Accounting and ERPs

In an article in the September 2006 issue of CA magazine, author Michael Burns reviews several new software products for the accounting industry. The article is entitled "Accounting and ERP Survey 2006." Michael discusses the trend of consolidation of vendors within the industry and mentions the importance of taking the smaller vendors into consideration as much as the larger ones, such as PeopleSoft. Another trend is the merging of customer relationship management (CRM) with ERP. Also, many of the software providers are offering an application service provider (ASP), with NetSuite taking the lead in this area.

The accounting industry can greatly benefit from the use of effective ERP systems. These can be particularly effective in integrating many information systems within the firm, and appears to be improving with the addition of CRMs and ASPs. The accounting industry has been using these systems and continues to see the benefits. This may not be beneficial for public accounting firms as much as it is for their clients. Clients can use these systems to integrate their information and easily access data. Accounting departments of these businesses will benefit from the use of these ERPs. Companies will be able to integrate their existing software with customer data and create links between the different divisions. This will make analyses and final financial computations easier and more efficient. The accounting department collects and reports the data on how the firm is performing, and the use of ERPs can definitely improve a company's performance. It allows different divisions, for example, purchasing and manufacturing, to communicate and work together to improve service to the customer. The accounting department can be the backbone of the company, and in some cases accountants will use ERPs in the business to determine how successful the business is or can be with the integration of information systems.