Spreadsheets and Workarounds Alongside Your ERP or Accounting Software

You close the gaps by building a custom application for the specific things the package cannot do, and connecting it to the package so data passes between them automatically. The accounting or ERP system keeps doing what it does well. The spreadsheets around it are replaced by software that fits your process, and the re-typing between the two stops. You do not have to replace the package to fix the problem.

Signs this is your problem

• Key processes run in spreadsheets even though you own an ERP or accounting system.
• Someone re-types quotes, orders or time into the package.
• Month-end includes reconciling spreadsheets against the package.
• You have been told the package “can’t do that” more than once.
• The vendor’s fix is an add-on that still does not quite fit.

Why the side spreadsheets appear

Accounting software is built to keep the books. ERP packages are built for the typical company in an industry. Neither was built for the particular way you quote, schedule, price or track your work. So the gap gets filled with whatever is to hand:

• A quoting spreadsheet, because the package cannot price the way you do.
• A scheduling board, because the package has no idea how your shop runs.
• A tracking sheet for jobs, projects, warranties or commissions.
• A “real” inventory list, because the package’s version is never right.

Each one is then typed into the package by hand. That is where the errors and the lost hours come from.

What the gap is costing

• Every figure is entered at least twice.
• The spreadsheet and the package disagree, and time goes on working out why.
• The spreadsheets depend on the people who built them.
• Management information lives half in one place and half in another.
• You are paying for a package and still running the business on Excel.

Three ways to close it

Use more of the package. Sometimes the feature exists and was never set up. Worth checking first.

Build around the package. A custom application handles quoting, scheduling, job tracking or whatever your gap is, and exchanges data with the package. Customers, items and invoices are entered once. This is usually the best value.

Replace the package. Only when it is fighting you everywhere. See when off-the-shelf software only does 80% of what you need.

How Keene Systems handles it

1. We list every spreadsheet and workaround around the package. And what each one is compensating for.
2. We check what the package can share. Most can exchange data with other software.
3. We build the application that fills the gap. Starting with the workaround that costs you most.
4. We connect the two. So each fact is entered once.

The next step is a short, no-pressure conversation. Book a call with Lance Keene or use the form on this page.