Benefits of Adopting an ERP System
Eric Kitts
Liberty University Abstract
Changes occur on a daily basis in the world of accounting information systems (AIS). Few things have experienced as many changes as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in the past decade. Companies operating an ERP are seeing benefits such as productivity increasing and overhead costs decreasing. This research is geared towards informing readers of the benefits of adopting an ERP system. This paper will define what an ERP is, list some of the benefits of implementing an ERP, analyze what size companies can benefit from the systems, and analyze how ERP’s have influenced AIS. I hope to provide useful information to readers that helps them to propel their businesses forward and maximize profitability. There has been a lot of research on the topic of ERP’s and their benefits, and I hope to contribute a productive analysis on the subject. Keywords: Accounting Information Systems (AIS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
BENEFITS OF ADOPTING AN ERP SYSTEM
Accounting software has soared to new heights over the past couple of decades, and the trend still continues today. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have been adopted by many companies since their development in the 1970’s to incorporate an accounting system that allows numerous operations to be performed, collect and store data from multiple divisions within the company, and distribute various reports to the proper
Most of the information that was used to compose this paper was taken from prior ERP articles, online reference tools, and ERP books.
Pros. An ERP system is a necessary investment for Riordan because it integrates all departments and their respective functions across the organization into a single IT system (UMaine, 2009). There are three main benefits of ERP systems that directly address problems with Riordan’s operations. One benefit is a logical solution to a mess of incompatible applications currently in use by the organization. ERP also allows global access and sharing of organizational data as well. Additionally, implementing an ERP system will help the organization bypass the difficulties and expenses of replacing legacy systems (UMaine, 2009). An analysis of Riordan’s current issues with its Finance
The adoption of the ERP software package throughout the enterprise will have a positive effect on the company. Through the elimination of data conversions and manual data reentry, the company can significantly reduce the time it takes to complete the monthly General Ledger, Income Statement, and Balance Sheet reports. The adoption of a single system instead of three will save Riordan money by reducing the IT staffing needs as it
The key issue faced by Impcorp Foods is that the existing accounting system is time-consuming and error-prone. It blocks the firm achieving its “Profitable Growth” strategy. There are two ways to deal with the problem: improve current system or buy the new ERP system. Compared to the existing system, which could not meet the industry standards and takes a lot of time, the advantages of the new ERP system will be shown. First, it meets the suppliers’ and the industry requirements. Secondly, the financial benefits outweigh the costs in a long run. Finally, employees seem positive about the new ERP system. Therefore, I recommend use the proposed ERP software and will explain further in the
In this system, the whole company is based on a matching database, matching application system, and a continuous interface. In addition, the ERP system combines human resources, accounting marketing, production, and the delivery and supply chain management into one system (Chamg, Wu, & Chang, 2008). When the ERP system was first presented, companies began to handle information more accurately and correctly, and thus reformed and enhanced the quality of the accounting and financial processes. The implementation of Section 404 was very difficult and time consuming; however, businesses have been able to find a little relief by implementing an ERP system to help with the transition. Software companies have taken advantage of companies with few internal controls accentuating that the focal feature of the ERP system is the use of built-in controls that can copy a business’s organization (Morris, 2011). This allowed companies to implement the internal control requirements of Section 404 with a little more
Tektronix implemented ERP in stages. The organization adopted staged approach because of the following reasons:
The entire case history revolves around enterprise resource planning (ERP). The Resort case talks about carefully structuring an IT system so that the IT program is well-matched to the company and corresponds to its offerings and needs. The case history provides us with an indication of 3 recommendations that can be employed in order to choose an ERP system that is most effective and helpful to one's needs.
Accounting information systems are often implemented into companies due to the advance in technology and competitive global markets. In the case study which is given, a new ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning System) was introduced at an Ivy League University. Companies use software-based accounting tools to enhance the efficiency of working with its financial matters, however we may found out there are some practical problems that we have to face during the implementation.
In this regard, (Hunton et al 2002) state that the ERP implementation enhances value to organizations. In the same line, (Poston and Garbksi 2000) explored a number of organizations implementing the ERP systems where as a result they found a decrease in employees’ ratio and cost of goods transferred in revenues.
In order to survive in this competitive business world, every business must produce or offer not only a better product or service, they must also offer better customer service, reduce their production costs and overhead costs, have a more well-planned management system, a highly reliable infrastructure, and the list is endless. Many of these can be achieved through a customized enterprise resource planning system (ERP). ERPs serve as “one comprehensive database to house all of the company’s corporate information”. However if these systems are not used correctly with the necessary change in management of people and technology it can result in failure.
Since early 1990s, most firms around the world have changed their information technology (IT) strategy from in-house developing information systems to purchasing application software, such as ERP systems. IT managers responsible for managing their organization’s ERP implementation view their ERP systems as their organizations. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have come out as the key success of information management and the enterprise backbone of organizations. The trouble of ERP implementations have been widely cited in the history, but research on the critical factors for ongoing and initial ERP implementation success is fragmented and uncommon.
Nowadays, the business world is changing at a faster and faster pace. The reasons for this faster pace are "globalization", information technology, and the faster pace in technological change. The role of IT has shifted over the last decades to become an important part of how firms manage and control their resources. As the result, IT plays a critical role in accounting. IT is the platform for accounting data and it allows certain sophisticated queries to be performed though, IT clearly plays an important role in accounting functions. The impact of IT in firms is broad and manifested in the most varied ways in the integrated systems, which includes ERP systems, internet, intranet, and so on, walk hand in hand with the firm know-how. These technologies have altered the way firms work and their accounting functions.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a software package or one integrated system that is designed to institutionalize the collection and sharing of organizational data resources (Klaus et al., 2000; Mabert et al., 2003; Wang et al., 2008). Since this kind of systems allows inputting and outputting information and the information could be shared across the whole organization in time, companies all over the world are now utilizing the ERP systems to improve operational efficiency (Davenport, 1998; Klaus et al., 2000).
described the ERP system as packaged (but customisable) software applications, which manage data from various organizational activities and provide a fully integrated solution to major organizational data management problems. They provide for both the core administrative functions, such as human resource management and accounting, as well as integrated modules which can be selected to support key business processes, such as warehousing, production and client management.
Some businesses are apprehensive about the time and costs involved in implementing an ERP system. That’s understandable, as traditional ERP software can be inflexible and take a significant amount of resources to implement.