Your accounting software has no doubt served your business very well for quite some time. However, a period of significant growth new product lines, or possibly an acquisition along with that awful feeling in your gut that you don’t quite have control of the ship anymore, it’s usually a strong indicator that it’s time to step up.

There is nothing worse than having to make quick decisions if you don’t have real data-driven insight as to where everything is at. The time has come to look at ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning solutions.

Accounting packages are excellent for start-ups and small businesses with simple processes. However, as soon as the processes start getting more complicated and you find yourself with more and more solutions cobbled together, multiple spreadsheets, and delays in accessing information your accounting package is no longer serving your business.

How does a general off the shelf accounting solution differ from an ERP solution?

In general, an accounting package is just that. Financial data goes in, financial reports come out – focused entirely on bookkeeping, general ledger, chart of accounts, accounts payable and accounts receivable with very little scalability. There is no integration between CRM, sales departments, warehouses, supply chain and so on.

ERP solutions have all that and more – they allow almost unlimited scalability – all the data is on a single data base. With a unified view, users can access the data they need in an instant and generate reports across multiple locations and departments. You can immediately see what the benefits of that are – efficiency, accuracy, confidence.

The ERP decision is not one to be taken lightly and preparation is highly recommended.

We highly recommend asking your employees what is frustrating them at present with the current system. i.e., What is not working and what can be improved. It might be better reporting, less double entry, more automation. Then go through your list and prioritise what you want from a new system. Know your ‘must haves’ from the ‘nice to have’s’. Prepare a list of current processes and get rid of any that don’t serve you anymore. Then start investigating different solutions.

To do this you can do your own research or get external assistance. All ERP’s differences and there is no one-size fits all. Each can be configured differently and do slightly different things. Some are industry specific – so do your homework. It might seem a bit daunting and time consuming especially if you’re already spinning the wheels just to keep up however, you should expect your relationship with the software and the partner implementing it to be long lasting, so don’t rush in.

If your business has grown to the point where your stock has moved out of the owners garage to a separate location – you need to know where it is and how much you have. The bigger you grow the more important this is. With customisable dashboards and reports you will have real time data showing you exactly the status of your inventory so much more.

Eliminate clunky processes, multiple spreadsheets and have all your departments (no matter where they are) using the same data including:

• Finance
• Procurement
• Manufacturing
• Inventory Management
• Order Management
• Warehouse Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Customer Relationship Management
• Project Management
• Workforce Management
• Human Resources
• Marketing

Fully integrated across the entire business, managers and users will have all the information they need at their fingertips. With so many incorporated modules ERP is the best option for a business that is growing and is ambitious.

Momentum Software Solutions are the cloud ERP experts. See our cloud ERP solutions available here.

OrContact us for an obligation free discussion to see if we can help.