convincing reasons to replace your accounting system with ERP

Transcription

1 15 convincing reasons to replace your accounting system with ERP

2 15 convincing reasons to replace your accounting system with ERP Welcome There comes a time when your business systems simply can t keep pace with your company s growth. Whether it s slowing performance from pushing the QuickBooks database past its limits or spending too much time on complex Excel spreadsheets, you need to spend your time building the business, not entering transactions. Put technology to work to compete with the bigger players in your industry and win. Service options that win new contracts, customer service that impresses the toughest client and productivity improvements that allow you to grow without adding staff. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) can take your business to the next level. Let us show you how. 15 convincing reasons to replace your accounting system with enterprise resource planning Improve customer service 1. Answer questions in one call 2. Minimize inventory while maintaining customer satisfaction 3. Expand service options Support remote employees 4. Allow employees to handle administrative tasks online 5. Give field service and sales reps access to customer and inventory information 6. Keep company data secure while supporting mobile devices Get better insight 7. Real-time dashboards and reporting 8. Monitor project profitability 9. Consolidate data across the company Improve productivity 10. Automate manual processes 11. Eliminate double entry 12. Simplify finding answers Support business growth 13. New distribution channels 14. Maintain control and accountability 15. Simplified compliance reporting Page 1

3 Improve customer service 15 convincing reasons to replace your accounting system with ERP 1. Answer questions in one call There is no getting around it, the standards of customer service have been reset by online retailers like Amazon.com. Whether your customers are consumers or businesses, they have no patience with vendors who can t answer questions right away. Customers want to know what they ordered last time, if inventory is in stock and when the order will ship. With fully integrated ERP, your sales and service agents can have customer history, inventory and order status information at their fingertips to answer customer questions without searching through files or accessing three different systems. 2. Minimize inventory while maintaining customer satisfaction The success of your retail, distribution or manufacturing business depends on having the right stock available when customers are ready to purchase. The challenge is making sure that you have enough inventory in the right place at the right time. To achieve more effective inventory management, you need to get more control over the data exactly how much and where is the stock. An ERP system will track inventory with precision from end to end. In addition, through analysis of purchasing trends you can create more accurate forecasts to meet demand without overstocking. 3. Expand service options Many companies are adding services to expand revenue streams and meet customer needs. Even industries that historically focused on products retailers, distributors and manufacturers are using services to diversify the business. For example, a furniture retailer provides in-home decorating services or an engine manufacturer offers preventive maintenance contracts. When you add services to your current product offering, you need processes that support the new business model. An ERP system that is designed to support multiple business process models will provide the foundation that promotes profits and high customer satisfaction. Page 2

4 Support remote employees 15 convincing reasons to replace your accounting system with ERP 4. Allow employees to handle administrative tasks online Businesses today are using technology creatively to allow employees to accomplish more in the field. With the right support, working from home or remote locations can be just as productive as being in the office. To keep employees focused on income-producing work instead of administrative distractions, you should make those tasks as simple as possible. Web-based employee portals allow employees to manage administrative tasks like tracking time, submitting purchase requisitions and accessing HR documents quickly. With centralized document storage and access, employees don t need to waste time searching for the information they need. 5. Give field service and sales reps access to customer and inventory information Making it easy for your field teams to deliver great customer service means giving them full access to information through their mobile device. No switching to the laptop to take notes, or telling the customer you will have to call them back with answers. When service workers don t need to come back to the office to file paperwork, they can make more calls during the day. Sales people close deals faster when they have all the product and pricing information at their fingertips. Fully integrated ERP provides access to information in one place and delivers it to their mobile device. 6. Keep company data secure while supporting mobile devices More and more of your employees are using mobile devices to access and store company information. While you want workers to have the information that they need, spreadsheets with vital company data on laptops and tablets put business information at risk. With ERP, you can provide your employees with the information that they need without them downloading spreadsheets or sending reports through . With portals and dashboards you can safely deliver information about customers, projects, inventory, human resources everything that they need to do their job to any device they want to use. Page 3

5 Get better insight 15 convincing reasons to replace your accounting system with ERP 7. Real-time dashboards and reporting To respond to changing conditions at the speed of today s markets, you need to identify sales trends early, monitor costs of materials and reduce slow moving inventory. Those decisions require information that reflect real-time activities, not last month s numbers. With a fully integrated ERP system, data is being collected and recorded from every transaction, from every department as they happen. Dashboards and reports can instantly reflect activity across the organization. When you transform decision-making from reactive to proactive, you have a better chance to beat the competition and build profits. 8. Monitor project profitability Every company needs to manage projects. Just a few examples include delivering services to clients, building special order products or coordinating multi-discipline jobs. Keeping track of all the costs and tasks associated with a significant project is a challenge. ERP centralizes data so that you can communicate the project information that each employee needs to know. No more wondering if tasks have been completed on time or if you have the latest version of the project spreadsheet. Reports and dashboards help you monitor the status and profitability of each project. When you see a project start to lag, you can take proactive steps to get it back on track. 9. Consolidate data across the company Collecting all of your business data in an integrated ERP system is the most efficient way to deliver real time information for your business. Combining financials, manufacturing, supply chain, project and services management, human resources and payroll allows you to monitor all the important metrics in one place. With combined, real-time information, your managers can make decisions based on the full spectrum of factors that affect their department s success. Employees don t have to search through multiple systems to find the information that they need. Page 4

6 15 convincing reasons to replace your accounting system with ERP Improve productivity 10. Automate manual processes To grow your business profitably, you need to build productivity instead of payroll. By allowing each of your employees to handle more transactions, operations or services, you can increase sales and profits at the same time. For example, when you automate the invoicing and collections process, employees spend less time on administrative tasks and can focus on the exceptions. Fully integrated ERP allows you to automate time-intensive processes from payroll to collections. 11. Eliminate double entry When your company uses multiple business management systems, your employees are probably re-entering data from one system into the other. In addition to wasted time, errors and duplicate entries lead to problems that affect customer service. With an integrated ERP system, data goes in once and is securely shared across the company. There is one source of customer, product and service information. No more double checking to verify the most recent shipping address, wondering if your pricing is current or sending technicians to the wrong location. 12. Simplify finding answers How easy is it for your employees to find the answers to common questions? Questions like: How much inventory is available? What is the status of the order? When will it ship? What are the milestone due dates for this project? When employees need to access multiple systems, spreadsheets and files to find the answers to questions, they are taking time away from profitable work. Information should be at their fingertips in one central location. Page 5

7 15 convincing reasons to replace your accounting system with ERP Support business growth 13. New distribution channels The internet opens new opportunities to work directly with your end-user or expand into new markets. To make the most of that opportunity, it s critical to deliver a great customer experience from the start. Prior to expansion into new distribution channels, you must be ready to support the processes that will keep customers coming back. Fully integrated ERP that connects service support to customer, inventory and supply chain information can ensure that your expansion will be successful. Through extended systems connected to your ERP, like ecommerce and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), you can expand your markets and reach new customers effectively. 14. Maintain control and accountability As your business grows, you can t watch over every employee and monitor every transaction. You need to implement the system controls that establish accountability for employees and give you confidence in the quality of work. By formalizing business processes through an ERP system, you not only improve efficiency but also promote accountability from your employees. Audit trails will identify when and who entered transactions. Automated workflows ensure proper reviews to reduce any employee s temptation to make a bad decision. 15. Simplified compliance reporting Regulatory requirements vary across industries and geographies, and change over time in response to new laws and public safety concerns. To respond to ever-evolving requirements you need reporting and process systems with the flexibility to adapt. Fully integrated ERP will help you ensure compliance through automated workflows, system-managed audit trails and flexible reporting. By establishing processes and guidelines enforced through the system, your employees can focus on quickly fulfilling compliance requests instead of worrying about missing a critical step. Page 6

8 15 convincing reasons to replace your accounting system with ERP Make the move to ERP The accounting software that you have been using for the past how many? years may help you keep the bills paid and file your taxes, but is it helping you increase profits? With the pace of change today, you need systems built on the modern technology that will allow you to adapt. Replace your accounting system with ERP to: Improve customer service Put customer information in one place, so employees can answer questions quickly and correctly the first time. Deliver information to your people Give employees in the field and workers at home the information to do their jobs efficiently. Identify trends and opportunities To put all that information you are collecting each day to work, you must be able to collect, sort, analyze and evaluate data on your terms. Grow the business without adding more people Build profits, not payroll by maximizing the productivity of each employee. Support growth Today s changing world requires constant adjustments to maximize your business opportunities. A trusted partner Since 1987 we ve been helping clients with solutions that increase productivity and make it easier to quickly make insightful decisions. Our clients range from small companies who have basic financial and inventory needs to medium and large-sized companies who need full business operation automation. Although we work with a wide range of clients, we specialize in financial, distribution and manufacturing systems with offerings ranging from basic out-of-the box functionality to specialized mobile and procurement solutions. And rest assured, we design solutions to grow with you so any investment you make today can mature with your company over time. Let s talk about taking your business to the next level. Call , info@iconbc.net or visit Page 7