Undoubtedly, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is a perfect tool to pump up the productivity and operational efficiency of any organization. With the implementation of an ERP solution, businesses can easily bring a revolution of proficiency in routine work tasks. Furthermore, the finance and accounting departments need actionable insights in order to understand the performance of business. They need tools that can streamline processes to boost efficiency while controlling cost as well. Moreover, disconnected spreadsheets and manual processes have their own disadvantages. Modern ERP solutions efficiently overcome these disadvantages, enabling businesses to leverage digital transformation. However, with too many options available in the market, it is really daunting to choosing the right ERP software for business. To help you out, we are providing few tips that will help in making selection a bit easier for you.
Business Requirements – Implementation of ERP is a long term process that involves huge investment. It is always recommended that organizations should conduct comprehensive research before purchasing ERP solution. Before selecting an ERP, you should be clear about what exactly you want to achieve with ERP. It would be great if you use every resource available to make comprehensive list of requirements for your ERP. Solid consensus on must to have features will help you to clearly understand the requirements of your business. With this, you will get clear idea about capabilities and features which you want in the ERP solution. As ERP is used across separate departments including sales, HR, finances, support, etc., you need to discuss with every department about the issues which they are facing while performing their job.
Define Selection Criteria – Every organization has its own unique requirements. For example, if we talk of financial services then they have different set of compliances as compared to manufacturing regarding the storage of data. So, you need to be very specific about the selection criteria of ERP. Whether you need deployment on the cloud, on-premise or hybrid deployment option? Scalability is another parameter which you need to keep in mind while implementing ERP. ERP implementation is a costly affair and you need to have a clear vision about the scaling-up of the capabilities. Integration is a very important parameter. If you are using disparate systems then you need to bring everything in a single, centralized database to improve productivity. While selecting ERP make sure that your new system can seamlessly get integrated with existing ones. Mobility and customizations are some other parameters that every organization should look while deploying ERP solution.
Budget – One of the most critical aspects of ERP evaluation is to understand the total cost of ownership. You need to check whether applicable charges are one-time payment or ongoing recurring expenses. You need to make sure that whether your company can afford the same or not. Apart from this, there are several other expenses included such as upfront cost. In case of on-premise deployment option, additional expenses will be involved across hardware, infrastructure, maintenance, & IT support. Cloud-ERP solutions don’t need these additional expenses. At times, budget is considered as the real deal-breaker. So, you need to understand whether any hidden cost is involved or not.
Evaluate Financial Capabilities – With growing regulatory challenges, compliance risks and financial penalties, organizations are pity much concerned on how to cater to complex tax compliance requirements. Multi-company and multi-currency scenarios are further adding to the worries to organizations that conduct business globally. So, while selecting an ERP solution you need to evaluate its financial capabilities to understand whether it can meet your financial requirements. Moreover, organizations now look for ERP solutions that offer dynamic general ledger that can be adapted to changing business needs. You need to keep all these things in mind while selecting Financial Management Software.
Reporting & Analytics – Financial report writing and analytic tools are something which you don’t need to miss out. With built-in analytics, Financial ERP software enables you to analyze financial results in order to evaluate the performance of business. You need to analyze and drill-down to the transaction level to know what is happening across subsidiaries and other locations.
Final Thoughts
Selecting an ERP is certainly a very challenging task as it has a lifelong impact on your business. However, above mentioned points can help you a bit in selecting ERP solution.
Our Pick in the ERP segment – Microsoft Navision
Engineered to cater to mid-sized and large enterprises, Microsoft Dynamics NAV offers comprehensive functionality for finances, human resources, manufacturing, multiple and international sites, project management, sales and marketing, service management, supply chain management and business intelligence. Specifically designed for manufacturing and distribution sector, Dynamics NAV can also address complex needs of government, retail, and other industries. As a fully integrated ERP solution, NAV helps in bridging the gap between you and your collaborators while providing tight integration with applications from Microsoft or other vendors. Dynamics NAV can automate majority of transactions happening from CRM to Quoting, Ordering, producing, shipping and invoicing on the sales side while Purchasing, Receiving, Paying and inventory on the supply side.
Comes with comprehensive functionality, Dynamics NAV can be tailored to the different roles in the company while enabling rapid, efficient and cost-effective implementation, customization and maintenance. Dynamics NAV can be deployed on-premise or can also be deployed on private cloud. As a modular solution, Microsoft NAV enables organizations to start with what they look for at the initial stage and later scale-up the functionality. Modules in NAV are based on proven standards to ensure quick deployment and maintenance. Owing to its open architecture, NAV can easily map with the particular requirements of industry as well as the specific features of your company. Familiar interface with support for seamless integration with familiar productivity tools like Office, SharePoint, CRM, etc, NAV can be easily accepted by your employees.
Why Microsoft Navision?
Financial Management – As a multi-language, multi-currency business management solution, Dynamics NAV enables you to manage your finances in the Microsoft cloud or on your servers. With powerful reporting and analytical capabilities, NAV enables you to extract the most essential business data from the chart of accounts, budgets, cash flow accounts and cost types into financial reports. NAV comes with all the basic functionality that is necessary to set up company and posting to the general ledger. NAV also enables you to select account and easily compare current figures with historical ones and with your budgets.
Cash Management – NAV enables you to create and manage multiple bank accounts while transacting in multiple currencies. With NAV, you can track electronic payments and also recreate payment file whenever needed. You can also insert hyperlinks to online payment services to deliver an efficient way to pay an invoice online. NAV enables you to monitor the summary of outstanding bank information. You can also drill-down to see the detail in payment reconciliation.
Sales and Receivables – With NAV, you can set up multiple ship-to addresses to accommodate customers while also maintain customer table for post sales transactions. With Basic General Ledger, receivable is integrated and it can be facilitate receivables in multiple currencies for each customer. NAV enables you to manage sales quotes, blanket sales orders, and sales order processes while also helping in creation of sales return order to compensate customer for wrong or damaged items.
Inventory Management – NAV delivers real-time information about the inventory levels to decision-makers, enabling them to make more informed decisions. With NAV, they get real-time view of sales alongside ability to analyze inventory turnover. The decision makers can evaluate customers’ buying behavior to spot trends to make more informed business decisions with NAV. You can manage and track inventory using serial and lot numbers. NAV enables you to manually or automatically allocate serial or lot numbers. You can also manage inventory across multiple locations production plant, distribution centers, warehouses, show rooms, retail outlets and service cars with NAV.