Implementing a Financial Planning Software : Success Factors and Pitfalls

Abstract

At companies, managers look at accounting information to get feedback on how they are performing. Accounting systems have a lot of data, but it must be sorted and filtered for the viewer to be of any value. For this, organisations use reporting systems. The deployment and implementation of reporting systems can be challenging, and many fail at delivering value. This thesis aims to answer the questions on what the success factors and pitfalls are when it comes to deployment and implementation of reporting systems, and what is it managers want from the system. To answer the questions the thesis uses an action research approach combined with semi-structured interviews. The previous research suggest that the most important factors are leadership and management support, proper planning, mapping out the needs, and co-operation between the superusers and the end-users while building the system. The study is done at a medium-sized company and is limited to managers use of accounting information when planning operations and follow up. The case company will take into use a new reporting software that will replace one that they took in use a few years prior, as it does not serve the organisation. The managers are interviewed to map out their reporting needs, to find out why the last reporting software did not serve them and answer the question of what they want from reporting systems. The results reflect on what the previous research identifies. The pitfalls are confirmed through studying what went wrong in the deployment of the last software, and by avoiding them and applying the success factors in the deployment of the new one. The action research confirms that the major success factors are the involvement of the end-users, management support, and good planning.