How to choose a tool to automate the accounting-administrative processes of SMEs

El Finance and Public Credit Service in recent days he commented on the need to create mechanisms and tools that would allow automate the accounting-administrative processes of SMEsIt also called on the free software communities to care more about the viability of the implementation of open source tools in business environments.

It is important to note that there are numerous Open source accounting and billing tools for SMEs, each with its own characteristics, in addition to the universal characteristics that the accounting and billing software has.

Each of these open source tools (ERP, accounting suite, electronic accounting software, templates, books, among others) can be used in SMEs to accelerate and automate their processes, safely and using free software.

The convenient thing when choosing an accounting and billing tool for our SMEs, is that we continue a short process of research, testing, consulting, planning and executionIn other words, when choosing the tool that will solve our accounting and billing problems, it is advisable to follow the following procedures.

• Investigate open source tools that are available and have the functionalities that your SME needsIt is important to note that we must do a fairly deep investigation, prioritizing research of the community surrounding said tool. We must review the quality of the tool, usability, update time, future work, the results of implementations in other SMEs, the level of support, the availability of tool consultants and the Scalability thereof.

• Once we have a bank of tools that could meet the objectives that we have set for our SME, we must do a more thorough analysis and testing, in which we have to test the tools and take note of the needs and functionalities they have. It is important to do an individual analysis of each one and then make a group comparison of the various tools that we preselected.

In some cases the most complete tools prevent us from adapting to our business model, so it is convenient that let us prioritize in our tests the possibility of adapting the tool and our SME. In the same way, the tests must take into account the learning line of the members of our SMEs, that is, we must analyze the usability of the tool and the time that must be invested in learning it.

• Having chosen the tool that best suits and meets the needs of our SME, we must research and get some kind of external consultingThis consultancy is not only an expert company in the tool, it can also be communities, blogs, YouTube channels, among others, that allow us to find answers to questions and problems that arise. It should be noted that one of the biggest reasons why the implementation of some tools fails is because of the little or no advice we receive, we must always have a wild card in case of problems or new needs.

• Once we have chosen the appropriate open source tool to automate the accounting-administrative processes of SMEs and we have external consultancy so that its use in our SME is a total success, we must Plan all the processes and procedures that we must carry out for the implementation of the tool. It is convenient to make a planning that includes the acquisition or adaptation of the equipment, the installation of the tool, the creation of backup mechanisms and protection of the information, the parameterization of the tool, the creation of new functionalities in the tool, the documentation and the training of those involved.

The planning of the implementation of a tool in an SME is essential, the success or not of an implementation depends on this process, we must also plan the risk cases, the procedures to follow in case of resistance to change, the period trial and future updates.

• Choosing the right tool and advice will probably give us a consistent planning, in the same way, the most important phase when we want automate the accounting-administrative processes of an SME, is the implementation of the tool or how the Execution of the Tool is also known, in this phase we must be prepared for problems, doubts, queries and successes.

Having a contingency plan based on the planning done before will allow us to act quickly when the tool does not meet what we need, likewise, we can create a mechanism to continue improving it, it is convenient during the execution phase to receive the greatest amount of feedback and be open to making improvements and changes in the times and ways that we have planned.

Following these steps will probably make the implementation of an open source tool successful in your SME, but it is worth commenting, which is undoubtedly the participation of your work team and the possibility of adapting, changing, improving and reorganizing the tool that allows that free software is so successful both in SMEs and in large organizations.

When looking to solve a problem in your SME or to automate some processes, the most important thing is reading and research, the time you invest in researching, testing, asking, analyzing and documenting will save you money and much more time in the next phases. It is easier to make mistakes in a research environment than in a production environment, so do not be afraid to find a way to innovate or adapt to what already exists.