Is it valuable for your professional services company to invest in cloud ERP software? The answer is a big resounding yes. Here are 4 reasons why.
As a professional services or project-based company, your business model means you need a way to manage projects and budgets, time and expenses, invoicing and figuring out your project's performance. If your team completes these processes manually or uses multiple, disjointed solutions, they are likely to face common issues that waste time and effort. These may include:
Having to re-enter the same information in several places
Complicated and tedious time and expense entry
Difficulty in managing projects or getting insight into performance
There is an easier way to solve these ongoing challenges. Cloud ERP (enterprise resource planning) software can help you run all your core business processes on the same platform. This will help you drive successful projects, waste less time on data entry, and operate more efficiently as a whole.
Why Use Cloud ERP for Professional Services?
In an ever-changing field, with increasing demands, professional services companies will significantly benefit from a flexible and agile solution that can consolidate their project management, resource management, accounting processes, and optimize daily operations.
In the professional services industry, time is money. A correctly implemented cloud ERP solution will help your company become more efficient while making it easy to track time, expenses, and employee billability.
A cloud ERP solution can simplify your day-to-day, automate resource allocation, help you manage and oversee the front and back-end operations, and will provide a birds-eye view into your financials. Cloud ERP offers numerous advantages for professional service businesses. Read on to discover the top 5 ways your company can benefit.
More productivity, efficiency, and profitability
A cloud ERP solution will help you automate your core processes and eliminate manual tasks and costly human errors. Cloud ERP solutions with service automation capabilities will help you streamline your project lifecycles, oversee project status in real-time, and quickly react to situations or issues as they arise. You can also track and maintain all stages of a client's lifecycle with a cloud ERP solution. Automation means your employees spend less time on tedious tasks such as data entry, which frees them up to focus on revenue-generating projects.
Better financial visibility and reporting
Cloud ERP can help professional services companies simplify their reporting and gain better visibility into their financial performance by having a comprehensive, real-time view into their financial data. For instance, Dynamics 365 Business Central, a mid-market cloud ERP solution by Microsoft, has built-in dashboards so end-users can view real-time cashflow reports, identify financial patterns, analyze trends, and improve their business planning. Cloud ERP also reduces month- and year-end closing times.
Improved communication and customer experience
Cloud ERP facilitates seamless communication between different business units for professional services companies, breaking down silos and making it easier for teams to collaborate with each other. Centralize collaboration, project planning, resource scheduling to produce accurate project plans and estimates. You will also be able to deliver exceptional customer service. For instance, D365 Business Central comes with in-built CRM functionality that helps you deliver on promised outcomes – you can track customer agreements to access details, offer flexible pricing, and live up to service promises by keeping track of service agreements.
Become more agile, scalable, and mobile
One of the main draws of cloud ERP is the ability to access real-time information from anywhere, on any device, as long as you have an internet connection. This means that your team can work remotely or on the go as needed - safely and securely. This level of flexibility allows you to keep up with your business no matter where you are and serve clients across various time zones. Other benefits of cloud ERP include reduced IT expenses, enhanced security, and easier integration, to name a few. You'll also be able to scale easily as you grow your business without letting your software dictate the rate of expansion.
Dynamics 365 Business Central for Professional Services Firms
Dynamics 365 Business Central is a mid-market cloud ERP solution with robust functionality that will meet the needs of a professional services or project-based business. With modules for project management, service management, financial management, and more, it helps you ensure successful project execution and profitability with planning, resourcing, tracking, costing, billing, accounting, and real-time intelligence.
Here are some ways Business Central can help professional services firms:
You can improve your project costing and accounting by using timesheets, advanced job costing, and reporting.
You'll be able to manage resource utilization by planning capacity and sales. It's easy to track customer invoicing against planned or actual costs on orders and quotes.
You can get real-time business intelligence on project status, profitability, and resource utilization metrics.
Not to mention, Business Central is integrated with Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365), so your team can continue using the tools they are familiar with.
To learn more about whether Dynamics 365 Business Central is right for your professional services or project-based organization, you can sign up for our free one-day Business Central assessment or get in touch with the Kwixand team for more information.
About Kwixand Solutions
Kwixand Solutions is a Dynamics 365 Business Central partner, and we help organizations across North America digitally transform, streamline their operations, and meet their business goals. Visit our company page to learn more about who we are and our values, or head to our services page to better understand how we can help your business.
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