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Before joining Sparkrock, I worked for years as a CIO at a nonprofit supporting people with developmental disabilities. Our team ran 24/7 residential programs, day supports, and respite care while juggling funding from multiple sources. Like many in the sector, I had to make tough choices about technology investments. That’s why I can say from experience that sometimes the “cheaper” option ends up costing you more in the long run. 

Think about the last time you booked a flight. Maybe you chose a budget airline with a stopover instead of paying extra for a direct route. On paper, the savings looked good. But once you added baggage fees, seat selection, and the airport lunch you swore you wouldn’t buy, you realized you only saved around a hundred dollars. While $100 isn’t nothing, when you think about the eight extra hours spent in an airport instead of on vacation, it doesn’t feel like a win. Especially when you do the math on the vacation pay you wasted in an airport versus on the beach. If you consider your time a cost, were there any savings at all? 

ERP Selection: Understanding Price vs. Value

Most generic ERP vendors know that nonprofits, schools, and public sector organizations are cost-conscious. They design their pricing to look appealing upfront, but they don’t talk about the hidden costs that appear later. 

Just like those airline add-ons, a generic ERP built for for-profit companies often needs heavy customization to work for a mission-driven organization. Every customization adds time, complexity, and long-term maintenance that your team has to manage. 

Let’s take fixed asset management as an example. 

• With Sparkrock, it’s built right into the platform and designed for nonprofit workflows. 
• With a generic ERP, you’ll likely need consultants to build, test, and maintain that functionality. 

Next, let’s look at dimensions. 

With Sparkrock, dimensions are included in the platform. There are no extra fees or limits on how many your organization can create. For those unfamiliar: dimensions let you tag, track, and report on transactions across multiple programs, funds, or cost centers without creating hundreds of separate accounts. 

With many generic ERP systems, each new dimension comes at an added cost. The price-per-dimension model adds up quickly, especially for nonprofits with complex funding structures. Among our nonprofit customers, we typically see dozens of active dimensions used to track different grants, departments, and programs 

And that’s just a few areas. Multiply that work across payroll, fund accounting, reporting, HR, and scheduling, and the “cheaper” option starts looking much more expensive. 

ERP Selection: How to Identify the Hidden Costs in Generic Systems 

Most people involved in ERP selection only have to tackle this process once or twice in their careers. On average, organizations only replace their ERP every 7-10 years, so the process feels new for most teams. Generic ERP vendors count on that. 

They know that costing out all the variables—out of the box features vs base price vs customizations required—takes time and mental energy. They also know many HR and finance leaders don’t have experience estimating the real cost of custom development. Even as a former CIO at a nonprofit disability care organization, I saw firsthand how easy it is to underestimate those costs, even with careful planning. 

Which is why it is tempting, as a mission-driven organization, to compare quotes at face value. On paper, a cheaper option looks appealing, but that number doesn’t tell the full story. What’s missing are all the hidden costs tied to time, customization, and support. 

The Real Cost of ERP Customization: Paying for What Should Be Built In 

A generic ERP built for for-profit businesses often needs heavy configuration to handle nonprofit realities like: 

• Fund accounting and grant tracking 
• Program-based reporting 
• Multiple funding sources and approval workflows 
• Complex payroll and union rules 
• Department-level budgeting and reporting 

Each customization adds cost and time, and every update becomes more difficult to manage. Why? Because when custom features are layered on top of a system, upgrades often require extra work to remove, reapply, and test those modifications. In some cases, customizations no longer behave as expected, creating even more maintenance work for your team. 

In contrast, with Sparkrock, these nonprofit-specific features come standard. You’re not paying consultants to build what should already be part of your system.  

We’ve spoken with several organizations that initially chose a lower-cost platform and later discovered that the total effort and expense, after necessary customizations, were much higher than expected. 

The Hidden Human Cost of Customization: Your Team’s Time 

Every customization comes with a price tag, both in dollars and in your team’s time. A common pitfall we see is when organizations underestimate how much of their team’s time an ERP implementation will require. 

If you are customizing a generic system, the internal capacity needed will be much higher. Every hour your staff spends working with consultants on customization is an hour redirected away from your mission. 

Think back to that airport layover. It’s easy to treat time as something intangible, but for nonprofits, it has a real cost. Your team’s time is one of your largest investments. If 50 to 75 percent of someone’s week is spent on ERP implementation, that’s capacity pulled from day-to-day operations that keep your organization running. For organizations with tight budgets, that lost bandwidth adds up quickly. 

Missing this early often leads to hidden costs, as additional internal resources are needed not only during implementation but for years to come as more customizations are added to the system.  

From my experience as a nonprofit CIO, I can tell you this: when comparing ERP options, don’t stop at the sticker price. Look at the total investment in time, money, and effort, and choose the solution that delivers the most lasting value.   

Why Organizations Underestimate ERP Implementation Timelines 

Recently, I’ve been talking to a lot of organizations still using Microsoft Great Plains and planning their next move. Microsoft announced that Great Plains will be retired in 2029, and many teams are only now starting to think about what comes next. Because Sparkrock is built on Microsoft Business Central and we’re a Microsoft partner, we’re a natural next step for nonprofits and public sector organizations moving off Great Plains. The platform feels familiar but is designed to handle the complexity of mission-driven finance and operations. 

What I’m hearing from many of these teams is that they feel like they have plenty of time to plan. The truth is, they don’t. To stay ahead, organizations should start implementation by early 2027, which means the selection process needs to start now. Across the nonprofit sector, many organizations underestimate the length and complexity of an ERP selection and implementation process. Here’s where many teams run into trouble: 

First: When timelines tighten, teams often rush through evaluation and end up choosing a system that doesn’t truly fit their needs. It’s understandable—ERP projects are complex, and when pressure builds, the focus shifts to speed and price instead of long-term value. 

Second: When organizations delay, they often face a backlog of implementations and limited vendor availability. That can mean waiting months for a project window or paying to maintain an unsupported system in the meantime. 

Ikram, CFO at the National Arts Centre, is a great example of how early preparation pays off. Her team started planning a full year before issuing their RFP. They documented requirements, gathered questions, and arrived at demos ready to make informed decisions. 

“Because we prepared for a year before procurement, when it came time for demos, we weren’t starting from scratch. We already knew our requirements. We sent vendors our questions ahead of time, so they came prepared.” 
— Ikram, CFO, National Arts Centre 

Read more about their ERP journey here.

Starting early gives your team the time to do it right. You can document requirements, compare vendors thoughtfully, and plan an implementation that supports how your organization actually works. 

What Makes Sparkrock a Better Fit for Mission-Driven Organizations

Sparkrock was built for mission-driven organizations. Most ERP systems are built for for-profit companies…and it shows. We saw that gap and built our platform from the ground up to meet the needs of nonprofits, education, and the public sector. 

At the core of Sparkrock is a dimension-based system that allows you to track and report on every program, fund, and department in real time, without relying on complex workarounds. 

We don’t just work with nonprofits. We come from them. Before joining Sparkrock, I was the Director of Finance and later the CIO at a nonprofit supporting people with developmental disabilities. Many of my colleagues at Sparkrock have similar stories.  

Our team includes: 

• Jennifer Hume – Pre-Sales Consultant and former Director of Finance for a large nonprofit serving children, youth, and families. 
• Meg Wilson – Former Director of Finance at a national nonprofit, managing more than 100 cost centers and leading audit readiness. 

Their real-world experience shapes what we build, how we support our users, and the outcomes we help them achieve. Our goal is simple: to give you and your team time back so you can focus on your mission. Here’s what that looks like in practice: 

• Faster, Simpler Financial Reporting 
  Canadian Museum of History reduced reporting time by 288,000%. What once took three people two full days now takes one person less than a minute. 
  Read the Success Story. 
• More Efficient Payroll Processes 
  Action Group eliminated 600 handwritten timesheets every two weeks. Payroll is now digital, and the team reallocated 1.5 full-time roles to higher-impact work. 
  Read the Success Story.
• Quicker Employee Reimbursements 
  District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) used to take two weeks to reimburse staff. Now it often happens in under a week — some in just 24 hours. 
  Read the Success Story. 
• Streamlined Chart of Accounts 
  Polycultural Immigrant and Community Services reduced their Chart of Accounts from 42 pages to 2. Payroll now takes a third of the time it used to. 
  Read the Success Story. 
• Significant Annual Savings 
  DNSSAB saves $50,000 per year with Sparkrock and shortened their reporting timeline from 30 days to 2. 
  Read the Success Story. 

The Bottom Line: Select an ERP Based on Value not Price  

Don’t choose your ERP the way you would choose a discount flight. The sticker price might look good, but the hidden costs can be far more painful. Choose the option that gives your team and your mission real value over the long run.  

New To ERP? Here’s What To Expect  

If this is your first time evaluating ERP software, you’re not alone. Most nonprofit teams go through this process only once every decade or more. Here’s how it typically works with Sparkrock:  

• Introductory conversation with a BDR to learn about your organization, challenges, and priorities 

• 7-minute demo video shared after the call, giving you a first look at the product 

• Follow-up with an Account Executive to dive deeper into your goals and explore fit 

• Custom live demo with a Pre-Sales Consultant or Architect, tailored to your team (finance, HR, scheduling, etc.) 

• Optional deep dives into modules such as payroll, procurement, or budgeting 

This process is flexible and based on your team’s needs. The goal is to focus on what matters most to your organization, not overwhelm you with features you won’t use.  

Ready To Reclaim Time For What Matters?  

Sparkrock is purpose-built for nonprofits. Our team includes former nonprofit finance and operations leaders who understand the realities you face. That experience shapes everything from how the software works to how we support your implementation.  

Sparkrock includes built-in tools for: fund accounting, grant tracking, multi-funder and program-level reporting, expense management, dimensional budgeting, and payroll and workforce management. 

Reach out for a personalized demo to see how integrated nonprofit payroll and finance software can help your organization thrive.