Steps to create your ERP requirements checklist

To create a thorough requirements checklist, it is critical to engage the right employees and allocate sufficient time to this step. It's also import for the project leader to provide some ground rules and instructions so the process runs smoothly and achieves the desired outcome.

To identify stakeholders, the project leader and project sponsor should build a list of teams affected by the planned ERP project and seek input to confirm no teams were missed. It's also valuable to put out a formal announcement and tell employees how they can provide input.

Setting a realistic timeframe for collecting feedback is also important. The bigger the ERP system, the more requirements it will have. Also, consider the time of year when setting the schedule. For example, many employees take vacations in the summer months. Make sure the schedule also includes time to review and validate the requirements.

Providing clear instructions and a template will help contributors understand what's being asked of them. This should include the level of detail required, the priority of the requirement, the business need and a description explaining why the feature is needed.

When building the final requirements checklist, it's ideal to include a rating scale that evaluators can use to score how well the system meets a given requirement and provide space for comments. Reviewers should be expected to submit their evaluation shortly after a demo and before the next demo, because it can be hard to remember which product did what. It can also be helpful to have a meeting after each demo to review differences in the feedback provided.

Key components of an ERP requirements checklist

Here are the major categories to include, with examples.

Project overview

Rather than jump right into requirements, it's good to give the reader a general overview of the company and the project. It should include items such as company size, market, locations, project leaders, timeline and project goals.

Current system overview

Use this section to highlight current systems and whether the new ERP will replace them. This section can also provide insight into how each system is used for people who aren't familiar with them.

Nonfunctional requirements

These requirements are generally applicable across the system and not specific to one team or module. For this set of requirements, you will want to get feedback from various teams across the company. Also, include representation from each country if the organization has a global footprint.

Reporting and analytics

• Standard reports and dashboards that can be customized.
• Role-based permissions controlling what data is displayed.
• Ability to drill down and filter based on predefined and custom criteria.
• Scheduled reports.
• Support for standard export formats (XLSX, PDF, CSV, etc.).

Globalization

• Support for required languages, currencies and date formats.
• Ability to create custom fields with labels and default text in multiple languages.
• Help and user forums provided in multiple languages.

Access permissions

• Centrally controlled access permission configuration.
• Data access controlled separately from functionality access.
• Default roles provided, with the ability to create custom roles.
• Detailed reporting on access permissions granted.

Automation

• Standard workflows provided by the vendor.
• Ability to create custom workflows across the platform.
• Support for simple and data-dependent approvals.
• Reports and dashboards that can be sent to users automatically on a schedule.

AI

• AI functionality across the entire system.
• Employee access to AI tools and chatbots to ask questions and get help.
• Data analysis for present and historical data, plus predictive analytics for future planning.
• AI that can draft text and recommend improvements to user-entered text.
• Data audits that can be run continuously to look for issues.
• Agentic AI to automate routine tasks.

Technical and integration

• Support for single-sign-on technology.
• Interoperability with office applications (Microsoft and Google).
• Capable of running in the cloud or on premises.
• Ability to send and receive data through interfaces, such as APIs and SFTP.
• Alignment between ERP's technology and the buyer's (operating system, database, etc.).
• System that can be extended with vendor development tools or third-party applications.

Functional requirements

Functional requirements explain the features that are needed and how the system works -- for example, a timesheet feature for hourly employees to record their start and end times.

Finance and accounting

• Accounts payable and accounts receivable.
• Bank reconciliation.
• Budgeting and forecasting.
• Revenue management.
• Multicompany management and allocations.
• Auditing.
• Expense management.
• Cashflow planning and management.
• Financial reporting.
• Invoicing and collection.
• Data analysis.
• Exchange rate management.
• Vendor management.
• Payroll.
• Industry- and country-specific requirements.

Warehouse management

• Inventory management.
• Sales order fulfillment.
• Electronic data interchange (EDI).
• Real-time data analysis and dashboards.
• Shipping and receiving management.
• Workforce management.
• Shop floor automation and control.

Manufacturing management

• Production planning and scheduling.
• Order management.
• Inventory management.
• Workforce management.
• EDI.
• Quality control and compliance management.
• Bill of materials (BOM) management.
• Equipment maintenance tracking.
• Shop floor automation and control.
• Industry- and country-specific requirements.

Customer relationship management (CRM)

• Central repository of customer data.
• Lead management.
• Sales tracking.
• Data cleansing.
• Contract repository.
• Task management and automation.

Asset management

• Track fixed assets (buildings, vehicles, equipment, etc.).
• Maintenance planning and scheduling.
• Depreciation and expense planning.
• Data analysis.

Human resources

• Core HR.
• Payroll.
• Time and attendance.
• Absence and leave management.
• Recruiting and onboarding.
• Learning management.
• Performance management.
• Succession planning.
• Compliance management.
• Compensation planning.
• Workforce planning.

Eric St-Jean is an independent consultant with a particular focus on HR technology, project management and Microsoft Excel training and automation. He writes about numerous business and technology areas.