10 Reasons Why You Should Consider Replacing QuickBooks

QuickBooks has been a go-to accounting system for businesses across all industries. Many small-scale and midsize organizations invest in QuickBooks because of its simplicity, cost-effectiveness, popularity, and ease of use. However, as your manufacturing company scales, accounting tasks become more complex and require higher-level accounting software. Also, for those managing spreadsheets and multiple software solutions, inefficiencies come into play.

Enterprise Resource Planning software is a comprehensive business management suite that manages your entire operations. ERP collects, stores, and manages data from departments such as Finance, Inventory, Production, Sales, Procurement, Quality, etc. This improves data visibility and streamlines processes and reporting.

A Quick Comparison Between BatchMaster and QuickBooks

Feature/Functionality
Inventory Management	Basic inventory control with a single costing method (weighted average or FIFO) Limited flexibility for complex inventory needs	Advanced inventory management with multiple costing methods (for example, LIFO, FIFO, lot costing, standard costing) Real-time inventory updates across locations with batch-level and serial-level traceability, including item-specific specifications and lot-level attributes to ensure regulatory compliance and precision in production
Costing	Basic costing with limited support for production complexity and no material consumption tracking	Advanced costing tracks raw materials, labor, overhead, and losses for precise control. Batch and lot sizing, integrated with process routing, enables comprehensive cost analysis. Scenarios for different packaging options provide margin and markup visibility, helping with better decision-making
Formula & Recipe Management	No built-in features for recipe or formula management	Comprehensive formulation module for managing recipes and formulations, with version control and built-in workflow Automatically calculates attributes such as physical and chemical properties, nutritional analysis, and more
Batch Production	No built-in batch production feature	Dynamically adjust batch sizes, reduce waste, and optimize schedules Allows job prioritization, auto-converts sales orders to production orders, and enables real-time formula adjustments with automatic back flushing for accurate inventory tracking
Supply Chain & Logistics Management	Limited shipping capabilities	Comprehensive shipping and receiving management, automated replenishment, advanced planning (MRP/MPS), and warehouse management system (WMS) for optimized inventory handling and traceability, ensuring adherence to industry-specific regulations
Quality Management	No quality control capabilities	Integrated quality control (QC) processes for incoming materials, in-process testing, and production. Supports item- and vendor-specific QC specifications, ensuring product quality standards are met
Compliance	Focuses mainly on financial compliance with basic auditing and tax reporting	Industry-specific compliance features, lot traceability, recall management, and compliance reporting (for example, FDA, cGMP) for regulated industries

What are the limitations of using QuickBooks?

• No industry-specific features for the manufacturing industry
• Designed to cater to small-scale companies
• Limited to creating reports for the financial department only
• Restrictions on the number of transactions
• Large file sizes can cause performance issues

Why should manufacturers consider replacing QuickBooks?

1. Restricted support for complex operations

With QuickBooks, managing and handling many transactions and users is tricky. Scaling business operations might require different business applications to manage finance, inventory, production, sales, or other functions.

2. It lacks manufacturing functionality and industry-specific features

QuickBooks is excellent for managing accounting tasks, but ERP software effectively manages finance, manufacturing, and all business operations. Collecting, managing, editing, and updating data from multiple departments becomes challenging as your company grows. Features unavailable in QuickBooks software include Bill of Material management, production tracking, planning, scheduling, and more.

3. QuickBooks does not track production operations

Manufacturers need applications to manage equipment maintenance, track production processes, and manage quality control on the production floor. QuickBooks does not support these tools, leading to data redundancy and data entry errors.

4. Lack of automation and no reporting in real-time

Businesses often need more advanced reporting functionality available in modern ERP solutions. Centralized information in ERP helps manufacturers have a fast and accurate picture of how the entire business is doing.
QuickBooks offers restricted reporting options, which can lead to delays, poor decision-making, and mismanagement.

5. Minimum industry regulation and compliance

Manufacturers require business tools that can help them stay compliant with industry-specific regulations. QuickBooks doesn’t provide this functionality which is important to growing manufacturers. ERP for manufacturers provides the capabilities to meet industry regulations and always be compliant.

6. Inter-team communication and collaboration

ERP software allows employees to work on a shared database, ensuring better communication and collaboration between team members. QuickBooks is unable to provide company-wide connectivity.

7. Lacks operational efficiency

Automation is key to success in the manufacturing sector. QuickBooks is not designed to automate day-to-day tasks. ERP, however, automates critical operations across the business and increases operational efficiency to work faster and smarter.

8. Limited integration with new tools

QuickBooks has certain integration restrictions that can create hurdles for managing complex operational setups. QuickBooks may struggle to integrate with advanced tools such as CRM, and ERP systems that require robust business functionality. On the other hand, ERP systems support API functionality for smooth integrations.

9. Challenges with user permissions and security

QuickBooks lacks advanced access control and security features. As the company grows, this can be a point of concern for larger organizations. ERP software provides more granular user roles and high-end security protocols.

10. Challenges with international transactions

If your business expands to other countries, QuickBooks struggles with global and multi-currency operations while making it difficult to handle currency conversions and compliance with local tax laws. ERP systems, such as SAP Business One, support automatic currency conversions by using real-time exchange rates. It provides a single system for accessing operational and financial data across international branches.

When is the right time to replace QuickBooks?

Knowing the right time to replace QuickBooks with an ERP solution can be challenging. However, if you want your company to have one business management software that can manage data from all departments, boost inter-department collaboration and reporting, and give you a birds-eye view of the entire business, ERP is the best option. With an ERP system, you don’t have to worry about the annual maintenance of disparate systems, managing data on multiple systems, and multi-entity consolidation.

With a fully automated enterprise, sophisticated audit tools, and inventory, production, and supply chain management functionality, ERP software helps manufacturers grow.

Explore the power of BatchMaster ERP for process manufacturers

BatchMaster ERP is an industry-specific ERP solution that is designed to support the unique requirements of formula-based process manufacturers across multiple industries, such as Food and Beverage, Nutraceuticals, Life Sciences, CBD and Hemp, and Chemicals.

Click here to learn about our end-to-end ERP solution, or contact us to get in touch with a solution consultant.