Back to Basics: ERP for Accountants

Why Do Accountants Need an ERP?

Accountants will benefit from an ERP by using integrated data to streamline all of their accounting processes. ERPs will speed up all accounting and financial management processes, not only saving you time (and money) but also allowing you to make faster and better decisions about your business.

Often accountants will be the first group in your company that will push for an ERP system as they know the benefits of integration and the advantages of using a single system to manage all business functions. With an ERP they know that they can say goodbye to paper-based invoices and sales orders, multiple spreadsheets, and disparate accounting systems — improving accuracy and efficiency.

With all financials in a single database, accounting staff know they will no longer have to spend hours cross-referencing and re-entering information, rekeying numbers, or reconciling data manually. An ERP system lets your accounting staff be more productive, and have more time to focus on delivering critical reports and other key tasks, without delays and frustration.

Accounting Software — and More

An ERP system includes all of the key features of an accounting software package in one place — accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, and trial balances. It can handle all of the activities your accounting department needs to take care of, like billing, sales orders, purchase orders, the general ledger, timesheets, expenses, and electronic payments. ‍

Having all of your accounting and financial information in the same place will save your accounting department time, let them better manage critical accounting tasks, and do big jobs faster — like close out a month in almost half the time it used to take.

But an ERP will do more.

An ERP will allow your accounting department to create better, quicker, more accurate, more specific, and more timely financial reports.

ERPs connect your accounting department to all of the departments and divisions of your company, allowing important financial data to flow seamlessly throughout your organization, which will improve your accounting departments ability to produce detailed and accurate financial reporting — and help you better understand which business lines and projects are profitable.

Armed with the accurate information and reports that your accounting department can give you, you will be able to make faster and more accurate decisions that affect the operations of your company.

ERP Benefits for Accountants

1. Manage all of your accounting needs in a single system

An ERP system that it is a fully integrated allows you to run your entire operation, including your accounting and finance departments, from a single system.

Using one system saves you time by eliminating the need to cross-reference and re-enter the same data into multiple systems and spreadsheets. A fully integrated system increases the accuracy of your accounting and financial reports by eradicating upload errors, input errors, and potential timing errors. You will also save the money you are currently spending on maintaining and upgrading multiple systems.

Using a fully integrated ERP system also lets your accounting staff work from a single customizable dashboard that includes all the information they need. You will be able to manage and keep tabs on various projects, accounts, and functions from a single screen, and always have a real-time snapshot of the KPIs, and tasks that are important to you.

Another advantage of a fully integrated ERP system is the choice it gives you.

Love your current payroll system? An ERP system lets you choose to use external systems where they are advantageous as they can be easily integrated into your main system.

In this way, you can create a system that is totally tailored to how you work. Without an integrated system, there is no choice, and all processes have to be completed externally by disparate systems, eliminating the ability to create the perfect integrated accounting system for your team.

2. Increase productivity and improve insights into your business

Many of your accounting and financial tasks can be completely automated with an ERP.

An ERP will simplify accounts receivable and accounts payable, reduce your overhead, and improve cash management and cash flow issues. And instead of your staff spending almost half of their work hours on data entry, they will have more time and energy to focus on other tasks.

An ERP will not only increase your accounting team’s productivity — it will give you better insight into your company’s financials. Your accounting team will have time freed up from doing data entry to devote to more important tasks, such as creating detailed financial reports.

ERP technology gives your accounting department has easy access to data. Organizations that use separate systems for accounting and sales activities have to manage the data manually. But with an integrated ERP system, there is a fast and automatic transfer of data, ensuring your data is accurate and consistent.

Access to real-time data from across your organization allows your accounting team to track financials better than ever before. You will have greater visibility into your company’s finances, including giving you the information you need to assess which business lines and projects are profitable, and which need to be improved.

3. Accurate job costing

Job costing is one of the biggest ways your accounting and finance team adds value to your organization. Job costing is important internally to your accounting team to properly prepare income statements, but is also of major value to your organization and your bottom-line.

Precise job costing not only tells you how much each job you take on actually costs you, it also helps you identify where you can become more efficient and save on costs, which can help you improve profit margins, or can be savings you pass on to your customers in terms of lower prices.

A fully integrated ERP system lets you trace job costs throughout the production process and lets you gather information on costs such as the allocation of costs per employee wage rate/workcenter rate. Having this information at your fingertips lets you drill down on costs, so you always know your exact job costs — and can make quicker, and better informed decisions about how to make your business more efficient and how to save money.

ERP Module for Accountants

Genius ERP’s easy-to-use accounting module is in sync with all parts of your business and projects, eliminating the need to maintain parallel systems. Genius Accounting includes accounts receivable, accounts payable, general ledger, and banking management modules.‍

The system is user-friendly, flexible, and intuitive. Our implementation team, rich in accounting experience and understanding of your business needs, can train your front office quickly.

Genius Accounting features:

• Multi-currency exchange rate management and profit/loss calculation
• Milestone payments/billing & revenue recognition
• Reports, financial statements, and dashboards
• Unlimited data history access
• General ledger account code modification tool
• Budget management
• Payment batches and multiple criteria selection

Streamline your accounting processes today — get a free demo to see Genius ERP in action.