When an ERP salesperson says, “we can customize that,” ask whether the change uses configuration or code. Configuration uses settings that your team can change later. Code is software your company must maintain as the vendor updates the underlying product.
We sat down with our team to explain how to tell the difference, what you take on when a change requires code, and how a good partner handles the request.
Two meanings of “we can customize that”
Configuration covers changes to fields, workflows, permissions, or reports within the software. Code-level customization requires a programmer to build something outside the product’s standard process. A salesperson may call either one customization, but the long-term costs are very different.
Before Monica Delisle joined us, she implemented Acumatica Construction. When a customer asked for a change outside its standard workflow, fulfilling the request usually required code.
A request may seem minor. The contractor wants the system to match an existing office process, so a programmer modifies the software. The company then owns code that the vendor neither wrote nor tests.
What you take on when the answer is code
When the vendor updates the product, the software around the custom code changes. Because the vendor did not test that code, it may stop working. Some vendors therefore cannot apply updates automatically, and customers need a consultant to complete each upgrade.
Monica saw partners accept every workflow request, then assign the work to contract programmers who did not understand the full system. Each programmer addressed one request without knowing what other parts of the system it affected, which created a growing set of dependent customizations.
It's a house of cards for sure. And so then you're going back and having to pay that programmer over and over and over.
Monica Delisle · Solutions ConsultantProblems often appeared during the next update and required urgent work because the company could not leave its accounting system out of service.
A lot of the escalations we had with existing implementations was: they did an update, and now we're getting errors all over the place. Now we've got to get somebody to recode this customisation because it's not working with the update.
Monica Delisle · Solutions ConsultantAgreeing to code during the demo can leave you paying to build the customization, paying a programmer to fix it after updates, and paying a consultant to perform each upgrade. The license quote does not include those costs.
How a good partner handles the request
Contractors need software that supports their workflows. The partner should first determine how much can be configured within the product, where future updates will not require recoding. Monica has found more options for this in Sage Intacct Construction than she found in Acumatica.
Intacct just has much more opportunities to customise things within the software without code-level customisation being required.
Monica Delisle · Solutions ConsultantConfiguration cannot meet every request, but in our experience it can handle most useful changes when the implementation partner checks those options first. Tina Rehberg, who leads our Sage Intacct implementations, starts by understanding each entity’s workflow and then looks for a maintainable change within the core system.
Even though we already have a core structure and core workflows, I treat every entity that comes in as its own implementation. I want to hear their workflows and make sure they'll work with the core. If something is unique about how they do business and they need to see something a little different, we take the time to understand it and modify the workflow for their entity — it's not "here's the workflow, sorry, you have to change yours." What I'm always looking for are the little wins inside the core: we may not be able to change the core template for one company because every other company uses it, but we can add a custom field to help them sort their AR invoices or payments the way they need. That's how you give standardization without making people feel steamrolled — you listen, you understand their workflow, and you find what you can flex.
Tina Rehberg · Senior Sage Intacct ConsultantA custom field that helps a controller sort AR invoices may be a small change, but it addresses the business need and continues working after an update. When you request a change, look for the simplest maintainable option that solves the problem.
How to find out which answer you are getting
Your implementation partner can affect the result as much as the software does. Two firms can implement the same ERP and produce systems with very different maintenance needs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central shows this clearly because it is a horizontal ERP. Its construction functions come from vertical add-ons and the way the partner combines them with the core product. A construction-focused partner already understands those add-ons and job costing, while a generalist may build the workflows from the beginning. Kevin Alexander, our Microsoft Dynamics 365 solution architect, has seen both results.
the implementation partner often determines whether the company ends up with a scalable operational platform or a heavily customized system nobody wants to maintain three years from now.
Kevin Alexander · Microsoft Dynamics 365 Solution ArchitectConstruction makes these decisions more important because processes can differ across departments and projects, and among project managers. A good partner separates requirements that give the company a competitive advantage from accounting controls the system must preserve and habits the team can safely change. That judgment affects how much custom code the system contains. Ask the following questions during discovery, before signing.
Should you say yes?
Say yes when configuration can handle the request. Approve code only when the workflow is a genuine competitive requirement and someone can explain who will maintain the code and how an update will affect it. If no one can answer those questions, do not approve the customization yet.
Consider which system you want to support five years from now: one your team can adjust or one that requires a programmer whenever the vendor releases an update.
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