Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is business management software that allows an organization to automate and integrate core business processes. Some of the processes included are; how a sale is recorded, verifying hourly worker's paychecks, taking customer orders, scheduling operations, keeping inventory records and financial data. ERP software can guide the employees responsible for those processes through them step by step, and enables you to plan your work load based on existing orders and forecasts.
With an ERP system, the financial software can cut an accounts payable check as soon as the loading dock clerk confirms that the goods were received in inventory. The accounts receivable module can generate an invoice as soon as the shipping clerk says the finished goods are on the truck to the customer. In addition ERP will enable you to produce financial and boardroom quality reports, as well as to conduct analysis on your organization's performance. ERP can do all of this with a minimum of human intervention and paperwork. By automating aspects of business processes, they become more efficient, less prone to error, and faster. It also frees up people from mundane tasks such as balancing data. ERP ensures coherence and avoids duplication, discontinuity, and people working at cross purposes, in different parts of the organization. The cumulative positive effect when business processes integrate well is overall superior performance by the organization.