ERP implementation guide
An ERP implementation checklist your whole team can use.
A useful implementation plan connects scope, owners, data, testing, and the go-live decision. Use the checklist below to prepare for discovery and compare vendor proposals without assuming every migration follows the same timeline.
By the Tellency team · Updated
1. Agree the scope and the acceptance criteria
List the business processes that must work at launch, the systems being replaced, and the systems that will remain. Separate essential requirements from improvements that can wait. Every important requirement needs a named owner and a way to test it.
Ask the implementation team to document assumptions before you agree the schedule. Tellency typically plans around eight weeks, but data readiness, integrations, manufacturing complexity, and validation can change the timeline. An agreed milestone plan is more useful than a universal promise.
- Name an internal project owner and a decision-maker.
- Define the legal entities, locations, user roles, and modules in scope.
- Record which reports and reconciliations are required at launch.
- Agree what would delay go-live and who can approve the decision.
2. Prepare and reconcile the source data
Inventory the data you need to migrate: chart of accounts, customers, suppliers, products, stock quantities, open receivables, open payables, and required history. Do not assume every historical record must move into the new operational database. Decide what can remain available in an archive.
Clean duplicates and obsolete records before mapping fields. Test a representative sample, then reconcile financial and inventory balances against an agreed source date. Have the people responsible for the numbers approve the results.
- Assign an owner to every source dataset.
- Document units, currencies, product identifiers, tax codes, and required fields.
- Retain a source export and record the mapping decisions.
- Reconcile opening balances and investigate differences before cut-over.
3. Validate complete workflows and exceptions
Testing should follow the work across departments. A sales test is not complete because a quotation was created: follow it through order, fulfilment, invoice, and payment. For purchasing, follow a request through receipt, supplier invoice, and the financial record.
Include the cases that usually cause problems: partial deliveries, returns, price amendments, stock shortages, cancelled orders, credit notes, and role changes. Record the expected result and evidence of the actual result. A list of completed tests is only useful when failures have owners and resolutions.
- Run a normal transaction and at least one exception for each critical process.
- Test permissions with representative users, not only an administrator.
- Check reports against underlying records and sample exports.
- Confirm integrations recover from failed or duplicated updates.
4. Train the people who will run the process
Train users around their own tasks, records, and responsibilities. A warehouse user needs to receive and move stock accurately; a sales user needs to find the customer and prepare a correct quotation; finance needs to reconcile the resulting records.
Agree who will support questions after training. Keep short role-based instructions and a clear route for reporting issues. Include employees who cover absences and staff who only use the system at month-end; they may encounter problems that daily users do not.
5. Make the go-live decision explicit
Define the final source-data cut-off, migration window, balance checks, user-access checks, and sign-off meeting. Agree how transactions occurring during the changeover will be captured. Keep a written fallback plan and make sure the people who might need it understand it.
After launch, schedule review points for unresolved issues, inventory accuracy, sales-to-invoice flow, receivables, payables, and financial reporting. Go-live is the start of supported operation, not the end of ownership.
- Confirm the backup and restore process with the responsible team.
- Approve migrated balances and critical workflow tests.
- Give users the support contact and escalation process.
- Schedule the first operational review and financial close.
6. Compare proposals using the same scope
Ask each vendor to price the same users, modules, migration requirements, integrations, training, and support arrangements. Separate subscription, one-time implementation, and ongoing usage charges. Document which assumptions would trigger additional fees.
For Tellency, platform pricing starts at $79 USD per user per month. Your proposal confirms configuration, implementation, deployment, support, and AI usage costs. Bring this checklist to discovery so the discussion produces a scope your team can evaluate.
Questions to ask before you choose
Who should own an ERP implementation?
Assign an internal owner who can coordinate the departments involved and escalate decisions. Each data set and critical workflow also needs an accountable business owner.
Should we migrate all historical data?
Not necessarily. Decide which history is required in the new system and which can remain in a secure, accessible archive. Validate statutory and operational retention requirements with your advisers.
What is user acceptance testing?
It is business users checking that the configured system performs agreed tasks correctly, using representative data and documented expected results.
What should be ready before we book a demo?
Bring your current systems, user count, locations, entities, key workflows, reporting needs, and migration questions. Sample documents make the discussion more concrete.
Evaluate Tellency against your own workflows.
Bring your current systems, user count, and operating requirements. We’ll discuss the fit, migration scope, deployment, and total cost.
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