Buzzwords and the laundry list of operational advantages get the brain thinking about how cloud ERP can benefit your business. But we know CFOs and COOs have another thought in their head, too.

Complete operational visibility and end-to-end automation? That sounds great. Agentic AI that leverages real-time company data and is available to every employee? Fantastic. A future-proof system that connects with everything and can both scale and evolve easily? Wonderful.

Those in the C-suite also are thinking something else, though: How much does it cost, and what kind of rollout commitment are we talking about here?

So let’s talk brass tacks.

There’s No Single Answer for Cost and Timeline

Every business is unique, with different needs and its own situation. So just like asking your doctor about the price of medical care, there’s no one definitive answer. Honestly, it depends on your business.

Stay with us, though.

While we can’t get specific in most cases until we understand your business (there is an exception; learn about prepacked solutions later in this article), we can give you a ballpark for what it will cost and how long it will take to roll out a new cloud ERP solution as a fast-growing business.

The Typical Phases for Cloud ERP Rollout

Moving to a new cloud ERP solution is done in seven steps.

1. Planning and Solution Evaluation. A cloud ERP project starts with assessing business needs, current capabilities, and data footprint. An implementation plan is then created, potential cloud ERP options are evaluated, and a solution is selected.
   
   
2. Configuration. Your organization’s cloud ERP is provisioned and configured for the functionality and process needs of your business. A fit-to-standards approach will accelerate completion of this phase.
   
   
3. Customization. Next, you will define and build out any custom processes or functionality needed for running your business on the ERP. Ideally, you will favor configuration over customization in most cases, and lean on premade modules for additional functionality instead of bespoke solutions.
   
   
4. Data Conversion and Migration. The heavy lifting. With the core system in place, you’ll clean existing business data and then feed it into the system.
   
   
5. Integration. Your cloud ERP must connect with third-party systems, point solutions, and cloud services, so you’ll make those connections in this phase of the rollout using APIs, EDI, and other connection points.
   
   
6. Testing. Before go-live, your team will thoroughly test the now-ready cloud ERP before releasing it into production. Any bugs or process errors will be caught and corrected in this phase.
   
   
7. Onboarding. Training employees and onboarding them to the new system is the final part of a cloud ERP launch. If you’ve taken a phased implementation approach, this could be a gradual migration to the new system.

Cost and Rollout Timelines for Cloud ERP

Okay, back to that question of cost and overall rollout speed.

There are different scenarios depending on your business. But to give you a starting point, here are several scenarios that paint the picture.

Distribution Cloud ERP Rollout

A distribution company with revenue between $50 million and $70 million per year can roll out a cloud ERP with core financial processes in roughly five months for $385,000. Annual software costs will run about $70,000.

Supply Chain Cloud ERP Rollout

An ecommerce and wholesale business with revenue between $90 million and $120 million per year can roll out a cloud ERP with financial and supply chain integrations, warehouse management (WMS), and configured EDI in approximately seven months. Implementation will cost roughly $475,000, with an additional estimated spend of $145,000 for making all the integrations with third-party systems. Annual software cost will run about $125,000.

The picture will look a little different for larger businesses that have revenue between $150 million and $600 million. These larger businesses can expect cloud ERP implementation to take 8 months and cost roughly $775,000, with the annual software subscription running about $225,000 per year.

Manufacturing Cloud ERP Rollout

Manufacturers with revenue of between $100 million and $500 million per year can typically get financial, supply chain, manufacturing, and needed integrations rolled out in 9 months and for an implementation cost of $850,000 plus an estimated $75,000 for integrations. The annual software subscription will run approximately $135,000.

Professional Services Cloud ERP Rollout

For a professional services firm generating annual revenue between $50 million and $70 million, cloud ERP rollout with financials, resource management, and CRM will take about 6 months and cost $425,000. Annual software fees should amount to roughly $110,000 per year.

Prepackaged Cloud ERP Solutions

The above time and cost estimates are based on bespoke cloud ERP implementations. There is a better way, though. Instead of building out a bespoke solution for your business, you can use a fit-to-standards approach and roll out a prepackaged industry solution that comes pre-configured and ready to go for your industry.

Prepackaged cloud ERP solutions both cut implementation time and cost, and they align your business with industry best practices instead of bespoke processes that don’t actually contribute to the bottom line.

Our prepackaged cloud ERP industry solution for consumer products companies, for instance, rolls out in as little as 90 days and costs just $385,000 to implement with an annual software subscription of $75,000. This comes with core financials, procurement, MRP, inventory management, sales order management and processing, real-time embedded analytics, workflow automation, and embedded AI.

Let's Build Your Cloud ERP Roadmap Together

While the above gives you a general idea, understanding your business processes and goals is the real first step in understanding the time and cost investment of transforming your business with cloud ERP.

Book a risk-free discovery call today with one of our experienced ERP consultants to get a clear picture of how cloud ERP can drive your success and what it will take to get there.

You can book this discovery call by reaching out to us at (801) 642-0123 or by emailing info@nbs-us.com.