Most businesses only see part of what their current systems really cost. This free guide helps you put a number on the rest, model the return from moving to MYOB Acumatica over five years, and turn the results into a business case your board will approve. The guide is free to read. Leave your details to unlock the calculators, which work in your browser with nothing to download. It’s built around the figures of a New Zealand business turning over $3–10M.
What’s in this guide
1. The true cost of your current systems
When businesses add up what their systems cost, they usually count licence fees, servers and IT support. Those are real, but they are rarely the biggest number. The larger costs hide in your team’s time, in stock you don’t need, in sales you didn’t make and in cash that arrives late. They’re spread across departments, so nobody owns them and nobody budgets for them.
Choose the example closest to your business, then replace the figures with your own. Each calculator shows what the problem costs you a year, and how much of that you could expect to recover with MYOB Acumatica.
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Your business
Visible costs of your current systems (per year)
Visible costs per year: –
01
Manual data entry and re-keying
Orders, invoices and stock movements typed into more than one system.
Cost per year –Recoverable –
02
Fixing errors
Wrong prices, duplicate invoices, mis-picks and the credits, freight and time to put them right.
Cost per year –Recoverable –
03
Slow month-end close
Extra days spent reconciling, chasing figures and correcting journals every month.
Cost per year –Recoverable –
04
Building reports by hand
Exporting, merging and formatting data before anyone can make a decision.
Cost per year –Recoverable –
05
Spreadsheets and workarounds
Side systems kept alive because the main system can’t do the job.
Cost per year –Recoverable –
06
Excess stock
Safety stock held because nobody trusts the numbers, tying up cash and warehouse space.
Cost per year –Recoverable –
07
Stockouts and lost sales
Orders lost or delayed because stock wasn’t where the system said it was.
Cost per year –Recoverable –
08
Slow invoicing and collections
Invoices raised late or chased by hand, so cash arrives later than it should.
Cost per year –Recoverable –
09
Downtime and slow systems
Outages, slow screens and remote staff who can’t get in.
Cost per year –Recoverable –
10
Compliance, audit and year-end
Pulling together GST, payroll, audit and year-end information from several places.
Cost per year –Recoverable –
Getting numbers you can stand behind
- Ask the people who do the work. Your accounts, warehouse and sales teams know how long the workarounds take. A ten-minute conversation beats a guess.
- Sample a typical week. Have a few people note time spent re-keying, fixing errors or building reports for one week, then scale it up.
- Use the full cost of an hour. Add on-costs such as KiwiSaver contributions, ACC levies, leave and overheads to the hourly wage. For most roles, that adds a quarter or more.
- Be conservative with improvements. No system removes a cost completely. Lower estimates make a case that is harder to argue with.
2. Calculating your MYOB Acumatica ROI
An ERP investment has two parts: a one-off project to get you live, and an ongoing subscription to run it. MYOB Acumatica is licensed by the resources your business uses rather than per user, so you can give access to everyone who needs it, including staff in the warehouse, on site or on the road, without the licence bill rising each time.
- Subscription: MYOB Acumatica licensing, hosting, security and upgrades, paid annually.
- Implementation: discovery, process design, configuration, testing and go-live support from Acclaim.
- Data migration and integrations: bringing across customers, suppliers, stock and balances, and connecting e-commerce, payroll or other systems.
- Training and change management: getting your people confident and using the system properly from day one.
- Your team’s time: the hours your own people spend on the project. It’s easy to forget, and it’s real.
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Your MYOB Acumatica investment
Use the figures from your Acclaim proposal. Ask us for an estimate if you don’t have one yet.
Assumptions
Benefits build up as your team settles in. Be conservative: a business case that under-promises is easier to approve.
Full annual benefit: –
| Start | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Benefits | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Net | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Cumulative | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Reading the results
- ROI compares the total benefit over five years with the total investment. 100% means every dollar invested came back twice.
- Payback period is how long until cumulative benefits cover everything spent. Boards often look at this first.
- Net present value (NPV) discounts future benefits back to today’s dollars. A positive NPV means the project beats leaving the money at your chosen rate. Your finance team will usually supply the rate.
Cloud or on-premise?
| MYOB Acumatica (cloud) | On-premise ERP | |
|---|---|---|
| Servers and hosting | Included in the subscription | You buy, host and replace servers every few years |
| Upgrades | New releases delivered as part of the service | Separate upgrade projects, often skipped or delayed |
| Access | Any device with a browser, in the office or on the road | Office network, VPN or remote desktop |
| Licensing | Based on resources used, not number of users | Usually per user, so growth adds cost |
| Security and backups | Managed in secure data centres | Your IT team’s responsibility |
| Cost profile | Predictable operating expense | Large capital outlays plus maintenance |
Where returns come from in your industry
- Manufacturing: accurate product costing, MRP-driven purchasing, less work-in-progress and fewer expedited orders.
- Wholesale distribution: lower safety stock, fewer stockouts and mis-picks, and faster order-to-cash.
- Construction and trades: live job costing, faster progress claims and earlier warning of projects going over budget.
- Field service and professional services: fewer lost billable hours, quicker invoicing and better use of your people.
Your results
These headline figures update as you change any number above. Print them or save them as a PDF to include in your business case.
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Results are estimates based on the figures and assumptions you enter. They are not a quote or financial advice. Your figures stay in this browser and are not sent to Acclaim.
3. Building your business case
Numbers alone rarely win approval. A good business case explains the problem, shows you’ve considered the options, and gives decision-makers confidence the project will be delivered. Use this structure and keep it short: ten pages is plenty.
A board-ready structure
- Executive summary: the problem, the recommendation, the cost and the return, on one page.
- Where we are today: your current systems, what they cost (from section 1) and the risks of standing still.
- What we need to achieve: three to five measurable goals tied to your business strategy.
- Options considered: do nothing, upgrade the current system, or move to cloud ERP, with the pros and cons of each.
- Recommended solution: MYOB Acumatica, the modules in scope, and why it fits.
- Costs and returns: the five-year model, payback period and NPV (from section 2).
- Risks and how we’ll manage them: data, adoption, timing and budget, each with a mitigation.
- Plan and next steps: phases, key dates, the project team and the decision you need today.
Tailor the message to each stakeholder
Board and CEO
Growth without adding headcount, better visibility for decisions, and lower risk from ageing systems. Lead with strategy and payback.
CFO and finance
Faster month-end, one version of the numbers, tighter controls and a predictable subscription. Show the full five-year model and NPV.
Operations
Accurate stock, fewer errors and less chasing. Use examples from their own week, such as the order that went wrong last month.
IT
No servers to patch, managed security and backups, and open APIs for integrations. Their time moves from maintenance to improvement.
Sales and customer service
Live stock and pricing, order status at their fingertips, and access from anywhere, so they can answer customers first time.
Your wider team
Less double handling and fewer frustrating workarounds. Involve key users early: people support what they help to build.
Answering common objections
“It’s too expensive.”
Compare the investment with the true annual cost from section 1, not with your current licence fees. Doing nothing has a price too, and it rises every year the business grows. A subscription also spreads the cost rather than demanding a large capital outlay.
“Now isn’t the right time.”
There’s rarely a quiet time. Projects can be phased around your peak periods, and every month of delay is another month of the hidden costs you’ve just measured.
“Our current system still works.”
It works because your people work around it. The spreadsheets, re-keying and manual reports in section 1 are the cost of keeping it going. Ask, too, how long the current system will be supported and what happens when the person who knows it leaves.
“ERP projects go over time and budget.”
They do when scope is vague and the partner is new to your industry. A clear discovery phase, a fixed scope, phased go-lives and an experienced local partner keep the risk down. Acclaim has been implementing ERP for New Zealand businesses since 1995.
“Our staff won’t use it.”
Adoption is planned, not hoped for. Involve key users in design, train by role, and support people through go-live. Our change management service is built for exactly this.
“Is our data safe in the cloud?”
MYOB Acumatica runs in professionally managed data centres with security, monitoring and backups that most businesses couldn’t match on their own servers. Access is controlled by role, so people only see what they need.
“We’ll lose the customisations we rely on.”
Many old customisations exist to fill gaps that MYOB Acumatica covers as standard. Where you do need something unique, it can be configured or extended without blocking future upgrades.
Your next steps
- Fill in the calculators with your own figures, ideally with input from each department.
- Print or save your results.
- Book a session with Acclaim. We’ll review your figures, firm up the investment for your scope, and help you shape the business case.