For any successful company, outgrowing your ERP is inevitable. The question is: what’s the next move?
After almost two decades of working with SMB finance leaders, I’ve seen this moment of decision more times than I can count. The reporting gaps are widening, forecasts are increasingly inaccurate, and month-end close is slower than ever. Naturally, the pressure to upgrade or completely replace your ERP starts to build.
But before you hire that team of ERP consultants and commit your budget and sanity to a 12-month overhaul, stop and ask yourself these five critical questions.
Each one might save you months of disruption and point you to a smarter alternative.
1. What Problem Are You Actually Trying to Solve?
If your ERP isn’t giving you the reports or forecasts you need, is it really the ERP’s fault?
In 9 out of 10 conversations I’ve had with CFOs, the problem wasn’t with the general ledger itself. It was with the lack of reporting capability. Traditional ERPs weren’t built for modeling scenarios, drilling into budget variances, or connecting siloed data from payroll, CRM, or spreadsheets.
Replacing your ERP won’t fix that.
In fact, many finance teams find themselves with a newer, shinier ERP… and the same Excel workarounds they were trying to escape.
Consider this instead. What if you could get the reporting power, automation, and forecasting tools you’re missing without starting from scratch? Many finance teams discover that adding a dedicated FP&A layer to their existing system gives them exactly what they need. Your current ERP might be perfectly fine at what it does best while a specialized tool handles what it doesn’t.
2. Can You Afford the True Cost of ERP Migration?
Let’s be direct. ERP migrations are expensive.
You’re not just paying for the software. You’ll need:
- A systems integrator or ERP consultant (or several)
- Change management resources
- Training across departments
- Data migration and cleanup
- 6–12 months of project oversight from your internal team
And that’s if things go smoothly.
For SMBs with lean teams and limited IT support, this can quickly become a six-figure distraction.
Think about this approach.Some of the smartest finance leaders we know have taken a “fix what’s broken” approach instead of “replace everything.” They’ve found that targeted solutions often deliver 80% of the value at 20% of the cost. A specialized FP&A platform, for example, can typically be implemented in weeks rather than months, without the army of consultants.
3. How Much Business Disruption Are You Willing to Risk?
ERP projects don’t fail because of bad intentions. They fail because your business keeps moving while the project tries to catch up.
When you’re growing (adding locations, headcount, or new revenue streams), locking your team into a rigid, multi-quarter IT project introduces real risk. I’ve seen companies freeze hiring or delay product launches just to protect the ERP timeline.
Here’s another path forward: What if you could improve your financial reporting and forecasting without touching your core system at all? By adding an analytics layer that sits above your ERP, you can adapt quickly to business needs while keeping your transaction processing stable. It’s like renovating your kitchen while still being able to cook dinner every night.
4. Who Will Own the System After Go-Live?
Here’s a painful reality many finance teams discover too late: after the ERP migration is done, you still need IT to make changes.
Want to modify a cost center? Build a new report? Add a metric?
You’ll be back in the queue, waiting on someone who doesn’t live and breathe finance.
Picture this scenario: Imagine if your finance team could build reports, modify budgets, and create new forecasting models without submitting a single IT ticket. Modern FP&A platforms are designed for finance professionals to be self-sufficient. You maintain control over your financial processes while IT focuses on what they do best.
5. Are You Solving for Today or Planning for Tomorrow?
A new ERP might fix a few of today’s problems, but will it scale with you?
Ask your ERP vendor how it handles multi-entity consolidation, rolling forecasts, or real-time scenario planning. If the answer involves “add-ons,” “custom modules,” or more consulting hours, you may be paying twice (once now, and again later).
Consider the long game: The most successful finance teams we work with think in layers. They use their ERP for what it does well (processing transactions) and complement it with tools designed for what they need most (turning data into insights). This approach grows with you instead of requiring another massive migration down the road.
The Bottom Line
Migrating ERPs is often seen as the only path forward, but it’s not always the fastest, cheapest, or smartest one for growing SMBs.
If your biggest pain points revolve around reporting, budgeting, and forecasting, you might not need a new ERP. You might just need a new approach to FP&A.
Many finance teams have discovered they can unlock deeper insights and faster reporting without changing a single line of code in their existing ERP. Sometimes the best solution isn’t replacing what you have but extending it strategically.
Before you start searching for the best ERP or hiring your first ERP consultant, take a step back and consider what you’re really trying to achieve.
The answer might surprise you.
Ready to explore your options?
See how other finance teams have solved similar challenges without the complexity of ERP migration.
