Excel is not an ERP

Excel was launched in the mid 1980s and has been a significant go-to business management software for many years.? There’s no denying that Excel is a great tool, being used to support all kinds of business processes.?

Excel manages data effectively but it’s when businesses rely too heavily on it, this is when issues begin to arise. Excel is so often open for huge human error.? There’s no tracking of who has edited a spreadsheet and what they have amended, complex formulae being removed/changed by accident impacting so many other Excel workbooks, the list is scarily endless….!? As a business grows, it can be a recipe for disaster, it’s quite daunting that so many businesses still rely so heavily on it.?

While Excel serves as a basic tool for creating spreadsheets and performing calculations,?it falls short in terms of process efficiency and automation capabilities as well as reporting capabilities and this is where ERP systems excel (excuse the pun!). ?Excel spreadsheets as an ERP isn’t enough.?

ERP Software helps you run your entire business, supporting automation and processes in finance, human resources, manufacturing, supply chain, services, procurement, and much more, with all users having access to it in real time.? In comparison Excel couldn’t be more the opposite.? It’s easy for employees to make changes to a spreadsheet, save it as a new version, and start sharing it. This makes it nearly impossible to track if your teams are working from the correct and most up to date data. ??Sometimes, the associated risks are only minor. Other times, the inaccuracies can be huge for a business. This is especially the case when it comes to production and supply chain management, where working off old or unreliable data could be detrimental to the entire business.

In a nutshell, Excel is the simplest solution but as a business grows, the shift to an ERP system is paramount.? We see it all the time, client reliance on Excel and not knowing how or when to take that leap to ERP.? And we get it, it’s a massive shift but one which in the long term will streamline and automate various business processes, leading to increased operational efficiency and protect a business’ future.?

If you need any guidance on moving away from Excel as your business management solution, please get in contact with us.?