ERP Implementation Consultant, Belgium

Where Belgian ERP implementations run into trouble

Belgian projects rarely fail on the big design questions. They stumble on specific, local details that nobody owned:

• Peppol is configured but tested only against the partner's own test address, then fails for customers registered differently on the network.
• Invoices go out without the structured payment reference, so incoming payments stop matching automatically.
• Open receivables are loaded as balances, leaving reminders and direct debits with nothing to attach to.
• Payroll journals from the social secretariat arrive in a layout the new chart of accounts no longer matches.
• Document layouts exist in one language only when go-live arrives, and part of the customer base receives the wrong version.

These are organizational gaps rather than software failures. When someone on the client side owns each of them from the start, most are closed long before testing ends. My general approach to client-side delivery is set out under ERP implementation; this page shows how it applies to Belgian organizations, from trading companies to associations and consultancies.

Working alongside your Belgian partner

The partner leads configuration and usually the workshop method. My role is to make your side of the project work well: preparing process owners so workshops end in decisions, reading design documents against your requirements, and keeping a record of what was decided, by whom and why, so settled points are not reopened without reason.

Extra requests are captured in one register. Each entry states why it is wanted, what the partner expects it to cost in effort and how it shifts dates or budget, and the sponsor rules on it. When an estimate covers work that looks included in the agreement, I ask the partner to explain the basis in writing.

Many Belgian organizations have small finance and IT teams, and associations or consultancies may have no IT function at all. In that situation I also help plan internal capacity: who cleans data, who writes the guides in each language, who tests which processes and when, and how that work fits around normal duties. If the project has already drifted badly, the page on fixing a failing implementation describes how I start.

Migrating from WinBooks, BOB, Octopus, Exact and similar

Belgian organizations usually arrive from an established accounting package, often with sales or projects in a separate tool and stock in spreadsheets. Sometimes the accounting firm keeps the books and the organization only issues invoices. The migration plan is built around that starting point rather than a generic template.

The scope of the move is settled jointly with the partner and your accountant: customers and suppliers, cleaned and complete with enterprise numbers and language preference; open items carried individually so reminders and payment matching continue; opening balances from the ledger your accountant approves; and stock or project positions where relevant. History remains readable in the old package for a period agreed with your accountant, who also confirms how long records must be kept.

Your finance lead signs a reconciliation by account and open item after each trial load. Duplicate relations, missing VAT numbers and customers without a language code get fixed at source while the rehearsals are running, so the final load is clean. Method details are on my ERP data migration page.

Testing Peppol, CODA, VAT listings and payroll journals

Belgian test plans need real files and real counterparties, not only screens. With the partner I plan:

• Peppol invoices and credit notes sent to a few real customers and received from real suppliers, including a rejected message and how it is handled.
• CODA statements from each bank account imported and matched using structured references, with exceptions routed to the right person.
• Direct debit batches generated, submitted through the bank's test route where one exists, and reconciled.
• VAT return data and listings compared with a period prepared in the old package.
• A payroll journal from the social secretariat imported for a trial month and checked against their report.
• Documents printed in French, Dutch and, where needed, German from records with each language preference.

Your accountant confirms whether the outputs meet Belgian requirements. I make sure every case is exercised with real data and that the results reach the people who must sign off. The UAT approach is described under ERP testing and UAT.

Go-live, training in several languages and hypercare

The go-live point is chosen with the books in mind. Starting at the beginning of a VAT period keeps returns and listings clean; starting partway through means two systems contribute to one return. I help weigh the trade-off with your accountant and the partner, and plan the cutover around bank files, Peppol messages still in transit and the social secretariat's payroll cycle.

Training in French, Dutch or German is delivered by key users or the partner. I check that each role going live has a guide in the language its users work in and has practiced on test data before the switch.

Once live, hypercare runs remotely: a brief morning check-in with key users and partner consultants, and one list of open issues ranked so that invoicing, payments and customer-facing problems come first. It finishes when the first month-end and VAT return have gone through, not on a fixed day. My ERP go-live support page sets out the checklist. The decision stage is covered under ERP selection in Belgium, and the Belgium overview lists my other services.