Overview
What ERP consulting covers, and where Great Minds fits
An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system runs the operations that create your financial transactions: finance, purchasing, inventory, warehousing, manufacturing, projects and often HR and payroll, all on shared data. When a sales order is entered, stock, finance and the warehouse see it at once, without anyone re-keying it.
Great Minds is a Sydney-based systems integrator. We help you decide whether you need an ERP, choose a platform, implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 (Business Central, or Finance and Supply Chain Management), migrate your data and connect the ERP to CRM, ecommerce, PIM, payroll, banks and reporting. Integration is where ERP projects most often fall short of their business case, so we design it from the first workshop.
The usual triggers are familiar: several legal entities consolidated in spreadsheets, stock in several locations with no reliable view of what's available, a month-end close spent reconciling between systems, purchasing approvals running through email, or a decade-old ERP so customised that every upgrade is a project. Our guide to what an ERP platform is covers the options for Australian mid-market businesses.
Capabilities
What an ERP engagement covers
ERP licences are rarely what causes overruns. Data migration, integrations, reporting and the change in how people work are, so each piece of work below budgets for them from the start.
Partnerships
ERP platforms we implement and connect
We implement Microsoft Dynamics 365. Our selection work also covers the platforms Australian mid-market businesses usually shortlist, including Oracle NetSuite, SAP's cloud ERP, MYOB Acumatica and Pronto Xi, and whichever ERP you choose, we connect it to the systems around it.
Microsoft Dynamics 365Business Central for small and midsize businesses; Finance and Supply Chain Management for multi-entity, manufacturing and high-volume operations.Agentic AI for ERP implementationsAgentic AI for ERP implementationsAI agents that move, enrich and validate data during an ERP migration, with our architects signing off each milestone.How we deliver
An ERP program, from process map to go-live
We map order to cash, procure to pay and record to report end to end, note where each breaks today, and list every legal entity and every system the ERP must connect to, with its owner. Australian requirements such as payroll, GST reporting and e-invoicing are checked at this stage, not discovered later.
A shortlist of two or three platforms, scripted demonstrations using your scenarios and a five-year cost comparison. Once you've chosen, we design the solution: chart of accounts, entity structure, process design, data model and every integration.
Multi-phase data migration with cleansing, de-duplication, transformation and validation, and trial loads before the real one. AI agents do much of the repetitive migration, enrichment and validation work; our architects sign off each milestone. For a Dubai manufacturer moving to Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, more than 2 million records were migrated from several systems, with zero downtime during cut-over.
Process documentation, role-based training, a staged cut-over and hypercare through the first month-end closes. In the same Dynamics ERP program, more than 40 process workshops simplified and standardised over 120 business processes, and the documentation library became the basis for training and audit.
Australian considerations
What an ERP has to handle in Australia
International ERP platforms often rely on local add-ons or partners for Australian rules, so check each one in any shortlist:
- Payroll: Single Touch Payroll Phase 2 reporting each pay run, award interpretation for award-based workforces, and Payday Super, under which employers have had to pay super with wages since 1 July 2026. Several ERP platforms don't include Australian payroll at all, so plan the payroll integration from the start.
- GST and BAS: businesses with GST turnover of $20 million or more report GST monthly and lodge electronically.
- E-invoicing: the ATO is Australia's Peppol authority. Business-to-business e-invoicing is voluntary, but government agencies are adopting it by default, so check for support of the PINT A-NZ format.
Check where the ERP is hosted. Microsoft runs Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain production environments in its Australia East region, and deploys Business Central environments with the Australian localisation to its Australian geography. Microsoft also publishes Australian-dollar list prices for Dynamics 365, which makes like-for-like cost comparisons easier. For APRA-regulated entities, an ERP replacement is a change to systems that may support critical operations, so CPS 230 change and service provider risk should be assessed as part of the program.
FAQ
ERP questions
What's the difference between ERP and accounting software?
Accounting software records financial transactions. An ERP runs the operations that create them, such as purchasing, inventory, manufacturing and projects, on the same data as finance, so you don't have to reconcile between systems. Businesses usually move to ERP when they add entities, locations or stock complexity that accounting software can't track.
Should we choose Business Central or Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain?
Business Central suits single-country or simple multi-entity businesses and has no minimum user count. Finance and Supply Chain Management suit organisations with many entities, currencies and tax regimes, complex manufacturing or warehousing, or high transaction volumes, and Microsoft requires a minimum of 20 seats. Our article What is Microsoft Dynamics 365? compares them.
How long does an ERP implementation take?
The median project in Panorama Consulting's 2026 ERP Report took nine months. Single-entity projects can be faster; multi-entity and multi-country programs take longer, and data migration and integrations usually decide the timeline. We give you a scoped plan and price after process mapping.
Why do ERP projects go over budget?
Usually because data migration, integrations, reporting and change management were under-budgeted, or because additional technology turned out to be needed part-way through. Mapping processes and integrations before selection, and budgeting for all of them up front, prevents most of it.
Does an ERP handle Australian payroll?
Not always. Some platforms include Australian payroll with Single Touch Payroll; others need a separate payroll system connected to the ERP. Check this early, because payroll is the gap that catches most projects.
Can AI agents help with an ERP implementation?
Yes, mainly with the repetitive work: mapping, cleansing, enriching and validating data during migration. ERP vendors are also adding agents to the products, such as Microsoft's Payables Agent in Business Central. Agents work best once the ERP data is clean and connected, so we switch them on where processes are well defined. See agentic AI for ERP implementations.
People
ERP consultants, solution architects and integration specialists
Our ERP consultants work with finance, operations and IT to map processes, choose and design the platform, and run migration and integration. They stay accountable for every milestone, with AI agents handling repetitive data migration and validation under their review.
Case studies
ERP in practice
For a Dubai-based manufacturer with over 1,000 employees, we replaced a decade-old, heavily customised ERP with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, covering finance, supply chain, procurement, inventory, manufacturing, HR and reporting.
Insights
Guides to ERP and integration
The connected enterprise: integrating Salesforce, Atlassian, Adobe and ERPHow to connect Salesforce, Atlassian, Adobe and your ERP: system-of-record map, architecture options, API limits, APP 8 and CPS 230, and where to start.
What is Microsoft Dynamics 365? Apps, pricing and AI agentsMicrosoft's CRM and ERP apps explained for Australian businesses: what each does, AUD pricing, Business Central vs Finance, and Copilot agents.
What is an ERP platform? A guide for Australian businessesWhat ERP does, when you've outgrown your accounting system, the Australian rules it must handle and the main options for mid-market businesses.