6 ways accounting integration is a lot like a well-planned Thanksgiving meal...
Wednesday, October 4, 2017Lauren Macdonald
Whether you’re a Canadian who’s days away from Thanksgiving, or an American who still can’t understand why your neighbours up North seem to jump the gun with Thanksgiving in October, we’re here to tell you that planning your Thanksgiving meal can be easier than you think. We’re also here to explain how integrating your back-office systems can make your Thanksgiving weekend much less stressful and a lot more relaxing.
Hear us out:
1. It ‘un-complicates’ things.
Didn’t Thanksgiving dinner seem a lot simpler back in the day? Y’know, before social media took over and suddenly there was pressure to have the nicest table setting of all your friends, and the most elaborately cooked turkey? In fact, apparently a turkey is no longer sufficient. Some people now stuff their turkey with duck and chicken to make “Turducken”. We’re not joking.
Well, back in the day the retail industry was a lot simpler as well. If people wanted to sell their products and services they did so on the shelves of their local stores. Easy-peasy.
But today, it’s a lot more complicated than it used to be. Now we exist in a world of multichannel shopping experiences where there are more ways than ever for merchants to sell their wares. If you want to sell in-store with the big-box retailers of the world, you have to meet complex EDI requirements for doing so. If you want to sell online, you need to understand the various eCommerce platforms and online marketplaces that will enable you to do so. Then comes the added complexity of keeping track of orders, inventory, shipping, and more, when selling products in so many different places.
Luckily, accounting integration can un-complicate things for you. By integrating your back-office application with your online store(s) and EDI trading partners, you can create an automated process that will ensure you never lose track of an order, run out of stock, or ship something to the wrong location ever again.
As for your Thanksgiving dinner… we suggest sticking to the basics. You can’t go wrong with turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, people.
2. It takes the pressure off the person in charge.
If you’ve ever been solely responsible for preparing a Thanksgiving meal, you know first-hand how overwhelming it can be. Did you forget to buy the carrots? Burn the potatoes? Overcook the turkey? Cut yourself while carving? The possibility for errors is endless, and don’t forget about the pressure you’ve put on yourself to impress your Mother-in-law with a perfect meal.
The same can be said for the one individual solely responsible for manual data entry to and from your back-office accounting or ERP. There’s a lot of pressure on this individual to get it right, every time.
Accounting integration can relieve this person of their duties and eliminate the possibility of mistakes being made as a result of re-keying data. It’s kind of like cooking Thanksgiving dinner as part of an assembly line where every step is automated and efficient.
3. Too many mouths to feed? (Or orders to process?) No problem.
Have you ever invited 5 people to Thanksgiving dinner and somehow 25 have shown up? Before you know it, you’re feeding dinner to your brother’s girlfriend’s ex-father-in-law’s sister. How did that even happen? And how on earth are you going to feed so many people?
Peak retail days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday can leave retailers feeling a similar kind of defeat when what they expected to be a few dozen orders, suddenly snowballs into hundreds. It’s a good problem to have—but it can leave you overwhelmed with manual data entry and a backlog of orders that will seemingly never get processed.
That is, unless you have a reliable accounting integration solution on a platform built and proven to handle high order volumes.
4. It keeps everyone happy (even those hard to please relatives!)
There’s always that one relative who demands a special gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, organic meal (yes, we’re talking about you, Aunt Sue).
Your business is unique as well and will often require customizations in order to have a fully automated process that works the way you need it to. By carefully choosing an accounting integration solution provider that can manipulate business rules and develop translations to alter your accounting integration solution, you can keep things running smoothly no matter what kind of oddball customers you come across.
5. It saves you headaches in the long run.
It’s not easy to plan-out a Thanksgiving meal, but taking the time to do so BEFORE you get started, can save you a lot of headaches once you begin cooking. Our tips? Make lists, double check the ingredients, and give yourself plenty of time!
Similarly, implementing a successful accounting integration solution requires careful planning as well. Be aware of your budget and timeline, and keep in mind that customizations require extra time as well. Don’t forget to choose the workflows that are most important for your business. Here’s an integration planning Blueprint Builder tool that can help get you started:
http://www.ebridgeconnections.com/Blueprint-Builder.aspx
6. It frees up your time so that you can get back to what’s important. (Like eating pie!)
Imagine having a professional chef like Gordon Ramsey preparing your Thanksgiving meal while you sit back and enjoy time with your relatives.
Good news! You can leave your business in the hands of the experts as well. A reliable accounting integration solution provider can free up your time and resources so you can get back to what’s important (like avoiding Uncle Jim and his terrible jokes). Think of it as a well-oiled machine where your business systems are integrated and communicating effectively without you needing to lift a finger.
We make Accounting & ERP integration easier than cooking a turkey.