ANY business that chooses to convert its whole trading operations at the beginning of European monetary union transition will be taking a "huge risk", warned the Business & Accounting Software Developers Association.
It said companies should not convert to the euro next year, whether their country is in or out of the monetary union, because the computer software for running the accounts will not be available.
The association, whose membership of over 100 represents nearly the whole of the market, cannot guarantee compliant software even by the end of next year.
The problem, says the association, is that local laws on procedures and requirements are still being formulated.
"The fault lies with the politicians who have made the job extremely difficult by failing to provide the information which the industry needed within a reasonable timeframe."
As a result the software companies have got as far as they can, but by next year will have only pilot or test versions available, for "bedding in". These "beta" versions of computer programs are notoriously flighty and frequently need several revisions before being properly marketable.
That is going to present a bit of a problem for companies priding themselves on pioneering the new currency. Siemens, BMW, Rover Group and many other German companies have said they will start accounting in euros from next year.
Siemens even said it would pay workers in euros from October. Other major companies such as Philips and Bupa have also vowed to shift.
That means British suppliers to them, or suppliers to suppliers may be forced into using euros, despite Britain's being outside the monetary union for years to come. Companies that thought themselves protected from change by the government's aloofness from the euro, and by their own lack of exports are now facing imminent change.
Many accounting programs, even the versions for small business, can cope with multiple currencies.
That means they should be be able to cope with the euro as well, but it is worth checking with the producer whether a currently used version will cope, and if not when will such a version become available and whether that will cost extra.
The news-sheet Finance IT Update suggests there are six questions to ask the software supplier to check the program will cope:
Does the installed program have to be updated to deal in euros as well?
Will hardware or attendant programs like databases have to be changed?
What modules are updated apart from general ledger: management reporting, accounts Payable/receivable, sales/purchase ordering, materials management, payroll?
Are the year 2000 compliance and euro upgrades separate?
Will both meet the standards set by Business and Accounting Software Developers Association?
Can the system distinguish between countries in EU but not euro, and non-EU ?
But the association warned that businesses "should delay as long as they can" after the start of monetary union before making the euro their main trading currency. They will have enough worries trying to decide whether the system can cope with the year 2000, and finding skilled and affordable computer people to comply with the millennium. They should delay transferring totally to euro until 2001, the association advised.
