Change can be scary, especially when making the switch from Sage Small Business Software (or any introductory accounting system) to a more modern, feature-rich solution. However, delaying the project can also mean missed opportunities. Implement a new system too soon, and you will be stuck paying for a solution that you barely use. Wait too long, and you will be missing out on sales trying to manually manage processes and keep up with demand. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to know your options and start looking into robust ERP software once you have a realistic idea of your growth projections. This way, when the time comes, you will have already done most of your research. However, keep in mind that many vendors schedule implementations months in advance, so you won’t be able to switch to ERP overnight. If your business can identify with the 7 reasons outlined below, you know you’ve outgrown Sage Small Business and it’s time to start your research for ERP today.
Top 7 Reasons Businesses Outgrow Sage Small Business Software
- You waste time with manual processes across the organization.
- You are reaching file size, user and/or data limits.
- You want to start working with vendors and customers around the world.
- You are not able to create custom reports.
- You lack important functionality for a growing business.
- You are frustrated with Help Desk services.
- You require strict controls for regulatory compliance and product tracking.
1. You waste time with manual processes across the organization.
This is one of the most obvious reasons that a company starts looking for new software – they are wasting precious resources on manual processes and the associated human errors. If your team is performing a lot of manual processes, such as data entry, calculations, or updates, consider how those resources can be better allocated with a proper system.
Without an automated system for dealing with everyday processes, employees will have to resort to using manual workarounds for calculating commissions, dealing with credit card transactions, tracking inventory, entering sales orders from multiple sales channels, recording online payments, tracking expiry dates and more. Lack of an automated system can also lead to keying errors and can turn order processing and invoicing into a slow and cumbersome process, upsetting customers, employees and members of the supply chain.
2. Your system has limitations around file size, users and data.
Introductory software systems (including Sage Small Business) often have limitations on the number of users, file size and transaction volumes – which makes sense given that they are designed as the first system implemented at an organization. If you’re starting to approach any of these limits, it’s time to start looking at ERP software. Not only will the right ERP system not have any significant limits on the above, but they will also be able to add additional resources when necessary as your company grows.
3. You want to start working with vendors and customers around the world.
If you want to expand your business to deal with customers and vendors around the world, you will require additional functionality for doing so, such as the ability to manage multiple currencies, exchange rates and track landed costs.
Manually calculating exchange rates is a time-consuming and error-prone process that can hurt your business and relationship with partners. Instead, robust ERP software allows users to automatically specify different prices for each item depending on the customer’s and/or vendor’s currency and accounts for differences in exchange rates between transaction and settlement dates as necessary. You can also automatically update exchange rate values daily to make sure you always have the most up-to-date data in the system.
The ability to factor landed costs into inventory values and costs of goods sold is imperative to ensure that the gross margin your company receives on product matches your calculations. Proper landed costs will also directly affect things such as pricing decisions and commission payments.
4. You are not able to create custom reports.
If you’re not able to generate and create meaningful management and financial reports on a regular basis it is impossible to analyze the success and growth of your company. Sure, you can manually re-key information into Excel each month, but this is very time consuming and creates a large margin of error. Your software system should instead be capable of automatically generating reports for you that can be printed, emailed and shared to assess the health of your company to help improve processes and reduce costs.
5. You lack important functionality for a growing business.
Maybe when you first started your business, you didn’t need eCommerce. Or maybe you didn’t have enough orders to warrant barcode scanning. But, as your business grows, these types of feature requirements will start to hurt your business if you aren’t able to manage them. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s the importance of eCommerce for businesses of all types. If your current system doesn’t have options for eCommerce and can’t integrate with popular platforms such as Shopify, it means manually tracking orders and inventory. Barcode scanning minimizes the number of picking mistakes in the warehouse and helps with inventory management. If you’re still manually performing tasks that another system can handle, it’s time to start looking elsewhere.
6. You are frustrated with Help Desk services.
Personalized Help Desk services, where the software vendor gets to know you and your business on a first-name basis, provides many benefits to help you grow your business. Someone who knows your requirements, and those of the industry, can offer suggestions and opportunities to gain efficiencies and improve processes. Having a Help Desk team that is localized and the ability to speak with the same contact person each time is an added bonus and will allow your company to realize huge time-saving benefits and decrease frustration levels when things go wrong.
7. You require strict controls for regulatory compliance and product tracking.
If your company operates in an industry that moves potentially harmful or perishable products, having a software system with lot tracking capabilities is not only beneficial but also the law. This type of software allows your company to deal with product recalls immediately and efficiently – eliminating the risk to consumer health and customer perceptions. Instead of having to recall all shipped products – lot tracking allows you to determine which products have been compromised, where they are and how you can get them back. Proper lot tracking also builds trust among your vendors and customers. Other industries, such as Pharmaceutical Distribution, must follow even stricter regulations which require an industry-specific solution with all the right controls.
