Summary: See the five clearest signs you have outgrown QuickBooks as a manufacturer, and find out what other small to midsized manufacturing businesses typically choose instead.
QuickBooks is a great basic accounting software, which is why most early-stage businesses use it. But we all know QuickBooks is better suited to some industries than others. As a manufacturer, you really know how much it’s suited for other industries because it’s obvious from the start that its built-in manufacturing capabilities are… less than ideal. (Nice euphemism, right?)
You and I both know that, over the years, your manufacturing company has been forced to rely on more and more spreadsheets, and maybe even an add-on or two. At this point, it probably feels like you have one system to manage your financials and another to manage your operations.
You know why it feels that way? Because it’s true.
Here Are the 5 Signs That Show You’ve Outgrown QuickBooks
- Two different systems
This is the one I just mentioned. QuickBooks handles your financials, and that’s about it. To get data in and out of QuickBooks, you’re either manually copying and pasting all day, or you have an automated data transfer that happens every night.
The problem with these methods is that they’re error-prone. If you paste data incorrectly, or an overnight sync fails, you won’t know until you’ve already made decisions based on faulty data.
- People don’t enter their own data
If you have one or two people in charge of entering or communicating critical production updates for other employees, this is usually a sign that you’ve hit your user limits in QuickBooks. When you started using QuickBooks, you figured you’d never reach the 30-40 users it maxes out at, but here you are.
If you choose not to purchase user licenses, that’s one thing. But if you desperately need more users to have access to your system and you simply cannot get them licenses… well… let’s use another euphemism here: your production rate will be “slower than expected.”
- You’re using big add-ons
An add-on here and there is fine. A sales tax calculator, an expense capture tool, or a 1099 e-filing add-on are smart time savers. They’re tiny. If you’re using an entire operational add-on to run your business, like MISys or Fishbowl, sorry to tell you but QuickBooks isn’t actually providing you with that much value anymore.
Big add-ons come with their own costly per-user seats, and since they usually grant you even fewer users than QuickBooks, they leave you with higher costs, more sync headaches, worse user constraints, and those euphemistic production speeds from point #2.
- You open Excel first every day
If you start your day checking reports and managing stock in Excel, and then finally get around to checking QuickBooks in the afternoon, you’re actually running your manufacturing business with Excel. Didn’t you get QuickBooks so you could avoid that?
Look, I spend all day every day working with computers. I know Excel is great (most of the time). I also know that it’s way too easy to overwrite data or corrupt formulas in complicated Excel spreadsheets, and that bad data makes for bad business decisions.
- Training is exhausting
Here’s a scary word: workarounds. Let’s say Hugo, your procurement guy, needs to train a new hire to handle raw materials forecasting. As the new hire turns to page 12 of his brand-new notebook to continue his notes with, “Open the ‘RM-forecasting-FINAL-2021_Final-Gary-version’ file and select tab 3: ‘data (copy)’, then copy Column E into a new spreadsheet,” Hugo realizes how many workarounds he’s been relying on.
Did you chuckle? You might be relying on a few too many workarounds yourself. Try writing a process document for a few routine procedures, and you’ll find out pretty quickly if you are. When you’ve outgrown QuickBooks, your process relies on a lot of spreadsheet tabs and copy-pasting.
What to Do When You Outgrow QuickBooks
If more than two of these signs sounded eerily familiar, it’s time for you to move on from QuickBooks.
For small to midsized manufacturing companies, Sage 100 is one of the most popular next steps because:
- It’s a single solution for financials and operations
- It provides advanced inventory management capabilities so you can stay on top of your raw materials and finished goods
- It works well for MTS, MTO, and ETO shops
- It supports hundreds of users
- It does not cost an arm and a leg compared to QuickBooks
If you’d like to discuss your options, I encourage you to reach out to our expert team at VBCC. We’ve been supporting manufacturers on Sage 100 for over 30 years, and we’re known in the Sage world as THE Sage 100 manufacturing experts.
Contact Our Team for Realistic, No-Pressure Info About Your Options
