How ERP Software Solves Your Business’s Top Financial Management Challenges

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Even the best-run companies face financial management challenges. Help is available from ERP solutions, as exemplified by Acumatica. They include financial management software along with a full range of accounting functions like general ledger, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. Cash, currency and tax management applications enable Acumatica to support businesses on many levels. Here’s a look at some of the more pressing financial management concerns and how Acumatica Cloud ERP software can help solve them.

Financial Planning

Financial planning is a process that involves looking at a company’s current financial conditions, as well as its strategic plan, and determining how to best allocate funds to achieve objectives. No matter what industry your business is in, financial planning is a must. Some challenges businesses face in this area include decentralized decision making, disparate data sources and the timeliness of data.

To resolve these issues, Acumatica provides:

  • A single version of the truth: Financial reports and personalized dashboards are available via a shared centralized database.
  • Artificial intelligence: From entry of individual data points to invoice scanning, documents can be stored electronically and instantly with the relevant transaction.
  • Automation: Workflows, approval limits, bank reconciliations, and the generating of managerial financial reporting data in pivot tables are automated.

KPI Reporting

Without using the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), it can be hard to identify where your business is under-performing, which can lead to losses and missed opportunities. Operating cash flow, working capital and a wide range of financial reports are needed. However, reliance on standard required reports doesn’t always deliver the kind of sophisticated support managers need to make financial decisions.

Acumatica goes beyond standard formats to generate special reports based on the organizational structure of your business. Reports tailored to specific departments, divisions, subsidiaries, products, etc. provide alternative views of data to expand analytical capabilities. With data available on-screen, in reports and in, for example, Excel format, trends and changes can be more easily seen and acted upon.

Inter-Company Accounting

During their natural course of growth, many companies acquire subsidiaries, which may be managed as separate entities. But does this mean requiring separate balance sheets and general ledgers for each? Without a means to reconcile each entity’s accounting into the parent company’s general ledger, inefficiencies and errors can plague your financial management process.

Acumatica provides inter-company accounting to enable financial management in increasingly complex scenarios. Managing multiple subsidiaries is simplified with functions such as:

  • Financial management
  • Customer relationship management
  • Distribution management
  • Project accounting
  • Field service

The cloud ERP’s real-time accounting system also helps your team avoid manual data entry into spreadsheets, saving time and allowing for more effective use of reports.

Security and Compliance

Data security and compliance are two of the greatest financial management concerns. A cyber-breach or fraud can expose sensitive data, while compliance issues can lead to hefty fines that can put your entire business at risk.

Acumatica increases security with its role-based access control. Financial data are safely stored in the cloud, and available via any device with a web browser. The ERP also addresses compliance on different levels, including the ASC 606 revenue recognition standard for businesses that enter into contracts with customers (for transferring goods or services) and the IFRS 15 standard to account for revenue generated from these activities.

These are only a few financial management challenges all businesses face, and just some features and benefits of the Acumatica cloud-based ERP. For a more thorough overview of Acumatica’s financial management capabilities and our solutions for implementing them, contact us for a demo.

Additional ERP Resources

7 Signs that You Need ERP Software

5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management

Calculating the ROI of Moving to Cloud ERP

Benefits of ERP Software for Distribution Business Management

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Distribution companies face many challenges in managing their inventories, supply chains and logistics activities in the wake of shifting demand, costs and other variables. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software takes the place of legacy systems that don’t hold up in today’s interconnected, fast-paced market. It can capture customer, supplier and equipment data as well as provide full visibility into trends and processes. An ERP system can therefore improve distribution business management in the following ways:

Reduced Order Times

Manually processing sales orders can lead to human error and costly delays. ERP software automates sales order processing and the generation of shipping orders. It can eliminate delays while providing full control, from setting rules and credit limits to managing multiple warehouses and drop shipments. Reduced cycle time, from order placement to product delivery, can help a distribution company fulfill requests more efficiently. Ordering and invoicing are handled automatically within the system, without human intervention.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Real-time visibility into inventory that is in-stock, in-transit and to be reordered helps improve delivery times and customer satisfaction. An ERP system can also track products returned for any reason. It can optimize quoting, acceptance, entry and fulfillment while minimizing inventory and costs. At the same time, process automation can help with customer retention as a business can provide faster service, accurate delivery and speedy resolution to any issues that arise during the order fulfillment process.

Knowing Your True Costs

An ERP system can help break down costs and profitability across a business or by warehouse, location or individual production line. All the information available is updated in real time. The power of real-time data allows for cost control across your supply and distribution chain. Whether your ERP system is priced per-user or per-function, the cost of implementation can be offset by savings enabled by optimized business processes and improved accuracy and efficiency.

Better Sales Management

Distribution ERP helps with sales management, as exemplified by features in Acumatica’s distribution ERP. It offers an integrated workflow that fully automates order processing across an entire business. Users can configure order status and rules for discounts and promotions that are automatically applied. The software provides real-time visibility into inventory, current pricing and shipment information. It also integrates with CRM systems to make delivery status, relevant tasks and activity history for an order immediately available. Additionally, distribution management software from Acumatica allows users to configure processes to match workflow or select different order processes based on the order or customer.

Better Warehouse Management

Acumatica Distribution Edition includes a Warehouse Management module designed to automate picking, packaging, transferal and physical counting. Manual tasks are eliminated, which helps increase productivity and accuracy. Items are automatically entered into the system when scanned and audible/visual warnings provide employees feedback when they scan more units than purchased or select the wrong items. A variety of functions help manage inventory, order fulfillment and improve the customer experience.

For more insights on how Acumatica can benefit your distribution business, contact us today to submit your questions or request more information, a free product tour, or demo.

Additional Distribution ERP Resources

Making the Most of KPIs in Distribution

Finding the Productivity Advantage in Distribution Management

5 Reasons Distributors Need ERP Software

ERP Software 101: History and Modules Available

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Enterprise Resource Planning ERP software provides an integrated suite of applications for business management that share a common process and data model. Used by manufacturers, distributors, construction companies, retailers, technology organizations and others, it helps manage everything from finance and distribution to human resources to project, customer relationship and supply chain management.

Brief History of ERP

The concept of ERP is rooted in the 1960s, when it was primarily used by manufacturers for inventory management and control. Through the 1970s, ERP ran on large mainframe computers operated by service firms. They ran applications and rented out computing/data storage resources to client companies. This was known as “time-sharing,” a rather costly approach for the customer, but still preferable the huge investment in a mainframe.

The concept of Material Requirements Planning (MRP) emerged in the 1970s as well. Catching on in the 1980s, MRP continued to incorporate more manufacturing processes. By the 1990s, ERP systems (encompassing MRP) could provide inventory control, operational support and management of functions such as sales force automation, human resources and accounting.

The Modular Nature of ERP

Cloud computing has made ERP software more affordable and accessible. Technological improvements enable applications to be run effectively and safely on remotely hosted computer hardware. It’s like the old time-sharing concept, but radically more advanced and flexible. Companies can be free of hardware issues and employees can work from anywhere.

Another advantage of ERP software is its modular nature. By integrating numerous modules into a single system, users can access data based on their role and organizational requirements and trends. The modular architecture of ERP software also makes it scalable. Whether it’s hosted in the cloud or on premises, businesses can tailor licensing or annual subscriptions according to their needs. Numerous components can be added to a modern ERP suite. Here are some of the most common modules:

  • Financial Management: Includes a full suite of planning, reporting, budgeting and analytical tools. Users can track day-to-day financial operations, generate quarterly/annual statements and manage the finances of multiple business entities. All data and reports are kept in a centralized database.
  • Human Resources (HR): An HR module collects and manages data from every employee in every department. It enables the tracking of employee skills, in/out times and vacation days. HR can even integrate with Customer Resource Management (CRM) data to reveal how many leads a sales rep converted. This capability enables automatic bonus calculation.
  • Customer Relationship Management: Contact lists, analytics and interaction histories are contained in a CRM module to help manage leads, sales processes and customers. Detailed customer data helps target customers by region and adapt advertising accordingly. Meanwhile, dashboards and reports help track marketing and sales activities.
  • Distribution: Distribution management software can eliminate human error in purchasing, inventory tracking and customer support. Acumatica Distribution Edition, for example, comprises modules for Sales Order Management, Advanced Financials and Requisition Management functions along with a Warehouse Management System
  • Field Service: Integrating field service operations with the back-office streamlines dispatching and reduces response times. Customer data are available via web-based applications the field workforce can access on mobile devices. The module supports numerous functions, including scheduling/dispatching/call center, route planning and maps integration.

Acumatica 2019 R2, the latest release of the popular cloud-based ERP, is now available. It offers a full suite of ERP/business management solutions. For more information on these products and how your business stands to benefit, contact us today.

Additional ERP Resources

7 Signs that You Need ERP Software

5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management

Qualities to Look for in a Cloud ERP

7 Signs that You Need ERP Software

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How do you know that your business needs Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software? It’s not like knowing that you need a new refrigerator when milk starts going bad the day you bought it. The signs pointing to ERP-need aren’t that obvious, unless you know what to look for. Then, it can become really clear that you are in need of an ERP solution. Here are seven such signs.

Briefly, what is ERP?

ERP is a category of business management software. An ERP solution provides an integrated suite of applications that manage business processes. Together, these apps help manage operations and track business resources like cash and raw materials while enabling efficient supply chain management. ERP suites generally offer a complete accounting and financial management program. ERP suites often contain customer relationship Management (CRM) tools along with data analytics and visualization/reporting capabilities.

Learn more in What is ERP software?

7 ways to know that you need ERP

Chances are, if you’re diligent about your business, it runs pretty well even without ERP software. Indeed, a lot of profitable concerns work fine with the most minimal Information Technology (IT) inputs. However, every business could run better and be more profitable. With that in mind, consider the following signs that ERP could improve your operations as well as your bottom line:

  1. You rely on manual handoffs between accounting and operations – Does your staff have to use email or paper to transmit information from operations to accounting? For example, when a supplier delivers materials, does the accounting department have to input the order information into the accounts payable system by copying it off a carbonless form? An ERP system integrates accounting and operations management software, getting you out of this manual work.
  2. You’re using spreadsheets to analyze your corporate data—reports about sales growth, order statuses and so forth are produced on Excel. ERP has rich data analysis tools that work in real time.
  3. You’re adding too much staff as you grow—This is a sign that your knowledge worker productivity is lagging. Ideally, the staff headcount in accounting and operations management should increase at a lower rate than revenue growth. ERP enables greater productivity through automated workflows and process orchestration between systems.
  4. You don’t know what’s happening soon enough—You’re hearing about problems in the business well after they have occurred. For example, you find out that a vendor delivered a defective batch of raw materials a week earlier, but you already paid the invoice for that shipment. ERP systems can alert you about issues occurring in your business.
  5. You’ve got excess inventory on hand—Inventory ties up cash. If you have more raw materials, work in progress (WIP) or finished goods inventories that you want, it’s a sign that you lack the means to measure and track inventory effectively. ERP provides real time reporting on inventory and the ability to set quantity or dollar limits, with alerts for situations where the limits are exceeded.
  6. Your cash cycle is lengthening—It seems like it’s taking longer to collect from your accounts, while your payables are growing. You’re perpetually short of cash, which wasn’t a problem before. ERP systems give you greater real time visibility into payables, orders and receivables, enabling you to get ahead of cash shortfalls before they manifest as problems.
  7. Your customer satisfaction is falling—Late deliveries, errors in orders and so forth are driving your customers away. Yet, you’re not aware of it until it’s too late. An ERP system addresses this problem in two ways. First, better order management and oversight of delivery and service helps you avoid customer issues. You’ll get alerted when there’s a problem. Second, an integrated CRM system lets you engage more deeply with customers and enjoy more positive, growth-oriented relationships.

If you are experiencing any of these telltale signs of ERP need, you may want to talk to us. We have extensive experience evaluating a company’s requirements for ERP and then implementing the right ERP solution.

Additional ERP Resources

The 7 Irresistible Qualities of Cloud ERP

5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management

How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution

Making the Most of KPIs in Distribution

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Acumatica recently published an informative white paper on Key Performance Indicators for Distribution. If you’re in the distribution business, it’s a highly-recommended read. The paper will help you understand KPIs as they apply to a distribution. Here are some highlights.

What is a KPI, anyway?

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurement of some aspect of your distribution business’s performance that you consider critical to how the business is doing overall. It could be something as simple as rate of revenue growth. If you’re hitting the number you had in mind, you’re performing the way you want. Other times, KPIs can be more obscure, but no less meaningful. A KPI for distribution might be the rate of product returns or the number of complaint calls handled per hour. KPIs are based on data from the business, typically coming from the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and other enterprise software applications. KPIs compile ERP data into usable forms, e.g. graphical displays that visualize the data.

KPIs as a solution to data overload

KPIs are helpful in managing a wholesale/distribution business because they keep you focused on what’s important. They get you out of the trap of data overload. With modern ERP software, it’s easy to generate literally hundreds of reports at any given time. You can get caught in “analysis paralysis” or focus too much on metrics that don’t matter as much as you might imagine. Worst case, you’ll miss an early warning of an impending problem.

Types of KPIs

There are three main types of KPIs: Historical, real time and predictive. All three tend to feature the same kinds of information. They report financial results such as sales, orders, profit and loss and o forth. They track operational metrics like orders shipped, backorders, route miles driven and customer service calls answered. Depending on how you display your data, i.e. your data visualization dashboard, you might have all three types visible at the same time:

  • Historical KPIs – what happened in the business, showing trends and highlights like peak sales growth over the last 5 years
  • Real time – what’s happening right at the moment (or that day)
  • Predictive – what might happen, if historical trends are any indicator, e.g. anticipating a shortage of certain products during an upcoming peak season

Predictive KPIs are where modern data analytics tools can really shine. Not all solutions have predictive capabilities, however. This is an advanced feature, one that may take some professional help in setting up.

KPIs for Distribution

Distribution businesses have developed their own distinctive KPIs. In addition to basic financial KPIs, a distribution business tends to focus on operational metrics that reflect critical business functions—often tied to profitability. They include:

  • Inventory Turnover Ratio – comparing inventory turns for low-turnover and high-turnover items. This KPI is useful for purchasing managers, as it should inform the volume of future buying.
  • On Time Shipping Ratio – comparing on-time shipping performance for custom orders at multiple warehouses over a period time.
  • Profitability by Item – revealing which customers and products are the most profitable.

It can take some focus and internal research to determine the best KPIs for your distribution business. We can help. We have guided distribution companies through the process of setting up data analytics and KPI dashboards.

To download the Distribution KPI white paper, visit  https://www.ccstechnologygroup.com/resources/kpis-for-distribution/.

Additional Distribution ERP Resources

Finding the Productivity Advantage in Distribution Management

5 Reasons Distributors Need ERP Software

How ERP Software Can Promote a Sustainable Supply Chain

Don’t Improvise Your Way Through Disaster Recovery

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Given the importance of disaster recovery (DR), you don’t want to improvise through the planning—or worse, through the execution. Here are some best practices to make sure your disaster recovery follows an effective script:

1. Assign staff to disaster recovery

It sounds obvious, but if you don’t have staff assigned to disaster recovery, it isn’t anybody’s job, and it won’t get done. You need staff who are dedicated and empowered to make sure disaster recovery is properly planned. This isn’t limited to technology staff either; business employees have roles and responsibility in disaster recovery as well.

2. Develop a detailed plan

If you don’t want to improvise, you need a documented plan. The full contents of a DR plan are beyond the scope of this short blog post, but you need to start by identifying all of your IT resources. Evaluate the impact of an outage on each application and use that to determine your DR priorities. Then assess how much time you can tolerate the application being down and how much data you can afford to lose. Use those numbers to guide you in developing a cost-effective recovery strategy. Document the recovery steps in detail, and make sure the recovery plan will be available in case of a disaster.

3. Test your recovery plan

It’s far better to discover your DR plan won’t work during a test rather than during a disaster. Schedule time to test your plan, at least annually. There are different ways of approaching testing, ranging from a table read-through of the documentation to fully executing the steps to failover and resume operations at a secondary site. The more your test simulates a real disaster, the more reliable results you’ll get. Track the time it takes to recover as well as the accuracy of the documented procedures. After the test, collect feedback from all participants on what worked and what didn’t, and use it to update the document.

4. Update the plan

Changes in your business and your technology mean the plan that worked last year may not work this year. Allocate time to review and update your plan every year—even better, make updating the plan part of your change management process and don’t sign off on deployments until the recovery process is documented.

5. Don’t go it alone

For many businesses, leveraging Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is a good choice that makes disaster recovery faster and more reliable. With DRaaS, you get a high level of automation and support from the provider to help guide you through the process of defining and implementing a recovery strategy.

Another way to avoid going it alone is to work with an IT services firm like CCS Technology Group. Our disaster recovery and business continuity services help you protect your data, reduce downtime, and survive a crisis. Contact us to learn how CCS Technology Group can help you write your disaster recovery script.

Additional Disaster Recovery Resources

Craft An Effective Disaster Recovery Plan

5 Changes to Make When You Switch to Disaster Recovery in the Cloud

Backups Are Not A Disaster Recovery Solution

9 Ways to Get Cloud Costs Under Control

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Many companies turn to cloud services in an attempt to control computing costs, but it’s just as easy to rack up high expenses in the cloud. It can be hard to manage cloud costs because the lack of visibility, self-service functionality, and dynamic changes to services make knowing what’s going on in your cloud difficult. Here are 9 things you can do to make sure your cloud computing bill doesn’t grow unexpectedly large:

1. Choose the right size services

With cloud, your costs directly reflect the capacity of your resources, so it’s best to choose the smallest systems that meet your needs. You don’t have to worry about lengthy delays in adding additional capacity, so don’t use larger disks, more memory, or faster CPUs when they aren’t needed. If you’re using cloud for archiving, choose slower, cheaper storage for data you aren’t likely to need fast or frequently.

2. Find the right strategy for paying for cloud

Paying for what you use as you use it, the stereotypical “subscription” model of cloud, may not be the most cost-effective method of purchasing cloud resources. If you can commit to cloud usage, you may get a discount for reserved instances or simply prepaying. If you have great flexibility, you may get a discount when you bid for spot instances.

3. Find the right place for your cloud

Deciding where to put your cloud isn’t just about choosing the cloud vendor. Vendors may have multiple regions where clouds are available, and the costs are not always the same everywhere. If your workload doesn’t need to be in the same region as the users, for performance or data residency reasons, consider deploying applications out of town.

4. Choose higher-level cloud offerings

When you choose Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), you remain responsible for much of the low-level infrastructure maintenance and support. You can reduce your responsibility and your support costs by choosing higher-level cloud services, such as Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). Using serverless application also eliminates costs associated with instances.

5. Use automation as much as possible

Automation can reduce costs by making your staff more productive as they perform their functions. Automation can also help you save money by enforcing cost-saving policies, such as shutting down instances at end of day.

6. Don’t pay for idle time

Although it’s become a cliché to say business today is 24x7x365, not every application is needed 24x7x365. Since you pay for the resources you use, you’ll save significant money by not keeping resources active when they aren’t needed. Shutdown processes and processors at end of day, and also shutdown test and development systems permanently when the project ends.

7. Don’t use cloud to store data if it won’t be used there

While cloud storage is accessible, be aware that cloud vendors make it much easier and cheaper to put data into the cloud than to take it out.

8. Don’t forget free trials come with end dates

Many cloud services have a free trial period. Just remember you’ll start paying once the trial ends. If you decide you don’t need the service, be sure to shut it down before you’re charged.

9. Use tools to gain visibility

You can’t control costs when you can’t see where your spending is going. Cloud providers offer detailed breakdowns of charges. You can also use third-party tools to consolidate all your billing data and highlight changes to your cloud that result in new charges.

Get help using cloud with support from CCS Technology Group. Contact us to learn how our cloud solutions can help you leverage cloud cost-effectively.

Additional Cloud Resources

6 Ways to Keep Your Cloud Secure

Calculating the ROI of Moving to the Cloud

Why SMBs Should Upgrade to the Cloud

Don’t Let These Obstacles Get in the Way of Your IT Security

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Information security should be a top priority for any business. You don’t make any money by having good information security practices, but you can lose a lot of money if you don’t: this year, the average cost per record of a data breach was $150, according to the Ponemon Institute. Multiply that number by the size of your database and you can see how the costs quickly mount up.

So if a lack of information security can be so costly, why are there so many data breaches? One reason is that it’s impossible for any defense to be 100 percent effective; there’s always the risk that one malware author will get lucky and break through. But more often, it’s because although companies know information security is important, it isn’t really a priority. There are too many obstacles that get in the way of implementing effective security:

  • Manual processes. When processes like patch updates and vulnerability scans need to be performed manually, it’s easy to make errors or neglect to apply them to some systems.
  • Complex infrastructure. Except for a brand-new startup, every business has a jumble of technology. Different hardware, different operating systems, different operating system versions, multiple software products, and cloud systems make it difficult to develop a comprehensive approach to security that can cost-effectively protect all resources.
  • Lack of budget. In most businesses, IT is a cost center, and that means limited budget that needs to be allocated between projects that help the business grow and projects that add security to protect the business.
  • Employees don’t use safe computing practices. How many computers do you walk past with passwords written down on sticky notes? Information security is everybody’s responsibility, but many companies don’t do a good job educating their non-IT employees about safe computing, including strong passwords and recognizing phishing attacks.
  • Overworked, under-trained IT staff. IT staff is often overwhelmed and spends most of its time fighting fires and putting out today’s problems. Getting training on the latest security threats and their defenses isn’t top priority and isn’t always in the budget.
  • Changing threats. The scope and source of security threats is constantly changing. It’s not just about dealing with new variants of existing malware. There are new kinds of malware, such as ransomware, which has been devastatingly effective in numerous instances. There are also new attack vectors, including mobile devices, the internet of things, and the cloud.
  • Lack of business support. Business management is focused on the business, not IT. They sometimes see information security measures, such as preparing and testing an incident response plan, as a distraction.

Security services from CCS Technology Group can help you overcome these challenges. Our proactive approach closes holes that make you vulnerable to current attacks and implements layered security and defense in depth strategies that help guard against future attacks. Contact us to learn more about how CCS Technology Group can help you protect your business.

Additional IT Security Resources

Closing the Most Common Cybersecurity Holes

The Key Features to Look for In Your Firewall

Phishing 101: What it is, how it works and how to avoid it

Give Your Managed Services Provider This Information If You Want Them to Succeed

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After you’ve reviewed the benefits of managed services and completed a careful evaluation to choose the right managed services provider, you’ll want to take steps to make the transition to managed services successful. Gather information about the following topics and be prepared to discuss it in detail with the managed services provider:

Current IT Infrastructure

In order to support your IT effectively, the managed services provider needs to know every detail of the technology you use. They’ll want to see a detailed inventory and diagrams of your network, servers, and desktop systems. They also need to know about the operating systems and applications you use, including version numbers. Don’t forget to include the IT technology you don’t manage directly, including any cloud services and “bring your own device” mobile technology.

Current IT Processes

It’s likely the managed services provider will change the way IT services are performed, but to make changes easier, they’ll want to understand how your team handles things now. Have documentation about the current processes for monitoring, provisioning, and patching IT infrastructure, as well as your backup and disaster recovery processes.

Business Information

Providing the right technology solutions requires understanding business needs. Be ready to speak with your managed services provider about critical business processes, how your business is succeeding now, and the dreams and plans you have for future growth or new lines of business.

Priorities

Managed services providers need to know what your priorities are so they can make sure they focus their efforts on the things that matter to you most. Have details about where you’re experiencing the biggest problems and feeling the most pain. If you’ve identified weaknesses and security vulnerabilities, share that information, too.

Along with knowing the current problems that are your current priorities, let your managed services provider know about your future priorities, too. Share your plans for changes in technology, such as increased use of the cloud. Let the provider know if you anticipate an increase in demand, either from more employees using more online systems or from a larger customer base. If you expect to change core business processes or increase collaboration with outside partners, share those details, too. All of this information will help the managed services provider make better decisions about your infrastructure.

Key Contacts

Your managed services provider can’t succeed on their own. They’ll need information and support from your employees. Be sure you’ve identified a contact for day-to-day questions, as well as a more senior contact for periodic reviews to ensure you’re receiving the services and the quality you expected. It’s also a good idea to designate an employee for knowledge transfer from the provider, too.

Ready to get started with managed services? Find out how CCS Technology Group can help you meet your current IT needs and position you for future growth.

Additional Managed Services Resources

Whatever Your IT Problem, There’s a Managed Services Solution

How Managed Services Make the Difference

Overcome the Challenges of Hybrid IT With Managed Services

Why Acumatica Outpaced NetSuite on the Most Recent G2 Survey

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Prospective buyers of ERP software often compare Acumatica cloud ERP with Oracle NetSuite. The two solutions are broadly comparable, but with some notable differences. In March of this year, a survey by G2 Crowd, the world’s leading business soft­ware review platform, revealed a preference for Acumatica when compared with NetSuite.

What Acumatica and NetSuite have in common

Acumatica and NetSuite have similar features in many function areas. Both solutions offer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) options in the cloud. They both integrate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Resource Management (CRM), e-commerce and Business Intelligence (BI). They both enable mobility. Each has several dedicated industry packages, e.g. for manufacturing, distribution and so forth.

Differences between the solutions

What’s different between the two solutions? For one thing, regarding deployment, Acumatica gives its users a choice between on-premises, cloud and hybrid architectures. In contrast, NetSuite is only available in the cloud with a multi-tenant architecture.

Other distinctions include:

  • Scalability—Acumatica enables customers to add users at any time, at no additional cost due its “resource-based” pricing model. Customers pay for resources they consume. NetSuite charges on a per-user basis as well as for additional resources.
  • Relational database export—NetSuite’s ability to directly export data in a relational format is limited. Acumatica offers built-in automated backup service and snapshots. Users can access a fully relational copy of their data whenever they need one.
  • Customization—Acumatica facilitates customization with “point-and-click tools” or coding languages like C# and .NET. NetSuite relies on SuiteScript, a proprietary programming language. It is a not common language. With SuiteScript, it is difficult to find skilled developers who understand how to customize NetSuite.

Understanding the G2 user satisfaction ratings

The G2 user satisfaction ratings reveal some telling comparisons between Acumatica and NetSuite, however. Acumatica outperformed NetSuite in several categories. Acumatica users found the solution easier to use (82% of Acumatica users rated the solution for “Ease of use” vs. 74% for NetSuite.) Acumatica is evidently an easier company to do business with. (84% of Acumatica users cited “Ease of Doing Business With” vs. 71% for NetSuite.)

Other categories where Acumatica found higher satisfaction among G2 reviewers include:

  • Quality of support – 78% of Acumatica vs. 68% for NetSuite
  • Meets requirements – 84% of Acumatica vs. 79% for NetSuite
  • Ease of admin – 78% of Acumatica vs. 71% for NetSuite

Asked “Is the product headed in the right direction,” 88% of Acumatica users agreed, versus 68% of NetSuite users. In terms of Return on Investment (ROI), 30% of Acumatica user predicted they would see ROI with 12 months. For NetSuite, the figure was 23%. The numbers were the same for customers expecting ROI with 13-24 months: 30% for Acumatica vs 23% for NetSuite. For the long term, 5% of Acumatica users felt ROI would come in more than 48 months vs. 11% for NetSuite.

Get the full report here.

The G2 findings are compelling. To figure out if Acumatica is right for your business, you’ll have to see for yourself. Learn more about comparing Acumatica vs. NetSuite. We can help. We have guided many clients in their decision about which ERP solution is the best for their particular business. Contact us to learn more.