In the early stages of a company's life, a “good enough” approach to choosing tools can seem like the right answer. Spreadsheets, off-the-shelf tools, and low-cost systems are great for helping teams move quickly, save money, and focus on growth. For a time, they do the job as intended.
But as growth accelerates, with more transactions, larger teams, and greater complexity, these disparate tools can hinder momentum. Reporting can take longer, workarounds happen more frequently, and leaders end up spending more time reconciling numbers than acting on them.
This is often a time when leadership teams realize they haven’t made bad technology decisions; they’ve simply outgrown their current technology.
The Hidden Cost of Staying “Good Enough”
Most growing companies don’t resist enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms because they underestimate the value of technology. They resist them because they understand disruption. New systems introduce change, and change can be perceived as risky. What’s frequently overlooked is the cost of not changing.
Relying on basic or fragmented systems can create hidden costs, including manual reconciliations, duplicate data, fragile integrations, and an overreliance on spreadsheets to fill gaps. This can divert focus from strategic priorities over time and into tackling daily system challenges instead.
The expense is greater than financial; it’s cognitive. Leaders know something isn’t working, but the problems tend to surface gradually, disguised as “this is just the way things are” or “this is how we’ve always done it.”
When Tools Multiply, Complexity Follows
Often, a single accounting system can turn into a patchwork of various software for finance, operations, inventory, customer relationship management (CRM), and reporting. As custom databases appear, permissions and controls grow inconsistent. Spreadsheets often become the connective tissue, as each disparate software tool only solves for part of the equation.
None of this happens overnight, and none of it is illogical.
However, as an organization’s technology and data environments grow more fragmented, visibility declines. Closing cycles stretch. Audit readiness becomes harder to maintain. Critical insights arrive too late to guide decisions effectively.
At that point, the challenge is no longer functionality. It’s coherence.
Recognizing the Inflection Point
There is no universal revenue or headcount number that indicates it’s time to move on from “good enough.” Instead, leaders tend to feel the inflection point through the questions they start asking:
- Why does it take so long to close the books?
- Why doesn’t our summary data match the details?
- Why does every change require manual cleanup?
- Why are our most experienced people spending their time managing systems or datasets?
Growth magnifies these tensions, especially during mergers and acquisitions, geographic expansions, or initial public offerings. As complexity rises, an organization needs more than tools that work well enough. It needs a system designed to help run the business as a whole.
NetSuite as a Business Platform
“NetSuite is an amazing product,” says Director and NetSuite Technology Team Lead Walter Hilderman from Forvis Mazars. “But the word I always come back to is comprehensive.”
That distinction matters.
“NetSuite is more like a ship, perhaps even an aircraft carrier. It runs your business.”
Rather than functioning as a collection of loosely connected applications, NetSuite is built as a single platform that can connect finance, operations, CRM, inventory, and analytics. The goal is to reduce friction between teams and processes that work better together.
This thoughtful design becomes increasingly valuable as the organization scales. Whether supporting a handful of users or hundreds, NetSuite provides a foundation that can adapt as operations grow more complex, without requiring new software at every stage.
Scalability Is About More Than Size
Scalability is about handling change, not just adding users.
Companies navigating acquisitions, multi-entity structures, or increased regulatory expectations need systems that can evolve alongside them. In these environments, fragmented tools introduce risk, notably when data must be consolidated, audited, or analyzed quickly.
For growing organizations, the value of an integrated ERP platform is less about ambition and more about stability. Leaders gain confidence knowing the ERP system won’t break under pressure or restrict future opportunities.
Why the Advisor Matters as Much as the Platform
Technology alone doesn’t determine success; how and why a platform is implemented matter just as much.
The NetSuite team at Forvis Mazars approaches each engagement with an advisory mindset. The objective isn’t to oversubscribe software add-ons or impose change prematurely. The aim is to help organizations adopt the right level of capability at the right moment. This philosophy is rooted in long-term outcomes, not short-term transactions.
“It’s not a hard sell. We’re not going to oversubscribe you to software that you really don’t need.”
“We only win the sale when our clients succeed and accomplish their goals, and that’s at the end of the project,” says Hilderman.
By pairing NetSuite with advisory, integration, and outsourced accounting experience, the certified NetSuite consultants at Forvis Mazars can support alignment, configuring the ERP platform to aid and strengthen business strategy.
Navigating Growth Without Chaos
Growth inherently brings disruption. The difference lies in whether a system amplifies confusion or provides clarity.
“We help our clients navigate the chaos of change and growth.”
For organizations outgrowing platforms like QuickBooks, managing multiple systems, or preparing for what’s next, NetSuite can serve as a stabilizing force, helping to bring data together, improve controls, and allow leaders to focus on business outcomes instead of system maintenance.
With the NetSuite team at Forvis Mazars, you can help shift the conversation from “Can our systems keep up?” to “How do we want to grow next?”
Choosing the Right Time to Move Forward
Outgrowing “good enough” doesn’t mean early decisions were wrong. It means the business has evolved.
Leading organizations recognize when familiar tools begin to work against their objectives, and when a more robust, intentional approach is needed. The conversation at that point becomes less about cost and more about long-term value, confidence, and control.
When your business systems start limiting visibility instead of enabling it, it may be time for a different discussion—one focused on where your business is headed and how technology can support that journey.
Forvis Mazars is a certified Oracle NetSuite partner offering software implementation, integration, and consulting services, in addition to two premier program options:
- NetSuite Solution Provider – Helping your business get up and running with its own suite of NetSuite modules
- NetSuite Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) – Helping fast-growing startups and small and midsize organizations supercharge their business management with outsourcing services
Let’s start with a conversation. Connect with the NetSuite team at Forvis Mazars to explore how your current systems support growth, and where a platform like NetSuite may better align with your future goals.