Many finance teams eventually hit the ceiling of entry-level cloud accounting tools like Xero, QuickBooks and Sage 50. Transaction volumes grow, consolidation moves into Excel, approvals live in email, and reporting becomes a time-consuming spreadsheet job.

In this on-demand webinar, “Mind the Gap: Scaling Beyond Xero, QuickBooks & Sage Without Full ERP,” AccountsIQ Account Executive Alex explains how to move into the “forgotten middle ground” of finance tech: a powerful cloud financial management solution that delivers ERP-style capability without ERP cost, complexity or implementation pain.

Drawing on years of helping companies migrate onto AccountsIQ, Alex covers:

• Why entry-level cloud tools eventually hold back scaling finance teams
• How AccountsIQ sits between starter cloud accounting and enterprise ERP
• How to automate and streamline AP, journals, FX and consolidations
• How to design a multi-dimensional analysis (BI) structure that unlocks advanced reporting
• What a typical implementation/onboarding project looks like in weeks, not months
• A live walkthrough of core product features & automation

You’ll also see how AccountsIQ’s qualified accountant onboarding team work with you during discovery, build and go-live to ensure your chart of accounts, dimensions and integrations are set up correctly from day one.

What you’ll learn

By watching this webinar, you’ll learn how to:

1. Spot when you’ve outgrown entry-level tools

• Common symptoms that Xero, QuickBooks, Sage 50 or on-premise systems are no longer enough
• How transaction limits, manual workarounds and Excel-only consolidation slow finance down
• Why layering multiple bolt-ons still leaves you with disconnected data and risk

2. Use AccountsIQ as a “best in class” finance platform, not a heavy ERP

• Where AccountsIQ fits in the mid-market finance tech stack
• How it delivers robust automation, multi-entity support and BI analysis at a fraction of ERP cost
• Why many teams choose AccountsIQ after shortlisting ERP systems

3. Automate core finance processes and free up your team

• Automated bank & AP workflows to reduce manual data entry and reconciliation
• P2P with purchase orders, three-step approvals and clear status tracking
• Automated journal types such as:
  • Prepayments
  • Cost & revenue accruals
  • Deferred revenue
  • FX revaluation for multicurrency entities
• “Set and forget” recurring journals that run over multiple periods

4. Handle multi-entity and multicurrency consolidation in the system

• How to structure your group and sub-group consolidations
• Using the Consolidation Manager to:
  • Run consolidations in seconds
  • Validate chart of accounts consistency across entities
  • Support multi-currency entities (e.g. GBP, EUR, USD)
• Accessing a consolidation entity for group-level reports & dashboards

5. Design powerful multi-dimensional analysis for better reporting

• Using up to six BI dimensions (e.g. departments, projects, locations, revenue streams)
• Creating unlimited elements under each dimension (e.g. unlimited projects)
• Tagging transactions with BI codes to enable:
  • Department P&Ls
  • Project profitability analysis
  • Revenue stream performance
• Using the GL Explorer for instant P&L, balance sheet and trial balance by dimension

6. Set up flexible approval workflows

• Building multi-step workflows (e.g. Budget Holder → Finance Manager → CFO)
• Auto-approving low-value documents with configurable thresholds
• Setting tolerances for re-approval (by net, gross or percentage)
• Routing approvals by:
  • Dimension (department, project, etc.)
  • GL code
  • Supplier
• Enabling approvers to see budgets and coding before signing off

7. Onboard quickly with guided, accountant-led implementation

• How the typical 1–8 week project timeline works (often 4–6 weeks):
  • Discovery & design: chart of accounts, analysis structure, reporting needs
  • Build: entity setup, users, integrations, loading master data
  • Go-live: start transacting in AccountsIQ on an agreed date
• Why onboarding is handled by qualified accountants, not generic implementers
• How your onboarding lead stays with you through first month-end before formal sign-off

8. Train and support your team for long-term success

• Using the AccountsIQ Academy (sandbox + CPD-style, self-paced training)
• Instructor-led training alongside hands-on sandbox exercises and quizzes
• Leveraging the in-product Help Hub for:
  • Support tickets (with fast response times)
  • Access to the Academy
  • Product documentation & FAQs
  • The Ideas & Roadmap area to suggest and vote on new features

9. Extend AccountsIQ with integrations and live external reporting

• How the in-house integrations team can connect to:
  • CRM systems (e.g. Salesforce)
  • Payment platforms (e.g. Stripe)
  • Expense management (e.g. ExpenseIn, other tools)
• Using the open API to bring data in and out of AccountsIQ
• Using the OData connector to live-link AccountsIQ with:
  • Excel for refreshable reports and pivot-driven analysis
  • Power BI for interactive dashboards and visualisations

10. Give non-finance stakeholders self-service insight

• Introducing “business users” (budget holders, C-suite, board members) as a second licence type
• Granting controlled access to:
  • Dashboards (e.g. financial overview, P&L, departmental views)
  • Selected reports
• Reducing ad-hoc report requests by enabling self-serve visibility for decision-makers

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