With inflation on the rise, businesses around the globe are bracing for a potential recession. While the decline in currency values and rising prices are impacting organizations of all sizes, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are particularly vulnerable.
Although there is no way to completely mitigate the impacts of inflation, there are things that SMBs can do to prepare. Namely, SMBs should consider investing in solutions such as cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.
Adopting such software can close the gap between SMBs and enterprises while simultaneously giving business owners better insights into their companies’ financial health.
If you own a small to medium-sized business and are concerned about the potential impacts of inflation, join us as we explore ERP software and what it can do for your business.
What Is Cloud-Based ERP Software?
Enterprise resource planning software is a comprehensive technology suite that your business can use to manage a whole host of daily processes. A few of the processes that you can manage with ERP include:
- Supply chain operations
- Compliance
- Risk management
- Project management
- Procurement
- Ordering
- Sales
- Accounts payable and receivable
By implementing a cloud-based ERP software solution, you can streamline all of the processes mentioned above. The end result is improved organizational agility and efficiency.
While core ERP software tools focus on financial management-related tasks, you can customize a solution to meet the unique needs of your business and industry. You can adopt multiple ERP software tools and integrate these technologies with your existing solutions. This approach will yield a seamless user experience for you and your entire team.
ERP Software and Inflation
In order to contend with inflation, your organization must strive to seek out and eliminate sources of waste. This work is often easier said than done, especially if you are using antiquated data management tools that do not communicate with one another.
When your various software solutions cannot efficiently share information, data silos are formed. A data silo consists of information that is isolated to a single database or platform and not accessible via other software. When data silos exist, information transparency decreases.
Cloud-based ERP software eliminates data silos by becoming a single source of truth for your company. You can access, manage, analyze, and review data about all of your core business processes via a centralized interface.
This centralization allows you to identify inflation-related pain points more efficiently and proactively address these concerns.
A great ERP software solution will also allow you to simplify many business processes that are typically friction-filled. Some examples include exchanges, returns, and order cancellations.
Additionally, you can leverage ERP technology to reduce the number of write-offs that you must absorb, track revenue, and minimize overhead expenses. According to our customer, Kelly Burns, COO at M3 Technology Group, “Admin staff users’ tasks have gotten easier and faster, thanks to Acumatica’s default automation, so we’ve been able to maintain the same level of growth without adding to the support team’s headcount.”
Are All ERP Solutions Created Equal?
No, all ERP solutions are not created equal. Before selecting an ERP software solution, it is critical that you do your research. When exploring potential solutions, you should ask questions such as:
- How complex is the implementation process?
- Does the software provider offer transparent pricing?
- Can the solution be tailored to my industry?
- Does the developer work with certified partners?
- How long will adoption and implementation take?
Learn more in our guide: How to Select the Right ERP.
If the implementation does not go smoothly, you may struggle to achieve a strong return on investment or might not be able to use the software at all. With that in mind, it is critical that you choose an experienced partner to assist with implementation.
You should also find a solution that offers transparent pricing and industry-specific ERP software packages, and Acumatica is just such a solution.
Acumatica’s unique usage-based fee schedule makes it an ideal solution for companies of any size, including your small to medium-sized business. Additionally, Acumatica has several different industry editions, each of which is designed to meet the needs of a specific industry:
- Acumatica Distribution
- Acumatica Manufacturing
- Acumatica Field Service
- Acumatica Commerce
How to Implement Acumatica ERP
When you pair a dynamic ERP software like Acumatica with an experienced implementation partner, the results can be truly astounding.
As a leading Gold Certified Acumatica Partner, Cloud 9 ERP Solutions is the perfect team to oversee your Acumatica implementation. We can assist with every phase of the process so that you can prepare for inflation and optimize business efficiency with Acumatica. Schedule a demo to learn more.
