Best ERP Accounting Software Systems For Long-Term Financial Peace of Mind

Best ERP Systems With Accounting Capabilities

Infor CloudSuite Food and Beverage (ERP)

The Product

An adaptable, automated and extendable ERP solution especially designed for leading food and beverage industry organisations.

Ideal For

Mid-size to enterprise-size food and beverage organisations with fluctuating demand and operations that require deep, industry-specific capabilities

Industry Fit

Beverages, Food Ingredients, Dairy, Animal Feed, Pet Food, and more

Pricing

From £120 per user, per month

See If Infor CloudSuite Food and Beverage Is Right For You

Infor CloudSuite for Discrete

The Product

An adaptable, automated and extendable ERP solution especially designed for leading discrete manufacturing industry organisations.

Ideal For

Leading medium to enterprise-size discrete manufacturing organisations with make-to-order, configure-to-order, assemble-to-order or project-based workflows

Industry Fit

Defence and Security, Engineering, Automotive, Aerospace, Manufacturing, and more

Pricing

From £120 per user, per month

See If Infor CloudSuite Is Right For You

IFS ERP

The Product

A configurable enterprise resource planning solution with industry, role and user-specific workflows and lobbies.

Ideal For

Large to enterprise-size organisations in asset-intensive industries

Industry Fit

Aerospace, Defence and Security, Energy, Logistics, Manufacturing, and more

Pricing

From £250,000

See If IFS ERP Is Right For You

What Is an ERP Accounting System?

An ERP accounting system is a dedicated enterprise resource planning tool designed for accountants and finance departments to manage a business’s financial activities.

Accountancy is a mainstay core function for strong financial management, taxation, payroll, and strategic planning. Typically packaged as an accounting module, ERP Accounting Software incorporates features such as:

• General Ledger
• Accounts Payable and Receivable
• Asset and Cash Management
• Financial Reporting and Budgeting

These and additional features support the finance team’s bookkeeping and financial management efforts. When linked to the rest of the ERP, they help the broader business keep accurate financial records, identify investment issues and let leaders make better-informed business decisions.

When planning for ERP implementation, accounting features are seen as the most critical ERP function by 89% of decision-makers.

Why CFOs and Accountants Opt For ERP Accounting Software

There are three main reasons why businesses opt for an ERP-focused accounting system:

1. The business is growing and leaders require a broader view of financial data
2. Teams need access to data for insights to drive product and market growth
3. The business is a collection of siloed teams with no centralised data source

The first people to consider an ERP are often accountants – 23% of employees from finance and accounting teams push for ERP Software adoption alongside IT department employees. They will have a clear understanding of the broader financial impact of a better, wider, view of capital and revenue across business processes.

Adopting ERP Accounting Software can extend and integrate that information across departments, branches and divisions. An ERP makes key finance data live and accessible to a range of key roles within the company, improving clarity.

Reporting becomes more timely and related to detailed business processes, not just a product or department. All of which creates more detailed insights that are easier to understand business performance from.

These insights enable the accounts team to track financial data as it flows across the business. While leaders can identify growth areas, and high-cost departments and adapt the business with a focus on growth.

The broader benefits of an ERP accounting system are the integration of data from multiple areas of the business, including production, sales and supply chains, offering greater operational flexibility and insights. Linking finance to a bill of materials, and suppliers and meeting other governance and compliance needs boost business performance.

The Challenges of Choosing an ERP Accounting System

When compared to more account-focused solutions, ERP Accounting Software presents its own challenges:

• Requires leadership buy-in
• Complex adoptions can take months or longer (and not all will succeed)
• Team training is required to use the system
• Can be challenging and complex to deploy with legacy system data
• May require additional fees to integrate with existing applications/modules

Depending on your needs, some accounting software providers offer an ERP that creates a direct upgrade path. For others, choosing a new ERP can have many advantages that outweigh remaining with your original provider. ERP Accounting Software is a relatively modern cross-business solution to link all that data.

So, with ERPs taking over more finance features across departments, does a company need an ERP solution, an accounts package, or both?

That’s a question that many operations managers, IT and business leaders ask when considering adopting new software. Or if they plan to upgrade legacy applications (many firms still use spreadsheets for accounting), or when a business is looking to implement an ERP to unify corporate reporting.

ERP Accounting System vs. Accounting Software

The key difference between an ERP and accounting software is the scope across the business that the ERP application provides.

Most businesses start with an accounts package for payroll and expense management. But as they grow they soon find it hard to link siloed finance information with sales, production, marketing, supply chain, and returns.

For smaller organisations looking to keep the lights on, accounting software provides a quick-to-adopt and easy-to-use solution for balancing the books without unnecessary complexity.

Successful Use-Cases For ERP Accounting Software

ERP is typically the domain of manufacturing, distribution and industrial services business. But seen wide adoption across professional services, healthcare and other sectors. With a keen eye on cost, they are more likely to focus on running their accounts through the ERP rather than using discrete applications.

Advanced ERP accounting features that larger firms might require include streamlining of audits, improved audit trails, management of joint venture initiatives and financing, and insights into high-volume or high-risk accounts.

As for proven results, one business using QuickBooks and a third-party payroll provider, found that it was nearly impossible to keep accurate time records and reconcile payroll with general ledger accounts. The business turned to an ERP accounting module to manage its accounting and payroll processes, reducing payroll processing time by 84% and balancing accounts faster.

In another case, Noble Biomaterials adopted an ERP “after the company experienced significant growth. Initially, the motivation was optimizing their financial and accounting operations, but eventually, management and IT teams also wanted one source of truth to support company-wide processes”.

Other use cases of an ERP include coping with changing business legislation and new technology that will impact accounting. Cloud ERPs feature the latest AI and machine learning technology to generate better insights based on business data.

As Gartner points out, “By 2026, 30% of enterprises will rely on their ERP applications to enable environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting.” All features that will trickle down to smaller businesses in years to come.

How AI, Automation & Blockchain Impact ERP Accounting Tools

All businesses that are looking to automate or reduce the volume of manual processes will investigate ERPs. Most find that giving managers and workers access to smarter, clearer informational tools to perform more high-value tasks is a compelling use case.

This approach can also apply to accounts where many still use manual processes for growing volumes of work that will become unsustainable. Deploying an ERP accounting system will also benefit accounts, by simplifying tasks like accounts receivable and payable, while improving cash flow and management.

On the horizon, Blockchain is a transformative ledger technology that will likely impact accounts in the coming years. Blockchain improves the security and reliability of transactions but still requires verification. As business becomes more automated, blockchains and digital assets/finance will increasingly come to the fore to speed up transactions and increase security.

Experts have recently explained how CFOs will increasingly rely on “inhuman accountants” using AI in ERPs to detect fraud and help auditors spot unusual transactions.

Can Businesses Use Both ERP and Accounting Software?

One reason that a business might need to run both types of software is that one could be compatible with generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP). This choice makes it easier to certify and present accounts to auditors.

Some businesses that work in regulated markets such as banking and government might also have to report in a particular manner that requires accounting software over an ERP, although modern ERP Software should meet all GAAP or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) reporting needs.

Overall, there are good reasons for the use of both. But as a business grows, risking a disconnect between accounts and the rest of the organisation can put a company at a competitive disadvantage.