As an executive within an organization, communication between departments is one of your biggest challenges. Misunderstood messages, forgotten invoices or unsynchronized processes can lead to delays, errors and unnecessary costs. In this blog, Erik Koevoet, Manager Central Support Office at Eqeep, shares how ERP systems improve communication and streamline collaboration.

Working efficiently and mistake-proof with an ERP system

Many companies experience communication problems that undermine their efficiency. A pity, because such problems are often preventable. Good communication starts with aligning and establishing processes. Once you have clear agreements in place, an ERP system helps you go through these steps in the correct sequence. In that sense, an ERP system is an extremely valuable tool. Imagine: you have just coordinated something with a colleague, and suddenly you get a phone call or something urgent comes up. Before you know it, you forget to approve an invoice or forget to report an error. You can prevent this kind of human mistakes with an ERP system. The system displays open tasks, such as approving an invoice, in a clear manner. You can even set up rules so that payments are prepared automatically, leaving you with only to approve them. This prevents delays and increases efficiency. This not only improves your relationship with suppliers, but also with colleagues and the budget supervisor. Everyone will see that things are completed on time and that agreements are kept.

Up to date overview with an ERP system

With NetSuite, you always have an up-to-date overview of your bank data. Every afternoon at 1PM, the numbers are updated. Although this allows you to see the situation of 1PM and not the minute after, it does provide a reliable basis for decisions. The same goes for time tracking. As a project manager when you receive an Excel sheet with hours worked, you don’t immediately know whether those hours have already actually been processed in the project. But as soon as you submit the hours via the ERP system, they are registered correctly. As a result, you always have clear and consistent information. Whether this data is completely correct does depend on the agreements and work processes that have been established. Do you have projects with billable and non-billable hours? Then make sure you separate them clearly, otherwise you will get wrong numbers. With the right process agreements processed in your ERP system, reporting and communication become much more clear. This does not mean that everything will be perfect, because faultless communication remains an utopia. After all, people communicate and interpret differently. Nevertheless, with an ERP system you reduce the chance of mistakes substantially.

In practice

Let me take a concrete example. Recently I was told by HR that the invoices of a certain supplier were still pending, although they had already been approved. In the ERP system, I indeed saw that all invoices had been approved, but not paid. As it turned out, this supplier was not signed up for electronic payment, so its bank details were not known to the bank. As a result, the payments could not be made. This example highlights how important well-established processes are.When creating a new supplier, you need to arrange standard things like electronic payment and filling in bank and address details. Therefore, if this is not done, problems can occur. Whether it’s approving hours, assigning login credentials for new employees or invoicing customers: when all processes are set up properly, the workflow runs smoothly and you have little to worry about. But if you don’t make clear agreements in your procedures beforehand, not a single ERP system will function properly.

Inspired?

Want to know how an ERP system can improve communication and collaboration within your organization? Contact us for a free consultation or request a demo to find out how we can help you optimize your processes. 

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