ERP Selection Consultant, Netherlands

What Dutch companies usually put on the shortlist

The right shortlist depends on where the company is coming from and where it is heading. Smaller firms moving off packages such as SnelStart, Moneybird or e-Boekhouden often compare Exact Online with wider cloud platforms such as Zoho and Odoo. Mid-sized distributors and manufacturers tend to weigh AFAS, Exact's larger products or Unit4 against Dynamics 365 Business Central, Odoo and occasionally ERPNext. European headquarters of foreign groups may be offered the parent's system and need to know whether it can handle Dutch requirements locally.

No option on that list wins automatically. A Dutch package may bring a Dutch interface and an accountant who already knows it; an international suite may offer more warehouse depth, multi-entity reporting or a fit with the group standard. Moving up to the larger edition of what you already use is a legitimate option too, as long as it is tested like the others.

I begin with order volumes, warehouse model, number of entities, webshop and marketplace channels, and how your accountant works with your books. Options that fail a knock-out requirement drop out early, with the reason written down. My ERP consultant page for the Netherlands gives wider platform context, and the distribution ERP comparison is a useful starting point for wholesalers.

Demo scripts with Dutch finance and logistics cases

Generic demos show clean orders and neat dashboards. My scripts ask every vendor to walk through identical Dutch cases with your sample data, scored by your process owners:

• A domestic sale, an intra-EU sale to a business customer and an import, followed by the BTW return figures and the intra-EU listing data.
• A bank statement imported in the format your bank provides, such as CAMT, and matched against open items.
• An invoice sent over Peppol to a public-sector or large customer, and a supplier invoice received the same way.
• An order released to a third-party warehouse, confirmed back in part, followed by a customer return.
• The XML audit file that Dutch accountants and tax inspectors may request, exported for a test period and opened by your accountant.

Scores record whether each step ran as standard, configuration, workaround or development. Your accountant's reaction to the BTW and audit file cases matters more than the vendor's own claims, and the obligations themselves are for your advisor to confirm. For e-invoicing I also note whether the Peppol route is native, runs through a third-party access point or is only planned. The underlying method is explained on my ERP evaluation page.

Reading offers from Dutch implementation partners

In the Netherlands most ERP products are delivered by implementation partners, and it is common to receive offers from two or three of them for the same product. Offers differ in shape: a fixed package for a standard start, phases charged on hours, or a light offer that leaves connectors, migration and training to be quoted later, once you are committed.

I rebuild each offer into one table: what is delivered per phase, which consultants and at what level, the effort described, what your team must contribute, assumptions about data and connectors, and every exclusion. Where one partner includes the warehouse provider connection and another lists it as optional, both are asked to explain. Clarification questions go to each partner in the same words, and the answers are filed with the selection record.

Reference calls follow a fixed list of questions on delivery against plan, change requests and support after go-live. Offers are often written in Dutch; your team helps me check the wording wherever it changes scope. If offers are already on your desk, vendor proposal review explains how I assess them, and ERP vendor selection covers the full process from longlist to signature.

Connectors, payroll and data questions to settle early

Dutch companies tend to run a lot of software around the ERP: a webshop, marketplace connectors, the warehouse provider's portal, a payroll package, banking and sometimes a BI tool. During selection I record for each candidate which of these connections exist as standard, which need a third-party connector and which would be custom work. That list often changes the ranking more than any feature demo, because connectors carry their own subscription, maintenance and failure points.

Payroll in the Netherlands usually stays with a specialist package or provider, so the relevant question is how payroll journals reach the ERP and in which format, not whether the ERP calculates salaries.

Data protection gets a short, fixed questionnaire for every vendor and partner: storage location of live data and backups, subprocessors, the content of the processing agreement, how support staff gain access and the exit route. GDPR applies whichever product you choose; your privacy lead or lawyer judges the answers, and the selection record keeps them for later reference. My approach to connections in more depth is on the ERP integration page.

From scorecard to a signed agreement

The recommendation brings together demo scores, reference notes, the partner comparison, connector findings and cost drivers for each option. Your directors fix the weighting before any vendor presents, which stops the ranking being bent toward a favorite later. Where two options finish close, I say so and explain which conditions should decide between them, rather than inventing a clear winner.

Before signature we walk through the agreement together: what counts as acceptance at each stage, the rules for pricing and approving extra work, named consultants, support levels after go-live, data processing terms and the route out if the relationship ends. Your lawyer handles the legal drafting; my list makes sure the practical points reach it.

Because no vendor or partner rewards me for the outcome, the comparison stays worth having. When the decision is made, the ERP implementation consultant page for the Netherlands explains how I support delivery on your side. Sessions run remotely at times that suit Dutch teams, and the Netherlands overview describes the rest of what I do there.