A big decision is selecting a computer system for your company.  The company may grow to the point where you can begin to look at something that might be more customized to fit your company and be evolving beyond, perhaps, a certain standard package like QuickBooks.

A common approach is to look at different systems and then determine whether you can fit the particular system.  I think that’s backwards.  Don’t ask what you can do to fit their system, but ask what their system can do to fit for you in a way kind of reverse of the famous John F. Kennedy quote.  In other words, put the burden of proof on them.  Make them do the hard work of seeing where there’s a fit and where there isn’t a fit.  Have them do the first particular pass at this sort of analysis. 

You can then come in and take a deeper look and fine tune it.  I like this approach better for several reasons:

1.  There going to know their system better than you do and they may see things in there system that you might not be able to quite tell very easily.

2.  Give you a sense on how it’s going to be like to work for them.

3.  Its a better use of your time.  You can put more of your energies into the follow-up review than doing a lot of the hard work right upfront trying to sort up whether this is a fit or this is not a fit at all.

So, when it comes time to make that big decision and be looking at what kind of computer system might fit your particular company.  Put the burden of proof on the other party.  Have them work hard to show that it’s going to be a fit for your business and not the other way around.  You want them to fit you.  You don’t want to have to modify the way you operate to have to fit them.

Jon Paul, MBA, CPA, CMC, CM&AA

President, Value Added Finance Resources
Bringing new insights on results and maximizing company value