Operating a small and medium business is hard work. Juggling strategies and day-to-day needs seems almost impossible – especially in light of greater competition, customer expectation, and economic change.
Forward-thinking businesses have recognized that technology can help them improve the speed, accuracy and effectiveness of their financial processes. By using the right financial tools in conjunction with best business practices, these organizations are better able to:
· Plan: See where and how much to invest dollars, time, and energy into the business.
· Execute: Smooth product/services delivery, lower costs, increase customer satisfaction, and drive new competitive differentiation
· Measure: Understand where to optimize the business for opportunity and profit.
To get these benefits, what questions should you ask of your financial software?
1. Will this technology help me integrate my business processes? The optimal solution will allow you to integrate your purchasing, sales, inventory, customer management, communication, and productivity processes such that you gain the advantage of speed and accuracy.
2. Will this software automatically notify me of business problems and opportunities? The tool you adopt must be able to help you see financial problems before they occur through advanced reporting and notification capabilities.
3. Will the financial system help me quickly focus on what is important and gain insight? Small businesses should demand the same capabilities that large business has – insight into expenses, profitability, customers and satisfaction, productivity, new opportunity areas, and the like.
4. Is it easy to use; will my employees use it? Financial solutions should be as easy to use as traditional technology-based productivity tools. Find out about training and help desk options available to you and your employees.
5. Will the software enhance period/year end closing, tax planning, and audits? Small businesses never need to compromise on being fully GAAP compliant with full audit capabilities. The solutions you choose must speed up closing, easily transfer information to your accountant, and provide full transactional audit tracing.
6. Can I collaborate with my peers? The finances of a company don’t stand in isolation from the business or financial peers. A financial system should easily integrate with existing email and collaborative tools allowing easy transfer of information, updates, and accessibility to employees who use the system.
7. Can it grow with my business? Small business has a history of being held back by their ‘systems.’ Financial software has evolved such that now there are solutions that are easily able to scale up/down with your particular business needs. You don’t have to ‘overpay’ or ‘underpay’ at any time.
8. Is the financial system secure; is my information protected? With the realities of spam, viruses, trojans, internet intrusions, and disgruntled employees, the financial system you choose must counteract each of these and more.
9. What happens if the system ‘breaks’? Unfortunately, technology will occasionally fail. The keys to ensuring your business never stops, due to technology failure, are having the right redundancy, fail over, backup and recovery capabilities. Also key is making sure that your workers have immediate access to needed help, no matter when.
10. Will implementing the system disrupt my business? Adopting new technology and software is not for the faint of heart. Make sure that the system you choose will easily ‘slipstream’ into your existing operations without disrupting, defocusing, or taking away necessary energy from running the business.
By NextCorp, Ltd., Dallas Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM Partner