? EDITOR ’ S QUESTION //
“
EVERYONE IS TIME POOR ,
AND OUTDATED SYSTEMS
THAT LACK VISIBILITY AND CONNECTIVITY
CAUSE TASKS TO TAKE LONGER , REDUCE PROFIT
MARGINS AND IMPEDE
GROWTH .
F rom 2021 to 2022 , more than 160,000 new businesses were established in Australia . There are around 2.4 million small- and mediumsized enterprises in the country , contributing over US $ 700 billion to the economy as of 2021 . These organisations predominantly utilise Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and basic accounting software to operate their businesses .
However , as businesses grow , they become more complex , with additional staff , stock keeping units ( SKUs ), product lines and expenses . Managing this increased complexity gets harder as employees spend more time on administrative tasks like manually transferring data between systems , while the finance team struggles to determine the costs of creating and delivering products , leading to guesswork and slow processes . Everyone is time poor , and outdated systems that lack visibility and connectivity cause tasks to take longer , reduce profit margins and impede growth .
Enterprise resource planning ( ERP ) software solves these problems . With ERP , all aspects of your business are integrated into one single system , connecting your accounting , payroll , inventory , service management , CRM and more . This means seamless workflows from start to finish , better management of complex operations and real-time access to see exactly what is happening in your business at any time . ERP enables SMEs to make smarter and faster decisions , improve productivity and scale operations without being restricted by clunky software or manual processes .
For example , warehouse managers can track and process inventory in real-time , preventing issues of over or under-buying of stock . Similarly , field service staff can provide quotes and receive payments while on-site , improving cash flow . Business owners and finance managers can also easily see exactly where improvements can be made , helping them to make faster and smarter decisions .
Unfortunately , there is still a lingering assumption that adopting an ERP solution is costly and painful . This perception arose because ERP systems were initially designed for larger organisations , requiring significant upfront investments and maintenance of onsite servers .
However , with the rise of cloud-based technology and subscription-based business models in recent years , small- and mediumsized enterprises can now easily access ERP solutions at a much lower cost . By investing in ERP platforms , SMEs can gain significant operational advantages for less than half the cost of an employee ’ s wages .
Similarly , for teams used to working with spreadsheets , the shift to ERP software is far less daunting than one might think . Our ERP solution is built on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central platform , equipping your staff to continue using the tools they ’ re familiar with . Invoices can be generated and sent through Microsoft Outlook , and data can be exported to Microsoft Excel , updated and imported with just a few clicks .
There is no doubt that building a company brings enormous challenges , but with the right software , SMEs can be empowered to work faster , make smarter decisions and move their businesses forward .
CHARLIE WOOD , CEO , WIISE
22 intelligent
. tech
Intelligent SME . tech