Consumer Cheat Sheet - 30 Questions To Ask About The Cost of Accounting Software

CFOs specialize in finances. For them money truly is everything. Every investment their companies make should eventually further their financial growth. ERP software is a major investment that could involve thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on hardware, licensing, implementation, training, and support. Before a company reaches a point where it is ready to invest heavily in ERP software, there are a few hard questions its CFO should ask.

Once you start talking with a software vendor, you will eventually get a quote. That quote will give you an estimate of how much your ERP software will cost. To effectively evaluate it, you will need to be able to do three things:

1. Understand the quote and all of its fine print
2. Determine what information was left out of the quote
3. Ask the right questions in order to find out what the true cost of ownership will be

To help you out, we have put together a white paper as a cheat sheet, "30 Questions Every CFO Must Ask About the Cost of Accounting Software," that can help you decipher an ERP software quote and ask the necessary questions to find out just how much you will really spend and how much time and effort you will need to put into implementation.

The white paper will help you ask the tough questions that vendors may not consider when they serve you a quote.

• How much will additional modules cost?
• What are the training options and prices?
• How often are new versions released?
• What is the software cost to service cost ratio?

These and other questions are spelled out in the white paper with descriptions and examples. The white paper also provides a checklist to go over before your quote, a project quote worksheet, and a document that provides guidance on choosing the right software partner.

"30 Questions Every CFO Must Ask About the Cost of Accounting Software" is free to download and use at www.calszone.com/30questions.

Want to know the cost of Microsoft Dynamics GP – software, maintenance, and estimated implementation? Get a free Quick Quote at www.calszone.com/quick-quote. But don’t accept anything until you ask us the tough questions you learned from this cheat sheet.

by Anya Ciecierski, CAL Business Solutions, www.calszone.com