Are QuickBooks Workarounds Putting Your Business at Risk?

As a software product built on delivering a simple accounting-focused solution for small businesses, QuickBooks does laudable work. But start adding other processes—sales tax, inventory management, warehouse, and the like, and the solution no longer delivers answers. Just questions, spreadsheets, and workarounds.

Following our last blogs on the annoyances that come with a QuickBooks file size limit that holds your business back and the challenges that come from a desktop software in a remote world, we would today like to turn our attention to another challenge—or should we say commonality—of using QuickBooks: The use of workarounds.

Shadow IT and the Necessity of Workarounds in QuickBooks

As discussed in a recent article on the risks of Shadow IT, “Shadow IT is any IT service that is accessed without the oversight of company information technology teams. It can be in the form of spending approved by business departments or it can be accessed by individual employees without the knowledge of their supervisors.”

Why Employees Use Shadow IT

These services are often used either as a workaround, a simplification, or an ad hoc integration, and any way that you look at it, they present risks to both security and visibility ranging from unforeseen audits and penalties to risk of data loss, breaches, and more. Employees use shadow IT to overcome some kind of limitation or annoyance that comes from using a software product. Though not limited to QuickBooks, the product’s limitations are often a common reason that employees use it.

If it sounds scary, unvetted technology is one of the most common parts of QuickBooks. Everything from Excel Macros to side products might be considered shadow IT.

Another Tradeoff for QuickBooks Users

Yes, they may help you work around the limitations set in QuickBooks, but the problem comes in the lack of vetting from IT, the unnecessary permissions or access given to the workaround, or vulnerabilities in these workarounds that leave blind spots and openings for hackers.

Pair this with a lack of good user permission control, and one poorly vetted application could start running rampant through your storage, leaving you high and dry.

This is bad enough, but remember, if you’ve been paying attention to our series, you know that there’s a difference between business as usual and the current environment where security and product ability is already stretched thin.

Shadow IT and the Demonstrated Need for New Technology

That said, the use of shadow IT does provide one fringe ‘benefit’. It helps you understand how your employees work, demonstrates that your current software isn’t standing up to its promises, and points to the necessities that will be needed in any future solution.  If your goal is to eliminate the need for shadow IT, a new solution can take you there.

Better yet, with many new solutions delivering a marketplace-based source for vetted and easy to set up applications, it’s much easier to overcome the dangers of shadow IT.

For example, the Acumatica Marketplace gives users an easy way to find the right add-ons or integrations for the specific needs of the business, taking the shadow out of shadow IT.

Secure, Easy to Use and Configured for You: Get to Know Acumatica

Growing businesses need to handle growing challenges—and QuickBooks is rarely built to handle these. Built on modularity and easy customization, Acumatica helps you get what your employees want and need.

Acumatica delivers a full-featured accounting suite that addresses the most complex requirements for companies of all sizes. Plus, it integrates with Project Accounting, Customer Resource Management (CRM), Manufacturing Management, and other product suites offered by Acumatica.

We invite you to learn more about your journey from entry level to the cloud by reading Seven Signs You Need ERP Software5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management, and How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution. Read to learn even more? Contact us for a free consultation.

How True Cloud Technologies Help Distributors Stay Future-Proof

“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” One of the many famous Yogi-isms, it’s one of the most fitting phrases in 2020. This year has proven that things can change in an instant, and it’s likely your distribution business has had to change with it. Success is built on adaptability, and adaptability requires action.

Being Future-Proof is All about Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

Now, why does it seem that some companies are always in the right place at the right time? How do some distribution firms always seem to know when to place an order for a product that became scarce seemingly overnight?

It’s not luck; fortune favors the prepared. But predicting—and preparing for—the future is easier said than done for many firms, especially those who can’t access information quickly or efficiently.

Knowing this, there are ways to make your own luck, turn data into decisions, and stay ahead of the trends, but without the right tools, it’s probably not happening. Many distributors turn to ERP for the same reason they store products in warehouses and not apartments—ERP delivers room to grow, provides an easier way to organize a business, and ultimately helps companies stay future-proof.

You Can’t Future-Proof Your Business If You’re Constantly Stuck in the Past

The problem with this is this: Some ERP solutions are stuck in the past. Legacy ERP—software introduced before the internet and designed to run on-premises—is just that. Companies move to the cloud for consistent advancement and improved automation, delivering the access, information, integration, and connectivity they need to make decisions.

Fake Cloud: Legacy with a Layer of Cloud Access

But there’s an operator in this statement—one that many companies looking at ERP overlook: the word “true.” True cloud solutions deliver integration. True cloud solutions deliver automation. True cloud solutions are future-proof, and true cloud solutions provide real-time visibility into sales, order management, inventory, purchasing, production and services. But what does that mean?

Put simply? How it was built.

Legacy software is built to work on-premises and deliver the functionality needed by a business in the 2000s. Fake cloud is just a repurposed version of legacy software. If you’re in the market for distribution ERP software, then recognizing the issues of choosing a legacy application is the first step.

These issues include—but are not limited to—needing specialized software to access your legacy ERP system (causing limited availability), requiring the assistance of a trained programmer due to the lack of user interface personalization, and difficulty in integrating with third-party applications because of proprietary integration tools. These, and more, increase your ownership costs and hinder your scalability.

True Cloud: Built in the Cloud, Built for the Future-Ready Business

True cloud was built with the modern business in mind, delivering mobility, automation, and integration needed to make smarter decisions. In fact, it was built with tomorrow’s business in mind, ready to deliver information that can help your business stay ahead of the trends and competition.

But how can you tell the difference? A recent Acumatica whitepaper discussed this exact concern that businesses have, noting that true cloud solutions need to deliver the following for distributors:

  • Full functionality and reporting offered on common mobile devices as well as on the desktop.
  • Full integration of spreadsheets, data services, apps, and equipment.
  • Software that was built using modern, commonly available tools and standards.
  • The ability to pay by resource usage, not by the user.
  • Industry-standard security.
  • Deployment options.
  • Easy upgrades.

If you’re in the market for an ERP product and any of the preceding characteristics are missing, you might want to look at the company’s history and ask whether they made progress into the modern age of business management software. Want to learn even more? The entire whitepaper explores even more business benefits of using the cloud and discusses additional risks of using fake cloud.

Acumatica and CCS: True Cloud Partners for Distribution Firms

If you’re looking for a flexible and powerful solution that doesn’t hinder your initiatives, it’s time to get rolling with Acumatica. Built in the cloud to deliver the adaptable, feature rich, and integrated enterprise resource planning software that streamlines your processes and facilitates your decisions, this solution is ready for the needs of distribution firms.

Get to know more about how this product has helped distributors like you by reading these case studies, reading 7 irresistible qualities of cloud ERP, and contacting leading Acumatica Partner CCS Technology for a consultation.

Never Let a QuickBooks File Size Hold You Back: Grow with Confidence in the Cloud

Running a growing business is hard. Despite the temporary hiccup caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it’s likely that over the past decade, you’ve seen your business take massive strides.

However, it’s likely that over the past few months, you’ve come to a realization: even if your people have valiantly adapted to the changes, even if you were able to adapt your processes and workflows to handle the new work-from home landscape, everything you’ve done to retool your company has been held back by your current business management product.

Growth Doesn’t Require Growing Pains

This is a common occurrence for growing businesses—buy a product to start out, use it for years, grow to love it, and ultimately grow beyond it. Of course, this presents a problem: if employees have gotten accustomed to a product, they’re going to be resistant to change—even if they know the product is not built for the future (or the present).

Call it comfort, call it embracing the status quo, but the reality is, it’s institutionalization. Those weird kinks in the system and the necessary workarounds are just part of the day.

The hassles your IT team had to deal with last month in order to get your employees remote access? Just one of the tradeoffs you needed to make to keep costs low, right?

After discussing the challenges and concerns businesses have had trying to get QuickBooks to work with a remote workforce, we would today like to turn our attention to another common—yet well-known—challenge: File Size Limits.

Are QuickBooks File Size Limitations Slowing You Down?

QuickBooks was built for the small business, delivering the processing power to match. This isn’t meant to be a knock on the product, millions of companies use the product and nearly as many love it. But nice words don’t increase capacity. A gallon is a gallon, a gigabyte is a gigabyte.

QuickBooks’ performance decreases as the size of the company file increases. Though there are no actual limits on the size of your company data file, performance may be hindered if your network is not capable of handling large data files.

Here’s a quick if/then scenario: If increasing file size means decreased performance, and performance is hindered if your network is not capable of handling large data files, then the worst possible scenario is… Having a larger-than-recommended file size and adding extra steps to access the software.

Imagine, one day, the government ‘strongly encourages’ employees to work from home to stop the spread of some kind of pandemic. We can only assume that something that’s already slow at the office is going to be unbearable when you nave to run it through additional steps to access and upload a file. Sound familiar? Because the likely situation is that you’re living in this environment now.

Learn more in 6 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks.

Built to Scale, Built for Growth, Built to Process Effectively

While QuickBooks is built with a soft cap on the file size—a cap you start to feel with each passing day—true cloud solutions are built to grow with the companies that use it.

Built on a modular architecture and relying on some of the largest, most powerful data centers available, cloud ERP providers are able to deliver for you no matter the size. Imagine doubling in size tomorrow. Not a problem in the cloud.

One such provider, Acumatica, delivers a full-featured accounting suite that addresses the most complex requirements for companies of all sizes. Plus, it integrates with Project Accounting, Customer Resource Management (CRM), Manufacturing Management, and other product suites offered by Acumatica.

Pair this with buyer-friendly pricing and easy integration, and this solution can handle your needs without causing undue stress on your pocketbook. We invite you to learn more about your journey from entry level to the cloud by reading Seven Signs You Need ERP Software, 5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management, and How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution. Read to learn even more? Contact us for a free consultation.

How Best-in-Class Functionality Helps Distributors Get What They Want (and Need)

As the song goes, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you might find you get what you need.” Written and released in 1969, these lyrics have become some of the most iconic in rock music. Notably, for the better part of the history of its history, the lyrics also represented the business management software buying process.

Time to Turn off the ERP Oldies

As little as a decade ago, distribution firms were forced into a product that, despite being necessary, wasn’t exactly what users wanted to work with. From the warehouses to the board room, products did what companies needed them to do.

Yes, the occasional hiccup popped up; yes, employees developed a series of workarounds; yes, many end users got no satisfaction from using the product—but it was better than nothing.

Just like the music world is no longer limited to a couple radio stations playing what executives want you to hear, ERP is no longer an inflexible, disparate, and vendor-driven product.

Today’s companies looking at ERP can get what they want—and what they need. Thanks to best-in-class functionality that’s built to integrate, we are quickly pushing towards ERP’s fourth era, according to Gartner. This era, called Enterprise Business Capabilities, coincides with what Gartner is describing as the Future of Applications.

How ERP’s Fourth Era Delivers Satisfaction for Distributors

For distribution firms, this means users get a connected experience no matter what solution or device they need to use. Want to connect your ERP with the CRM, EDI, inventory management, or logistics product of your choice? Simple—thanks to the cloud and modern APIs, integration no longer requires you to jump through hoops or copy and paste data to satisfy the requirements of your product.

Applications are now user-centric, and modern ERP vendors have changed the way they operate to deliver.

But buyer beware: Many companies who specialize in playing the ERP oldies are still around, making promises that they’ve changed. These fake cloud products deliver neither the functionality or flexibility you need to operate, and makes selecting and implementing a new ERP system a challenge—who’s telling the truth?

Integration in Modern ERP: Get What You Want and Need

If you’re in the market for an ERP product at your distribution firm, it pays to be vigilant and inquisitive. How does a vendor deliver integration? How easy is it to configure and set up? Is there an extra layer you need to work with?

Modern businesses function in a landscape where consumers expect fast, efficient service and instant gratification. Competition within every industry is high, and customer loyalty increasingly hard to earn. Modern ERP delivers integration through open APIs—because it needs to adapt to the speed of modern business.

In the past, this change came at a snail’s pace, and any time an update happened, companies were left scrambling to fix broken integrations. But today? It’s all about the open API.

Open APIs use a universal language allowing unparalleled access to multiple software services and data. The data and information silos of both the past and the present no longer exist, and developer workloads are significantly decreased.

In this, users see enhanced efficiency, streamlined data, easy collaboration with customers, partners, and third-party applications and, of course, streamlined integrations.

Modern ERP: It’s Time to Get Rolling

Without the right tools, distribution companies simply can’t compete. If you’re looking for a solution that works for your business, conforms to your processes, and empowers your users, look no further than Acumatica.

Built in the cloud to deliver the adaptable, feature rich, and integrated enterprise resource planning software that streamlines your processes and facilitates your decisions, this solution is ready for the needs of distribution firms. If you’re looking for a flexible and powerful solution that doesn’t hinder you, it’s time to get rolling with Acumatica.

Get to know more about how this product has helped distributors like you by reading these case studies, reading 7 irresistible qualities of cloud ERP, and contacting leading Acumatica Partner CCS Technology for a consultation.

Additional Distribution Resources

Recommendations for Selecting a Distribution ERP Solution

Digital Transform in the Distribution Industry and How Cloud ERP Can Help

Benefits of ERP Software for Distribution Business Management

The Hassles of Using Desktop Software in a Socially Distanced Business

Time flies when you’re working from home. After four weeks, it’s likely you’ve settled into the work from home mentality and got your home office set up the way you like. But even though you’re ready to work, what about your software? For many small, medium, or otherwise growing businesses using QuickBooks, the answer is… “well… kind of.”

The Pitfalls of Using QuickBooks Remote Access

It might have taken a week or two, it might be a bit finnicky to run, you might not have complete access to the integrated applications you need, and it might be a bit slower than normal. “Oh well,” you may think to yourself, “it was just a few hoops to jump through, but at least I’m safe from the virus and can finally sit down to work.”

A healthy portion of businesses chose to take the traditional desktop-only route—because “when would we ever need to access this from outside the office?” This left many businesses scrambling for remote access tools when the stay at home orders came through.

“Necessary” Tradeoffs

The question is, why? You could have opted to pay for hosting, you could have chosen QuickBooks Online, but up until a month ago, you didn’t need to. Hosting seemed like an unnecessary cost, and many users felt that there are too many shortcomings in QBO to consider it viable.

Somewhere during your decision, there was a tradeoff that had to be made, and you took the one that was the best for your business. But why should you have to make a tradeoff in the first place?

The problem with using QuickBooks in today’s business is baked into the product category—desktop software. It was built to run on a desktop. It could be installed in hours with minimal IT staff intervention. It does what it’s supposed to—when it’s not put under stress.

However, just like the fastest, most powerful PC processor couldn’t run dozens of computers at the same time, the term ‘desktop accounting software’ means that anything beyond the basics is considered ‘stress’ on the system. Whether it’s growth, complexity, or additional access needs, when desktop software is pushed to or past its limits, it falters.

Unchained from the Desktop, Comfort in the Cloud

It doesn’t have to be like this. As a growing company using QuickBooks, you might be finding that it is showing its limitations, especially now that you’re pushing the limits of the product even further.

Some software products are built in the cloud, others are cloud ready. Desktop-based products like QuickBooks are neither. Even “Enterprise Edition” only goes so far, and you’re likely out of luck if you want anything beyond basic accounting.

Even if you can access QuickBooks Enterprise over the Internet, Intuit will admit the product is not optimized for full cloud functionality. A lack of access to cloud data limits mobility and is thus less convenient than having a cloud-based system.

Learn more in 6 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks.

Acumatica: The Ideal Option for Companies Outgrowing QuickBooks

QuickBooks by Intuit offers users a good starter accounting package at a good price. However, it is designed to handle basic accounting only. To manage business processes outside of financials requires an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, which can handle accounting and financial management needs along with other business requirements, such as manufacturing, distribution, and much more.

Here are just a few ways Acumatica differs:

  • True cloud: Acumatica works on premises or in the cloud without additional equipment or software. QuickBooks Enterprise can be accessed over the internet, but even Intuit acknowledges that QuickBooks has not been optimized to be a true cloud product.
  • Full function ERP: Acumatica offers your organization a complete ERP and CRM solution. While QuickBooks Enterprise contains some of these elements, it is ultimately an accounting solution and not a full function ERP solution.
  • Scale as you grow: Acumatica allows you to scale as your company grows and can accommodate multiple companies and multiple currencies. QuickBooks Enterprise limits you to a maximum of 30 users and handles multiple currencies but not multiple companies.
  • TCO: Because both products serve different purposes, it would be difficult to say which one has the best total cost of ownership. We recommend, however, that you apply due diligence when selecting a replacement product for QuickBooks to ensure you get a product that can continue to grow with your company for several years.

We have worked closely with many senior IT leaders on assessing the suitability of cloud ERP for their organizations. If you want to learn more about Acumatica cloud ERP and how it could help your business, let’s talk. Contact us for a free consultation and demo.

Additional Acumatica Resources

Acumatica Cloud ERP: Distribution Case Studies

Meeting the ASC 606 Compliance Deadline with Acumatica Deferred Revenue Accounting

Why Acumatica Outpaced NetSuite on the Most Recent G2 Survey

Getting More from ERP: New Gartner Report Predicts Push Toward Enterprise Business Capabilities

For a product companies historically only replaced once a decade, ERP has sure changed a lot in the past few years. The new class of ERP leaders bears little resemblance with the power players of the aughties (2000s). As little as a decade ago, terms like flexible, customer-first, and easily configured would be the last things you would use to describe the rigid, monolithic platforms that existed back then.

But if you believe Gartner (and you should), you should be on the lookout for another major shift. Fundamental changes are occurring in the way people acquire new capabilities from applications, and Cloud ERP development cycles offer much faster innovation adoption, which enables delivery of greater business value. What will this mean for end users and decision makers? Even more connectivity, for starters.

The New Era of ERP: Enterprise Business Capabilities

No longer are companies implementing on-site and maintaining the integrations by themselves. They’re adopting an “ERP as a service” philosophy and becoming much more open to the idea of acquiring capabilities rather than entire applications.

The Move to Enterprise Business Capabilities

Even the past five years have shown incredible innovation and transformation in the ERP space as companies making these solutions have entered an arms race to stay ahead of each other. This era of ERP, referred to by Gartner as “enterprise business capabilities” is one in which this software enables companies—at least those who know what to look for.

But what should you look for? A recent Gartner Report asked just that, noting:

“The changing nature of ERP provides unprecedented opportunities for transformation and improvements in efficiency. Gains will only be realized if CIOs are prepared with appropriate expectations, sourcing strategies, technologies and skills.”

An Evolving Definition of ERP Platform

In the previous era of ERP, the thought of an ERP platform meant ‘a platform that covered everything.’ This evolved to the concept of postmodern ERP in the late 2010s and as we enter 2020, ERP will be used to connect an interoperable set of services designed to deliver business processes through workflows.

According to Gartner, “Organizations will shift away from self-maintenance of point-to-point integration toward adopting platform as a service (PaaS) and integration platform as a service (iPaaS). This will allow them to deliver standardized administrative and operational business capabilities through an ERP platform.”

Three Characteristics of an ERP Platform

According to Gartner, these ERP-delivered platforms will have certain characteristics:

  • Platform technologies — such as low-code development and process automation — to support extension of and integration to the core ERP and/or other enterprise applications.
  • A comprehensive system that supports low-code/no-code development, simplified integration and process automation.
  • Integration to multiple applications running on multiple platforms in the cloud, delivered by multiple vendors. Integration capabilities will include assembly and orchestration more than they have in the past.

New Acquisition Strategies

Organizations will change the way they acquire applications. Some applications will still be purchased as they have been historically. However, organizations will also begin to construct new capabilities through various means: either from existing packaged application capabilities, or by acquiring them as services (or through a combination of each method).

Gartner Report: Unprecedented Changes in ERP Enable Transformation

If you’re looking to make the most of your ERP decision in the fourth generation of ERP, we invite you to read the entire report from Gartner. The entire report, 2020 ERP Predicts: Unprecedented Changes in ERP Enable Transformation, delivers the in-depth analysis and insight that business leaders need to make an informed decision in this new era. Written by leaders at Gartner including Mike Guay, Duy Nguyen, Denis Torii, Paul Schenck, and Tim Faith, these experts discuss:

  • What to expect from the “fourth era of ERP.”
  • How to use enterprise business capabilities (EBC) to your advantage.
  • Which surprising decision the top four ERP vendors will make by 2025.
  • What you really need to know about emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
  • Four things your CIO must do to ensure your ERP continues to deliver value.

Normally available only to Gartner clients, this informative new report is available for free, courtesy of Acumatica. Click here to learn more.

Additional ERP Resources

ERP Evaluation Checklist: 5 Important Things to Consider

Acumatica Cloud ERP: Distribution Case Studies

Why Growing Companies Need ERP Software

ERP Evaluation Checklist: 5 Important Things to Consider

What kind of ERP solution should you get for your business? Or, if you already own ERP software, the question may be more along the lines of “How should I upgrade my ERP?” To help you in your decision making process, Acumatica has devised a useful ERP evaluation checklist. We highly recommend it. If nothing else, you will find it thought-provoking as you assess your business management software options.

The checklist suggests looking at ERP from five separate angles:

  1. Productivity, i.e. how an ERP solution can make you and your staff more productive
  2. Functionality, i.e. what the solution actually does regarding daily accounting and business management functions and beyond
  3. Technology, i.e. how the product leverages technology in terms of usability, customizability and maintainability
  4. Value, i.e. how the product maximizes features and functions versus cost for the usable lifetime of the product
  5. Risk, i.e. how the product minimizes risk and facilitate security

Each of these angles translates into a detailed focus area on the checklist. Under productivity, for instance, the checklist contains nine questions. They touch on subjects like how easy the solution is to learn and whether it offers Wikis. Here are a few highlights.

Productivity

The checklist asks if the solution provides true universal availability. Is there access to the ERP system from any device, anytime? Does it enable employees to work from home, or on late/weekend shifts out of the office. Can personnel in the field use it on mobile devices? These have been good questions for some time now, especially given how limited certain legacy ERP solutions can be when it comes to mobility and universal availability. However, in the current moment, when virtually every American is working from home, it’s absolutely essential.

Functionality

The Functionality section of the checklist raises the issue of multi-entity accounting. This won’t be a big issue for some businesses. However, if you operate more than one corporate entity, multi-entity financial management and reporting functionality can be big time-savers. The checklist asks if a proposed ERP solution can support multi-company, multi-warehouse and international companies. It probes whether the solution can deal with financial consolidation between multiple entities, intercompany eliminations and reconciliations. These are all time-consuming and error-prone workflows if they have to be done by hand, toggling between separate accounting systems.

Technology

Business managers who evaluate ERP options may relegate the technology questions to the IT department. This is sensible, up to a point, but it’s wise to  understand as much as possible about the technology you’re buying. The checklist poses questions that are certainly relatable to a non-technologist. For instance, it asks if all functionality of an ERP solution is accessible through the Internet. This is natural for a cloud ERP like Acumatica, but it is not guaranteed by every ERP vendor. If a solution requires a separate software installation on the user’s device, that’s a reason to be circumspect about adopting it. That software will be something to maintain for all time.

These are just a few of the interesting details contained in the checklist. If you’re interested, we can walk you through the checklist and address the inevitable questions that arise. That’s the whole point of the checklist, in any case. It’s meant to make everyone smarter about their ERP choices. We can help fill in the blanks and point out where certain features and functions could benefit your unique business situation. Contact us to learn more or see a demo of Acumatica.

Additional ERP Evaluation Resources

Compare the Top 14 Cloud ERP Solutions

6 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks

Why Growing Companies Need ERP Software

Acumatica Cloud ERP: Distribution Case Studies

As an Acumatica partner, we have worked with many clients on the implementation of Acumatica Distribution Management Software. It’s a cloud-native ERP solution purpose-built for companies in the distribution business. The software helps companies manage supply chain and logistics activities, including inventory and warehouse management, procurement and order management.

Clients can add modules for Requisition Management, Purchase Order Management and Advanced Financials. They can also integrate fully with Acumatica Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Field Service, Manufacturing, Finance and Accounting and Project Accounting.

International Pipe Gains CRM, Boosts Productivity with Acumatica

Acumatica has racked up an impressive portfolio of customer success stories for its Distribution Management Software. For example, a pipe and supply business found the software’s ability to manage distribution data to be helpful in running the company. As their Chief Strategy Officer put it, “Acumatica allows my focus to be more on the business rather than wondering where I go to find the information I need. Knowledge is power and the quicker you can get to the knowledge, the better off you are.”

Key Results: 

  • Saved hours and greatly increased productivity with easy-to-use software
  • Gained sales lead tracking and CRM
  • Reduced time to close monthly books from 15 days to 3
  • Achieved visibility throughout three companies and 15 pipe yards
  • Built custom dashboards and reporting functionality to make better data-driven decisions
  • Replaced manual Excel spreadsheets, saving time

View the full case study here.

Rapid Field Service Growth Demands Flexible, Affordable ERP

An IT Manager at an oilfield services company echoed this sentiment, saying, “Acumatica allows us to concentrate on the business itself while not worrying about the software. All the data goes into one database, so it’s one version of truth.”

Key Results:

  • Gained a high-value, affordable foundation that can handle rapid growth
  • Gained transparency into operations, finance and inventory
  • Streamlined operations and processes
  • Avoided $175,000 in user-fee costs and about $250,000 in customization charges
  • Acquired foundation to scale operations including field services

View the full case study here.

Superprem Industries Moves to the Cloud to Gain Insights and Empower Employees

Other business managers praised Acumatica Distribution Management Software for its usability. A Chief Business Development Officer at a furniture and fixtures business remarked, “I am constantly amazed with how Acumatica seems to just ‘work.’ Anything we seem to imagine the system could do, we’ve been able to make happen without the assistance of external modifications.”

Key Results: 

  • Gained deeper insight into warehouse distribution operations
  • Improved inventory tracking and invoicing
  • Saved hours by streamlining and automating accounting tasks
  • Provided fast mobile access to financial data
  • Improved and streamlined company-wide communication

View the full case study here.

Indonesia’s OneMed Gains Affordable Foundation for Rapid Growth

Users also value the solution’s efficiency. According to a Co-Owner & Development Manager at a healthcare equipment company, “Acumatica will speed up our business process and make us more efficient, benefiting our business as well as the clients we serve.”

Key Results:

  • Gained an affordable system for rapid growth with unlimited user licenses
  • Eliminated computer crash delays that hindered staff productivity
  • Recouped days wasted waiting for financial reports
  • Collected crucial information previously uncaptured
  • Saved money by not outsourcing report creation
  • Achieved peace of mind by not worrying about system crashes

View the full case study here.

Fast Growing Global Beauty Care Unleashes Growth with Acumatica ERP

Other customers liked Acumatica’s licensing model. A Director of Operations & IT at a beauty supply business commented. “Almost every other ERP software charges monthly per user, which inevitably has executives trying to limit how many people really need simultaneous access. Acumatica’s novel way of charging based on transactions is well-suited for future growth.”

Key Results

  • Process data faster with fewer workarounds and errors
  • Gained a real-time financial view of the entire operation
  • Revolutionized the way they paid factories, eliminated potential invoicing errors
  • Avoided additional headcount needed with increased transactions
  • Saved money and avoided expensive per-user licensing enabling more users to access the system
  • Achieved easier to access data through use of generic inquiries and dashboards
  • Increased productivity so the Director of Operations could grow sales rather than worry about IT

View the full case study here.

Learn More About Distribution Management

These are just a few examples of customers expressing their success stories with Acumatica Distribution Management software. If you think your company could follow this path to operational improvements using Acumatica for distribution, contact us for a free consultation and product demo.

Additional Distribution Resources

Optimize Your Quote-to-Cash Process and Improve Customer Service

Top Reasons for Installing a Warehouse Management System (WMS)

5 Reasons Distributors Need ERP Software

Why Every IT Executive Needs Cloud ERP Software

If you’re an IT lead for a business, should you want cloud ERP software? Setting any knee-jerk “love-the-cloud” vs. “hate-the-cloud” responses, the question is worth some discussion. In our view, every IT executive needs cloud ERP. The way you look at it may depend on how you envision your role in the business.

What we mean by “Cloud ERP”

First, let’s define what we mean by cloud ERP. In this article, the concept of cloud ERP refers to full-featured enterprise resource planning software, hosted in the cloud, with a complete range of business operations and financial functionality. It is not “ERP light.” Cloud ERP also means cloud-native software, built from the start to work in the cloud. Legacy ERP solutions that get ported the cloud have a number of innate difficulties that affect how well they can support the C-level IT exec’s mission.

Bear in mind, also, that cloud ERP might easily be part of a hybrid cloud strategy. It’s not all or nothing. Many companies are taking this approach. They’re adding cloud ERP functionality incrementally, phasing in new features while methodically phasing out on-premises systems as time and requirements permit.

What is your job?

This is not a trick question. The issue of whether you need cloud ERP will depend on your role, especially as it seen by senior management. If your job is to run a data center and support desktop machines, then cloud ERP might seem like an abstract concept or even a threat to your job security. If it isn’t hosted on-premises, what will you do all day?

However, if your job is to deploy technology for maximum business impact, then it shouldn’t matter where ERP is hosted. In that case, you will find a lot to like with cloud ERP. Cloud ERP enables you to get the most out of ERP without extensive IT support required. It takes many management and support hassles off your plate while providing a more flexible and quickly adaptable business management solution.

Plus, if your job involves managing IT as a cost center, cloud ERP can be transformative. There is a little to no Capital Expenditure (CapEx) with cloud ERP. As legacy ERP comes out of the data center or co-lo facility, you put those racks to new uses or stop using them altogether.

Reducing pain

Where does it hurt? Being an IT lead is a high-stress job. Cloud ERP can be a pain reliever, eliminating the difficulties that arise with disparate business systems, e.g. unsupported technology, proprietary application integration interferences, rigid architectures and poor analytics.

Acumatica cloud ERP, for example, is relatively easy to customize with standard development tools like Microsoft .NET and C#. It can integrate with other software products using standards-based APIs and Acumatica’s web services. Cloud-native ERP solutions like Acumatica also make it simple to deploy their full functionality to mobile devices and responsive webpages.

Cloud ERP then provides a streamlined path to sophisticated, organization-wide data analytics. If your job description includes helping the company make more strategic use of its data, cloud ERP is a great resource. The cloud makes it possible to ingest and store large volumes of data from multiple sources and deliver high-performing data visualization and reporting. You can give the people in your organization access to the data and tools they need to develop deep insights.

We have worked closely with many senior IT leaders on assessing the suitability of cloud ERP for their organizations. If you want to learn more about Acumatica cloud ERP and how it could help your business, let’s talk. Contact us for a free consultation and demo.

Additional ERP Resources

6 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown QuickBooks

How ERP Software Can Save Your Business Money

How ERP Software Solves Your Business’s Top Financial Management Challenges

Acumatica 2020 R1 New Features

Acumatica 2020 R1 was introduced in Las Vegas on January 28, 2020. A few changes are being made to the Cloud ERP system, with several additions that will increase functionality. Acumatica is clearly committed to advancing technology and expanding the user experience. This latest semi-annual release of the software was discussed in keynotes and breakout sessions at the Acumatica Summit 2020. Some of the most important features of the new version were revealed, including:

Integration of Omnichannel Commerce with BigCommerce

BigCommerce integration provides omnichannel sales support, so organizations can integrate sales, delivery and customer service. This added functionality expands how a company can interact with customers and supports B2B and B2C models.

Integration with Adobe Document Cloud

Acumatica now works with Adobe Sign, so businesses can capitalize on cloud-based e-signatures. Documents can be sent, signed and tracked using a browser or mobile device. This new feature enables more streamlined document management and contract management.

Usability Improvements

Users can now create expense reports with a mobile camera. Additional mobile functionality includes recording travel and break time on service calls and attaching captured images to data records. A quick add button allows faster access to data entry screens. Dashboard caching and pivot table percentage calculations, along with distinct counts, have been added to simplify reporting,

Updated Modules

In addition to BigCommerce integration, Acumatica Payroll has been improved to minimize overhead expenses. You can run in-house payroll processes from the software to speed paycheck delivery. Added features include salaried and hourly workers, integrated taxes and tax forms, deductions and benefits, flexible payroll periods and timecard integration with overtime rules.

Updated Functions in a Single Business-Wide Software Suite

All industry editions of Acumatica have been enhanced with new features. Acumatica 2020 R1 expands sales and warehouse operations for fast generation, tracking and management of inventory-related items. Warehouse Management now supports rapid fulfillment with wave and batch picking. Acumatica’s new international depreciation enhancements have been added to support companies focused on worldwide expansion.

New project management tools allow users to manage more projects. For example, project balance reconciliation has been simplified, while you can track project progress with improved daily field reports. Weather data (available via the ClimaCell service), photo logs and other data can now be added to reports. You can now also track payments and retainage by lines in accounts receivable.

Acumatica 2020 R1 also lets users track production and costs with native shop floor data collection, which can improve manufacturing operations. The ERP now supports advanced planning with capable-to-promise and what-if scenarios as well. Also highlighted during the release event were Open APIs for integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to drive automation and efficiency.

About Acumatica Cloud ERP

Acumatica Cloud ERP is a complete business management solution that supports manufacturing, distribution, retail/e-commerce, manufacturing and construction industries. It provides a complete audit trail of changes and full CRM functionality to improve customer support.

We have worked with many companies in the implementation of Acumatica. The software scales with your business as it grows. To learn more or schedule a free demo, contact us.

Additional Acumatica Resources

Why Acumatica Outpaced NetSuite on the Most Recent G2 Survey

Acumatica Financial Management