How to Efficiently Choose ERP Software for Service Companies: Your Handbook & Process
Finding ERP software for service companies is a tough task. This is largely because, unlike most other industries, service companies provide extremely diverse offerings. As a result, they need highly diverse tools to run their businesses. Since you are reading this article, we can guess that QuickBooks simply does not provide the tools you need to grow.
Some service companies need warranty tracking. Many need CRM services. Some need inventory management tools. Many need project accounting. Some want specialized software built precisely for their business type. Others need customizable, cloud-based software that they can add on to as their offerings evolve.
Whether your business delivers professional services, construction services, personal services, managed services, field services, or another type of service entirely, we have the guide that helps you quickly and easily compare your options for ERP software tools. Download the “Service Management ERP Handbook” to compare your full range of options immediately.
What Are the Options for ERP Software for Service Companies?
As you have discovered for yourself by now, there are a lot of options when it comes to service company software solutions. In one respect, this is exhilarating because it means the software world is your oyster. In other respects, this is exhausting because it means you have an unbelievable amount of research to do.
Speed up that research time and create your shortlist faster, using the guide that explains:
- The 5 major service categories, so you can figure out which one you belong to
- 8 different service types and the software each one typically requires
- The pros and cons of generalized vs. industry-specialized ERP solutions
- Standard features that all good ERPs have vs. industry-specific added features
- A list 20+ field service businesses and their software needs, to help you understand your own choices
How to Best Use This Guide
Ready to create your personalized shortlist that drills down to the best software for service companies? Here is an easy, 3-step process to get you there.
- Decide whether you need a specialized or general ERP solution to support your company’s growth. This guide will help you with that. Once you know the answer to this, you can cut a lot of contenders off your list.
- Decide on the features or functions your business simply must have (e.g., inventory management, field service scheduling, CRM, project billing, etc.). This guide will help you with that too. We recommend that you look over the list of common features all good ERPs have and the extensive lists of industry-specific features. Everything you need should be on those lists.
- Make a list of features or functions that would be nice to have, but that are not essential for you. You guessed it: this guide will help with that too. These will be the features that intrigue you in this guide, and you will know them when you see them. For example, we run a services business and there are certain features on this list that sound useful to us, like remote time and expense entry and remote document capture. Other features do not really stand out to us because they are not necessary for our service offerings, like hazardous materials management or facility maintenance scheduling tools.
Once you clearly know whether you need specialized or general ERP software for service companies and you know the features that are non-negotiable – well, you can use that information to easily create your shortlist of feasible ERP solutions. With the “nice-to-have” list you created in step 3, you can rank or prioritize your shortlist and maybe even shorten it more.
Best of all, you will know that every solution on your shortlist can meet your needs now and as you grow, which makes for a much more relaxed and confident software search process.
Get the “Service Management ERP Handbook” now.
Since 2003, PeopleSense has established itself as the definitive ERP and single source workforce management solution provider for businesses of all sizes throughout the U.S. and Canada, offering consulting for M2M® and Intuitive®, Sage HRMS, time and attendance solutions, Acumatica, and related services and products. PeopleSense provides clients with the peace of mind that comes from working with experienced consultants dedicated to customer service, who are affordably priced with no annual contracts. Reach out to get your business software questions answered.