As we approach the summer months with good weather, longer days, and many employees taking some much-needed time off, it can be tempting to put your inventory accounting software search on the back burner for the season. However, as the pace of operations wind down for many businesses, this small window of opportunity can be an advantageous time to buckle down and finally focus on finding the right software solution. If you need help fighting off the inclination to delay, ask yourself "If I don't act now, when will I?" Putting in the effort now to implement a new solution can quickly pay off when business is back in full swing. Software implementations do not happen overnight, starting the search and making a decision about inventory and accounting software now, provides you more options for selecting an appropriate implementation timeframe in the future. And, keep in mind that prolonging the search process can come with its own set of problems that you'll want to avoid.
What's at stake?
Your Legacy Software is Not Getting Any Younger
It's no question that technology changes at a rapid pace and it is crucial for businesses to stay up-to-date with software to avoid operational disasters and remain competitive in today's market. There are many dangers associated with clinging onto outdated software. For instance, what will happen to your business if your legacy inventory accounting software stops working or the vendor stops supporting it? What if the actual hardware needs to be replaced? Can you find new hardware that will support an old operating system and if so, how much will it cost? Every day that you continue to run your business on outdated software can potentially be putting your business data, operations and revenue at risk.
Now, if you have basic introductory software such as QuickBooks, you're not that much better off. The list of pitfalls associated with introductory software will only get longer as your company grows, and creating workarounds to make up for these shortcomings will get increasingly challenging and time-consuming. So why wait until something goes horribly awry to make a move to new inventory accounting software?
New Opportunities
To resist the urge to drop your software search lower on the priority list, it's important to think about how your business will change with new technology. Finding a solution may seem like a steep hurdle now, but once you find the right fit, it won't be long until you and your employees reap the benefits. With modern inventory accounting software, comes advanced functionality to cater to specific industry needs. It not only streamlines and optimizes your internal processes but can also reshape the way customers interact with your business.
- Increase in customer confidence- Customers will have confidence buying from you with up-to-date inventory information. They will be able to get accurate information on items in stock, backorder, how many of each item are available, expected shipment and delivery dates etc.
- Selling online- Advanced features such as a B2B portal allows customers to place orders 24/7 at their convenience which means fewer resources needed and more business coming in through eCommerce.
- Advanced accounting capabilities- Multi-company, multi-currency, robust reporting, advanced collections management, multiple bank management, flexible sales tax management, ability to create recurring entries and reverse entries and much more.
- Improved warehouse performance- Ability to track multiple warehouses, track by bin and shelf locations, barcode verification scanning, handheld scanning capabilities, consolidated pick slips etc.
- PCI Compliance - Credit card processing with encrypted credit card storage vault to meet PCI Data Security Standards.
- Cloud vs. On-premises- You also have the freedom to select the environment in which the software is hosted. Do you have IT people in-house to manage the hardware and software or do you prefer to have the vendor host and manage the system? While each deployment method has its own pros and cons, consider an inventory accounting software vendor that provides the option of both.
Empowering Employees
When a company has outdated software or technology that lacks sophistication and functionality, it can not only be damaging to the business but it can also handicap the development of employees. It's important to provide employees with the right tools to accomplish their work in the most efficient manner and to reduce turnover rates. The longer you delay finding new inventory accounting software, the longer your accountant will have to spend hours manually entering data into Excel, the longer your warehouse workers will have to repeat tasks and make inevitable errors, the longer your IT staff will have to endure pesky glitches and errors, and the longer you will have to suffer through poor visibility of your supply chain operations. Think of how much better your team will be able to perform and utilize their skills if given the appropriate means. Tasks that once took hours to accomplish such as manually entering data into Excel or picking a lengthy list to fulfill an order can be done in a fraction of the time if employees are given the right inventory accounting software to work with.
