Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Network, Finance & Accounting Professionals, and Business Forecasting & Planning Innovation. If you search the discussions in these groups for budgeting software or search the software vendors you are evaluating, you will see some of the real-world comments from customers that usually is less-biased than testimonials included on vendor websites.
4.Consider Services INSTEAD of software: Before you buy software, be sure you want to take the time to get up to speed on a new solution. Regardless of what any vendor says, learning a new tool takes time and the learning curve varies. As a possible short-term alternative to purchasing software, you can explore www.b2bcfo.com. Several of the partners at this firm have already built budgeting models in a variety of software applications. This is an especially good idea if there is no real resource inside your company to "own" the planning model. Though many CFO firms require an initial payment just for an assessment call, these folks at B2BCFO offer a free initial consultation! I especially recommend B2BCFO in cases where you are not sure you want to hire a full-time CFO but even if you do have a full-time CFO, it may be worth an intro call with a partner in your region.
5.Check out 3rd Party Analyst Groups”
a.Ventana Research: These folks really know the budgeting and planning software market and have a ton of free research available: www.ventanaresearch.com. As for free 3rd party research, Ventana is my personal favorite group based on my reading of their white papers and research articles.
b.BPM Partners: Another 3rd party analyst firm that claims to be unbiased is BPM Partners. They offer a premium package to help with vendor selection. Their paid service is wonderful for the F500, but may not be attractive for most small and mid-sized companies who need FREE guidance; however, BPM Partners does provide some decent free information if you are willing to take some time to click around a bit... Check out: www.bpmpartners.com
6.Read the News:Keep up with the latest software vendors news all at one website: www.budgetingjournal.com
7.Ask the Right Questions:Key question to ask the vendor: "What are the 5 things that can go wrong during your software implementation and how do you suggest I avoid them?" You will learn a lot about your software vendor when you ask this question + it might help you down the line with whatever software package you purchase!
8.Hold the Vendor Accountable:If a software vendor seems to be confident that they are the best fit, ask them to spread out payments with the first payment being small and the second payment being large. The way your sales rep reacts will reflect how confident your sales rep really is...
9.Find Partners who Sell Multiple Solutions:Look for 3rd party partners who specialize in reselling several budgeting solutions since they will be less biased and can point you to the right solution for you. One example is: www.applied-analytix.com. Another is www.beyondEPS.com
10.Read the Books:Two of the best books on the subject of budgeting and forecasting are Managing with Rolling Forecasts by John Stretch and Future Ready by Morelidge and Player.