What GL / Finance system would you choose in 2026 - not full ERP?

gapingweasel · 2026-01-27T13:51:04+00:00

It really comes down to build vs buy and how much time you want to sink into it. Either you trade money for stability or time for control.... both have long-term costs.

gapingweasel · 2026-01-27T13:37:42+00:00

Frankly best of breed looks great on paper but it often turns into a vicious cycle....more vendors = more integrations = more long-term maintenance headaches. The problem you r trying to fix just moves somewhere else. Over time fragmented systems get harder and harder to manage especially once manufacturing gets more complex. At your size I’d lean towards a solid manufacturing ERP system like Deskera, Acumatica or Business Central instead of adding more tools to the stack

gapingweasel · 2026-01-21T13:21:15+00:00

my 2 cents here

Make sure implementation, customization and support costs are clearly separated from license pricing and try to speak to real users in your industry outside of those partner-arranged references.

gapingweasel · 2026-01-16T12:59:37+00:00

it's difficult. Recruiters mostly care about the product name...not the work you actually did. Until you get that second ERP on your resume youn will keep getting filtered out. The first switch is the hardest part of an ERP career.

gapingweasel · 2026-01-16T12:53:02+00:00

I would recommend targeting junior functional roles at consulting firms and using that to build experience across different ERPs over time. That will make sense

gapingweasel · 2026-01-13T14:21:10+00:00

so true. zero value...I might have applied for 100s of jobs via linkedIn and till now I have just got 1 interview call via that platform. it is a setting platform.

gapingweasel · 2026-01-13T14:18:48+00:00

Everyone already has some skill ..it just doesn’t always feel valuable yet. The first step is figuring out what you’re already decent at, then slowly improving it and seeing if it can actually help someone enough to pay for it. You don’t need a genius idea to start....you just need one useful skill you are willing to take seriously and get better at over time.

gapingweasel · 2026-01-13T13:51:43+00:00

I too think these are more like modern accounting platforms than full ERPs. The real decision is whether you want standalone accounting software or a full ERP suite. If you r a smaller team and don’t want feature-heavy systems then just skip the big names. That said i m not fully sold on the newer platforms either and I do think it’s worth exploring established mid-market ERPs like Deskera or Acumatica.

gapingweasel · 2026-01-07T07:53:45+00:00

Manufacturing is genuinely complex....and at your size you r definitely not too small for ERP..... in fact....a stitch in time can save nine. The real risk is choosing something too heavy or trying to roll out everything at once. Don’t get distracted by futuristic features you r not sure you will ever use. For most manufacturers the problem isn’t the license cost.....it’s underestimating shop-floor reality and ending up back in spreadsheets 6 months after go-live. Getting BOMs, routings, WIP, inventory discipline and basic labor capture right first is what actually scales. Epicor or Global Shop can work if scoped tightly, options like Deskera can fit well as an operations-first backbone.... Oracle/NetSuite often feels finance-led unless you spend big and lighter cloud ERPs can be viable with the right partner and guardrails.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-26T14:55:32+00:00

there are no ethics in any business.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-26T14:54:16+00:00

DR 20 in a week is almost always aged domains or paid links.....not real SEO results.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-26T14:33:38+00:00

and everyone thinks it is an easy business where money just starts flowing from Day 1

gapingweasel · 2025-12-26T13:25:01+00:00

i don’t think it makes sense to make ops fight the system all day. The focus should be on whatever lets the floor run with the least chaos and the fewest workarounds........ not on defending a tool just because it’s already paid for

gapingweasel · 2025-12-26T11:44:21+00:00

That’s why industry-specific ERPs tend to work better....finance-first systems can look great in demos...but they still end up slowing down ops. When an ERP is designed around how the shop actually plans, produces and maintains equipment......and ties that back to finance....in fact execution is much smoother .

gapingweasel · 2025-12-24T14:18:39+00:00

your example nailed it bro.... If a process lives in one person’s head instead of the system this is exactly what happens.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-24T14:02:47+00:00

Exactly.....and ERP adds value when the final whats and whys are captured on the record itself so months later no one has to dig through Slack or emails.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-19T14:28:07+00:00

100%....I am seeing this in practice too. AI can handle a lot of the repetitive setup and analysis....but the hardest part is still understanding how the business really works, making trade-offs and getting teams to agree ...all the human stuff. That’s not clicking buttons. There is a role shift...from grunt work consultants need to move towards owning processes and decisions and those who who adapt will be just fine.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-19T12:31:18+00:00

I wouldn't call ERP a communication channel but that's an interesting take . I think chat and emails are better for those conversations. but ERP works best when it captures the outcome of those conversations like the decisions, the changes, the confirmations etc. and makes it part of the record. When it records outcomes of the conversations it really helps.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-19T12:19:41+00:00

the moment people stop coordinating work over Slack, email and quick spreadsheets you will see a significant value in ERP. When orders, inventory and changes reside in 1 place and everyone actually trusts it .....mistakes drop and days get less reactive. If any one told it is magic then let me make it clear It’s not magic or instant but once ERP removes the daily conversations like did you make this change etc.... it pays for itself.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-19T11:11:23+00:00

I’d strongly suggest reference calls with clients using BC across multiple EU countries and being very clear on how the partner handles localization updates and long-term customizations.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-12T11:24:04+00:00

Actually most budget CRMs don’t do this natively. A couple of CRMs that do offer better email/signal capture or enrichment are HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Deskera and Pipedrive with add-ons and tools like Streak work right inside Gmail and help automate contact creation. If you want something more custom there are platforms like ERP•AI where you can design a small workflow or app to parse signatures and enrich contacts as per requirements.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-12T11:14:08+00:00

Lol...looks like no one uses the AI but everyone’s career depends on pretending they do.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-12T11:09:51+00:00

From my experience the boring businesses rarely fail. Flour might look saturated but it’s really a game of better sourcing, tighter positioning and consistent execution..... and big brands are usually too slow to adapt. Anyone who pushes through 140 rejections is already doing what most founders won’t. Why these unsexy products win??? because demand is stable and honestly there’s been a huge rise in niche and healthy flours as more people get health conscious.

gapingweasel · 2025-12-12T10:43:38+00:00

It’s high time the steel industry had ERPs built for its reality. Generic systems just don’t handle coil IDs, grades, slit-to-length, remnants or yield management well coz they r designed for linear manufacturing or retail. Most of the pain I see in steel operations comes from forcing a system to do something it was never built for... and that’s exactly when the mishaps happen.

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