ERP SOFTWARE CONSULTANT | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS… AND YOUR ERP

ERP Software Consultant, Mergers and Acquisitions in the wholesale distribution industry have become the new normal. National distributors expand their local footprint by acquiring local independent distributors. Family owned and operated companies grow by buying out neighboring competitors. Private equity firms grow their distribution portfolios as they consolidate the marketplace.

The size and scope of the impact on your company varies widely, from purchasing a single local branch to a multi-location transfer of a publicly held company. For any change in ownership, no matter the extent, your ERP plays a critical role.

Typical ERP-Related Questions that Arise:

What ERP software is each entity running?

♦ If the same software, are the versions identical?

♦ If not the same software, are we merging or staying separate?

What modifications are in place?

♦ What is required going forward?

What third party applications are we using?

♦ Dashboard reporting, financial statements, credit card, sales tax, CRM, CPM, etc.

Do we have the same master records, including:

♦ Customers? Vendors? Products? Pricing? Product categories?

♦ Chart of accounts, fiscal year structure, banks, and financial roll up?

Data conversion/migration

♦ Files to convert

♦ File structure differences

♦ Years of history to convert

IT Infrastructure

♦ Networking, Connectivity

♦ Security

♦ Support

What are the documentation requirements?

♦ Especially critical if publicly held, where SOX or C-SOX is a factor

Branch rollout strategy for larger acquisitions

♦ Roll out or ‘big bang’ (all at once)?

♦ Interim state management

♦ Change management and communication

END USER TRAINING

♦ Who needs to be trained?

♦ Where and when will it be performed?

TEST PLANNING

♦ What needs to be tested

♦ Test scripts, tracking, issue resolution

REPORTING

♦ Where is the source data? ERP, Data Warehouse, spreadsheets, other?

Acquiring, or being acquired, produces a laundry list of special projects in addition to those each business already had in flight before the change. There is also the critical need to run the day to day business.

Capacity, more than capable, proves challenging when everything has an equally high priority. That is where our experienced professional services team can be of most benefit to your organization. Focusing on your business requirements, we work with you for a smooth transition.

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