Outgrowing Your Care Finance System?
How to tell if your setup is holding the group back
Growth is usually the trigger.
More homes.
More funding types.
More scrutiny from Boards, lenders or PE.
Yet many care providers are still running finance on systems that were designed for a single site, supported by spreadsheets that quietly fill the gaps. For Finance Directors, this often shows up as a feeling rather than a single issue: month-end is fragile, reporting takes too long, and every “simple” question turns into a data chase.
If that sounds familiar, it’s usually a sign the finance system hasn’t kept pace with how the organisation now operates.
The problem isn’t the software. It’s the fit.
Xero, Sage and similar systems are widely used in care, and they work well at a certain scale.
The problem starts when:
- The number of homes increases
- The funding mix becomes more complex
- Staffing costs need tighter control
- Group-level reporting becomes non-negotiable
At that point, finance teams start compensating with:
- Manual consolidations
- Spreadsheet-led reporting packs
- Workarounds for billing, payroll and agency spend
- Key person dependency
In short, the system has been outgrown.
Common signs your care finance system no longer fits
- Month-end relies on spreadsheets and heroics
If close depends on manual reconciliations between payroll, rota, billing and accounts, month-end will always feel fragile.
- You can’t produce P&L by home quickly or confidently
If profitability by home takes weeks, or comes with caveats, the issue is structure and data, not reporting effort.
- Cost centres differ by home
When similar costs are coded differently across sites, comparability disappears and Board questions become harder to answer.
- Staffing costs are only clear after the fact
If rota, payroll and agency data don’t line up cleanly, you’re managing the biggest cost line in arrears.
- Billing complexity lives outside the system
Mixed funding, fee changes, top-ups and arrears often end up tracked in spreadsheets or inboxes, increasing risk and rework.
- Cash visibility depends on manual effort
If cashflow forecasting relies on someone exporting, re-keying and “version controlling” spreadsheets, visibility will always lag reality.
- Controls exist, but aren’t consistently followed
Approvals, coding rules and audit trails matter more as scrutiny increases, but only if they work in practice and don’t slow homes down.
- Consolidation feels like a bespoke monthly project
Multi-entity groups need repeatable consolidation and intercompany handling, not a reinvention every month.
What to fix before replacing anything
It’s not unusual for Finance Directors in care inherit:
- A system that worked when the business was smaller
- Processes built up over years to “make it work”
- Knowledge concentrated in one or two people
Before jumping to a system change, the most effective first step is a structured assessment of:
- Finance structure and cost centre consistency
- Staffing and payroll alignment
- Integration gaps between core systems
- Where spreadsheets are acting as hidden systems
In many cases, the answer isn’t “rip and replace everything”. It’s design first, then decide what to keep, integrate or replace.
Where SoMax fits
SoMax is a Social Care finance management system provider, with qualified accounting consultants specialising in finance management solutions for multi-site UK care providers. We help finance teams assess whether their current setup still fits, stabilise reporting, and put the right structure, integrations and controls in place without disrupting homes.
If you suspect your current finance system is being held together by spreadsheets, book a short call with SoMax. We’ll help you identify where your setup has been outgrown and map a practical keep vs integrate vs replace plan that fits how care actually operates.
