ERP Implementation Consultant, Portugal

Where Portuguese ERP implementations go wrong

The Portuguese projects I review rarely stumble on general ledger setup. They stumble on documents. The patterns repeat:

• Series not ready on day one. Document series are created but not registered in time, so the first invoices cannot carry valid ATCUD codes.
• Layouts changed after approval. A customized invoice template drops the QR code or a mandatory field, and nobody notices until a customer complains.
• Transport documents forgotten. The warehouse or delivery vans need them, but the process was designed only for invoices.
• A SAF-T file nobody has opened. The export runs, but the accountant has never loaded it into their tools to check it.
• Customization that may touch compliance. The implementer adjusts invoicing logic to meet a requirement without confirming the effect on certification status.
• Intercompany flows built late. Nearshore service centers recharge costs to group entities, and those invoices are configured in the final weeks.

Each of these is preventable with a client-side owner who keeps a separate compliance checklist and asks to see results, not status reports. That is the role I take, picking up from the requirements and vendor answers gathered during ERP selection in Portugal, or from a short review of your contract if you selected without help.

Keeping customization away from compliance risk

Implementers are often asked to adapt invoicing behavior: a different layout, an extra field, a special numbering approach for a business line. In Portugal those changes can matter more than elsewhere, because certification status belongs to a specific product and version, and changes to how documents are created may affect it.

I run change control with that in mind. Every change request goes into a log with its business reason, the implementer's estimate and its effect on the plan. Requests that touch invoices, credit notes, transport documents, series or the SAF-T export get an extra step: the implementer, and where relevant the vendor, confirm in writing whether the change affects compliance. Management then approves or defers the request with that answer in hand.

Around that, I meet the implementer's project lead every week and report to your sponsor and management in a short steering session. Every decision, risk and unanswered question has an owner and a due date in a log both sides can see. Configuration stays with the implementer, as does accountability for what they deliver; my contribution is that the company answers questions quickly and keeps a record of why. For the general model, see my ERP implementation page.

Leaving PHC, Primavera, Sage or spreadsheets

Many Portuguese companies starting an ERP project are moving from a domestic package such as PHC, Primavera, Sage or Moloni, or from an accountant-run setup supported by spreadsheets. The implementer provides templates and loads; the company is responsible for cleaning its data and proving the result.

I organize the review around what breaks first:

• Customer and supplier tax numbers, addresses and country codes, since invoices and SAF-T depend on them.
• Open receivables and payables, including partial payments and documents issued shortly before cutover.
• General ledger opening figures matched, account by account, to the closing position in the old package.
• Stock quantities and values by warehouse, agreed to a recent count.
• Intercompany balances for groups and service centers, agreed with the counterparties.

A load is accepted when the person responsible for that data confirms the counts and values match. Corrections happen in the source or in the mapping, not by hand in the new ERP. Historic documents stay in the old system or an archive from which SAF-T files for past periods can still be produced; your accountant confirms what must remain available and for how long. See ERP data migration and the legacy migration guide.

A go-live checklist for series, documents and SAF-T

Acceptance testing in Portugal covers the normal end-to-end scenarios for sales, purchasing, stock and closing. On top of that I keep a short compliance checklist that must be complete before the go/no-go meeting:

Your accountant reviews the tax-related evidence and decides on treatment questions. I check that the evidence exists, that it came from realistic data and that open defects have owners. Defects are triaged with the implementer and separated into real faults, training gaps and new requests. Testing ends on agreed criteria, not on a date. My ERP testing and UAT page describes the method in full.

Payroll, training and hypercare after the switch

In many Portuguese companies payroll is processed by the accountant or a specialist provider rather than inside the ERP. The file they send each month has to land in the right accounts and cost centers of the new ledger, so its layout, the person who imports it and the monthly check against the payroll summary are fixed and trialled before the switch. The same goes for any other file exchanged with your accountant.

The switch-over point is agreed with your accountant and finance lead, usually after a period-end, so a single tax period does not draw on two systems. The runbook gives each task a name beside it, from stopping entries in the legacy package and loading final balances to confirming active series, opening user access and inspecting the first documents issued.

Hypercare starts with the first invoice. Key users meet briefly each day, work through one issue list and escalate configuration faults to the implementer, with anything blocking invoicing, deliveries or collections handled first. Support winds down after the first monthly close and once exit conditions are met. Quick guides and classroom sessions in Portuguese come from your key users or the implementer. All of this runs remotely, with your staff providing on-site help and a visit possible by arrangement. For more on my work in the country, see the Portugal overview and my Portuguese ERP consultant page.