Today’s top-shelf Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions store and process an incredible amount of data and information. Most of these solutions include an impressive amount of standard reports.
These reports can be an invaluable tool for your organization by providing timely and actionable insight into business operations and supporting day-to-day functions and decision-making.
While looking for an edge, many organizations invest a significant amount of extra time, energy, and money developing new reports. These are often created with third-party solutions which require licensing and technical staff to develop, maintain, support and run. Unfortunately, many of these well-intentioned reporting solutions don't actually need to be created. Instead, you can harness the full power of the reports already built into your ERP software.
To save money and get the most from your ERP reports, follow these simple steps:
Learn, share and educate staff on what reports your ERP natively provides.
Stay on top of any new reports, distribution tools and vehicles your ERP releases.
Train your users to run and create their own reports.
Before creating a third-party reporting solution, see what your ERP software provider may offer.
Communicate any needs with your ERP software provider; if it’s a common industry or regulatory need, it may be included in an upcoming release.
Next time you’re considering writing a custom report with a third-party solution, try following the simple steps mentioned in this article first. You might just get the report and information you need faster, free or at a low cost, and without building a new vehicle you have to support and maintain.