Key Takeaways
- Your systems need to talk to each other. As a company grows, finance, sales, operations, and other teams can end up working in different systems. Business Central helps bring more of that information together so people aren’t constantly moving data back and forth.
- Business Central gives growing companies more room to work. It handles accounting and financial management along with areas such as sales, inventory, purchasing, and operations. For companies that have outgrown a basic accounting system, having those functions in one place can make a big difference.
- ERP can solve some very practical problems. If reporting takes too long, employees are entering the same information more than once, or spreadsheets are holding important processes together, the issue may be the systems underneath the work. That’s often when it’s worth taking a closer look at ERP.
Businesses change, and the systems they use have to change with them. A company may start with fairly simple accounting and operational needs, but things can get complicated as it adds customers, employees, locations, entities, or new lines of business.
That’s often when companies begin looking at Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
For some companies, that evaluation starts when they’ve pushed entry-level accounting software about as far as it can go. If you’re relying on spreadsheets, manual data entry, or workarounds to get the information you need, these limitations of QuickBooks are worth a look.
ERP systems such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft Dynamics GP, and Sage Intacct help bring information from different parts of the business together. That can make it easier to move information between financial accounting and other important applications, including CRM systems.
Even when most of your applications are in the cloud, they aren’t necessarily connected. That’s one of the problems an ERP system can help solve. If you’re trying to determine where ERP fits into the rest of your technology, our CFO’s guide to ERP and the technology stack goes into more detail.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: Built for Growing Businesses
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based ERP system designed for small and mid-sized businesses. It brings finance, operations, sales, and supply chain information into one system, giving people a better view of what’s happening across the company.
Business Central isn’t a brand-new platform. Its history goes back decades.
“What sets Dynamics 365 Business Central apart is its rich heritage,” says Bryan Wilton, President, LBMC Technology Solutions. “The platform is built on a solution that has been a leader in the ERP space for over 40 years since 1984. This long-standing experience brings a depth of knowledge and functionality that is hard to match.”
Today, Business Central runs in the Microsoft cloud on Azure. For companies already using Microsoft products, that can also make it easier to connect financial and operational information with other tools employees use every day.
That combination—a mature ERP platform with current cloud technology—is one reason Business Central is worth considering for companies that need more than basic accounting software.
Where Business Central Can Help
Companies don’t usually start looking for a new ERP system because they want more software. They start looking because something isn’t working very well anymore.
Maybe financial reports require too much work in Excel. Maybe people are entering the same information into several systems. Inventory is getting harder to manage. The month-end close is taking longer. Or management can’t easily get the information it needs without asking finance to build another report.
Business Central can help bring several of those areas into the same system, including:
- Financial Management: Manage accounting, cash flow, budgeting, reporting, and other financial processes.
- Sales and Customer Management: Keep customer and sales information connected with the rest of the business.
- Supply Chain: Manage purchasing, inventory, vendors, and other supply chain activity.
- Operations: Give teams better visibility into the information they need to manage day-to-day work.
- Reporting: Bring financial and operational information together so teams don’t have to spend as much time piecing reports together manually.
The right fit still depends on the company. That’s why the software evaluation should start with the problems you’re trying to solve rather than a list of features.
LBMC Technology Solutions: Your ERP Partner
Choosing an ERP system can be a big project. There are plenty of options, and two companies of similar size may need very different things from their financial and operational systems.
LBMC Technology Solutions works with clients to understand how the business operates today, where the current systems are causing problems, and what the company will need as it grows.
That includes helping clients evaluate platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Sage Intacct. Once a system is selected, our team can also help with implementation, configuration, training, and ongoing support.
The goal is to put a system in place that works for the business—not make the business work around the system.
ERP’s Role in Digital Transformation
ERP is often one piece of a larger digital transformation effort.
A company may already have cloud applications for CRM, payroll, expense management, ecommerce, inventory, or other parts of the business. The problem comes when those applications don’t share information and employees have to fill in the gaps.
ERP can provide a central place for much of that information and connect financial data with other business processes. That can mean fewer spreadsheets, less re-entry, and easier access to current information.
Our article on Digital Now looks at that bigger picture and how connected technology fits into digital transformation.
What About Microsoft Dynamics GP?
Companies currently using Microsoft Dynamics GP have a slightly different decision to make.
Moving to Business Central isn’t simply an upgrade to a newer version of GP. Businesses need to look at their current processes, integrations, reporting requirements, customizations, and other systems before deciding what comes next.
If you’re currently running GP, read Microsoft Dynamics GP Users: What’s Next? for more on the options to consider.
Is Business Central the Right ERP for Your Business?
Maybe. It really depends on what you’re trying to fix.
We talk with companies that have simply outgrown the way they’re doing things today. Reports take too long to put together. Too much work is happening in spreadsheets. People are entering the same information in more than one system. Or the accounting software that worked a few years ago isn’t keeping up with the business anymore.
Business Central may be a good next step, particularly if your company already uses Microsoft products. But we wouldn’t recommend it just because you’re a Microsoft shop. The system still has to fit the way you operate, the information you need, and what you’re likely to need a few years from now.
That’s the part LBMC Technology Solutions can help with. We can look at what’s working today, what’s causing headaches, and whether Business Central, Sage Intacct, or another approach makes the most sense.
If you’re starting to have those conversations, take a look at our ERP and financial management solutions or talk with our team about what you’re running into.
