Based on a recent study conducted by JCS Computer Resource more than a million businesses worldwide implemented an ERP Accounting System in 2006. Ranked among the leading software solutions are Peachtree, MAS 90 and MAS 200. These applications have the ability to be customized and linked to add-on solutions such as E-commerce applications and CRM applications so that data only has to be entered one time and shared with the entire company. These packages also have traceability and accountability for all transactions entered into the system for audit purposes and can be customized to meet most small business? accounting needs.


Regardless of the size of the company, industry or type of business, business owners are bound to face critical business challenges. For example, Anita Lopes? office of 7 employees, of Plymouth Rubber and Transmissions, Inc. had difficulty tracking inventory stock and reorder levels. Their process involved manually tracking warranty period information for expensive items, using Excel to calculate costs of finished product, and tracking and recording credit card payments in 3 different places.


In order to eliminate the semi-manual process, JCS introduced Peachtree accounting software and set it up to handle inventory with serialized items. Furthermore, Vendor Purchase orders and Customer Quoting were introduced to track items that were committed and sold.


Benefits of the solution included an ability to automatically generate purchase orders based on customer orders; convert purchase orders to accounts payable invoices without re-keying the information; and compare quoted purchase orders to accounts payable invoices.


As an outcome of the solution, Plymouth Rubber is able to handle more business with managed inventory information and reorder levels. According to Anita Lopes, Plymouth Rubber is able to save more than 20 man hours of overtime per week!


When using an accounting system such as Peachtree, make sure to utilize its features to the fullest to gain these benefits:

• Use 100 chart of account business templates to find one that suits your business;


• If necessary, use custom fields to store information;


• Utilize over 100 customizable forms, financials and collection letters;


• If you need to report that's not part of the system, use Crystal Report to build one;


• Take advantage of system ability to synchronize with ACT! and Outlook