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Why should you consider switching from Excel to ERP?

Discover how adopting a more efficient Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system could reduce costs and improve success rates for your business. Get started now! If you’re looking for an efficient way to manage your business, you’ll want to consider switching to an ERP system. ERP systems are comprehensive systems that allow businesses to manage all aspects of their operations from a single platform. They’re ideal for businesses of all sizes, and there are many available options to choose from. In this article, we’ll outline the benefits of switching to an ERP system, and explain which ones are best suited for your business. Ready to make the switch? We’re ready to help! So you’re currently using Excel to manage your business? That might be great for simple tasks, but it’s time to switch to an ERP system if you want to stay ahead of the curve. ERP systems are capable of handling much more complex tasks than Excel, and they can help you optimise your workflow and manage your data more effectively. Not convinced? Let us give you a few reasons why you should make the switch.

When is the Best Time to Move from Excel to ERP?

Beginning with software like Excel is a frequent practice for new firms. Most of us have used it before and it is simple, simple to grasp, and inexpensive. Excel is a good tool for handling initial business operations, reports, and analysis. Due to a lack of visibility and flexibility across the organisation, Excel may begin to lose value in a developing corporation. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses fail to make the changeover at the proper moment. But how can one determine the proper moment?

If you're looking for a business software that can do it all, Excel might not be the best option for you.

Excel is simple to use and provides a variety of ways to employ macros to accomplish even sophisticated calculations and analysis. However, the technology encounters evident limitations at numerous times in daily operations.

Possibility of Human Error:

Technically, any human-operated system is vulnerable to some level of user error. However, if you’ve ever spent hours trying to manipulate an Excel spreadsheet, you’ll know that the software is notoriously prone to user error.

According to studies, more than 90% of spreadsheets contain errors. The majority of this is due to the fact that Excel is not integrated or centralised.

As a result, even if different departments in your organisation require the same data, they will almost certainly use different spreadsheets. This is more than just a nuisance and a waste of time. It also increases the possibility of errors, which become a risk every time a user populates a cell.

Control is not centralised:

Based on reliable data, ERP software creates a single, unified source of truth. There is only one version of the information, and all users have real-time access to it.

This is not the case with Excel, where employees can easily make changes to a spreadsheet, save it as a new version, and begin sharing it. This makes it nearly impossible to know if your teams are using the correct dataset, or even if it is accurate and up to date.

Time-consuming Task:

Excel spreadsheets are rarely easy to manipulate. Instead, most are dozens, if not hundreds, of lines long, with almost every cell requiring user input.

When your teams need to create a new report, they must create a new sheet. This is true even if they are using a template. Thus, the only way to effectively manage your inventory, for example, is to assign someone to update the data manually on a regular basis.

Then there’s the possibility of inadvertently deleting an important spread. If you’ve ever accidentally clicked the wrong button or dragged the wrong file to the recycle bin, you know that file retrieval can take forever, if at all. The same is true for system crashes, which delete your files if you do not save them.

Collaboration is challenging:

Yes, you can email an Excel file or upload it to a shared cloud location. However, these spreadsheets are typically handled independently of the rest of your organisation.

Collaboration isn’t seamless even if your company was forward-thinking and invested in a mobile or cloud-based version of the Office suite. For example, if multiple users attempt to access a spread at the same time, the system may freeze.

Collaboration, on the other hand, is a key feature of ERP software. With a cloud ERP platform, your entire workforce, including on-site and remote workers, can collaborate easily.

Outdated Data Insights

An Excel spreadsheet will not automatically update if something changes. An employee must instead go into the file and make the necessary changes. This can result in lost or duplicate data entries.

An ERP system provides real-time data insights that can be accessed through a central dashboard. Users can then easily search for and find the information they require, and then share their findings across departments.

Instead of Excel, use an ERP system: These are the benefits

Without the need for multiple spreadsheets, an ERP system allows you to track your information in real time. This enables you to automate the creation of sales orders. You can now easily search for data and share it with other departments. You will also no longer be plagued by wasted time due to errors such as double entry or lost data. ERPs provide complete visibility of business processes via real-time dashboards.

Every day, most businesses generate a massive amount of business-related data. An ERP system can use this data efficiently to provide critical insights into a company’s performance and improve your decision-making capabilities, and thus your business processes.

Companies must also ensure that their financial processes do not jeopardise their profits. ERP can provide an integrated financial workflow that collects billing data from all areas of the organisation automatically. This ensures that all financial activities, such as month end, invoicing, supplier payments, and payroll, are handled centrally.

ERP can also compare employee performance to project costs and timelines. This is accomplished through a comprehensive workflow system that provides your team with the information they require at any time to ensure that the project they are working on is on track, including resource bandwidth and billable rates. This data indicates whether the right people are working on the right project at the right time.

Is it Time to Upgrade Your Business Management Software?

If your in-house team is still relying on Excel for day-to-day operations, it’s time to consider ERP implementation. While Excel can be useful in some situations, it does not provide the bandwidth that an ERP system does. When comparing Excel and ERP, it is clear that ERP outperforms Excel in terms of data reliability, user control, and enterprise collaboration. Our ERP consultants can assist you if you are ready to make the switch. Request a free consultation and we will gladly assist you.