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With over 15 years of experience helping finance teams navigate technology innovation, Darren Cran has developed a clear view of what makes systems succeed and, just as crucially, fail. As CEO of AccountsIQ, Darren has grown the company from 14 employees to 170 and turned it into a global platform supporting over 20,000 users.
In this interview series, we’re focusing on how organisations can extract the most value from ERP systems: it’s an area Darren knows well, and one of the most important lessons he’s learnt is that ERP systems can be a catalyst for transformation – and frustration if not managed with care. “Our recent research,” Darren explains, “revealed that 94% of finance leaders have some level of regret about implementing an ERP.” While this seems like a damning statistic, it’s often not because the ERP systems themselves are flawed. As he explains, oftentimes “teams are using ERPs when a different system would be better suited to their business needs”.
The problem often boils down to scale and suitability. Growing businesses frequently move from small accounting tools to full-scale ERP systems too early, Darren says, falsely assuming it to be the next logical step. “[Even] the best software will fail if teams aren’t trained properly or if ongoing support is insufficient,” he adds. “Workload inflation, manual workarounds, and burnout are real consequences when adoption falls short”.
These lessons have made Darren an advocate for smarter, more intentional digital transformation. The most successful implementations, he explains, are those that are able to “balance ambition with practicality,” all in order to design a path that supports not just the technology, but the people too.
I’ve spent over 15 years helping mid-sized organisations implement cloud finance and business systems. My background as a chartered accountant with KPMG, coupled with experience in senior finance roles and my current role as CEO of AccountsIQ, has given me first-hand insight into how software choices can either empower or constrain finance teams.
At AccountsIQ, our mission is to help finance leaders make decisions that are right for their business and their teams. Our recent research revealed that 94% of finance leaders have some level of regret about implementing an ERP.. Often, it’s not because ERP systems are inherently flawed, but because implementation, support, or feature overkill create hidden costs and operational friction. Ultimately, it’s because often, teams are using ERPs when a different system would be better suited to their business needs.
My role and our wider mission as a business is about guiding leaders to find that balance. Rather than jumping to ERPs, teams should consider finding software that scales with their organisation, supports real-time decision-making, and enables teams to work smarter. The crux of this issue is educating people that there are solutions fit for every type of business and every business need, and that those outgrowing starter systems need not turn to ERPs because they feel it’s the only choice.
ERP systems deliver value in many large organisations. That being said, for agile, mid-market businesses, ERPs often create more headaches than benefits: they’re expensive, slow to implement, and packed with features that go unused. Under-utilisation is rife in ERPs in our experience, and our research shows that 60% of finance leaders say they are using half or less of the features available to them.
The organisations that see the greatest impact are those that select platforms proportionate to their size and workflows, integrating only what is needed to gain control and efficiency without the unnecessary complexity. When platforms are carefully matched to business needs, the result is smarter decision-making, more agile operations, and less human strain – a win-win for both leaders and teams.
In my view, the biggest reasons ERP projects falter are complexity mismatch, poor planning, and lack of user enablement. Three in five finance leaders report painfully slow implementations, often taking more than six months, while nearly two-thirds used less than half of their system’s functionality. Hidden costs compound the challenge, making systems feel more expensive and less effective than expected.
Then there’s the human impact. Even the best software will fail if teams aren’t trained properly or if ongoing support is insufficient. Workload inflation, manual workarounds, and burnout are real consequences when adoption falls short. Leadership must balance ambition with practicality, designing a project plan that addresses both technology and people. Effective communication, phased onboarding, and clearly defined responsibilities are essential to mitigate these risks and deliver real value from an ERP investment.
The most common issue in my experience is a disconnect between the system and the business needs. Our team has daily conversations with businesses that have a team of 3 or 4 in a finance department. They are on Sage 50, Xero or Quickbooks and are quickly outgrowing the capabilities and features of their starter system. They are advised to implement an ERP because they think it’s the only option. In reality, for a small or medium but growing team, the vast complexities of an ERP are likely to be overwhelming rather than conducive to efficiency and growth.
Customisation can be tempting, but it often introduces complexity, cost and long-term maintenance challenges. Organisations that over-customise in pursuit of a ‘perfect fit’ typically only create inefficiencies that mirror the very problems they were trying to solve.
The smarter approach is to understand your core needs first. What processes are non-negotiable, and where could simplification actually drive efficiency? Once you’ve mapped those requirements, select a system (not necessarily an ERP) that is flexible enough to configure without heavy customisation.
Mid-tier platforms often hit this sweet spot – adaptable enough to reflect essential workflows, yet simple enough to implement quickly and be scaled responsibly. The key is proportionality: match software to business requirements rather than reshaping every system to fit every process. This approach reduces risk and sets teams up for sustainable success.
AI and machine learning are increasingly seen as transformative, but their impact depends entirely on the foundation beneath them. Our survey found that 26% of CFOs view AI and automation as the biggest driver of change by 2030, yet concerns remain around ethics, data security, and human oversight.
The first step is having a robust finance platform with clean, integrated data. Only then can AI tools meaningfully enhance forecasting, anomaly detection, or task automation. Practical applications are emerging – automating repetitive processes, generating insights from complex datasets, and enabling faster, more confident decision-making.
Crucially, automation and AI can also relieve pressure on finance teams by eliminating manual, time-consuming tasks and surfacing insights instantly – a key step toward improving both performance and wellbeing. AI isn’t about replacing finance teams; it’s about amplifying their capabilities, freeing them to focus on strategy, analysis, and sustainable growth rather than firefighting data challenges.
Integration is no longer optional, it’s critical for finance to provide visibility across the business. The key is to be strategic, not just technical. Teams should focus on systems that connect seamlessly with their wider tech stack, enabling real-time reporting and automated workflows.
Finance leaders in mid-sized organisations often struggle with piecemeal solutions or manual reconciliations. By choosing platforms with robust integration capabilities, they eliminate duplicative work and unlock better insight for decision-making. Integration also supports scalability. As businesses grow, data flows consistently between systems, empowering CFOs to maintain control, identify trends, and react quickly. In short, integration isn’t just about connecting software, it’s about connecting decisions and driving business agility.
The biggest pitfall is assuming that bigger automatically equals better. Many mid-sized organisations feel pressure to implement large ERPs as they scale, but excessive complexity, long implementations, and underutilised functionality often lead to regret. We have had many customers who have started implementing a full scale ERP like Netsuite, Microsoft, Sage Intacct and Iplicit. Only to find that the implementation and onboarding process is disruptive, overwhelming and fraught with delays. Often, they end up abandoning these implementations and working with our mid-market solution instead, which is a better long term fit but a painful and costly lesson to learn.
The most successful finance leaders take a step back and ask: what does my team actually need to operate efficiently? Where can automation or simplification have the biggest impact? Selecting software that is proportionate, flexible, and well-supported – the ‘golden middle ground’ – avoids wasted cost, reduces burnout, and ensures finance becomes a driver of growth rather than a bottleneck.
The right platform doesn’t just save money, it protects teams from burnout by reducing manual work and helping them make confident, data-driven decisions. This principle underpins every insight in our recent report and is a core lesson for any organisation embarking on a software transformation.
