Best Cloud ERP Software for Small Business

In fact, the benefits of cloud-based ERP software are most obvious to businesses using manual methods such as spreadsheets and physical counting to manage their operations. This is because the most immediate benefit is the elimination of manual work related to paper and spreadsheets, as all data is now stored online in the cloud.

By operating on the internet platform, the benefit of cloud ERP software allows you to access your business operations when you are away, meeting clients or on business trips. For your team members, such as a warehouse manager, they can literally access the system right from their phone while walking through a 1000-square-meter aisle to make a stock adjustment. Here are some other key benefits of cloud-based ERP software:

• Automates Manual Tasks: It significantly reduces human-intensive work in your business.
• Enhances Collaboration: It improves communication and collaboration between departments through effective in-software messaging and task assignment.
• Simplifies Operations: It simplifies your inventory and order management with a comprehensive solution that includes accounting integration.
• Boosts Productivity: Cloud ERP streamlines and automates business processes, often improving productivity by 30-40%, eliminating bottlenecks, and enhancing operational efficiency.
• Deliver updated real-time data from multiple devices and platforms you integrate with, dramatically improving your ability to access data and make data-driven decisions.
• Lowers Cost & Speeds Deployment: It reduces costs as the implementation time is shorter than with normal on-premise ERP software, helping your business go live faster.

The best cloud ERP software for small business should be the one that balances features, usability, and cost for a small business’s needs. A powerful ERP software isn’t the best for you if it doesn’t align with your needs; a good impression is not as important as the right and relevant fit. Below are some features of EMERGE Cloud ERP software for business. 

• Seamlessly integrates with accounting platforms like QuickBooks Online and Xero to help you manage your financial data.
• EMERGE offers comprehensive inventory tracking and management solutions. Your products are all tracked from receipt, to shipping out of the warehouse, and even when they are returned.
• Manage sales from multiple channels and track their status, from quoting, to order fulfillment, to shipping, and invoicing.
• Retail and Projects: EMERGE customizes retail processes for businesses that also sell retail.
• Project Processes: If you rent our products or have project processes, we can also customize them to fit your business needs, and we are rolling out some of them to existing users.
• Production: Track work in progress for your production right in the cloud ERP, which is essential if you handle custom orders.
• Purchase Management: Manage supplier information and performance, along with the products you’ve bought and customer invoicing.
• Customer Relationship Management: Improve customer service with support cases that can be assigned to team members.
• Easy to Use: User-friendly interface for quick adoption.
• Mobile Accessibility: Access your data on the go.
• Transparency in Workflow: Track in-progress business data, including team activities, approval workflows, and commission tracking for your sales reps.

In summary, the best cloud ERP software for small business should be one that covers all aspects of a small business at a reasonable price. EMERGE is not trying to be everything for everyone, it is designed for small and medium-sized businesses, so we know what to provide to empower you to gain efficiency, which ultimately points to your business growth.

The implementation process is critical. There are many major case studies of large companies that failed when undertaking projects to change to new ERP systems. In most cases, the time and issues during implementation caused operational disruptions, which cost the business the most. There are key lessons from these cases: 

• Select the right solution that fits your business. Not one that cannot support your operational size, nor one that is too much for your business size, as it will cost you more than you would pay for the same functionalities with other choices.
• You must take control during the process of choosing and implementing the software. As you are the one ultimately responsible for your decision, no one else but you, need to check it carefully, whether during the analytics stage or the implementation stage.
• Last but not least, let your team work with the software before making any final decision. They are the ones who will directly use the software and are running your business daily; sometimes they know things that you don’t know about what fits the current workflow. Therefore, a demo and trial period are essential for collaboration between your team and the software.

Selecting the right software at first sight is impossible, even when it comes to implementation does have risks. As any decision always has its opportunity cost, choosing the right software for your business takes time, knowledge and experience. It is essential to understand software providers as much as understand your business’s needs. Check out some of the top picks for you regarding the top cloud ERP systems for growing businesses:

• EMERGE: Tailored to small and medium-sized businesses in the wholesale, distribution and trading, offering features from purchasing, inventory to selling and fulfillment management. It also integrates seamlessly with other accounting, shipping, and e-commerce platforms.
• QuickBooks Online: A comprehensive accounting solution integrates with various ERP and inventory management tools.
• Xero: A cloud-based accounting software mostly used by small and medium-sized businesses, offering real-time financial visibility, automated invoicing, bank reconciliation, payroll, etc.
• Some other providers such as: NetSuite, Odoo, Acumatica, SAP Business One Cloud (for larger small and medium-sized businesses).

As mentioned earlier, the right software for you is the one that can balance functionality, usability, and cost. So, based on what you need from a cloud ERP software, you need to analyze whether the cost is appropriate for what you get based on its functionality in your business. Typically, software vendors will have pricing strategies that suit their target customer segment. Here are some common cloud ERP software pricing models that vendors often apply:

• Per-user, per-month: You pay a fixed amount for each user to access the software.
• Tiered Plans: There are plans ranging from basic to advanced to premium which correspond to different features from basic to advanced.
• Pay-as-you-grow: Costs are calculated based on business size, such as number of transactions, amount of data, or total revenue.

EMERGE is a cloud ERP software that offers various pricing package options for you to choose from, starting at a competitive $39.90 per user per month. 

Another important note when you choose a cloud ERP software is checking if there are any additional or hidden fees. There are some charges you not before but in the implementation process, which forces you to pay in the dilemma. EMERGE provides for everyone the free forever trial to  experience the software with your team. Even during the trial, we provide dedicated customer support. You can simply give us your spreadsheet, and we will take care of importing your data into the software so you can have full experience with our trial based on your real data.

EMERGE provides cloud ERP software for wholesale distribution, which includes full functions from inventory, order management, accounting, human resources to customer management, and production. A cloud ERP for wholesale distribution provides overall management and tracking features that help a business plan its resources and grow easily. 

Wholesale distribution involves a complex workflow that starts with suppliers and inventory, moves through fulfillment and shipping, and ends with after-sales services. Some businesses even have production processes for custom orders, which is why a comprehensive cloud ERP software for wholesale distribution is so valuable. Here are some key features of cloud ERP software for your wholesale distribution business you can check out:

• Manage multiple warehouses and locations with real-time data updates. This gives managers a complete overview of operations across all branches and provides accurate, real-time reports.
• Barcode scanning systems speed up the fulfillment process with accuracy, helping businesses solve the challenge of processing large volume orders across multiple warehouses and locations.
• Consolidate sales orders from multiple sales channels into one place for better oversight of your sales situation and fulfillment processes.
• Easy to customize approval and authorization processes for your team. This increases business transparency and makes it easier for managers in monitoring processes.
• New workflows, such as production, rental projects, or retail sales, can be customized into your core operations as you grow. The system also allows you to add multiple companies, users, and consignment locations to support your expansion.

• Real-time tracking from suppliers performance to customers billings, which improves responsiveness, financial accuracy, minimizing delays and disruptions.
• Seamless Integration with E-commerce & Accounting Platforms: Cloud ERP software for wholesale distribution EMERGE connects smoothly with popular tools like QuickBooks, Xero, Shopify and built-in B2B purchase platforms eCart, ultimately centralizing your data and workflows.
• Comprehensive analytics across departments and entire operation: From inventory turnover to purchase reports, sales trends to products trend, from supplier performance to detailed financial reports.