ERP software for UK businesses
What ERP software does and what to check when choosing one.
Accounting software to ERP
Moving from accounting software to ERP
Accounting software and spreadsheets take most businesses a long way. This guide explains when it makes sense to move to an ERP system, what changes and how to plan the move without disrupting day-to-day trading.
Comparison
Accounting software compared with ERP
General approaches, not named products.
| Area | Accounting software | ERP (Nexa) |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Financial transactions: ledgers, invoices, bills, bank and VAT records. | Financial transactions connected to the orders, stock, warehousing, production, projects and people that create them. |
| Stock and orders | Often held in separate tools or spreadsheets, then summarised into the accounts. | Recorded once and reflected in stock, ledgers and reporting at the same time. |
| Reporting | Financial reports; operational reports are often built by hand. | Financial and operational reporting from one set of records, with custom dashboards. |
| Control | User access to the accounts. | Role-based permissions, approval workflows and audit history across every module. |
| AI (Nexa) | Varies by product; often limited to the financial data the tool holds. | Plain-English questions, explanations, alerts and recommendations across connected data. Actions are carried out only after a user approves them. |
Signs you have outgrown accounting software
- Stock, orders or production are tracked in spreadsheets that someone reconciles to the accounts each month.
- Month-end close takes several days because figures arrive late from other systems.
- You cannot see margin by product, customer or job without building a report by hand.
- The same transaction is entered in more than one place.
- Approvals for purchases and exceptions happen outside any system, with no audit trail.
- You are adding companies, sites, warehouses or product lines faster than your tools can keep up.
What changes
- Sales, purchasing, stock and production are recorded in the same system as the ledgers.
- Approvals and permissions move into the system, with an audit history.
- Reporting comes from one set of records instead of reconciled exports.
- With Nexa, teams can ask questions of that data in plain English.
What usually carries over
- Your chart of accounts, mapped to the new system.
- Customer, supplier and product records, cleansed first.
- Opening balances, open orders and open invoices at cut-over.
- An agreed amount of transaction history, where it is needed.
A practical plan for the move
- Define scope. List the processes, teams and sites the ERP must cover first, and what can follow later.
- Name owners. Give each process an owner who knows how it works today and can sign off the new version.
- Clean the data. Remove duplicate customers, suppliers and products, and close out old open items before migration.
- Decide on history. Many businesses migrate opening balances and open items and keep older history accessible in the previous system. Agree this early with your finance team and accountant.
- Map and test. Map the chart of accounts and key records, run a trial migration and check the balances.
- Choose the cut-over. A period-end or year-end usually gives the cleanest opening position.
- Train and review. Train users on their own processes and review the first period-end together.
How Nexa approaches the move
Each Nexa implementation is scoped individually. After a demonstration, scoping reviews the modules, users and existing systems involved and the business data to be brought into Nexa. Roles, permissions and approval limits are then configured to match your organisation, and milestones are agreed for each project rather than fixed in advance.
Nexa Migration Hub is in private development and not yet available. Today, moving your data into Nexa is planned as part of each scoped implementation. You can register interest in Migration Hub through the contact form.
FAQ
Common questions
What is the difference between accounting software and ERP?
Accounting software records financial transactions. ERP connects those transactions to the operational activity behind them, such as orders, stock, warehousing, production, projects and people, so the whole business works from one set of records.
When should a business move from accounting software to ERP?
Common triggers are a slow month-end, stock or orders held in spreadsheets, repeated data entry, limited visibility of margin and approvals happening outside any system. If several apply, an ERP is worth evaluating.
Do we need to migrate all our transaction history?
Not always. Many businesses migrate opening balances, open orders and open invoices, and keep older history accessible in the previous system. The right approach depends on your reporting and audit needs and should be agreed early.
When is the best time to switch?
A period-end or year-end usually gives the cleanest opening position, because balances can be checked against closed figures.
Is Nexa Migration Hub available?
No. Nexa Migration Hub is in private development and not yet available. Moving your data into Nexa is currently planned as part of each scoped implementation.
Plan your move to ERP
Book a demo and talk through your current systems, the data you would bring across and how Nexa would fit.