Three Signs Your Business has Outgrown Xero

We’re having more conversations every week with organisations that have started out using Xero but find that the demands and complexities of their business have outgrown Xero’s capabilities. They are spending time ‘working around’ it when they would rather focus on growth.

As a day-to-day accounting package Xero is great for smaller businesses. The conversations we are having relate to whether Oracle NetSuite, for which we are a leading partner in the UK, would be a better fit. Not only for the present challenges but as a scalable solution for the future.

1. Better visibility is required

Xero provides sufficient business insight for most small business, but when a business begins to grow and in-depth analysis is required, its limitation arise. There are a number of ways that these limitations manifest, for example: when the business becomes ‘multi-entity’ and visibility is required of both individual entity and consolidated data; when the team grows and each role needs visibility of what matters to them in a customised way, to enable them to make informed decisions; and when budgeting, forecasting and scenario planning start to be a requirement for the business to remain agile.

With NetSuite, data for multiple entities can be managed in one unified system, and analysed at any level, from individual location right up to a consolidated view of the entire operation. NetSuite’s role-based dashboards and KPIs – that come ‘out of the box’ mirroring industry and role leading practices, but can be customised to requirements – mean that each member of your team has access to the meaningful, actionable insights that enable them to efficiently do their jobs.

NetSuite SuiteAnalytics provides real-time ‘saved searches’, reporting, KPIS. dashboard and workbook features that are built into the NetSuite solution. The benefits of this include real-time transparency into company performance across all business functions, from summary level to transaction level; a single version of the truth with all data residing in a single source; easy-to-use tools that don’t require programming or technical resources; and no added cost, complexity or latency of data warehousing systems or disparate systems, or the laborious manipulation of spreadsheets.

2. A ‘finance only’ system plus multiple disparate systems = headaches

When businesses grow, it’s common for more and more software programs to be added to operations, each doing its own handy thing. Businesses rely on a variety of systems to operate, for example, finance (Xero), ecommerce, CRM, warehouse management, business intelligence and more.

As you add more platforms, it becomes harder to integrate them an optimise the efficiency of your processes. Information siloes are created, day-to-day tasks are onerous and costs build.

Graduating to a unified ERP like NetSuite, even if in the early stages of growth, means that a wide range of business processes are manageable from one cross-functional platform. There is no double entry across different platforms, there are fewer integration headaches, different versions of the ‘truth’ become one version of the ‘truth, and the comprehensive functionality can be utilised as you grow and begin to require it.

NetSuite incorporates robust financials as well as supply chain, ecommerce, professional services automation, CRM, HR functionality and more.

3. Expansion / Planned Expansion is beyond Xero’s Capabilities

Want to open new locations? Expand into foreign territories? Adapt to a more complex business model? You’ll reach the limit of Xero’s capabilities in these regards fairly quickly.

NetSuite’s ‘OneWorld’ capabilities address the complex multinational and multi-company needs of global organisations, adjusting for currency, taxation and legal compliance differences at the local level, with regional and global business consolidation and roll-up.

Over 29,000 growing businesses worldwide are using NetSuite, and because of its flexibility, scalability and built-in industry leading practices, it’s typically the last ERP a business will ever have to buy.

If you and your team are beginning to notice the signs that Xero is limiting your ability to grow, talk to us at Eureka Solutions about our experience in moving customers from Xero to NetSuite, and whether the time is right for you.

Contact richard.christie@eurekasolutions.co.uk or 01355 581960, or fill out our contact form to kick-start a discussion.