ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING

This is a software package which allows an organisation work schedule, financial activities, production, labor cost and so many other organisation activities to be automatically processed. This software helps an organisation in resource control. This system makes an organisation to be actively engaged in their daily roles and functions. The enterprise resource planning helps the small business enterprise to work towards achieving improving their activities. This system plays an important role in reviving any dying small business enterprises. This system is a technology driven package, which monitors the activities of different organisational roles and functions, budgets, expenditures, cash flows, labor pay roll and so many more.

Importance of ERP to Small Business Enterprises

The enterprise resource planning provides the following functions to small business enterprise, they are as thus;

1 – Financial accounting: Financial accounting such as expenditures, staff payroll, income, ledgers and other financial activities are being done through the technology driven Enterprise resource planning. This financial activity evolves round both the small and large business enterprises. They help in maintaining and keeping financial ledger in the enterprise. Without the use of ERP system, some small and large business enterprise may not move from where they are to higher level, due to the manual process being used, financial activities are being disorganised.

2 – Account Management: The management of financial activities are being done on this platform, in the sense that proper management of finances are being done. The purchase of materials and tools in the enterprises are being done routinely at the same price. Without this technology driven system, prices of materials will be inflated, this practice will become a disaster to the organisation, by ways of draining the enterprise of funds and finances which should have been used for other special purposes.

3 – Production of goods: This system aids in the production of good in a small business enterprise as well as large business enterprise. It helps the organisation to keep tracks and records of the quantity of goods produced, cost of materials used, and cost of labors, staff payroll, maintenance of machines and other equipment. If this system had been done by manual process, proper record keeping on goods produced will not be kept.

4 – Order processing: It helps to prepare finances on how much profit is made on certain goods produced, cash flow on the items and goods sold, cost of shipping of finished products, commission on sales and expiry date of the goods produced. If manual process is to be used for all this order processing activities, it becomes cumbersome to the person preparing it, which might automatically result shortage or lose of funds.

5 – Customer relationship: Since this system is driven by technology and it has storage capacities which store different data, information and statistics. Customer information are not easily erased with this system, it helps sometime in helping to strengthen the relationship between customers and the business management. Through the customer information which is kept on the ERP system of the small enterprises, calls can be made to them by the management of the organisation, this in one way or the other makes the customer to always come back and also refer people to it, due to the special treatment being received by the management.

6 – Data services: This system helps to strengthen the various interfaces of self service in the small business enterprises. Each employee is entitled to his/her own integrated interface, which is part of the ERP system. Each staff can input records of data, information and statistic without having to meet someone else before gaining access to it.

6 – Data services: This system helps to strengthen the various interfaces of self service in the small business enterprises. Each employee is entitled to his/her own integrated interface, which is part of the ERP system. Each staff can input records of data, information and statistic without having to meet someone else before gaining access to it.