ARC Inspirations had selected Sage™ Intacct to replace its legacy Sage™ 50 finance system. To ensure a successful and smooth transition, the business needed expert support in navigating the complexities of system change, from selecting the right implementation partner to preparing its team for a new way of working. 

Without an internal business change department, project managers, or business analysts to lean on, ARC Inspirations turned to Fluid to support the change management project. The challenge extended beyond the technical migration – it was about bridging the gap between technology and the business, ensuring that teams understood, embraced, and were ready to operate confidently within the new finance environment with as little disruption or down time as possible. 

By partnering with Fluid, ARC Inspirations sought a trusted change management and IT consultancy partner that could provide the guidance, structure, team and expertise needed to deliver a smooth transition and successful adoption of Sage™ Intacct across the organisation. 

To support ARC Inspirations through its finance system transformation, Fluid developed and delivered a comprehensive change management strategy focused on people, process, and technology. The approach centred on preparing the business for change through targeted training, technical support, and robust testing coordination. 

Fluid worked closely with the ARC Inspirations team to ensure every team member was confident and ready for the transition. This included developing tailored training programmes, producing user-friendly documentation, and coordinating user acceptance testing to validate the system before go-live. 

Acting as the key liaison between ARC Inspirations and the Sage™ Intacct implementation partner, Fluid ensured issues were resolved quickly, communication flowed effectively, and project objectives stayed on track. The team managed both technical configuration and administrative tasks, adapting to changes in project scope and ensuring all requirements were clearly traced and updated throughout the process. 

Through this hands-on and adaptive approach, Fluid successfully guided ARC Inspirations through the full implementation of its new cloud-based finance system, ensuring the business and its people were fully prepared for a smooth, confident go-live. 

Despite a few last-minute challenges, the project was delivered successfully and smoothly from a change management perspective. Shortly before go-live, ARC Inspirations chose not to proceed with the implementation partner’s OCR (optical character recognition) invoicing solution, opting instead to retain a trusted OCR feature within their existing system. Fluid adapted quickly, supporting this decision and ensuring that the change had minimal impact on the overall timeline and user readiness. 

Throughout the project, adjustments to scope required several requirements to be reworked or removed, impacting traceability and final sign-off. However, Fluid maintained strong governance and communication to keep stakeholders informed and aligned. 

When the new Sage™ Intacct system went live, the transition was considered a complete success in terms of business readiness and user adoption. All team members were trained, informed, and confident, with no negative feedback regarding preparedness or awareness. While productivity dipped briefly as users adjusted to new processes, this was expected and, importantly, no one reported feeling unprepared or unsupported during the change. 

The result was a seamless go-live experience that demonstrated the value of a structured, people-focused change management approach, ensuring ARC Inspirations’ finance team was equipped for long-term success with their new cloud-based system. 

Ciara Allan, Chief Financial Officer at ARC Inspirations, said: “We recently engaged Fluid on to perform a desktop exercise on benchmarking a new finance system. Sarah, their business analyst impressed us so much during this piece of work, that we signed them up to support us through the entire project.  We wouldn’t be surviving without Sarah, and it was the best decision we made.”   

If you’re looking for support for an upcoming change management project, get in touch with our team here.