Part 2: ERP Benefits and Value of the Cloud
We are constantly monitoring what managers want to know as their companies consider moving from QuickBooks to ERP for accounting and financials. It’s almost an inevitable step as companies grow, add more transactions, add more production processes, develop more complex processes, expand their supply chains, and increase the number of customers and employees.
In my 35 years of experience in the manufacturing and IT worlds, I’ve guided managers as they review the opportunities that their success and growth have presented. They quickly realize that the bookkeeping and basic accounting software they launched their business on no longer meets their growing demands for visibility and scalability. The next step is to gain the strategic management capabilities of ERP for accounting and financials plus the operational ERP functionality that improves overall manufacturing processes.
This four-part blog series highlights the eight considerations managers need to embrace before moving from QuickBooks to manufacturing ERP, specifically for accounting and financials. Part 1 described the growth and business needs that trigger a move from QuickBooks to ERP for accounting and financials. This installment looks at ERP benefits and value of the cloud.
The remainder of the series will focus on:
Part 3: A Single Platform with Competitive Advantages
Part 4: ERP Analytics/Reporting and Finance Control
Read our Guide to ERP Accounting and Financials: Grow Your Manufacturing Business Beyond QuickBooks.
The Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financials
Manufacturers and distribution organizations gain significant functionality when they move from QuickBooks to ERP accounting and financial management. Among the main benefits, ERP delivers the means to:
- Control and monitor business processes
- Accelerate and simplify financial closes
- Automate the back office
- Report with confidence
ERP solutions deliver a single source of real-time intelligence that is fully integrated across the enterprise for better decision making and forecasting. Real-time data gives users insights into purchasing, production, inventory movement, and warehouse management. At the same time, an ERP solution accelerates transactions and improves cash flow. Real-time visibility generates better sales and inventory management while identifying process deficits.
Read our blog 6 Telltale Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks.
I’ve seen enterprises close faster and have more confidence in the accuracy of their financial closings and reports. This is driven by the real-time accounting metrics and compliant financial reporting features offered by ERP accounting and financials. Management is better equipped to forecast cash flow and make decisions based on accurate, up-to-date intelligence.
The Value of ERP in the Cloud
When organizations are ready to take the jump from bookkeeping software to manufacturing ERP for accounting and financials, they are faced with a choice of on-premise ERP or ERP in the cloud. Each option has its benefits. We recommend the cloud-based option for these reasons:
- Cost savings of a subscription model vs. significant up-front capital expenditure (CAPEX), as well as lower IT infrastructure costs
- Connectivity of accounting and financials with order processing, scheduling, production, and shipping in real-time
- Flexibility to use only the features needed and to deploy new features easily
- Scalability to accommodate growth and changes in demand
- A complete and connected view of plant floor production with end-to-end inventory traceability, quality control, finance, planning, and human resources with supply chain management
- Advanced analytics
- Access to mobile applications connecting work stations, plant floor equipment, the supply chain, suppliers, and customers
- Security managed by best-in-class providers
Read our blog Have you considered the advantages of cloud ERP?
Customer Story
Excellence Opto Inc., is a global lighting product manufacturer specializing in LED-based automotive lighting components and modules, traffic signal modules, and roadway and area lighting fixtures. The company is known for cost-efficient, reliable, and energy-efficient lighting solutions meeting the exacting requirements of ISO9001, TS16949, and ISO 14001 quality standards.
The company was limited by QuickBooks accounting software. It needed an end-to-end, manufacturing-focused ERP solution that would scale with the company’s growth and provide deeper financial and accounting functionality. With OptiProERP, it gained visibility and control into all operations at its assembly plant and warehouse distribution facility and improved real-time reporting.
It was definitely time to get rid of our manual and paper-based systems – they just weren’t working for us anymore. OptiProERP gave us the end-to-end manufacturing solution we needed.
Up Next
The third blog in our four-part series focuses on the competitive advantages of a single platform.
About the Author
Allan has more than 35 years of hands-on manufacturing operations and IT systems experience. Having served as the Vice President of IT with Husky Injection Molding Systems (a leading manufacturer of injection molding equipment), the President of Euroserve Ltd., (a manufacturer of construction fasteners) and the Manager of Materials and Logistics during his time with Engel North America, Allan understands the challenges that must be overcome to run a successful manufacturing operation.
A seasoned IT advisor and business process consultant, Allan has guided many hundreds of SMEs on how to select and successfully implement ERP software applications. Notably, he was the Vice President of Business Solutions with IT solutions provider Gibraltar Solutions Inc., and the CEO of ERP provider Jeeves North America.
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