Accountancy software and after-sales support

After-sales support can be crucial to the success of your project.

When you're considering a supplier for your new accountancy software, don't forget to find out about the after-sales support on offer. The period after implementation can often be challenging, with both the project team and the rest of the staff trying to adopt new working practices after years of experience with a different system.

Why after-sales support matters

The quality of after-sales support you receive is almost as important as the accountancy software itself. Your business needs to know that it can call on expert help and advice whenever an issue arises, so that you don't lose valuable time and money because part of the system isn't working. Good after-sales support will include:

• Awareness of your business - by choosing after-sales support from the same firm that supplies the accounting software, you know that you are talking to someone who has some knowledge of your business, including your future growth expectations, your reasons for buying new software and has built a relationship with the people running the project.
• Training - although there should be an element of training built into the purchase of the accounting software, after-sales support should include on-going training. This will help you to ensure that all the employees who are using the new system have a smooth transition, and that new employees are given relevant training to help them get started as soon as possible. In addition, if there are any updates or amendments to the software, training will be needed to ensure that everyone remains confident using the system.
• Systems support - in addition to making sure that any updates to your accounting software are successfully installed, after-sales support can work with your IT team to install servers, connections, networks and additional software to make sure that your systems are protected and working efficiently for you.

You need to be able to rely on the after-sales support aspect of your new accounting software - otherwise you could be left with software and personnel problems that adversely affect your business. That's why you should make it a key consideration when you're choosing a software provider.

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