How to replace a dealership DMS

What to check before you decide

Begin with requirements, and write them by department. Sales needs desking, F&I and the CRM connection.

Service needs the repair order, warranty claims and the scheduler. Parts needs manufacturer ordering.

Accounting needs the chart of accounts, the monthly manufacturer statement and payroll. List every manufacturer requirement per brand.

Then list every other system that reads from the DMS, with its fee and owner.

Data conversion decides the outcome. Get a written list of what the new vendor will convert and what it will not.

Ask for a trial conversion of a copy of your data, and check it: open repair orders, parts on hand, customer and vehicle counts, and ledger balances. Reconcile the numbers to your last statement before anyone signs off.

Plan go-live like an audit. Pick a date away from month-end.

Close the old system cleanly, keep read access to its history, and decide who answers questions while staff learn the new screens. Train each role on its own tasks, not on a general tour.

After go-live, watch the first three month-end closes. Track the days to close, the manual adjustments and the manufacturer statement.

Keep a short issue log with a named owner for every item. The DMS is the ledger, so a rushed switch shows up in the books.

Keep a cutover log. Record each decision, each open issue and its owner, and each vendor's confirmation in writing.

When something breaks in month two, the log tells you whether it was promised, agreed or assumed. Also set a rollback line: the date after which the old system can no longer be restored, and who decides.

Budget for the parts that do not appear in the vendor's quote, such as overtime during the cutover, temporary staff to key in open items, extra training hours for each department, and the fees other vendors charge to reconnect their software to the new system once the old connections are turned off.