Eleven rules of choosing business management software: Rule 4

Here's another entry from our list of eleven "rules" to help guide small and medium sized companies when they evaluate potential suppliers of business management software.

Rule 4: The system should be flexible

Not all dealers are the same. Different dealerships can have different ways of performing transactions, based on the brands they sell, or to the way they manage their business.

At the same time, each dealer and each employee may have their own needs and preferences when it comes to viewing and analyze business information.

The chosen software should be flexible to adapt to the dealer’s business processes; and not the other way round: i.e. in general, the dealer should not have to adapt its business processes to the system’s rigidity.

Of course there may always be a specific issue that the system does not contemplated in exactly the desired manner, but in a flexible and configurable system these cases will be minimal.

These are some examples of what a flexible system can allow:

Indicators

The modern dealer needs to view a Control Panel with indicators that instantly provide an x-ray of how the company is performing.

The dealer should be able to view the indicators suggested by its Manufacturer, as well as those of its own choosing. A good dealer management system will let the dealer define its own formulas for each indicator.

In addition, it is essential that the system automatically update the indicators so that they show the company’s status in real time.

Reports

A modern system should allow the user to easily create reports, and preview them before printing.

Today’s user needs to work freely with data, so it is essential that the system be integrated with Microsoft Excel®.

Ideally, once a report has been chosen, with just one click the user should be able to: (i) preview it on the screen; (ii) print it; (iii) export it to Excel; or (iv) export it to some standard format (PDF, Word, HTML, XML, etc.)

Many managers appreciate the possibility of viewing system reports over the Internet, whether from home or during a trip, to easily monitor the company.

Chart of Accounts

A flexible system allows the dealer to create its own chart of accounts, to obtain reports based on those accounts, or on generic accounts that include several other ones.

Accounting

The system should allow the dealer to indicate the exact accounting entries that each transaction and each voucher generates. For example, different accounting entries may be defined for each of the dealer’s stores.

Business Processes

A flexible system allows the dealer to define business processes according to its own way of doing things. For example:

1.  A supplier invoice may add stock, affect the supplier’s current account, and update accounting; or the dealer may choose to work with delivery receipts or packing lists from the supplier that only add stock, and then supplier invoices that update the current account and the accounting.

2.  The dealer will surely want to define the way its Parts Department and Cashiers print invoices. Some alternatives are:

a)  The parts employee enters the sales invoice into the system; the cashier enters the payment method and prints the invoice.

b)  The parts employee enters and prints the sales invoice. The customer approaches the Cashier, who issues the receipt indicating the payment method and the invoice that is being cancelled.

User Profiles

The system should allow each employee to be assigned a user profile that enables him or her to access only the information that is pertinent to them.

Posts in this series:

• Rule 1: Make sure the new system can accompany your company’s growth
• Rule 2: Does the system stay up-to-date regarding fiscal compliance?
• Rule 3: Attend a demo
• Rule 4: The system should be flexible
• Rule 5: Training is essential
• Rule 6: Choose a supplier that provides more than just a system
• Rule 7: Ask how technical support is handled
• Rule 8: Be wary if the system is too simple
• Rule 9: Discounts can be pyrrhic victories

Tags: Autologica, DMS, ERP, SMB, SMBs, dealer management systems, auto dealer software, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, auto dealer, auto dealers, car dealer, car dealers, motor vehicle dealer, motor vehicle dealers

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