Building ERP Success: How Process Intelligence Prepares Finance for System Transformation

Implementing or integrating a new finance system is one of the most significant undertakings a CFO can face. ERP projects promise efficiency, automation, and digital transformation—but they also carry high risk. Studies suggest that up to 70% of ERP implementations fail to deliver expected ROI, often due to misaligned processes, poor data quality, or insufficient preparation.

At Tierpoint Partners, we help finance leaders turn these risks into opportunities. Our approach combines process intelligence, senior expertise, and hands-on execution to ensure finance functions are ready to maximise the value of a new ERP system from day one.

Why Many ERP Projects Fail

Despite the promise of automation, ERP initiatives often falter because:

• Finance processes are unstructured or inconsistent, making automation complex and error-prone.

• Data quality issues—duplicate, incomplete, or inaccurate data—lead to reporting errors and mistrust in outputs.

• Stakeholders lack confidence in proposed process changes, delaying adoption and impacting speed to value.

• Implementation partners focus on system configuration, rather than ensuring processes and people are prepared for transformation.

The consequence is clear: CFOs may invest millions into systems that underperform, while operational inefficiencies persist.

Process Intelligence: The Finance X-Ray

Before a single ERP workflow is configured, process intelligence provides a detailed, data-driven view of your finance function. Think of it as an “X-ray” of your operations.

Using process intelligence, we can:

1. Map end-to-end finance processes
   Understand how P2P, O2C, and R2R workflows currently operate, including bottlenecks, manual interventions, and inefficiencies.

2. Assess data quality and readiness
   Identify inaccuracies, gaps, and duplicates in critical finance data to ensure a clean foundation for system implementation.

3. Quantify automation potential and ROI
   Analyse repetitive tasks, high-touch manual processes, and compliance risks to prioritise where ERP workflows will deliver measurable value.

By establishing this intelligence layer upfront, CFOs and project teams gain a clear picture of the current state, enabling confident decision-making and better planning.

Creating a Blueprint for Success

The insights from process intelligence don’t just inform implementation—they form the blueprint for transformation. At Tierpoint Partners, we use this data to:

• Design future-state workflows aligned with system capabilities and automation opportunities.

• Build a prioritised roadmap for ERP configuration and integration based on where change will deliver maximum impact.

• Engage stakeholders with quantifiable business cases, highlighting the value of process changes before the system goes live.

This approach transforms ERP projects from speculative investments into data-backed initiatives with measurable ROI, reducing risk and improving adoption.

Hands-On Execution with Experienced Finance Professionals

While process intelligence sets the roadmap, the success of a system implementation still depends on execution. That’s where our network of senior advisors and high-calibre interim finance professionals comes in.

• We embed experienced finance specialists within client teams, guiding implementation, testing, and training.

• Our ex-Big Four consultants ensure governance, controls, and best practices are applied at every stage.

• Interim resources allow flexible scaling, ensuring the project is adequately staffed without the cost of permanent hires.

The result? Finance leaders can accelerate system deployment, maintain control over critical processes, and achieve tangible benefits faster.

Sustaining Benefits Beyond Go-Live

Implementation isn’t the end of the journey. The intelligence layer we establish can remain active post-implementation, providing ongoing monitoring and alerts for anomalies, compliance breaches, or process deviations. CFOs gain real-time insights into operational performance, enabling continuous improvement, proactive risk management, and maximised ROI from the ERP investment.

This approach ensures finance teams are not just system-ready—they are transformation-ready, equipped with the insight, process optimisation, and execution capability to drive meaningful, measurable outcomes.

Conclusion

ERP and finance system projects are high-stakes undertakings that often fail to deliver. By leveraging process intelligence before implementation, finance leaders can ensure their operations are prepared, their data is clean, and their roadmap is actionable.

Tierpoint Partners offers a practical, execution-focused approach: we combine diagnostic insight, strategic planning, and hands-on support from senior advisors and interim professionals. This methodology reduces risk, accelerates adoption, and ensures measurable ROI.

Finance functions that take this approach don’t just implement systems—they transform them into high-performing, AI-ready engines for growth, efficiency, and insight.