Finance and spend sales objections, questions and competitors

When they push back.

The objections finance and spend buyers raise most, what to say in the next ten seconds, and what not to promise.

"This costs more than we budgeted."

Understood. What would you compare it to: the subscription alone, or the subscription plus the hours your team spends on this today?

Do not discount on the first push. Do not invent savings figures.

"Moving our data and history would be a nightmare."

What history do you really need in the new system on day one, and what could stay archived?

Do not promise an easy migration or a go-live date without an implementation plan.

"We handle this with spreadsheets and it works."

That makes sense. Who owns those spreadsheets, and what happens when they are out during close?

Do not mock spreadsheets. Finance people are proud of their models.

"Not before year end. Talk to me after the audit."

That makes sense. If we planned now, what would need to be true to start right after the audit?

Do not push a go-live near year end. Agree on a specific next date instead.

"Our auditors and security team will need a lot from you."

What do your auditors and security team usually ask for, and can we get that list now?

Do not claim certifications or controls you have not confirmed with your own team.

"We already have NetSuite for that."

Got it. Which parts of that work well, and where does your team still work outside it?

Do not run down the ERP. They may have just spent a year implementing it.

Every one of these is a deal that slips a quarter if you fumble it. Ghost puts the answer on your screen while the buyer is still talking.

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When they name a competitor.

Give them credit, then ask whether that vendor's strength matters to this buyer.

Oracle NetSuite

NetSuite is a common choice for growing companies that need a real ERP. What would you want it to do that it is not doing for you today?

Intuit QuickBooks

QuickBooks is where most companies start, and it is easy to use. Is the issue the books themselves, or everything you do around them?

Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct is well regarded for core accounting and dimensional reporting. How important are those reporting dimensions to how you run the business?

Microsoft Dynamics 365

Dynamics is a natural fit for companies already deep in Microsoft. How much does that tie-in matter to your IT team?

Workday

Workday is known for combining HR and finance on one platform. Is that unified view the goal, or is it a specific finance problem?

SAP Concur

Concur is the long-time standard for travel and expense in big companies. How do your employees feel about the expense process today?

Coupa

Coupa is known for procurement and spend management at enterprise scale. How mature is your procurement team today?

Ramp

Ramp is known for corporate cards and spend software that finance teams adopt quickly. Is speed of rollout what matters most, or depth in a specific process?

Brex

Brex is known for corporate cards, expense and travel in one place. How much of your spend is global or across many entities?

BILL

BILL is a familiar name for AP and AR, and a lot of accountants use it. Where does your invoice process slow down today?

BlackLine

BlackLine is well known for close and reconciliation in larger finance teams. Is the close itself the bottleneck, or what feeds into it?

Xero

Xero is popular with small businesses and their accountants, especially outside the US. Is your growth outpacing what you set up in it?

Questions that qualify the deal.

Ask these on the first call. Then dig into the pain when they say it out loud.

Qualify

Can you walk me through your last close, from the first day of the month to when the books were final?
If you could take one manual task off your team's plate tomorrow, which would it be?
When that step slips or has an error, what does it cost you? Who finds out?
What changed that put this on the list this year?
Besides you, who has to approve this, and who would worry about it most?
Is there budget for this already, or would it replace something you pay for today?

Dig into the pain

"We cannot see spend until the card statement comes in." How do you know what a department has spent this month before the books close?
"Our approvals are a mess of emails and Slack messages." When someone needs to buy something, how does the approval happen and how do you prove it later?
"We outgrew our accounting system." What is the first thing that breaks when the business adds another entity or another country?
"Our AP team spends all day keying in invoices." What happens between an invoice arriving and it getting paid? Where does it sit?

Know who is in the room.

Software finance teams use to keep the books, close the month, pay bills, collect cash, control company spending and report results. It runs from the general ledger and ERP at the core out to accounts payable, expense management, corporate cards, procurement, close and reconciliation, and planning tools. Most companies run an accounting system plus several tools bolted on around it.

Who buys and who signs

Economic buyer: The CFO, or the VP Finance in a smaller company. Large ERP decisions may also need the CEO or board.
Champion: The Controller, an accounting manager or the AP lead who lives with month-end pain.
Users: Accountants, AP and AR clerks, procurement staff, and every employee who submits an expense or a purchase request.
Blockers: IT (integrations, SSO, data), security and internal audit (controls, access, segregation of duties), external auditors, procurement, and department heads who dislike new approval steps.

Signs the deal isn't real

Only an end user is engaged and the Controller or CFO has never heard of the project.
They want to switch systems in the middle of a close or audit.
No implementation owner and no plan for data migration.
They are gathering quotes to satisfy a procurement rule, with a favorite already chosen.
The real decision is an ERP replacement that has not been approved yet.
They cannot describe how today's process works, only that it is "messy".

14 words finance and spend buyers use

GL: The general ledger, the core record of every transaction.
ERP: Enterprise resource planning; the system that runs finance and often operations.
Close: The month-end or quarter-end process of finalizing the books.
AP / AR: Accounts payable (bills owed) and accounts receivable (money owed to the company).
Three-way match: Checking a purchase order, receipt and invoice agree before paying.
Reconciliation: Confirming balances agree across systems, banks and statements.
Accruals: Expenses or revenue recorded before cash moves.
Segregation of duties: Making sure no one person can request, approve and pay.
Chart of accounts: The list of accounts the business books to.
Multi-entity: Running several legal entities, often with consolidation and intercompany.
PO: Purchase order, an approved commitment to buy.
Revenue recognition: Rules for when revenue counts, often ASC 606 or IFRS standards.
SOX: Sarbanes-Oxley controls for public or soon-to-be-public companies.
FP&A: Financial planning and analysis; budgets, forecasts and variance.

Selling finance and spend: questions

What objections come up when selling finance, accounting and spend management?

The most common are: "This costs more than we budgeted", "Moving our data and history would be a nightmare", "We handle this with spreadsheets and it works", "Not before year end. Talk to me after the audit", "Our auditors and security team will need a lot from you" and "We already have NetSuite for that". Each one above has a line to say back and what to avoid.

What discovery questions should I ask a finance and spend buyer?

Start with: Can you walk me through your last close, from the first day of the month to when the books were final? If you could take one manual task off your team's plate tomorrow, which would it be? When that step slips or has an error, what does it cost you? Who finds out? What changed that put this on the list this year?

Who are the main competitors in finance, accounting and spend management?

Buyers most often compare Oracle NetSuite, Intuit QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Workday, SAP Concur, Coupa, Ramp, Brex, BILL, BlackLine and Xero.

Who buys finance, accounting and spend management?

Economic buyer: the CFO, or the VP Finance in a smaller company. Large ERP decisions may also need the CEO or board.

How does Ghost help on finance and spend calls?

Pick the finance and spend market pack in Ghost's setup and every card on this page loads into Ghost. When a buyer raises one of these objections or names one of these competitors on a live call, Ghost shows you what to say on your screen, hidden from screen shares and recordings.

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Finance, accounting and spend management: what buyers say on the call, and what to say back.