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Tapping Into the Potential of a Modern Cloud ERP: Why Businesses Ready for Growth Should Move from QuickBooks and Fishbowl to D365 BC

Published Date
Author Jeff Knoche

Like everything in life, organizations naturally evolve. Most change and grow, which is a good thing. But it’s important to pave the way for this growth and change, starting with the technology that supports your business. As they evolve, the digital tools that might have worked in the past can turn into liabilities. While software solutions like QuickBooks and Fishbowl served the purpose of managing the back office and the warehouse for a time, they are typically not equipped to support businesses as they get bigger and their needs become more complex. 

Building the future with tools from the past: The challenges mount 

If your business is expanding and you continue using QuickBooks and Fishbowl for accounting, finance, and warehouse management, you’ll start experiencing issues that can grow into big problems: 

  • Inventory discrepancies—tracking and aged inventory management—that lead to missed orders, delays in fulfillment, and financial losses 

  • Increased risk for errors due to having to keep two systems up to date 

  • Reduced productivity due to redundancy 

  • Limitations in reporting, putting decision makers at a disadvantage 

 

Not only are you forced to grapple with these issues; you also miss out on new and innovative features like AI that are available in modern solutions.  

Dynamics 365 Business Central: A fully integrated cloud ERP-warehouse management solution 

As you grow, your technology should grow with you. Moving towards a modern, integrated, robust ERP and warehouse management solution like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can prevent these issues from growing to the point that they threaten the life of your business.  

 

By moving to Business Central, you can scale and evolve seamlessly. Some of key benefits that Business Central offers include: 

 

  • One system, infinite capabilities: A single, unified system integrates key functionality onto one platform. 

  • Detailed insights: With robust data delivered in real time, your data analysis and reporting are faster and more accurate, enabling you to make better informed decisions. 

  • Optimal inventory management: Innovative features support tracking and valuation of inventory.  

  • Simplified navigation: Eliminating the need to bounce between multiple solutions increases efficiency and productivity while reducing errors.  

  • Enhanced customer satisfaction: By delivering complete, accurate orders on time improves the customer experience.  

  • Compatibility with familiar tools: As a Microsoft product, Business Central integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft tools and applications, such as Teams, Outlook, Power BI, and SharePoint, improving collaboration and productivity. 

  • Adaptive: A modern solution can evolve with your business as you scale and define new objectives, supporting your success in an increasingly competitive landscape.  

  • Regulatory excellence: Outputs robust, reliable, compliant data that is ready for audits. 

Case in point: A national distributor moves from QuickBooks and Fishbowl to Business Central 

A prominent U.S. snack and candy distributor faced significant operational challenges due to their outdated legacy systems. As they scaled up their distribution initiatives, QuickBooks and Fishbowl were holding them back. Their unique differentiator is their ability to fill a wide variety of orders in smaller quantities, which their competitors do not offer.  

 

They couldn't afford to miss the opportunities to sell to smaller customers afforded by this differentiator provided. However, working with two legacy systems created problems that often led to missed orders and fulfillment delays, threatening these opportunities: 

 

  • Keeping up with two systems resulted in frequent inventory discrepancies and other issues 

  • Operations were often slowed by Fishbowl’s complicated UI and delayed responses from the support team.  

  • Difficulty with generating accurate inventory valuation summaries left managers without the key information needed to make important decisions.  

  • Overall, inventory tracking was hampered, with issues of multiple vendor part numbers, inconsistent UOM restrictions between platforms, and multiple steps required for part look-up.  

The game-changer: Dynamics 365 Business Central 

To address the challenges this company faced with growth, Western Computer proposed and implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Through a unified platform, the distributor was able to seamlessly combine warehouse management and ERP processes, streamlining operations and boosting the customer experience.  

 

The unified platform also meant users no longer needed to bounce between multiple systems, avoiding errors and inconsistencies. Real-time data synchronization capabilities ensured accurate inventory levels, facilitating enhanced financial planning. Notably, overall customer satisfaction improved, due to increased fulfillment of timely and accurate orders.  

 

By adopting Dynamics 365 Business Central, the company gained access to reliable data that empowered confident business decisions. Overall, they were able to achieve streamlined inventory management and enhanced business performance. This case highlights the need for businesses looking to scale and evolve their operations to adopt software solutions that grow and adapt with them. 

If you’re facing obstacles to growth and meeting strategic objectives, learn more about the benefits of Dynamics over QuickBooks, then talk to Western Computer about how Dynamics 365 Business Central can help you get to the next level, where you can enjoy the benefits of a single, unified ERP and warehouse management system.