ERP is a big-ticket decision—and missteps are expensive. But as we’ve seen in close to 20 years of ERP implementations, most ROI shortfalls stem from five predictable mistakes CFOs make during planning and execution.
Here’s how to avoid them.
1. Treating ERP Like an Expense, Not an Investment
When you focus solely on upfront costs, you miss the ROI forest for the CapEx trees. CFOs who succeed treat ERP as a revenue strategy, not just a tech upgrade.
Fix: Use the Concentrus Advantage ROI Roadmap to map ERP features directly to cost savings and growth metrics.
2. Not Involving Finance Early
ERP projects are often led by IT or Ops. Finance joins late, often post-purchase.
Fix: CFOs should lead ROI modeling from the start, including TCO, opportunity costs, and payback timelines.
3. Ignoring Post-Go-Live Optimization
Many CFOs fail to plan for the 6–18 months after go-live, where the real ROI gains are found through adoption and optimization.
Fix: Include post-go-live milestones in your ERP ROI model.
4. Underestimating Training & Change Management Costs
ERP fails when users don’t adopt. That means you don’t get the ROI you planned for.
Fix: Allocate 15–25% of ERP budget to training, enablement, and support.
5. Using Generic ROI Benchmarks
Every industry, company size, and workflow is different. Using a one-size-fits-all ROI calculator? Dangerous.
Fix: Leverage a vertical-specific ROI framework like the Concentrus Advantage ROI Roadmap, built to model ROI for construction, manufacturing, and supply chain companies.
Want to avoid all 5 mistakes before your next ERP investment?
Schedule a free ERP Assessment with our ERP experts, and we will guide you from assessment all the way to ongoing ERP support with our exclusive Concentrus Advantage ROI Roadmap, designed with your ERP ROI in mind from the beginning. Schedule today!
About Us
Concentrus is a leading provider of innovative cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, including NetSuite. Our team of NetSuite experts offers a range of services, including NetSuite price analysis, NetSuite training, and NetSuite integration services.
Our goal is to help businesses of all sizes maximize their investment in NetSuite by providing expert NetSuite cost optimization and implementation strategies. With years of experience as a NetSuite partner, our NetSuite administrators and NetSuite consultants are well equipped to help businesses of all sizes with their NetSuite consulting needs.
Whether you're looking for a NetSuite consultant to help with your NetSuite implementation or you need ongoing NetSuite support, Concentrus is here to help.
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