Those of us who were paralysed with fear about the Y2K "bug" will be glad to hear that there is no chance of any technological meltdown once the changeover to euro notes and coins begins on January 1st next.

Not that many of us seem to be even remotely concerned about such a prospect, especially since the fears about Y2K largely failed to materialise. However, complacency is still not a luxury that businesses can afford this time round.

"Even if businesses don't do anything about the euro, nothing bad will happen," says Mr Patrick O'Beirne, author of the recently published book, Managing the Euro in Information Systems: Strategies for a Successful Changeover. "They just won't be able to do anything."

Of all the issues pertaining to the euro changeover, technology is the biggest and most costly single concern most businesses will have - yet survey after survey shows a worrying degree of complacency about the time and resources needed for the task, even as time is quickly running out.

For instance, the European Commission's latest Eurobarometer survey revealed that up to one quarter of small and medium-sized businesses in Europe had no plans to do anything about the euro until the end of the year.

A survey by software company Sage Ireland revealed that only about 21 per cent of companies here had already converted, while another 41 per cent said that they were "ready" to convert. The rest said they had not prepared but were intending to do so. There are now less than 80 days left to get ready.

"Y2K was a very specific issue; the euro is not," said Mr O'Beirne. He says the real concern about Y2K was connected with timing and control in mission-critical places like nuclear plants or power stations, where a failure to deal with the problem would have posed danger.

The euro, on the other hand, will affect almost every aspect of a business. Any problem that occurs in the changeover to euro notes and coins in the first hour of January 1st, 2002, may only be a problem if your business operates vending machines or ATMs, says Mr O'Beirne.

Failure to account for the changeover will not halt the operation of computer equipment or software.

"For everyone else, the computer programmes will operate, but much of the data contained in them will be no use," he said.

There are standard, off-the-shelf software packages designed to convert systems to the euro that will be suitable for most enterprises. Such packages are widely available and not that expensive, generally costing up to £100 (€127) or so. Indeed, much of this software can be obtained from the free CDs that come with PC magazines. However, such software products are not wizard cure-alls. "It's not a case of pressing a single button and then it happens."

O'Beirne explains that the off- the-shelf software works by running the conversion through core accounting functions, popping up a kind of checklist of data informing you of what needs to be changed and then testing it again to see if the changes work as expected.

"Most of them give people the hand-holding that they need to take them through the changes."

However, what may be an appropriate euro software solution for one business will not necessarily be the right solution for another. Therefore, talking to your supplier now is absolutely essential to identify what exactly is required for the business concerned.

The experience of companies and retailers who took part in the Loughrea Euro Town Project showed that many of those with specialised or customised software found it quite difficult and time-consuming to obtain the appropriate upgrades. The message for those with customised software was that they needed to communicate with their suppliers urgently.

Mr O'Beirne's main advice to businesses is to test software now. "Get people to test the conversion now. You don't have to change over now but you can test now." He says that many of those who have tested their software have found that the conversion has not worked properly for them yet. If the problems are not resolved quickly, they will lead to users making calculations purely to balance accounts that don't add up properly.

"If you test the conversion now on a spare machine, you will still have time to find out if you still have problems." There is a danger of complacency because people will assume that because the software is in place, everything will be OK, he says.

Companies should also be aware of what being "euro-ready" actually means when it comes to software. According to the Forfβs EMU business awareness campaign, the euro functionality of some accounting software packages may vary considerably.

For instance, some packages allow users to maintain accounts in Irish pounds or euros while the base currency remains in Irish pounds - but they do not have a conversion facility to convert the base currency to euros.

Companies that did not consider the issue of the euro-readiness of their software when they upgraded before Y2K may now find themselves having to consider the possibility of having to upgrade again.

For others, however, the euro changeover could be seen as an ideal opportunity to give their systems a good spring clean and make sure that historical data is updated.

Mr O'Beirne, who is one of two individuals accredited by the Business Application Software Developers Association (BASDA) to test software for euro-readiness, says that it is difficult to tell if Irish software companies are now getting it right for their customers because so few of their customers have tested their software yet. Indeed, he reported earlier in the year that very few Irish companies' accounting packages carried the BASDA standard for euro-readiness.

However, Mr Liam Mullaney, managing director of software developers Sage Ireland, says that because we are so close to the deadline, such standards are less of an issue because all accounting software packages on the market will be fully euro-ready by now.

Instead, the focus should be more on getting people ready for the changeover, he said.

Some, but not all, of Sage Ireland's products carry the BASDA standard.

Indeed, the focus on technology in facilitating the euro changeover makes it easy to overlook the influence of the human factor.

For instance, part of the national changeover code for retailers recommends that staff who will be handling cash during the dual currency period should be trained to calculate the conversion using a calculator, so that the till can be configured entirely in euros from January 1st, 2002.

"The idea is to train people to get to grips with the conversion, rather than rely on technology," says Ms Ailish Forde, director general of the Retail Grocery Dairy and Allied Traders Association (RGDATA).

However, the human factor may see some unscrupulous individuals try to take advantage of mistakes that may arise during routine accounting procedures, such as perhaps the sending of an invoice in euros but getting payment in Irish pounds for the same amount in euros.

"As well as mistakes, there are the opportunities," says Mr O'Beirne.