Free beginner course: AI Foundations for SMBs
Enroll todayWho this is for
Operators at 20-500 person companies who signed an ERP for one problem and now pay for modules, seats, a partner retainer, and a middleware layer holding it together.
What you'll walk away with
A full landed cost of your ERP footprint and a defensible list of what to keep, right-size, or replace with a lighter tool before the next renewal.
Count how many of these describe your team today. The read underneath tells you where to start, so you don't spend the quarter fixing the wrong layer.
Early
4+ symptoms: you're paying for a platform you're using as a database. There is real money here.
Building
2-3 symptoms: right-size seats and modules at renewal; keep the core.
Optimizing
0-1 symptoms: the ERP is earning its cost. Optimize integrations, not licences.
Budget tracks the ERP line item, while implementation partners, integration middleware, add-on modules, and internal admin time are booked elsewhere.
Inventory, field service, or advanced financials were included in the deal and never rolled out.
Full seats issued to people who need a report, not the system.
A middleware subscription exists mostly to keep the ERP synced with CRM and billing.
The conversation starts 30 days out with no usage data and no alternative priced.
| Layer | What teams usually run | Where the gap is |
|---|---|---|
| Core ERP | NetSuite, Odoo, Dynamics, Acumatica | Module bundle rarely re-audited after year one. |
| Accounting | QuickBooks kept alongside | Two ledgers, one reconciled by hand. |
| Integrations | Middleware subscription | Duplicates native connectors you already own. |
| Reporting | Exports to spreadsheets | Paying for ERP reporting you don't use. |
| Workflow | Partner-built customizations | Undocumented, so change requests go back to the partner. |
| Documents | Manual invoicing steps | Automatable with a micro-service, not another module. |
Pricing and features change constantly—always confirm current details on the vendor's own site before you buy.
Hoffer Furniture
Retail / eCommerce
Hoffer Furniture is a SaaS eCommerce furniture rental and retail store in Houston serving customers moving to Houston temporarily, relocating permanently, staging a home, designing a set, or planning an event—operating since 1977.
Fashion Furniture Rental
Retail / eCommerce
Fashion Furniture Rental is a SaaS corporate housing furniture rental provider for Southern and Northern California helping turn-key seekers since 1985. The business was running at ~$20M ARR during the Stack Finder engagement.
Safeguard Global
HR Tech
Safeguard Global is an HR end-to-end workforce enablement platform supporting the global workforce of 2,000+ organizations to analyze, recruit, hire, manage, and pay employees in 170+ countries.
Right-size first in almost every case. Replacement projects consume a year and reintroduce the same customization debt. Cutting unused modules, tiering seats, and moving the partner from retainer to project usually recovers more, faster, and with none of the migration risk.
The license is typically the smallest component. Once modules, seats, implementation or partner fees, integration middleware, and internal administration time are counted, the landed cost is routinely two to three times the number on the contract. That's why we model all six lines before making any recommendation.
When the module exists to solve one workflow—invoicing, inventory counts, field checklists—and the rest of the platform isn't carrying it. A purpose-built tool or a scoped automation is often cheaper and faster to adopt than turning on another module and paying a partner to configure it.
Stack Finder Academy courses that teach your team to run this without a retainer.
Buy vs. Build
Decide which ERP modules to keep, which to replace with a lighter tool, and what to connect instead of buy.
View courseModel Economics and Cost Control
Bring the same landed-cost discipline to every renewal, not just the ERP line item.
View course