How the ROI of QuickBooks Compares to Industry-Specific Software for Your Food Business
QuickBooks’ Money Wasters You May Have Missed
When it comes to your business software for your food business, you most likely take into consideration the return on investment (ROI) it has on your business. But apart from considering the tangible cost of the software, have you considered the hidden money wasters within the software you’re using?
Take QuickBooks, for example. If you’re like a lot of QuickBooks users, you probably implemented QuickBooks to track your small business’s financials. And for a while, it was perfect for your record keeping needs. But then, as time went on, you started creating workarounds and managing your more complex transactions and records with Excel or other systems or even legal pads and sticky notes. And, even though you realized these processes may not be the most efficient, it seemed like the easiest solution was to just stick with what you knew because the cost of switching to a new system seemed too great and potentially not worth it. Sound familiar? You’re not alone in this thinking and we get it – investing in new software is scary. But you know what’s scarier? Realizing what it’s costing you to not invest in new software that’s actually built for your business and your needs. Not sure what we mean? Let’s take a look at the top three ways you may be wasting your money by staying with QuickBooks…
Money Waster 1: Error-prone manual data entry, processes & record-keeping
When your system requires manual data entry, manual processes, and manual record-keeping, it’s leaving you susceptible to too many errors and too much time wasted. Plus, it’s stressful and unproductive. For example, according to Spendesk, if you were to ask any bookkeeper or financial controllers what they hate most about the financial closing process, three of their likely answers would revolve around manual data entry and errors, including “monotonous, manual data entry,” “endless simple errors that cost everyone time,” and “duplicated line items that could even be fraudulent.” Additionally, with multiple employees entering the same data and being focused on data entry instead of productive work, you’re also losing money. With software that can automate a lot of your business practices, data entry, calculations, reporting and more, you can save money and your team can become more productive. The bottom line? Manual data entry is more than annoying – it creates a high potential for error and costs you and your team valuable time and money.
Money Waster 2: Inability to grow
Common activities of growing and succeeding companies are to increase their data volume, acquire additional companies, go beyond record keeping to process improvement, make informed business decisions to determine their future and more. But when you’ve outgrown the capabilities of QuickBooks, these activities become nearly impossible as QuickBooks continues to crash while attempting to store your multitude of data or lacks real time data across your business. Regardless of what QuickBooks is preventing you from achieving, you need a system that is scalable. That means it should offer process management, the ability to manage multiple companies within the same system to avoid multiple installations, enterprise level sales entry, and more.
Money Waster 3: Lack of industry-specific support
As a food manufacturer, you have specific needs that QuickBooks can’t meet because it’s generic business software – and generic business software doesn’t understand your business. By not supporting the nuances of your unique industry, QuickBooks is requiring you to juggle multiple systems (potentially even spreadsheets and paper-tracking resources) to accomplish all your daily tasks. Talk about inefficient! As we’ve said before, switching between windows on your computer, training employees in multiple systems, remembering which system handles which transaction and stores which data – these are all hassles that come from juggling multiple systems to manage your food manufacturing transactions, inventory, payroll, etc. And what do they all have in common? They’re stressful and a waste of time. You deserve that time back in your day to focus on the things that matter than will help your business succeed. And you can get that time back with an ERP system that’s well-rounded and offers a single solution to all your needs: a system with fully integrated Sales, Inventory, Purchasing, Accounting and Payroll capabilities as well as fully integrated capital improvement project tracking, trace register integration, barcode data collection integration and EDI integration. When all of this exists in a single solution, your day-to-day is more efficient and stress-free.
Looking for a better ROI?
While the QuickBooks price tag may seem appealing to your food business, how is it affecting your bottom line? Are the inefficiencies it’s causing in your day-to-day adding up to actually reducing its ROI – maybe even to zero? By switching to ERP software built for your industry, the ROI is probably better than sticking with QuickBooks. Just ask yourself, by switching to food-specific ERP: Will it help you be more efficient? Will it help automate manual processes? Will it give you better visibility into all aspects of your business? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, it may be time to make the switch. With proven experience and expertise serving the food industry, we can help you stop wasting time and money on software that doesn’t work for your food business by providing you software that does, allowing you to focus on the things that will help you succeed