ERP and Finance go together, as the former allows the latter to be optimised to a greater extent. The benefits of an ERP system, such as Microsoft 365 Business Central, are incredible for businesses, and especially the Finance department. The function of buying or selling something always has a cost attached, and therefore an area to report all those functions needs to exist. That’s before even reaching areas such as inventory levels, turnover, revenue and invoicing, it all comes back to Finance.
Here are a few of the ways an ERP system can help improve your Finance processes…
1. Consistency
ERP specialises in connecting every aspect of your business together. Whether it is Planning, Production, Sales, Technology, Storage, HR, Accounting or Access Control, every module is designed to do a specific job and is delivered through modules that can be added-on to a system.
Pre-ERP implementation, different departments within a business might have had their own financial data or documents, which often saw the same work duplicated. This can lead to inaccuracies and a lack of shared data across the organisation, causing problems at different levels. ERP changes all of that.
2. Automation
There’s no doubt about it, the automation ERP brings increases a business’ productivity. The two go hand in hand. By connecting and bringing business data together, accurate data flows autonomously, rather than relying on human input.
Through linking ERP and accounting, it’s easier to automate workflows that crossover. Data is fed into the business from many departments, before circulating and being utilised by the entire organisation. Many financial tasks can be automated, but real-time reporting allows the financial data to be seen by all instantly, making it reliably up-to-date – with a lower chance for errors to be made.
3. Productivity
The increase in a business’ productivity is reflected through this high level of automation. Time spent manually inputting data into multiple documents is now saved due to the automation, and the use of shared data throughout a business. The user is empowered by the data they receive, which in turn gives them the knowledge to make better informed business decisions, especially when it comes to tasks like monitoring income and expenditure to create in-depth analysis of financial forecasts.
When combined with the latest applications available, an ERP system can react to challenges and prove to be extremely flexible to the future. Social or economic changes, or a change in working practices as 2020 saw for many, can be adapted to and ease the pain of any working changes that might have to be implemented – all while maintaining a high productivity rate. Ultimately, the facts speak for themselves: ERP improves processes in 95% of the businesses that it is implemented within*.
4. Integration
When you’re working with an ERP implementation, it’s always recommended to get the Financial Management module implemented first. This allows the rest of the system to be built around solid financial foundations and makes it straightforward to expand outwards from.
During the first phase of initiating an ERP system, it’s all about understanding what your business requires from a prospective ERP system. We look at the existing date your business holds, within different departments and work about how your finances can be streamlined. While different businesses have different financial needs, the beauty of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the ability for every implementation to be bespoke to an individual company.
The Microsoft working element means that if you’re a user of Outlook or Teams, then, by choosing Microsoft 365 Business Central as your ERP system, it will feature integration within these other applications – making it straightforward to share and interact with data with your colleagues.
If you want to explore an ERP system for your business, get in touch with the ERP experts at Neuways, on hello@neuways.com or call us on 01283 753333 today.
