One of the biggest challenges that you face as a CFO is the lack of overview and insight into financial data. The lack of reliable reporting and analysis can lead to inefficient decision-making and missed opportunities. In this blog, Silvester Jansen, ERP Finance Consultant at Eqeep, discusses how ERP systems provide powerful reporting and analysis capabilities that help you gain in-depth insights and make strategic decisions.

An ERP system as a foundation for reliable data

The biggest advantage of a well-designed ERP system is that it connects all processes within an organisation in a single platform. This means that all data, from finance to HR, is aggregated in one place, which means you are always working with the same information. The data structures and content of data points from different systems should match, otherwise it is more difficult to analyse the data. A good ERP system ensures that you can always perform a clean analysis, as all modules are connected to each other. This way, you can be sure that you are not comparing apples with pears, but apples with apples. The result? Reliable data that you can use to support decisions.

Advanced reporting and analysis tools

Another big advantage is that you can link a modern ERP system to other platforms or data sources, such as Power BI or other specialised tools. This gives you even more valuable insights. In the past, I worked with an outdated information system myself. You couldn’t even get decent reports out of it, and you couldn’t link it to external tools either. You had to transfer everything manually to Excel, to which you then ran a macro to do the analysis. I know, still many people love Excel, but it is also very error-prone. Before you know it, a second truth emerges. With a good ERP system, where everything is continuously connected, you are always working with real-time data that is reliable and consistent. There is only one version of the truth, so you can be confident that you are making the right decisions. And, most importantly: the different sources of information reinforce each other, instead of creating noise.

Real-life example: how ERP can accelerate growth

A customer of ours, a company that is originally a family business and generates most of its revenue from one key customer, was using an outdated information system. They relied on several data and communication flows that were often inefficient. By switching to a modern ERP system, which also interfaced with this particular customer’s system, they were able to handle much more input and significantly improve communication. As a result, the company was able to increase the number of employees 10-fold within 10 years. The investment in the ERP system paid for itself in the long run.

The impact of good reporting and analysis

A future-proof ERP system not only allows you to monitor real-time data, but also helps you identify trends and make strategic decisions. By integrating all processes and data into one system, you can grow your organisation faster and more efficiently. Moreover, the reliability of the data ensures that you dare to trust the reports and analyses without any worries.

Want to know more?

At Eqeep, we help organisations accelerate their growth. Contact us for a free consultation or request a demo to find out how we can help you optimise your processes.

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