ERP and Accounting Software Buyers Trends 2018

In its 2018 Accounting Software Buyer Trends Report, Software Connect examined over 3,000 accounting software projects from the past year to sketch out a portrait of the needs and motivations of software buyers nationwide. This yielded a number of notable findings about why companies purchase new accounting software.

It was found that new accounting software buyers are a big chunk of the market and more than one-third of companies who upgrade their software are QuickBooks users. This is not surprising as growing businesses tend to quickly outgrow QuickBooks. As businesses grow, legacy accounting systems such as QuickBooks and Sage 50 can’t keep up with their needs. The need for functions beyond core accounting is a huge motivator for businesses who invest in ERP systems. Over 20% of companies surveyed require software that handles payroll, inventory, and invoicing.

Also discovered is that small companies are more likely to purchase cloud-hosted software. But it’s no news that cloud computing is better suited to small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) due to its affordability and flexibility. Large companies however are looking to business intelligence and are more likely to need software that handles budgeting/business intelligence (BI) and fixed assets. Noteworthy also is that many advanced intelligence reporting features previously exclusive to large-scale ERP systems are now more affordable.

Interesting also is that the need for advanced features is largely driven by industry consolidation, the rise of telecommuting, and government compliance. These of course in addition to the need for increasing functionality, replacing dated systems, and improving usability.

These findings and more were published in Software Connect’s 2018 Accounting Software Buyer Trends Report. For full report, visit here.