Is it time for your accounting or professional services firm to upgrade to an ERP?

As your organisation grows, diversifies, and acquires new firms, your operations can become increasingly difficult to manage off separate and disconnected software solutions. This is where an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can add enormous value, bringing key functions together on one integrated platform.

As a professional service-based organisation you may have already considered an ERP, but not implemented one as you found they lacked the key workflows and modules required for your work, especially around practice management. Understandably, you don’t want the expense of implementing an ERP and then having to integrate a separate practice management solution with it.

Fortunately, you don’t need to as you now choose an ERP that natively has practice management capabilities built in – a first for the Australasian market. This guide tells you about this software solution, so you can decide whether it’s the right fit for your firm. Let’s jump in.

What's an ERP?

An ERP is a software solution for your whole firm. It allows you to integrate all your key workflows and bring together data from all your various offices. By choosing a specialised professional services ERP, you can manage your clients, work in progress, employees, payroll, finances, suppliers, accounting and tax, all through the one system.

What's the value of an ERP?

An ERP enables you to grow, expand and manage your operations without the roadblocks of inadequate software systems and processes. It provides you the technology platform you need to increase efficiency across the board, realise your potential and achieve your goals. Here’s how:

Visibility

An ERP allows you to digitally connect different offices, so you’re all working off the same software solution. This visibility facilitates easier communication and greater collaboration, which typically enhances efficiency and results in a better client experience. Further, with an ERP able to harvest data from across your firm, you can view company information through whichever lens you require. This means you can easily:

• track billables
• identify trends or anomalies quickly
• set key performance indicators and measure results against them
• identify where improvements are needed, and
• make fast, effective decisions.

Integration

All your ERP’s modules natively integrate with each other. This means when you update data in one place on your platform, the change flows through all connected software components, so you’re always working with the latest data. In contrast, when you’re using a clutch of software solutions that don't integrate well, silos and data discrepancies inevitably emerge, which slow you down and impact client service.

Automation

Digitisation and integration mean you can automate workflows. With your ERP able to run a range of tasks and activities autonomously, such as transitioning workflow stages for clients based on activity or alerting staff based on WIP or billables reaching pre-defined thresholds, you can free up time. This may enable you to take on more clients without needing to increase headcount. In a time of skills shortage, this is particularly beneficial.

A single client record across all offices and service lines

With a unified CRM across all service lines and offices, you can gain a single life-time view of any one client. This means you can keep an eye on the life-time-value of a client, see how their billables across one or more service lines are tracking, and even identify CRM opportunities based on what is known.

Why choose a native professional services ERP?

While most ERPs can bring together a company’s financials, customer relationship management, marketing automation, payroll and more, it’s worth assessing how well they work for a service-based firm. Most generalist ERPs on the market - such as NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics - don’t sufficiently address practice management requirements or fit how accountants manage their client work on a day-to-day basis. As a result, it’s hard to get full value from the software.

A better solution is a native professional services ERP. For example, MYOB Advanced Professional Services is an open, customisable cloud ERP solution that’s expertly designed for accounting and professional services firms. This means it offers additional, specialist functionality to help you grow your customer base and make smarter decisions to increase business value. Some of its features and benefits include:

• Job management — you can see the practice’s workload and schedule jobs easily; see the status of every project on any device in real time with a complete view of budgets, timelines and job progress.
• Financial management — you can simplify financial management with integrated debtor collection, payment options, and general ledger for a comprehensive view of the firm’s finances; speed up accounting processes by automating bank feeds and approvals for conforming expense claims, timesheets and invoices; track performance and profitability.
• Billing and work-in-progress — you can create and send invoices directly from the platform; automate reconciliations and late payment reminders; reduce debtor days and lock up with real-time reporting.
• CRM and marketing — you can manage and access client details across multi-entries and for multi-locations with a centralised customer relationship management (CRM) system; capture and track new prospects and nurture them to engagement; segment clients and use marketing automation to keep in touch with them via newsletters, email campaigns and notifications.
• Payroll management — you can simplify payroll and ensure accuracy and compliance with MYOB Advanced Payroll; offer employee self-service to allow staff to check details, apply for leave and view payslips themselves; manage the complete end-to-end payroll process within the platform — from time entry to general ledger posting, payment creation, tax agency submission and payslip distribution.

Assess whether an ERP is right for you

It’s important to bear in mind that an ERP is a significant software investment, so you need to make sure it’s the right decision for your practice. Firms need to be ready for change and have the drive and resources to bring everyone in the company on the journey with them.

Firms that have successful ERP implementations prioritise change management. They have an executive sponsor and typically one or more change management champions who bring together cross-functional teams to listen to feedback, avert concerns and get everyone onboard.

Working with an experienced and trusted business partner is also extremely beneficial. MYOB has serviced the accountants and professional services market for many decades and can guide firms through the implementation process.

The first step is an initial scoping exercise to determine business requirements and work out whether MYOB Advanced Professional Services is a suitable fit for your firm.

If it’s too much for your needs and you’re unlikely to get full value from it, another option to consider is MYOB Practice Management (previously known as GreatSoft). MYOB Practice Management is a flexible, cloud-based solution that integrates with MYOB’s broader business management platform.