The deal is closed. The investment thesis is established. The value creation plan is taking shape.
Now the real work begins.
For private equity firms and newly acquired portfolio companies, the first 100 days represent an important opportunity to establish operational priorities, validate assumptions, and build momentum toward long-term value creation.
Leadership teams are evaluating everything from organizational structure and working capital to revenue growth opportunities and margin improvement initiatives.
But there is one area that can have an outsized impact on nearly every one of those priorities.
The technology environment supporting the business.
ERP systems, financial reporting, integrations, data quality, and operational workflows are not always the most exciting topics in the first 100 days. However, they often determine how quickly leadership can execute the broader value creation strategy.
At The Preiner Group (TPG), we believe technology should be evaluated early in the investment lifecycle, with a clear connection to financial and operational outcomes.
And that does not necessarily mean replacing the ERP system.
It means understanding what is working, identifying what is holding the business back, and developing a practical roadmap for what comes next.
Days 1 to 30: Establish Visibility Before Making Changes
One of the first priorities following an acquisition is establishing confidence in the financial and operational information available to leadership.
Can the CFO produce reliable financial reports without spending days reconciling spreadsheets?
Does the business have visibility into profitability by customer, product, service line, or business unit?
Can leadership accurately monitor working capital, cash flow, and the KPIs outlined in the investment thesis?
These questions sound straightforward, but the answers can be surprisingly difficult when critical information is spread across disconnected systems.
During the first 30 days, the objective should be to understand the current technology environment and identify where reporting limitations or operational inefficiencies may be creating risk.
Key priorities include:
Evaluating the existing ERP and financial reporting environment
Identifying disconnected applications and manual workflows
Assessing financial data quality and reporting consistency
Understanding current month-end close and consolidation processes
Reviewing integration dependencies and potential technology risks
Aligning technology observations with the investment thesis
This initial assessment provides a foundation for making informed decisions.
The goal is not to launch a major technology transformation in the first 30 days. It is to understand where technology is enabling or limiting the business.
Days 31 to 60: Identify the Opportunities That Actually Create Value
Once the current environment is understood, the conversation should shift from technology challenges to business opportunities.
Where can automation eliminate repetitive administrative work?
Could better financial reporting improve decision-making?
Are disconnected systems contributing to delayed billing, revenue leakage, or excessive operational costs?
Will the existing technology architecture support future acquisitions?
These are the questions that begin connecting technology initiatives to measurable financial outcomes.
Consider a portfolio company where finance spends several days each month manually consolidating financial information from multiple business units.
The immediate technology problem may appear to be disconnected accounting systems.
But the business impact extends much further.
Those manual processes consume finance capacity, delay management reporting, introduce reconciliation risk, and limit the ability of leadership to respond quickly to changing business conditions.
The opportunity may involve ERP consolidation, systems integration, reporting automation, or a combination of improvements.
The right solution depends on the business.
Technology initiatives should be prioritized based on the value they can create, not simply the number of features they introduce.
During this stage, PE operating teams and portfolio executives should begin categorizing opportunities into three groups:
Quick Wins: Improvements that can be delivered with relatively limited investment or disruption, such as reporting automation, targeted integrations, or workflow optimization.
Strategic Initiatives: Larger improvements that may require ERP modernization, financial consolidation, process standardization, or significant systems integration.
Future-State Capabilities: Investments designed to support the next stage of growth, including acquisition integration, advanced analytics, AI-enabled workflows, and scalable operating models.
This approach helps prevent organizations from investing heavily in technology without a clear understanding of the expected business return.
Days 61 to 100: Build the Roadmap and Establish Accountability
By day 60, leadership should have a clearer understanding of the current environment and the opportunities available.
The final stage is translating those findings into an actionable technology roadmap.
A strong roadmap should answer five fundamental questions:
What business outcomes are we trying to achieve?
Which technology initiatives will have the greatest impact?
What investments, resources, and organizational changes are required?
How should initiatives be sequenced to minimize disruption?
How will success be measured?
For a portfolio company pursuing an aggressive buy-and-build strategy, the roadmap may prioritize standardized financial reporting, scalable ERP architecture, and repeatable acquisition integration processes.
For a business focused on EBITDA improvement, the priorities may center on eliminating manual workflows, improving billing efficiency, reducing administrative overhead, and automating financial operations.
For a company preparing for an eventual exit, reporting confidence, data consistency, operational scalability, and reduced technology risk may take precedence.
There is no universal technology roadmap for every private equity investment.
The right roadmap is the one that directly supports the investment thesis.
By the end of the first 100 days, leadership should have a clear set of priorities, defined ownership, measurable success criteria, and a realistic plan for execution.
Importantly, not every initiative needs to be completed within those first 100 days. The objective is to establish the foundation and direction for the next phase of value creation.
The Biggest Mistake: Treating ERP as an Isolated IT Decision
One of the most common mistakes organizations make is evaluating ERP modernization separately from the broader business strategy.
A legacy accounting platform may be frustrating to use, but that alone does not justify a costly replacement.
Similarly, an ERP system may appear to be functioning adequately while underlying integration gaps, inconsistent processes, and unreliable reporting continue to create significant operational inefficiencies.
The conversation should begin with business outcomes.
If the investment thesis calls for doubling revenue through acquisitions, can the current technology environment support that growth?
If the objective is margin expansion, where are manual processes and disconnected systems increasing operating costs?
If the business needs stronger financial controls and reporting, what changes will create greater confidence in the numbers?
These questions should determine whether the right path involves optimizing existing applications, integrating disconnected systems, modernizing the ERP environment, or implementing a broader technology transformation.
The best technology decision is not always a new system. Sometimes it is making the existing environment work significantly better.
The TPG Approach: A Complimentary 100-Day Value Creation & Technology Roadmap
At The Preiner Group, we believe private equity firms and portfolio company executives should have a clear understanding of their technology opportunities before committing to a major investment.
That is why we are introducing a complimentary offering specifically for private equity firms and their portfolio companies.
The TPG 100-Day Value Creation & Technology Roadmap.
Our goal is simple: help PE operating teams and portfolio company leadership identify where technology can support the investment thesis, improve operational efficiency, and create measurable business value.
Through a focused, collaborative assessment, we work with leadership to evaluate the current environment, identify opportunities, and develop a practical roadmap for improvement.
The complimentary engagement is designed to cover five key areas:
1. Current-State Technology Assessment
A high-level review of the ERP environment, financial systems, critical business applications, integrations, and operational workflows.
2. Financial Visibility & Reporting Opportunities
Identification of reporting gaps, manual reconciliation processes, consolidation challenges, and opportunities to improve financial visibility.
3. Operational Efficiency & Automation
Evaluation of repetitive processes, disconnected workflows, and opportunities where integration or automation may reduce administrative effort and operational costs.
4. Acquisition Readiness & Scalability
Assessment of how effectively the existing technology environment can support future acquisitions, additional entities, increased transaction volumes, and organizational growth.
5. Prioritized Value Creation Roadmap
A practical, executive-level roadmap outlining recommended initiatives, expected business benefits, relative priorities, key dependencies, and suggested sequencing.
The outcome is a clear starting point for leadership to evaluate technology investments and align future initiatives with the broader value creation strategy.
No Cost. No Obligation. No Predetermined Technology Recommendation.
We recognize that not every portfolio company needs a new ERP system.
Some organizations may benefit from targeted integrations or workflow improvements. Others may require a more comprehensive modernization strategy.
Our objective is to help leadership understand those options before making significant investment decisions.
The complimentary roadmap is an initial strategic assessment, not a full technical audit or implementation design. Any subsequent project would be separately scoped and agreed upon.
And there is no requirement to engage TPG for implementation services.
We believe that providing meaningful value early is the best way to build long-term partnerships.
Final Thought: The First 100 Days Should Create Clarity, Not Complexity
Private equity value creation depends on execution.
And execution becomes significantly more difficult when leadership lacks reliable information, employees depend on inefficient manual processes, and critical business systems cannot support the next stage of growth.
The first 100 days offer an opportunity to identify these challenges before they become more expensive and disruptive.
That does not mean every portfolio company needs to embark on a major technology transformation immediately after an acquisition.
It means technology deserves a seat at the value creation table from day one.
Because the best time to discover that your systems cannot support your growth strategy is before that growth strategy depends on them.
Your First 100 Days. A Clearer Path to Value Creation.
Whether your firm recently completed an acquisition, is preparing for a new platform investment, or is evaluating operational improvements across an existing portfolio, TPG can help identify where technology can make a measurable difference.
We are offering a complimentary 100-Day Value Creation & Technology Roadmap to qualifying private equity firms and portfolio companies.
No obligation. No unnecessary complexity. Just a practical assessment of where your technology environment stands today and where it can take your business next.
Let's Talk.
The Preiner Group | NetSuite Implementations Reimagined.