Why is it so hard to capture project cost in ERP?

Reason #4: Usability

Even when a company has a single system in place that is designated as the system of record, it may not be used widely by people throughout the organization. The single most likely reason for this will be a lack of intuitive usability. Throughout an organization, many employees frankly don’t care what the person in the C suite or front office worries about or what software they would like to force them to use. So often, despite the best intentions of management to institute a single system, data used to support day-to-day operations remains in disparate systems, presenting a barrier to adequate, real-time cost capture and control.

The Solution

The difficulty many executives experience in adequately capturing project cost is a direct result of the fact that project management software is not a native part of their ERP system. They may be running some type of project management software that is integrated to some degree with their ERP application, but this integration is not complete or thorough enough to provide full visibility into important metrics like committed cost.

The logical solution is to select and implement highly usable enterprise software designed for the project environment, with project management functionality that shares data, in a natural, event-driven way, with the rest of an enterprise suite. Identifying this software during a selection process will require extensive due diligence. The effort required to examine in detail the project capabilities of each ERP package will pay dividends in the end, however, in the form of increased project control and profitability.

Project ERP must enable on-demand forecasting, monthly reviews and simulation to accurately visualize and capture cost trends on projects.