ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, systems contain all pertinent information regarding a company’s operations—from cash flow to inventory management to overall financials. However, though ERP systems are critical for any organization, they occasionally need to be supplemented for specific departments, such as analyzing the ERP financial data.
Finance and accounting teams must often extract the data from the ERP manually and depend on legacy tools to analyze the data. The manual labor it takes to upload and manipulate this raw data can negatively affect reporting accuracy. Therefore, many organizations have decided that they can advance the functionality of their ERP by integrating it with their financial software.
Below are some advantages of integrating ERP with your accounting and financial management software.
Offers Financial Transparency
An ERP system plays a critical role in executing the daily operations of an organization. However, teams must take the information and migrate it out to complete the end-of-period financial statements‚ increasing the risk of unreliable economic data.
If you must navigate various ERP systems and tools, you are dispersing and decentralizing your data. In addition, you must rely more on legacy tools and spreadsheets, which becomes an even bigger issue when you are trying to gather documentation for audits.
However, if you integrate your ERP with financial software, your financial managers and C-Suite execs can better picture the finances. Meaning they can see the progress of the close and make plans for the future of the corporation.
Reduces Reporting Risk
Financial reporting risk has become a concern in today’s unprecedented business environment. If you rely on ERP systems and spreadsheets, it can be hard to stay ahead of the evolving regulatory requirements. BDO’s 2021 Middle Market Outlook Survey revealed that 17% of CFOs believe that managing disclosures and risk factors is their top issue.
That being said, by integrating ERP with financial automation software, accountants can quickly find exceptions/errors when they are matching transactions and reconciling accounts. When you allow your accounting and financial management software to do the work, the CFOs can be confident that their financial reports are accurate and their reputational risk is reduced.
Enhances Internal Controls
When you have to navigate hundreds of spreadsheets outside of the ERP system to prepare your financial data for an audit, you can end up with many issues. One study by Forrester revealed that around 50% of companies still rely on spreadsheets for their auditing and controls.
However, automating the financial processes will provide an accurate, detailed trail of every activity through financial analytics and streamline the audit for everyone involved. Plus, documentation of the numbers and their actions makes it easier to communicate with the auditors.
It also should be said that these automation tools reduce human resources and, potentially, staff headcount.
Offers Real-Time Analytics
“Analytics” has become a financial buzzword. By moving away from manual approaches and towards modernized processes, organizations can access data in real time. It allows them to identify bottlenecks and other metrics related to analyzing the financial data.
These metrics can be compiled into a report so that financial managers and C-Suite execs can get a clear picture of the close as it’s happening, along with insights from historical data within the ERP. The compilation and distribution of such reports can be automated in a “set and forget” fashion.
Instead of reacting to information, companies can make decisions proactively before a significant event. By utilizing the power of predictive, prescriptive analytics, the company can propel itself even further, and accountants can become business advisors in the truest sense.
Entry-Level Players Looking to Offer ERP
Popular consumer software solutions, like Quickbooks, have acknowledged the strength of ERP and the power of integrating with accounting teams. They have begun to expand their offering to include an “ERP-lite” solution to accommodate those businesses that already understand the benefits.
While their offering isn’t entirely on the same level as others, it’s a move in the right direction and acts as positive proof of concept.
GoldFinch has Partnered with AccountingSeed and Xledger
GoldFinch has partnered with both AccountingSeed and Xledger to offer a choice of financial reporting solutions essential to most businesses. While both are powerful, each provides distinct functionality.
Salesforce native AccountingSeed has been a longtime integration with GoldFinch ERP. Built off the same platform, GoldFinch and AcccountingSeed seamlessly share data between their systems, recording financial transactions in real time.
Leveraging this same Salesforce foundational strength, organizations can easily combine world-class ERP, CRM, and accounting solutions to unify their teams. Sales, marketing, accounting, operations, and the executive team can now read from the same playbook and effortlessly share important information.
For those in need of more advanced reporting requirements, Xledger would be an excellent alternative to explore.
When businesses integrate their ERP system with accounting and financial management software, they can benefit even more from the economic data to make strategic business decisions and streamline financial processes. GoldFinch ERP has partnered with Xledger to develop a tight integration between their two platforms. This means true accounting power and reporting now reside alongside your ERP.
This integration provides:
- Transparent integration with GoldFinch using the single sign-on convenience of Salesforce
- Automation to minimize data entry, including native OCR document capture
- A financial accounting database designed to generate financial reports rapidly
- Fund Accounting for non-profits
- A global solution to handle worldwide business, including multi-currency, multi-language, and addresses
As you can see, there are many benefits to integrating ERP with accounting and financial management software. Can this be a game-changer for your business? Contact Us today to see how this solution can help your organization.
