Nowadays, a company’s accounting can only be managed with the help of digital processes. Without software support, the complex modern business processes and the increasing requirements of the tax authorities would simply no longer be feasible. So it’s no wonder that digitization in accounting has now gained considerable momentum in most DACH companies.
Smart ERP functions for finance are particularly popular. But what can such solutions actually do and how exactly does accounting benefit from them? We took a closer look at the benefits of an ERP system in finance and accounting.
ERP in accounting: the most important areas of application
At the heart of accounting is the requirement to record value flows correctly and comprehensibly. After all, accurate accounting is not only the basis for strategic decisions. It is also an essential prerequisite for compliance with legal regulations and audit requirements.
An ERP system helps you to meet the high demands on data quality in finance and accounting in the best possible way. A modern solution supports the following six areas of application:
1. financial accounting
An essential part of accounting is the management of incoming and outgoing cash flows. If this information is recorded in detail, it provides you with the perfect basis for meaningful balance sheets.
A modern ERP system enables the automation of payment transactions and their documentation. In particular, this includes mechanized postings and the intelligent processing of bank account statements. Information is provided in accordance with the “Principles of data access and verifiability of digital documents (GDPdU)”.
2. cost accounting
Every company must be able to create an accurate internal cost allocation and income statement. Cost accounting plays an important role in this. This part of internal accounting records and analyzes all costs incurred by the company.
A good ERP system offers the possibility of mapping the functions of cost accounting and operational controlling. You can also optimally align the company’s actions with the help of simulations and forecasts.
3. asset accounting
A value-adding ERP system in accounting provides you with an overview of your fixed assets at all times so that you can plan accurately. It also supports you in correctly implementing depreciation and accounting rules – even if these are constantly changing. This is made possible, for example, by flexible consolidation options within the group.
You can also use an ERP solution to simulate and test various depreciation methods. In this way, your decisions in cost center, cost unit and cost type controlling can be underpinned by data. This in turn allows you to manage your company’s success in a targeted manner.
4. payroll accounting
A whole range of data is required to ensure that all employees receive the right salary at the right time. If you use modern ERP software, this information is updated automatically on an ongoing basis. This means, for example, that information on health insurance rates is always up to date ─ without the manual involvement of specialists.
A modern industry solution handles all tasks associated with wages and salaries reliably and on time. This allows you to minimize routine work and errors while simplifying internal processes. In addition, all completed processes can be viewed digitally and are therefore always traceable.
5. liquidity planning
Every company should recognize liquidity bottlenecks as early as possible in order to prevent a serious crisis. An ERP system in accounting is also extremely useful for this: by collecting all data on liabilities and planned expenditure, it enables continuous monitoring of cash flow.
The software can also create forecasts based on historical and current cash flows . This facilitates the optimal management of payment targets.
6. reporting and analysis
Management can only make the right decisions if they are based on relevant key figures. This is why reports and evaluations are indispensable in finance. For example, they provide information on how high the manufacturing costs for the products are or which area is particularly expensive for the company.
ERP in finance supports reporting by centrally collecting financial data from all areas of the company and automatically converting it into meaningful reports. This provides decision-makers with up-to-date and reliable key figures at all times.
ERP in finance – an overview of all application areas
| Area of application | Benefits of the ERP solution in accounting |
| Financial accounting | Automation of payment transactionsThe basis for reliable balance sheets |
| Cost accounting | Recording and analysis of all cost simulations for target and profit planning |
| Asset accounting | Overview of fixed assetsCorrect implementation of depreciation and accounting rulesDecision-making basis in controlling |
| Payroll accounting | Automatic updating of relevant dataSafe and timely payroll accounting |
| Liquidity planning | Cash flow monitoringEarly detection of bottlenecksForecasts based on cash flows |
| Reporting & Analysis | Centralized data collectionAutomatic reportingReliable key figures for management |
Accounting via ERP system: the biggest advantages
Data consolidation and automation
One of the most important tasks of an ERP system is to consolidate business data and make it available to the entire organization. This function is particularly attractive for the finance department – after all, it is the task of the accounting department to collect financially relevant data from the entire company and store it in a verifiable manner. This applies, among other things:
- Receivables and liabilities
- Bank accounts
- Stocks
- Office supplies
- Personnel
The practical thing is that data management is usually automated: Many ERP solutions can automatically create invoices based on order data and store them as receipts. There are also useful functions from the field of quality management that ensure a high-quality database, for example:
- Plausibility check during data entry
- Check for data consistency and logical connections
- Automatic cleanup of duplicate entries
These ERP functions not only make the accounting department’s work easier, but also improve the company’s ability to provide information.
Isabel Rocholl, Asseco Solutions
An ERP system relieves colleagues in the accounting department of routine tasks. Instead of constantly making the same bookings, they can devote themselves to more exciting tasks.
Simple fulfillment of legal obligations
Public authorities in particular have been steadily driving forward the digitalization of the financial sector for several years. You are no doubt aware that all German companies have been obliged to do so since 2025, e-invoices and to archive them in an audit-proof manner. From 2028, the creation and sending of e-invoices will also be mandatory. These processes can be fully automated with an ERP system.
In addition, the “Principles for the proper keeping and storage of books, records and documents in electronic form and for data access” (GoBD) have required the digital storage and processing of tax-relevant electronic data since 2015. The legislator has established a series of rules that companies can only comply with with the help of accounting software. These include
- Timely bookings within specified deadlines
- The retention obligation for electronic receipts
- Access rights for tax authorities to the accounting software
Modern ERP solutions also offer a range of useful functions for this: Timely bookings, for example, can be partially automated. Secure data storage has become standard in every ERP system since the GDPR came into force. And as an access option for tax authorities, you can create a user with restricted reading rights.
Uncomplicated data exchange with other departments
As part of the ERP infrastructure, accounting is digitally connected to all other areas of the company. This connection is not limited to collecting electronic documents. Accounting also exchanges a wide range of data with other departments via the ERP system. This speeds up all processes in finance and accounting.
The following examples illustrate the benefits of an ERP solution:
Advantages for payroll accounting:
- Thanks to an integrated time recording system, the HR department can see at any time who has worked in which period and when.
- In addition, there may be other wage-relevant data from production or project management.
- As all this information is stored in the ERP system, the accounting department does not need to consult the system.
- This means that payroll accounting can be processed more quickly and efficiently.
Advantages for the sales department when requesting a credit check:
- The responsible colleagues can use the ERP system to check directly whether credit information is already available.
- If this is not the case, all you need to do is press a button to send a corresponding request to the accounting department.
- This can take all the necessary data directly from the ERP system.
Advantages in the context of KPI analyses:
- The accounting department has a pool of data that is important for calculating financial key figures. These include total sales, profit margin, liquidity ratio and equity ratio.
- An ERP system can automatically calculate these and other KPIs and output them as part of individual dashboards.
- The system takes the relevant data from the digital information pool. It is not necessary to rework it manually.
How is ERP-based accounting implemented technically?
The accounting tool is fully integrated into some ERP systems. We at Asseco, on the other hand, rely on the connection of the eGecko software – and thus trust in the know-how of a specialist for controlling, HR and accounting. Among other things, the system processes postings, payments, reminders and financial accounting-specific master data.
And this is how it works:
- Our ERP system APplus transfers financial data in real time to eGecko for further processing in accounting.
- Information about incoming and outgoing documents flows directly back into APplus.
- An integrated credit limit check compares the information with existing customer accounts and analyzes open items in financial accounting.
- Information on down payment and final invoices is taken into account in purchasing and sales.
More about APplus Finance and Accounting
Application examples from practice
RSB Rationelle Stahlbearbeitung:
Accounting with ERP saves half a year of working time
By introducing a digital invoice workflow with the APplus ERP system, the metal processing company has sustainably optimized its invoice processing. Thanks to automatic text recognition, incoming invoices are now automatically analyzed and transferred directly into the system.
The system transfers all analyzed documents with a clear order reference to the subsequent process stages without any manual intervention. If, for example, the text recognition is not able to process all data correctly due to incorrect printing, the purchasing team receives a message. The relevant invoice can then be checked and corrected if necessary. The audit-proof digital filing system and a practical search function also enable quick and uncomplicated process searches.
The result:
- Thanks to automation, RSB achieves time savings of around half a person-year.
- Flexible, location-independent invoice approval is possible for the management.
- Archiving costs have been noticeably reduced as the filing of paper documents has been largely eliminated.
WMB Ventilatoren:
Partial automation of accounting with ERP
Since the introduction of the APplus ERP system, WMB has benefited from an optimization of financial accounting from posting to the payment run. Whereas payments were previously posted and settled individually, APplus is now linked to an external tax office.
This connection via a DATEV interface enables semi-automated data exchange: receipts can now be exported at the touch of a button and transferred directly to the tax office. This has significantly simplified the processing of payments.
The result:
- The bookkeeping department experiences a noticeable relief in day-to-day business.
- The processes in finance are much more efficient.
Conclusion: Accounting runs like clockwork with ERP
If you process your accounting centrally via an ERP system, you will achieve a significant increase in efficiency. This is primarily due to the numerous functions for automating processes. As the ERP solution handles many work steps in finance independently, your company benefits from fast, error-free and transparent processes.
Ultimately, this also shifts the focus of the accounting department. As the ERP solution handles many routine tasks, employees experience a noticeable reduction in their day-to-day workload. This in turn enables them to concentrate fully on complicated processes.
