The accurate and reliable management of prices and margins for products and services is essential for a company’s survival. However, it is not always easy to adjust, forecast and monitor this data without the right tools. Many organisations still use Excel to manage their finances despite how tedious it can be, or how it can increase the risk of data entry errors, duplication or data loss.
Traditional methods of financial management can quickly reach their limits in a growing company. Software solutions, such as the Odoo ERP, can help you manage your margins more efficiently and improve your organisation’s profitability.
Lack of KPIs, siloed information and other obstacles to calculating profits
There are three trends that hinder a company’s ability to successfully manage its finances. The first is having large amounts of data dispersed across several different tools within the organisation. In some cases, salespeople forego digital data entry or CRM tools altogether and instead jot down important numbers on a piece of paper or in software that has not been approved by their company. This can lead to unintentionally withholding information that could be crucial for the rest of the organisation.
The second trend is the lack of clearly defined key performance indicators. To manage margins and break-even points, it is necessary to define relevant KPIs. Many companies make the mistake of defining too many, or not enough. Because they do not focus on key data, these KPIs turn out to be useless for managing a company.
Finally, depending on the tool used, the numbers processed may not always be accurate or up to date. In this case, improving data quality is necessary for more reliable management.
Use Odoo ERP to centralise, qualify and manage data
For easier and more reliable financial management, the Odoo ERP is extremely useful. This centralized management software lets you automate certain actions, reducing human intervention without negatively affecting your teams’ day-to-day work. Odoo automatically syncs quotes with project management and project follow-ups with billing. Plus, its simple, intuitive interface is easy to learn and doesn’t require extensive employee training.
Odoo also offers a catalogue of ready-to-use KPIs that organizations can leverage based on their goals and needs. These include the number and value of quotes, invoices, deals, margin rates and more. Odoo’s ready-to-use KPIs can simplify and enhance the value and quality of business analysis. In Odoo, it’s also possible to create graphs, custom views and cross tables for in-depth analysis and more realistic forecasting.
Odoo clearly highlights defined objectives and sends reminders when an action or activity has reached or is approaching its deadline. It pushes key information to users so they can adjust their tasks and actions accordingly. By precisely reviewing expenses and revenues, Odoo significantly improves profit control, even with limited data, to deliver realistic and accurate reports.
And because KPIs are updated automatically based on the data entered in the ERP, Odoo gives every team member access to important information without having to search through multiple tools or check in with colleagues.
Realistic, up-to-date forecasts with Odoo
With Odoo, you can create financial forecasts, compare different sets of information, and adjust objectives and margin calculations for services in near real time.
Odoo also offers a range of graphical dashboards that are easy to export and accessible to everyone, including employees who do not use the ERP. Odoo ERP provides access to in-depth analysis for any area of your organization. With no added hassle, Odoo simplifies and enhances profit management through well-defined key performance indicators.
Working with an integrator can help define the KPIs that best match a company’s activities. Here are some useful KPIs for business management:
Sales margin: sales excluding VAT − operating and purchasing costs
Revenue
Billed hours
Hourly rate: any rate below this threshold will not be billed
Forecast result
Captivea has been integrating Odoo for several years and has in-depth knowledge of the software, making us an ideal choice to support your Odoo implementation. Did we mention we are an Odoo Gold partner?