Grow Your Business with Confidence. A Guide for Businesses Outgrowing Basic Accounting Software

Transcription

1 Grow Your Business with Confidence A Guide for Businesses Outgrowing Basic Accounting Software

2 Contents Introduction 5 Signs You re Ready for a New Accounting Solution The Signs Are Clear. Now What? Questions to Ask During the Evaluation Process Grow Without Growing Pains with FMT 3 pg 4 pg 5 pg 6 pg 9 pg Use this guide and supporting resources to: Identify the signs your business is ready for a new business management solution. Understand the questions you should ask during the evaluation process. Learn how FMT Consultants can help you grow your business with confidence. Grow Your Business with Confidence 2

3 Keep Your Business Going and Growing Whether you make widgets, sell services, or move merchandise, you depend on your people, and your people depend on the tools you give them to manage your key business processes. Have your employees expressed pain points with regards to your current accounting solutions? Is your business growing fast and reaching a point where the existing solution is starting to hinder your team to make smarter decisions? It is only natural that you need more complex and powerful accounting solutions as your business grows. What do other successful business owners do in order to move forward with agility? Perhaps, it is time for you to re-evaluate new business management solutions. It sounds scary, but there are great affordable options and resources for small to midsized businesses out there. There is no single right way and no single technology package that works for every business. By the time you finish reading this white paper, you will have a better idea of how to equip your team with a complete business management solution that takes advantage of the latest innovations, from cloud computing to mobility and social connectivity delivered without interrupting your workflow. Grow Your Business with Confidence 3

4 Grow Your Business with Confidence 5 Signs You re Ready for a Business Management System Is your team spending hours and hours trying to review inaccurate reports on their outdated accounting system when they should be analyzing information on those reports? Are the people in your office wasting too much time dealing with multiple systems that are disconnected and you aren t even sure about data security and people are following compliance regulations? If you find yourself saying yes to any of the questions above, it s time for you to re-evaluate your accounting system. 1. You can t scale operations to support business growth. If your current accounting system can t keep up with high demand and complex business processes, it s time to find a solution that can scale to support your growth. Your business processes will become more complex when you add product lines or expand to a new market. Then what about your accounting system? If your current system takes hours and days to process invoicing and month-end closing, you need better business processes that will save time. 2. You can t wrap your arms (or your head) around your business. You have no automated system or process workflows. You also know your system isn't as secure as it needs to be. The capabilities you need aren't something your basic accounting software can offer. Now that you have multiple users, it's become difficult to track all the changes made to entries. You don't have the insight into your business that you need. You should have control over critical functions like payments, purchasing, and inventory management with complete audit trails and enterprise-level security features. 3. You are reactive when you need to be proactive. Your current system gives you a report on sales performance from the last quarter and you make business decisions based on those results. What if you can get additional insights such as current activities and trends and move beyond the past reports? Wouldn t it be great if you can see which product gives you the highest margins and what kinds of customers have the highest retention rate? You need an accounting system that offers a business overview, so you can easily identify what drives your revenue and further expand your business. 4

5 Grow Your Business with Confidence 4. You can t support the new work environment. Your team is growing, they are out on the road and some are working from home. You know that the work environment is changing, you need to equip your people with the latest technology to keep them productive and connected with your system. Don t let your old technology hinder your team from working efficiently. 5. You can t meet customer expectations. You re using multiple systems to manage finance and operations. You re unable to manage contracts for product delivery, and it s a challenge to get a complete picture of business overview and customer journey. Accessing and maintaining data should be fast. You should have the insight you need without jumping from one system to another. If you find yourself not being able to meet customers and vendors expectations in a timely manner, it will be challenging beat competitors. The Signs Are Clear. What s Next? Evaluate your options If you agree with any one of the signs above, it s clear that you need to re-evaluate your accounting system. The problem is you don t know which Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or business management system is the best. When you start researching, keep in mind that what works well for your competitors may not be a good option for you since everyone has different business needs and processes. Before you begin your research process, determine what your basic and required capabilities are. Most solutions offer the following functionalities; financial management and reporting, supply chain management, basic level of project management, service, and customer relationship management (CRM). However, it s still a challenge to choose one option among many others after identifying required capabilities. This is when you should start considering other additional elements that can boost your performance such as analytic capabilities, user experience, integration, customer service of the solution provider, and so on. What are the questions you should ask during this stage? 5

6 Why companies adopt new business management solutions 50% Resolve order processing issues 54% Process integration 50% Hardware & software obsolescence 35% Reduce excess inventory 38% Resolve data duplication/errors Source: Nucleus Research: Microsoft Dynamics Enterprise Applications for SMBs. Questions to Ask During the Evaluation Process Here are 5 questions you can ask to push past the basics. 1. How easy is the system to learn and use? Some systems are so easy to use while others are difficult. Have you ever experienced calling customer service and spent 30 minutes just so you can navigate through the complicated system? Your team s time is valuable and it s essential to have a system that s easy to learn and use. Choose a solution that offers: A simple, intuitive user experience. Training can be costly and time-consuming. You don t want your people to spend hours and hours to figure out a simple function such as reporting and accessing data. Built-in productivity tools. You need a solution that integrates well with your calendar, , and business management software. Your team will appreciate when they can manage finances, supply chain, and operations, making workflows more efficient and simplified. Grow Your Business with Confidence

7 2. Does the solution support the new ways people want to work? When your business is growing, so does your team. You have people working from on the road, the airport, offsite client meetings, and at home. Users expect the system they use at work to be accessible from anywhere. Not just location, but people use various devices for work thanks to technology. Whether it s a desktop, tablet, or a smartphone, your team needs to have access to the system without any difficulties. Do your research and find out if the solution can support different devices and key applications during the evaluation period. 3. Does the vendor offer deployment options that fit my business? One of the key requirements you need to consider when migrating to a new business management solution is the IT model. Are you using an outdated system and looking to move to a cloud-based environment? Or are you already cloud-based and wish to maintain a cloud-based model? Or do you plan to invest in the infrastructure to have your new solution in-house? If the solution you re evaluating doesn t support the IT model you re looking for, you won t even be able to use the solution at all. Some solutions offer multiple options for businesses to choose from, cloud-based, onpremises, and hybrid deployments. Make sure you select a solution that can accommodate your business needs. For instance, on-premises deployment would be a better option if security is a big concern and you wish to have control of your data. If you wish to eliminate investment on expensive infrastructure for on-premises, a cloudbased solution may be a better option for your business. Make sure you consult with your IT department before you move forward with your decision. Grow Your Business with Confidence 7

8 4. What is the vendor s service model after the sale? Migrating to a new ERP or business management system is not a simple project. You may have a team of deployment experts in-house, but they don t understand the new solution as much as the solution-providing vendor. It s imperative for the vendor to provide a service to ensure the consistency and predictability of your business operations. Do they offer implementation assistance, system integration, or even ongoing support? Are they based in your local area? Is the support available 24 hours? In this ever changing modern market, leveraging the latest innovation helps you move forward. Does the vendor provide such innovative solutions? Do they have the industry knowledge to get your business ahead of the competition curve? Lastly, people often overlook this part; does the vendor s pricing fluctuate after the first year of deployment? Don t put your business at risk with high monthly payments after your first contract expires. We've hired and worked with lots of vendors and partners over the years and have never been happier than working with FMT Consultants. Nick Richtsmeier, Chief Operation Officer at Trilogy Financial 5. Does the vendor understand and focus on the needs of small and midsized businesses? Has the vendor helped other similar businesses achieve the results they were looking for? Request case studies to verify the vendor s experience and industry knowledge. Keep in mind that deploying a new business management system is more than just simplifying and automating processes. It can help you: Increase sales with fewer sales discounts Improve sales force efficacy and average order size Increase inventory turns while reducing stock-outs Reduce production costs So, do your research and find a vendor that can help you go beyond the new system deployment. Click here to visit FMT Consultants Grow Your Business with Confidence 8

9 Grow Your Business with Confidence Grow Without Growing Pains with FMT Dedicated to the success of your project, from analysis to user adoption testing, and activation, FMT Consultants ensures you re safeguarded against late delivery and budget creep. Ensuring that your needs are fully covered, and your project is managed effectively & efficiently, our Customer Care and Project Management Teams are made available to every project. This way, no matter what stage of the process we re in, you know exactly what s next and whom to call should something unexpected come up. If you think it's time for a new accounting system and would like to speak to an expert, give us a call today. Call Why business move to the cloud 64% Lets us experiment more easily and at low cost 61% Enables deeper collaboration with business partners 60% Frees up IT resources to work on more strategic things 57% Is a source of competitive advantage for early adopters Source: SMB Business in the Cloud How the Cloud Looks from the Top: Achieving Competitive Advantage in the Age of Cloud Computing. A Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Report.

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