A cloud-based field service management platform (FSM) plus a SaaS accounting solution is better than an all-in-one ERP solution.
Why?
“Jack of all trades, master of none.”
Choosing an all-in-one enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform that combines operations and accounting is like not salting the water before adding your pasta. It’ll taste ok, but you’re missing out on the best flavor possible.
A Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) all-in-one field service management platform integrated with accounting is the better business investment, and we’ll explain why.
Operations Leads the Business
Glen West, BuildOps Head of Growth, said it perfectly.
“Operations [is] where work is won, managed, and completed. Operations tell them how to manage the work and process the transactions. Accounting tells business owners if their company is fiscally healthy.”
Modern FSM platforms specialize in service and project management workflow operations. And centralizing the data across different functions enables real-time visibility into everything. There’s no reliance on manual or analog processes to see the state of the business.
Create quotes and proposals, pull pricing instantly, and assign or order parts within the FSM. Finalized quotes and proposals are sent for approval directly through the platform. The FSM provides efficiency by creating standard digital workflows.
Dispatch uses the FSM dispatch board to manage technician schedules. Technicians use a mobile app synced to the FSM to maintain up-to-date job information and tasks onsite. And the mobile app supports photo and video documentation that automatically syncs to the associated job.
A modern cloud-based FSM provides transparency and visibility to all business operations because it is designed for the field service management workflow.
Operations and Accounting are Interconnected
Operations and accounting are interconnected with a cause-and-effect relationship. SaaS FSM platforms with accounting integrations sync data bi-laterally. Data shared between both platforms offers a real-time view of operational performance combined with the current fiscal status.
The FSM platform feeds accounting the necessary operations data to manage the financial side of the business. SaaS accounting solution providers have decades of experience behind their products.
This is why FSM platforms focus on operations workflows and develop APIs (application programming interfaces) to share relevant financial data to your SaaS accounting solution.
Smart companies recognize decisions are made with data, not fiscal pressure. Operations directly impact revenue. Greater optimizations in operations give more opportunities to take on more jobs without adding extra labor.
Accounting will reveal this direct impact on positive company health. Accounting can’t tell you how to increase revenue through operations. It doesn’t work like that.
“Operations tell them how to manage the work and process the transactions to deliver on every job. Accounting tells business owners if their company is fiscally healthy.” – Glen West
On-premise Only Gets More Expensive
Do you want to raise the bar and adopt technology that cuts costs while increasing revenue or wait until the very last second you have to change because your on-premise all-in-one ERP is gone?
On-premise technical costs are rising. The technical cost of server maintenance, data security compliance, and software update management is huge. And consider potential physical catastrophic events like a fire or earthquake. Your onsite data is destroyed in an instant.
Cloud-based platforms remove in-house technical costs for distributed servers with data storage redundancies. The FSM provider also handles maintenance, removing these high costs.
Old systems don’t have purposeful APIs to share clean data. At best, you can automate data import and exports into another system, but is that data formatted for native integration? That automation lacks a seamless and real-time data transition.
FSM and Accounting Platforms are Seamlessly Connected Now
Accounting is vital for the fiscal side of the business like payroll, especially payroll, compliance, and showing company health. It’s not a field service solution.
In the past, accounting was the source of business strategy, basing decisions on the margins and revenues. But then they had to manage field service and add field service management add-ons to the accounting system.
Add-ons filled gaps but acted like a leech on the accounting system, sucking out data without giving anything back. FSM add-ons didn’t consider the needs of project managers and technicians and adapted existing workflows to something passable but inefficient.
SaaS FSM Operations and Accounting Platforms are Reality
All-in-one ERP platforms can’t handle the complexity of field service management and accounting simultaneously. The workflows are different and require different features and functions.
“Specialized accounting platforms and solutions don’t actively think about operations.” – Glen West
Combining the best cloud-based field service management platform with the best-in-class SaaS accounting platform creates optimal business efficiencies. The integration guarantees that real-time bi-directional data syncing is continuous. Now you ensure the best operations performances and maximize financial opportunities.