ERP Implementation Consultant, Ireland

Where Irish ERP implementations go off track

The problems I watch for in Irish projects are specific and predictable, which is good news: they can be headed off.

• VAT codes copied from a UK template, so sales to Northern Ireland or EU customers post with the wrong treatment.
• Sterling bank accounts and customers added late, with revaluation untested until the first month-end.
• Payroll journals from the payroll package mapped to a chart of accounts that has since changed.
• The parent's reporting requirements discovered during the first group close instead of during design.
• Partner consultants based abroad joining design sessions without anyone confirming Irish practice with the local accountant.

None of this is unusual. A client-side lead who owns these items from the start closes most gaps before testing begins, and leaves a written trail showing who decided what. The general method I follow is described on the ERP implementation page; the sections below apply it to an Irish company, often one that is part of a wider group.

Overseeing the partner and keeping the parent informed

Configuration and the delivery method normally belong to the partner. What I do is make your side efficient: briefing process owners so workshops end with decisions, reviewing design documents against your requirements and the parent's reporting needs, and keeping a decision record so settled choices are not reopened later.

New requests are written up with their purpose, the partner's estimate and their effect on timing and cost. Your sponsor approves, refuses or defers each one, and deferred items wait for a later phase. When the parent asks for something new mid-project, such as an extra reporting dimension, it goes through the same route so both sides see what it costs.

For group entities I also keep a short status note for the parent's finance or IT contacts, so they see progress and risks without attending every meeting. That keeps group stakeholders informed without slowing local decisions. If a project has already drifted badly, ERP recovery describes how I restart it.

Migrating from Sage, Xero and older local systems

Irish companies commonly come to a new ERP from Sage or Xero for accounting, sometimes Big Red Book or a similar local package, with stock in a separate tool or spreadsheets and payroll in a dedicated payroll package. Some keep their books with an external accountant who posts year-end adjustments.

I help settle the migration plan with the partner and your accountant: the cleanup and transfer of customers, suppliers and items, individual transfer of euro and sterling open receivables and payables, the source of opening balances, and the depth of history kept accessible in the outgoing system. Record retention is confirmed with your accountant before any old subscription ends.

Every rehearsal load is followed by a reconciliation your finance lead approves: balances per account and currency, every open invoice and bill, and stock per location. Customers with missing VAT numbers or the wrong country code are fixed during the rehearsals, which matters for EU and Northern Ireland sales reporting. More detail is on the ERP data migration page.

Testing VAT, currencies, SEPA and payroll links

An Irish test plan has to prove the money flows, not just the screens. With the partner I plan:

• VAT scenarios for Irish, EU, Northern Ireland and Great Britain sales and purchases, set against a return produced in the outgoing system and reviewed by your accountant.
• Sterling sales, receipts and revaluation at month-end, including bank accounts held in sterling.
• SEPA credit transfers and direct debits generated and reconciled, plus bank statement imports from each bank.
• A payroll journal from your payroll software imported for a trial period and agreed to the payroll report.
• Intercompany transactions that post on both sides and eliminate in the group pack.
• Structured invoices sent or received where customers or suppliers already use them.

Whether the outputs suit Irish requirements is for your accountant to confirm. I make sure the cases are realistic and that results reach the right people while there is still time to fix them. The method is set out under ERP testing and UAT.

Go-live timing, group close and hypercare

Irish entities of larger groups need a go-live that respects the group close calendar. Switching just after a group close and at the start of a VAT period keeps both reporting lines clean; switching partway through means reconciling two systems for one return. I weigh the options with your accountant, the parent and the partner, and build the cutover plan around them.

Payroll usually continues in its own software, so the cutover includes confirming the journal mapping and naming who checks the first live posting. Your key users or the partner write the guides and run training, and before the switch I confirm each live role is covered.

After the switch, I run hypercare remotely with key users and the partner: a quick call each working day, one open-issues list and priorities around invoicing, shipping and payments. It closes once the first full month-end, the first group pack and the first VAT return are done. See ERP go-live support. The selection stage is covered under ERP selection in Ireland, and the Ireland overview lists my other work.