Get value from ERP: from finance to sales

We all know that committing to a new ERP solution comes with a significant financial cost. What’s more, the implementation process can be challenging to personnel and the business in general.

This makes sense when you consider the complexity of your current processes and the system you are about to migrate or upgrade to needs to handle them. Thankfully, if done correctly, the benefits to your bottom line in the long term is immense.

Identifying where you’re likely to see the most value from changing your ERP software is the first thing you’ll want to do before taking the plunge. That’s why we’ve put together an article that helps you do just that.

Here are the seven areas you’re likely to get the most value from with your new Epicor ERP software.

 

Free-up cash flow

A reliable cash flow is essential for any business. However, keeping things moving can be a challenge when staff are tasked with doing so manually or on outdated systems.

Epicor 10 ensures faster, more efficient cashflow for your business through late purchase order reporting, planning reports, and automated processes.

This goes beyond traditional ERP to add fully integrated warehouse management software capabilities. Such functionality is usually found in purpose-built, stand-alone warehouse management systems.

You can also keep up to date with overdue invoices that have been missed through human error.

 

Improved reporting from Epicor ERP software

Accurate and comprehensive reporting is more important than ever to businesses. As a result, finance directors, or finance staff in general, will have a lot to say on the matter.

Through ERP financial reporting and analytics you can help your staff make more informed choices and assist decision-makers by ensuring timely and accurate financial information.

This reporting can also be real-time. This means key personnel can see how their department is performing against KPIs on the move whenever they like.

Being able to assess your fiscal information in real-time provides greater clarity and increased flexibility to your department. Who can say no to that?

 

Automate workflows

One of the main benefits when related to ERP software is that it allows you to automate all of your business processes from a centralised piece of software.

In particular, this is helpful for organisations that have a lot of paperwork and multiple software to manage processes. If this rings a bell, automation will help your business to optimise processes and make them more efficient. It will also remove ‘manual’ interventions, minimising human errors.

Automate processes with Epicor ERP and you’ll tap into new possibilities to save money by streamlining and cutting out waste. You’ll also free up a lot of time for staff across areas as diverse as finance, the factory floor and sales. This means they can be deployed to more important tasks.

 

Financial forecasting

It should come as no surprise that ERP software can provide a significant boost to your business’ forecasting capabilities. ERP builds up swathes of data that can then be used to predict future trends and behaviours.

Everything from purchase orders to supply forecasts to inventory records can be stored, analysed and presented. This helps your business identify future opportunities and eliminate recurring hurdles that might have gone unnoticed.

Having all your financial data at your fingertips is a great way to plan and make smart, evidence-based decisions. Keep this in mind and your business will certainly move forward.

 

Affecting change on the go

One problem for key decision makers can be how to monitor and affect change when they are out of office.

Never fear. Modern ERP solutions can be fully integrated with mobile devices to reduce response times and improve field productivity.

In the past, your insight into certain processes was limited to being in the office or factory floor. Now you can access critical information such as billing processes, work order and inventory in real time from your tablet or mobile.

What’s not to like? Get value from ERP by going mobile and optimising your business processes from anywhere.

 

Improved transparency

Lack of transparency has help businesses back in the past. After all, making informed decisions is difficult when information is across departments with little or no oversight.

But rapidly evolving technology, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile devices that are cloud-ready have increased transparency. Now decision makers have access to all the information they need. In turn, the business can move forward as they make real-time choices as decision-making is reduced to the palms of their hand.

Another advantage is found within the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module. This allows your purchase or enquiry history to be viewed by all relevant personnel. This also means that when one staff member is out of office and your business needs to move quickly on a deal, crucial information will be visible to everyone and the job can be easily picked up.

What’s not to like? Click here to find out more about Epicor CRM and get value from ERP.

 

Speed up processes

There are many ways that ERP software can boost productivity by speeding up workflows.

When dealing with transactions, for example, a user would traditionally spend time entering information into forms, documents or records. This would be created manually, stored in different places and would prove difficult to access at the same time.

With ERP software, users are now able to keep all of their information related to individual transactions in one place and follow a logical workflow when entering information for a sales lead, new vendor or job.

With a business process review, your company can ensure that the most efficient processes possible are in place before aligning them with your new ERP system to automate workflows and routine procedures.

Speeding up these processes results in less time on admin and more time adding value in different business areas. Do this and you’re bound to get value from ERP software.

 

Inventory management

Inventory is one of the main areas of business that ties up cashflow. If you’re not careful, excess stock can cause profits to fall as products expire or simply collect dust in the warehouse.

By the same token, a lack of stock can drive potential customers away. This happens when lead times spiral out of control while you wait for new items to arrive, shutting down production.

ERP can help by managing your inventory along with demand and repurposing or offloading any surpluses that might appear.

By keeping track of demand and acting accordingly through the analysis of data and automated processes, you can hold onto less stock while increasing production. And who can argue with that.

 

For more information on beginning your journey into Epicor ERP 10, whether you are upgrading your current system or migrating from another ERP provider, we are happy to help. Get in touch by clicking here.