When ERP systems first appeared in the 90s, the number of solutions a company had to choose from was much more limited than today. If you enter “ERP” in any search engine, you’ll end up jumping from one product to another, not knowing which one can meet your business requirements better. It’s especially overwhelming if you’re about to start your first ERP implementation ever because while you know that ERP systems should help you manage and integrate essential business processes, you’re probably not sure which functionality is necessary for every part of the business. One good thing about ERP is that it’s scalable, so you can start with the most critical features and add more functionality later as your business grows and you set more ambitious goals. 
As you’re getting ready for your ERP evaluation, though, you might wonder how to choose the functionality you need, what you don’t need at all, and what you will probably need in the future. The functional requirements will be driven by your current business processes and your overarching objectives of ERP implementation. Instead of looking at several systems to see what’s in their toolbox, start with this checklist to define the functionality you need. This will make it easier, faster, and more effective to evaluate ERP solutions based on whether the functionality you’ve picked is built-in, can be added (as third-party integration, for example) or would need to be custom-built.
A few things to consider before you dive into your ERP requirements:
- Consider the long-term effects of the functionality you choose. What’s your business goal for 5/10/15 years? The trick is that you want to pick a system that will support you for years, so don’t limit yourself by basing your choice on your current requirements only.
- ERP doesn’t cancel everything you’ve done and used so far, so think about the current functionality you have and need to support. Think about ERP as a tool to make the life of your team easier.
Here’s a short list of tasks you and your teams need to complete every day. Choose the critical ones (to set a starting point for future ERP implementation) and the ones that you think might come in handy over the next couple of years. You can also download the Checklist here. Enjoy!
Inventory & Warehouse Tasks
- Manage different product types (inventory/non-inventory/service…etc)
- Manage stock levels/inventory replenishment
- Bin Management
- Multi-location inventory management
- Inventory Counts/Cycle Counts
- Shipping/Receiving
- Handle Costing/Units Of Measure
Accounting & Finance Tasks
- Support for multi-subsidiary/multi-entity structure
- Support for multiple currencies
- Sales Order Management
- Accounts Receivables (customer invoicing)
- Accounts Payables (vendor bills)
- Payment Processing
- Bank reconciliation
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Perform detailed financial reporting
Sales and CRM Tasks
- Manage Customer Price Levels
- Opportunity and Quotes Management
- Sales Order Management
- Manage Order Fulfillment
- Manage customer accounts
- Monitor and manage the sales pipeline
- Integrate eCommerce sales channels
Production and Purchasing Tasks
- Analyze production costs
- Forecast and plan production capacity, resources, and materials
- Manage multi-level bill of materials (BOMs)
- Create purchase orders and quotes
- Manage multiple units of measure and item price-lists
- Manage product returns with Return Material Authorization (RMA)
- Control vendor relationships, including payment terms
- Comprehensive AP reporting and analysis
Human Resources and Other Tasks
- Manage payroll processing and integration
- Track employee performance
- Manage self-service access for employees
- Integrate with third-party applications and software
- Remote access (mobile devices)
Implementation & Support Tasks
- Define implementation requirements
- Choose ERP (On-premise/Cloud.. etc)
- Define Project team and resources
- Define Business Processes and Documentation
- Define User Adoption Strategy
- Define Data Migration/Integration Strategy
- Configure ERP to address business processes
- UNIT Testing
- UAT (User Acceptance Testing)
- Complete user training and hand-over training material
- Provide go-live and post-go-live support
- Evaluate ERP implementation project
As we’ve mentioned, the tasks you choose will depend on the type of business you run, what your business processes look like today, and the goals you have for your ERP project and business growth.
Here, at Flawless Inbound, our NetSuite consultants can look at your business from the ERP perspective and suggest the most efficient solution that will grow with your B2B. We’re a Netsuite solution partner that can help you with your inventory, financial, and order management needs using the NetSuite ERP solution. Feel free to reach out, and we can show you how we can become your guides in this challenging digital transformation journey.