Excel is a tool used in virtually every company. It is useful for analysing data, running simulations, processing information, creating reports and quickly responding to specific needs.
And it will continue to be useful for all these activities.
However, some Excel files take on a different role over time. They collect data exported from other systems, contain formulas and links, require manual updates and are used every day to manage operational activities.
That file may have been working perfectly well for years. But keeping it up to date means someone has to export data, copy it, check it or enter it again. And sometimes all it takes is a formula being changed, someone working on the wrong version or an update being missed for the information to no longer be accurate.
In these cases, Excel itself is not the problem. The question is whether that activity really needs to be managed outside the ERP system.
Fewer Files, Fewer Manual Tasks
When data and processes are managed within an integrated system, information can be shared across different areas of the company without constantly switching from one application to another.
With SAP Business One, sales, purchasing, inventory, accounting and other business processes can work with the same data, reducing the need for exports, repeated data entry and manual updates.
This also helps reduce some very practical problems: duplicate files, different versions of the same information, formulas accidentally changed, or spreadsheets that only one or two people in the company really know how to use.
This does not mean giving up Excel. It means using Excel for the tasks it is best suited to, while managing processes that can be integrated directly within the company’s ERP system.
Already Using SAP Business One? Leave an Excel File Behind
This is the idea behind People Plus’s “Leave an Excel File Behind” initiative, dedicated to our customers. If your company uses a spreadsheet to manage an activity connected to SAP Business One, send it to us.
The initial assessment is free of charge. The People Plus team will look at the file and, more importantly, the process behind it to understand whether it can be managed directly within SAP Business One using existing functionality or by identifying a solution that meets your company’s specific needs.
The aim is to determine whether an activity that currently requires manual steps between SAP Business One and Excel can be simplified and more fully integrated into the ERP system.
What If You Don’t Use SAP Business One Yet?
Even in this case, the Excel files you use every day can be an interesting place to start. A spreadsheet created to manage orders, check availability, collect data from different departments or keep track of a specific activity can tell us a lot about how a business process is organised.
When these files start to multiply and information has to be transferred manually from one tool to another, it may be time to consider a more integrated approach.
SAP Business One is an ERP designed for small and medium-sized businesses, bringing business data and processes together within a single system, making information available to the people who need it and reducing some of the manual tasks required to keep it up to date.
In this case, it is not simply about “leaving an Excel file behind”, but about starting from a specific activity and exploring how it could be managed differently.
Is There an Excel File We Can Start With?
If you are already a People Plus customer, you can send us a file that you would like to try integrating into your ERP system: the initial assessment is free of charge.
If, on the other hand, you would like to understand whether SAP Business One could help your company manage data and processes that currently rely on Excel and other tools in a more integrated way, we can start with the activities that take up the most time in your day-to-day work.
In either case, contact us at info@peopleplus.ch.