Upgrading your accounting software. WHY?
Have you ever been so frustrated with the way your accounting system does something or better yet doesn’t do something you really need.
If so you have probably been to the point where you need to consider upgrading or replacing your accounting software. In many cases people will upgrade the accounting software and possibly consider other tools to manage inventory, schedule, estimate or a host of other possibilities.
The reason they do this often comes back to the fact that the accounting staff is comfortable with the package and would prefer to keep using it. What these organizations don’t realize is that keeping a specific accounting package stunts the ability to grow and prosper.
While the accountants are important to your business, so are the other people. They need tools to monitor and execute their areas of responsibility as well. Production, shipping, sales, purchasing these are the people who do the day to day work. It might be a good idea to bring software to them, to automate and communicate in the most efficient manner. Saying that if all these people need software to help them then why not look at a package that offers all of that. Its called ERP (Enterprise resource planning).
What is the advantage of ERP. Well firstly, everyone is using the same software package. Which means that everybody has access to the information they are allowed to see in other departments. Communication and interaction between departments is a key to growth. With one system information flows from department to department naturally and automatically. So for example when you ship, an invoice is automatically created. Johnny in shipping doesn’t have to tell anybody, the system knows and informs accounting. Further to that the inventory is relieved properly and there is full traceability to what happened.
Without getting into to many gorey details you can plainly see the advantage.
So you say to me well ERP is expensive. And I say well it can be. Especially if you don’t get it right the first time. the reality is you can get an ERP package for the price of an accounting package these days. And consider this, if you avoid ERP you may have multiple pieces of software that either don’t talk to each other or you have to pay to have them do so. Not very efficient or affordable. You run into things like having to enter data multiple times.
Even upgrading from one accounting system to a newer version or a more robust offering, there is much time and effort spent learning and implementing. And the worst part is sooner or later you know you will have to replace it.
So the question I have for you is, if it is time to upgrade your accounting package why wouldn’t you start down the path of ERP.
It doesn’t matter what way you slice it, accounting packages that have add-ons or do some other things are not ERP. They might say they are or even think they are but the proof is in the pudding and I am here to tell you they are not. We make a living off of replacing packages that where billed to do these things but in the end don’t.
Don’t make the mistake of other small business owners, learn from their expereince and ours. Invest in a long term solution and not the “quick” fix.
