5 Advantages of Installing an ERP System for Your Business

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is an integrated platform that can handle several different business processes in real-time with speed and accuracy. That integration into one key platform is what any business owner can use to store, manage, and interpret their day-to-day business data in a way that limits the need for disparate data files, spreadsheets, and the like.

As a business innovation, ERP software comes at a great time for modern enterprises, especially those that still operate a brick-and-mortar storefront. No matter the business size, industry, or customer base, all such businesses have one thing in common: the need to utilize business information in order to keep a competitive edge.

If you’re a business owner looking into an ERP system upgrade, how are vendors pitching it to you? What business improvements have they promised? There are also some questions you can ask of yourself such as: how do you know that an ERP system is worth the additional expenses? How do you know that you and your staff are ready to transition to a new piece of ERP software?

The answers here are simple: look to your business’s current situation and count the opportunities for improvement. If you and your staff have subsisted on pen-and-paper tracking or if you’re tired of shifting from program to program to reconcile inventory, cash flow, and customer data one-by-one, then it’s time to get a bona fide ERP system on deck.

For a better understanding of how an ERP system can help your business, here’s a list of the advantages.

1. It’s a one-stop shop for information. There’s a simple philosophy behind integrating an ERP system into your company’s framework”it’s that the system will act as a one-stop shop, or a singular source of truth, that’s responsible for disparate processes like accounting, inventory management, and procurement. The system provides a clear and streamlined flow of necessary business data from the Point of Sale (POS) to the accounting period. As such, an ERP system and its POS device counterparts are a smart investment for your business.
2. Upgraded POS devices will be a boon to your accounting process. The physical manifestation of the ERP system is the POS terminal, or the station that processes payments whenever a purchase goes through. You can think of the POS terminal as a level-up from the humble cash register, as it can do more than calculate prices and issue receipts. POS devices are integral in upgrading your accounting system as, aside from crunching the numbers correctly, they can proffer you an up-to-date situationer on the financial health of your company after every single customer purchase.
3. Data integrity and consistency is ensured across several business operations. The ERP system consists of a data repository that’s both secure and centralized. That means anyone in the company, from the owner to the cashier to the bookkeeper, will be basing their functions on the same set of data. There will be less room for error on financial statements, less out-of-touch decision-making on replenishing stocks, and fewer arguments about the situation of the cash flow.
4. Improved business insight. With ERP technology to assist you, you and your staff members will be a granted a bird’s-eye-view of how the business is doing, without the ambiguity of dissimilar data sources. Everyone can share the same vision, and work within the same parameters of how to improve business efficiency.
5. Enhanced on-the-ground collaboration amongst the business’s stakeholders. Whoever is privy to the ERP can share relevant information on purchasing orders, requisitions, anomalies in stock, and others to their respective teammates. It will also be easy to rally around the ERP and devise timely, focused, and profitable business solutions together.

When we return to the idea of competitive edge, we’ll see that an ERP system upgrade can do wonders for a company. It can synchronize a business’s core processes, get the staff to see eye-to-eye, and drive operations to become faster, more efficient, and more responsive to customers’ needs. Take the leap, and welcome an ERP system into your company’s framework. To learn more about system or software integration contact us today.