When you start a business, a lot of focus goes into learning as well as unlearn. You might have lead the marketing & sales division in a big organization but running your own business is altogether a different ball game.
Along with the excellent business idea, you would need timely execution as a good business is worthless if it does not see the light of the day. As every business involves people, you have to build contacts by going to various industry events that add value to you (as a founder) & the company.
Whether you are building a tech-led business or starting a food joint, it is always better to keep a close track of the expenses incurred and monitoring the performance of every business division (BU). Your small-business may initially have only one person in each BU but their performance also needs to be monitored.
This is where an integrated unified solution to manage different business functions is required, which is nothing but ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). Many founders who do not have a technical background have the doubt ‘What is ERP’?
ERP is a software that can play a huge role as it integrates all the relevant business functions into a single unified system. You may be using different software systems to manage & run your business but an ERP system makes them irrelevant since it provides information for decision-making.
Some of the important blocks in an ERP system are.
- Sales Management.
- Purchase Management.
- Marketing
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)Payroll.
- Supply-Chain Management (SCM) Inventory management.
- Finance
- Manufacturing.
The three major benefits of using ERP software are.
- Automation of various business functions improves the productivity & efficiency of the employees.
- Gives a birds-eye view of how each BU is performing so that you can take any timely corrective actions.
- Information is stored in a centralized & secure database. The data is backed up at frequent intervals. You save money as you do not require other softwares for running & managing the business.
The toughest question is “Which is the right ERP software for your business”. By the end of this article, you would be in a position to shortlist the best-suited ERP software for your business.
Some of the must-have features of ERP software are.
1] Support for banking transactions
Good ERP system lets the business owners manage different modes of payments seamlessly. The mode of payment could be cash/cheques/drafts, etc and the software should let the authorized personnel check the status of the payments. It should have a auto-bank reconciliation feature for reconciling business transactions with bank statements.
2] GST readiness
ERP system should enable the business owners to raise GST billing, handle GST transactions, etc. It should ease the process of filing GST returns. This can only happen if the ERP software is GST compliant.
Tally ERP 9 is one such ERP software that has the complete support of GSTR-1, GSTR-3B. This makes it well-suited for Indian businesses as Tally has been in operations for a very long time hence it has a detailed understanding of Indian businesses.
3] Account Management
Using the ERP software, the business owner should be able to generate sales vouchers, create payment receipts, or perform any accounts related activity.
4] Generation of Business Reports
Timely monitoring of the financial status of a business is important. This is where P&L statements, financial statements, balance sheets, etc. can be handy and good ERP software should have controls through which these reports can be generated easily.
5] Budgeting
Budget allocation is an important aspect of running a business. Using the ERP software, business owners should be able to track expenses incurred at a unit level and set budget constraints as & when required.
Above all these features, the basic requirement is that ERP software should be secure, scalable, and user-friendly. The design of the ERP software should be such that it caters to every type & scale of businesses i.e. sole proprietorship, venture-funded business, bootstrapped business, a business conglomerate, etc.
To summarize, ERP software is a must-have for every business as business owners can manage their business efficiently and also take timely actions for improving the financial health of the business.
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