Vendors selling ERP project management software often offer many add-ons to their product that can be included in the software based on each client’s needs.

Lots of fun bells and whistle, as it were.

But before looking at the “Oooh, I WANT that!” make sure the platform has the main ERP components you need before purchasing.

3 ERP Must Have Features

One: A robust CRM

Finding, nurturing, marketing to, and ultimately selling to your prospects is possibly the second most important part of your business (the first being a high-quality product or service).

A great sales and marketing customer relationship management module lets you track where prospects are in your funnel while generating a ton of data about them. This will help you improve your sales and marketing efforts because you’ll know what information they like, when they like it, in what form they like, and when they download it.

Two: Business intelligence data collection and analysis capabilities

More and more business decisions are being made only when they are backed by solid data (no more acting on “gut feelings”). The top ERPs therefore come ready made with the capability to provide detailed and accurate reports and insights, allowing you to spot trends quickly.

Such business intelligence data/analysis capabilities and processes should be accessible across departments so that you can see a worldview of data and how different parts of your business affect others, as well as how different actions impact customer retention and company profitability.

Three: Human resources and financial management

Next to sales and having a terrific product or service is having terrific employees to sell or make them. No widget makers, no widgets to sell. No salespeople, no sales.

Just about all ERP platforms available today can handle HR tasks such as employee and contractor onboarding, timekeeping/invoices and benefits administration.

But a robust enterprise resource planner’s HR module will have a good payroll component, allowing employees and even contractors to submit timecards and invoices, while then allowing you to issue direct deposits into their specified banking accounts. All HR payments, including tax and benefits deductions should be made with the click of a mouse.

In addition, a good ERP will have an integrated timekeeping module within it: no more manually entering timesheets!

This module should be able to analyze and track all of your financial data, including AR/AP, budgets, spending vs. profit (helping you reduce costs), as well as provide you financial forecasts with data analysis. 

ERP software benefits

• A contract management module can help you measure the profitability of a sales contract (depending on the effort needed to fulfill the contract and your current resources).
• Automation features can help you automate tedious business processes, thus growing employee productivity as they have more time to concentrate on important tasks.
• Integrate the workflow and processes of different departments so that employees in different areas have a better understanding or the objectives of colleagues on different teams as well as their workloads.

Aysling is an all-in-one ERP that’s easy to deploy, configure for your business’ particular needs, use, and manage, all the while providing top-of-the line tech support (and training, if needed).

Learn more about how Aysling comes with more than just the essentials of a professional services ERP.