Tag Archive for: Functions and Integrations

ERP software with integrated financial accounting

Regardless of whether you run a small business or a large corporation: Financial accounting is a particularly important topic for every company. If only because it is heavily regulated by law. Manage all relevant data, receipts and supporting documents properly. This will help you avoid problems with tax authorities or other institutions. There are various methods for this. In this article you will learn

– what methods are available

– what exactly finance and accounting means

– what benefits ERP software with financial accounting offers you

What does finance and accounting actually mean?

Sometimes you stumble across certain topics or terms in everyday life: You know roughly what they mean, but don’t quite understand them or can’t explain them. For some people, this certainly includes finance and accounting. The first thing you should know is that finance and accounting should be considered separately.

Finance

Finance encompasses all economic areas that deal with finance in any form. It is made up of five sub-areas:

  • Finance (procurement of equity and debt capital)
  • Accounting (recording and monitoring all cash and service flows)
  • Liquidity management (securing sufficient funds)
  • Treasury (building up collateral to minimise financial risks in the event of a crisis)
  • Controlling (planning, management and control of all areas of the company)

A distinction is also made between public and private finance.

Public finance

The public sector (federal government, federal states and municipalities) requires financial resources to fulfil public tasks. The public finance system regulates how these funds are raised, managed and utilised by the public sector.

Private finance

As the name suggests, private finance deals with the finances of private individuals. In addition to investments, shares, the stock market and banking transactions, this also includes taxes and insurance.

Accounting

Accounting is a sub-area of finance. It consists of the areas of financial accounting (external accounting), controlling (internal accounting), statistics and planning. All business operations, including all cash and service flows, are recorded and controlled in accounting. Both processes that are directed outwards and those that take place within the company. Data that you need for planning and control can also be documented in accounting. Accounting is divided into two categories:

External accounting

External accounting deals with all transactions relating to the past. Legislation requires a company to disclose certain internal data – primarily in order to be able to assess the company’s financial situation. This is why every company is obliged to prepare annual financial statements, including a balance sheet, once a year. For this purpose, all incoming and outgoing payments, values of financial investments and loans are recorded objectively and chronologically. The resulting information on the company’s assets and earnings situation is then passed on to the public – including the tax office, investors, banks and suppliers.

Internal accounting

Internal accounting, on the other hand, calculates all future costs and services. This allows you to plan and control company processes. All information relating to the company’s processes, services and profits is recorded, documented and processed. Internal company decisions are then made on the basis of this data, with the aim of maximising the company’s success. This is an important area, as it allows the company’s profitability to be assessed. High costs or, on the other hand, particularly profitable areas of the enterprise.

Financial accounting and software

Are you looking for a suitable solution for digital financial accounting? Is your first thought the use of an ERP system? Probably not. Initially, you probably associate it more with the planning and control of resources and their optimization. Nowadays, however, ERP systems can do much more. Finance and accounting, for example, are now standard functions of many modern ERP solutions. However, many decision-makers do not pay too much attention to this function during the selection process – a mistake, as many SMEs are still wasting great potential in this area. There are various ways to manage financial accounting. Which one is best to use? That depends entirely on what your goal is: whether you just want to handle the purely mandatory part or whether you want to utilise the information – and thus have a better overview of the entire company.

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ERP system without accounting

Small companies often use an ERP system mainly for materials management and sales. Invoices and receipts are passed on to the tax consultant, as there is often a lack of time and qualified personnel. The disadvantage here is that a tax consultant is quite cost-intensive. In addition, there is often no overview of the company’s key figures.

ERP system with interface to accounting

This method is often used by companies whose ERP system either does not offer an additional module for financial accounting – or who already work with accounting software and do not want to part with it. Every single movement from purchases and sales is transferred from the ERP system via the interface to the accounting software. However, this method also has its disadvantages. You need trained accounting staff. Data is often exchanged at the interface with a time delay. This can mean that the data is not always up to date. In addition, the use of multiple systems always harbours a risk. Errors can easily occur when transferring or entering data. This naturally distorts the results, which is a particular problem in accounting.

ERP system with integrated financial accounting

With this method, you first need to set up a few items, customers and suppliers. Only then can you post all expenses and revenues correctly. The movements from purchases and sales are then automatically reflected in the accounting. All other expenses that do not result from purchases or sales are recorded through debit and credit entries – such as rent, electricity and telephone. You can create official reports directly in the programme.

Benefits of integrated financial accounting

Integrated financial accounting software offers you a number of advantages. For example, this method enables more in-depth analyses, as all data is stored in a central location.

Centralised database

An ERP system brings together all the important data from a wide range of business areas. Accounting, on the other hand, spends a lot of time collecting information and managing documents. Both areas are dependent on high-quality and standardised data. The great benefit of an ERP system with integrated financial accounting is that there is only one central data pool that you have to maintain. Of course, accounting also benefits from this function. As part of the ERP infrastructure, digital financial accounting is connected to other areas of the company. Much of the information that accounting needs is often already part of the data pool of an ERP system.

Data exchange with other departments

Once you have recorded data, you can simply transfer it and use, supplement and analyse it in other areas. Integrated time recording allows the HR department, for example, to see which employee has worked when. The accounting department can access this data and make payroll processing much more efficient. The use of a single platform eliminates duplicate entries and significantly reduces maintenance. The absence of an interface also eliminates a risk factor. The accounting department therefore has less work and at the same time the company’s ability to provide information is improved.

High quality of the database

There are several functions that help to ensure the high quality of the database. Duplicate entries are automatically corrected and entered data is checked for logical connections and plausibility. The data is also updated in real time, so the bookings are always up to date.

Automated processes

Another advantage is that an ERP system can carry out a large proportion of the necessary work steps independently. It is important for accounting that payment flows from purchases and sales are correctly allocated. If accounting is handled via an ERP system, customer and supplier data can be obtained automatically. Incoming and outgoing invoices are then automatically created, allocated to the correct accounts and posted. In addition, the information stored in the accounting system is also available to users from other areas of the company.

Standardised interface

Users of the ERP system have a standardised user interface. This means that they only need one password to work in different areas. This not only simplifies day-to-day work, but is also particularly useful for backing up data.

Conclusion

Every company is different and there is no one-size-fits-all solution that can be recommended for everyone. However, the requirements for transparency, up-to-dateness and quality of business data are constantly increasing. From a certain company size, the use of an ERP system with integrated financial accounting makes perfect sense – especially if you want to use the data for more than just tax reasons. Or if you want to know and analyse your business and its key figures in detail. However, you should not forget that this always requires trained accounting staff.

Would you like to find out more about integrated financial accounting or the full range of TimeLine ERP functions? Send us a message using the contact form, or contact our sales team on +49 212 230 35 200. We will be happy to help you and look forward to hearing from you!

Achieve the highest level of customer loyalty with CRM

Depending on the industry, the number of returning customers can quickly reach 80 percent or more – provided you use the support of a good CRM system. With increased transparency, price-driven customers are quick to place single orders. But with a good CRM system, you can call them back at the right time, improve interaction and communication – and build a strong and loyal relationship. In this article, we will show you how you can effectively increase customer loyalty with TimeLine ERP.

All the information you need at your fingertips

As soon as a call comes in, TimeLine ERP compares the phone number with existing contacts for all business partners. A pop-up window immediately opens, allowing you to jump to the business partner’s information. In addition to the open items, you can view all related call histories and documents for customers, prospects and suppliers to help you communicate.

Eine neue Aktivität in der CRM-Software erfassen

Berichtet der Geschäftspartner etwas Neues, zum Beispiel wann welches Produkt wieder interessant für ihn oder sie wird? Oder erwähnt der Ansprechpartner vielleicht, dass er demnächst auf der Messe ist, die ihr bereits seit Monaten plant? All diese Informationen sind wertvoll und sollten als Aktivitäten eingetragen werden. Bei jeder Aktivität können Dokumente hinterlegt werden, sowie ein Bearbeiter, ein Ansprechpartner und ein Wiedervorlagedatum. Zeitgleich kann ein Geschäftspartner einem Verteiler zugeordnet werden, dessen Definition euch selbst überlassen ist.

Create a new activity in the CRM software

Does the business partner report something new, such as when a product will be of interest again? Or perhaps they mention that they will soon be attending the trade show you have been planning for months? Information is key, so every lead should be tracked as an activity. For each activity, you can store documents, an editor, a contact person, and a follow-up date. At the same time, a business partner can be assigned to a distribution list that you define.

Automatic Reminder

Activities that involve resubmission appear in your existing calendar. This means that no follow-up is forgotten and the customer, prospect or supplier receives a reminder – or perhaps even an offer – in time. The telephone link from the business partner information can be used again for this purpose. Just double-click on the contact’s phone number to initiate a call. At the same time, quotes or even orders can be created directly from the module. In the cockpit you will find all follow-ups, calendar entries and to-dos in a single module. This is clearly displayed as a list and you can react to actions at any time.

Mail merge in CRM

Once customers have been assigned to appropriate distribution lists, a serial mailing could be a good strategy. Especially for industry-specific mailings or personalized company newsletters, it makes perfect sense for customer loyalty and can be easily accomplished with a CRM. Use integrated campaigns that can be limited to a specific postal code, business partner or mailing list, to strengthen customer retention in a targeted manner.

Location-independent and mobile

Access to customer data is essential for management, field service, and sales, regardless of location. In most cases, however, not only the most important sales figures are required, but also internal documents, drawings or emails. This is where the integrated document management system comes to the aid of the CRM – and also makes all documents available in our iPad and iPhone apps. This data can also be managed completely offline. To do this, the desired customer data only needs to be made available offline once in advance. Any changes made to the customer, supplier or prospect can then be synchronized back at any time. This makes it possible to work at locations without Internet access!

Want to maximize customer loyalty with CRM?

Would you like more integration options, ways to increase customer retention, or are you missing features? Let us know by leaving a comment! All features have been developed in cooperation with our customers, from the field, for the field. For better customer satisfaction – and better success for your business.

Want to learn more about CRM or the full range of TimeLine ERP features? Send us a message using the contact form, write to [email protected] or contact our sales team at +49 212 230 35 200. We look forward to hearing from you!

ERP developments enable new production technologies

The roots of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) go back several decades. In the 1970s, the first versions helped large companies with material requirements planning. Material Requirements Planning (MRP) is the forerunner of today’s modern ERP systems. In the 1980s, systems began to add production planning and control capabilities. As a result, their use was no longer limited to the industrial sector. It was not until around 2000 that the ERP system we know today was created. Sales, accounting and human resources modules are integrated. The term “ERP” was coined by Gartner, the well-known provider of market research and analysis. But what ERP developments can we expect in the near future?

Although there are still companies that use many different applications – so-called isolated solutions – according to a Bitkom survey, one in three German companies uses ERP software. Another 21% are even planning to introduce it. Today, ERP systems are true everyday heroes, whether in small or large companies. As the backbone of information technology, they have become indispensable in many companies. Consisting of various modules linked by a common database, they enable better collaboration. ERP provides visibility, handles routine tasks, and optimizes operational processes. Real-time information allows better decisions to be made and customer needs to be met.

ERP developments in the coming years

The development of new ERP software is both more feared and more necessary than ever. On the one hand, intervening in a complex system is always risky. On the other hand, evolution is important because business processes change over time. To remain useful, ERP must be able to keep pace with these changes. The market and needs change quickly, so staying current is not easy. Here are the top ERP developments.

Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things as key challenges

Digitization is becoming increasingly important. In this context, we hear the term Industry 4.0 all the time, but what does it really mean? After mechanization (Industry 1.0), mass production (Industry 2.0) and automation (Industry 3.0), Industry 4.0 marks the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution. New technologies are boosting production for companies, creating growth opportunities and competitive benefits. The basic idea behind these developments is the creation of “smart factories”. Automation is optimized by intelligent machines that communicate and exchange data independently.

Industry 4.0 goes hand in hand with the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a logical evolutionary step. Up to now, it has been mainly us humans who have exchanged information with each other. In the future, however, machines and inanimate objects that are not normally connected to the internet will independently exchange data with each other. When connected to a network, they will be able to communicate with other systems in the chain. The IoT is the bridge between the physical and digital worlds and is an integral part of many Industry 4.0 projects. According to the study “Wettbewerbsfaktor Analytics im Internet der Dinge” by the University of Potsdam, 43.5% of the companies surveyed stated that they have actively addressed the issue of the Internet of Things. 15% have integrated IoT applications into their existing processes to increase efficiency, with the main area of application being process monitoring. The great potential of the Internet of Things can be seen in the manufacturing industry.

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Big data from the Internet of Things

Imagine a machine that can send its performance data directly to the manufacturer via the Internet. If, for example, a component or value is not working properly, the machine could inform the operator and send a message to the manufacturer, whereupon an employee would deliver the specific spare parts. Smart factories are an evolution of this basic idea. For example, a manufacturing plant could start production automatically when it receives an order. However, the global volume of data is also growing in line with these ERP developments. In the context of Industry 4.0, data is generated in particular by machines, transport equipment, workpieces and products. It is often measurement and sensor data that is collected automatically. There are two aspects to big data. One is the ever-increasing volume of data, and the other is the IT solutions that help companies manage this data.

What role does ERP play in this development?

Until now, most ERP systems have tended to be used within the company. The need for complete and transparent data is growing. The ERP system serves as a central hub and will become even more important as an integration platform. Customer information and product data will be linked with production and logistics data from the manufacturing level. The Internet of Things is becoming an additional source of data. As the number of applications grows, so does the need for interfaces. The ERP system also plays an important role in smart factories. Almost all business processes can be supported and external systems and platforms can be integrated. Important company data is managed and stored appropriately. It is not yet clear to what extent these developments will be adopted by companies. A custom, unified database is particularly important to ensure that all processes run hand in hand. Without an intact IT infrastructure, the ideas cannot be realized, as there are many business processes that need to be managed.

ERP grows beyond itself – grow with it!

If you would like to learn more about ERP developments or the full range of TimeLine ERP features, please send us a message using the contact form, write to [email protected] or contact our sales team at +49 212 230 35 200. We look forward to hearing from you and will be happy to advise you!