Closet Works Keeps Their Operations Organized with aACE

Closet Works Keeps Their Operations Organized with aACE

“I recommend aACE to any company that wants to have better control of their major workflows, especially finance.” –Michael McManus, IT Manager, Closet Works

Closet Works is a family-owned custom closet manufacturer located in the Chicago area. For over 30 years, they have produced and sold custom closets both directly to local consumers and nationwide through wholesalers and resellers. Despite being experts in organization, behind-the-scenes they were working with a mess of old databases that didn’t talk to each other. That’s why they turned to aACE in 2015 – and why they’ve been continuously refining their solution to better optimize their workflows ever since.

Challenges & aACE Solutions

From Siloed Solutions and Duplicate Data Entry to One Seamless System

Before aACE, Closet Works had spent a decade working on their own custom FileMaker-based solution. It worked well for their unique design and manufacturing workflows, but didn’t handle accounting or inventory. For that they initially turned to QuickBooks, which didn’t communicate with their custom database. “Every order basically had to be entered in our system and [entered again] in QuickBooks,” says Michael McManus, the IT Manager at Closet Works. “It was a huge amount of duplicate data entry.”

Though Michael joined the Closet Works team after they had already gone live with aACE, he’s personally witnessed steady improvements over the years as they’ve continued to customize and adapt their aACE solution. “Since I got here, our finance and customer service teams have probably saved 20% of the time they used to spend,” he says.

Fitting Unique Production Workflows into a Comprehensive Solution

Closet Works built a robust production solution tailored to their particular workflows. But disseminating data from their shop floor to the rest of the business was a headache – until aACE came in.

aACE seamlessly integrates with their custom FileMaker production system, enabling their production users to save time by automating much of that data transfer. “The production side of things is primarily oriented towards our CAD department,” Michael says, explaining the division of labor between the two FileMaker solutions. He notes that while it’s easier for the designers to continue using their production system, “The automation is key, because the proposals and estimates move back and forth” between aACE and the production system.

He adds that it’s essential for the information moving between the two solutions to be complete and accurate. aACE’s automation helps to ensure this level of quality. “When we sell an order, for example, that order needs to have all its information collected and pushed into aACE. And at the same time, our CAD people have to push the material list and pick list into aACE so that we can do the inventory management.”

aACE’s serves as the nexus that unites Closet Works’ core workflows, giving them the best of both worlds – a production system tailor-made for them, and an all-in-one solution that unites all of their business processes.

From Separate Accounting Systems to One Unified Solution for 3 Business Lines

Closet Works has three divisions – their main brand; the Columbus Design and Install wholesale business; and closets.com, their ecommerce business. Prior to aACE, each of these business lines were managed in separate QuickBooks solutions with no way to generate unified reports on all three. aACE enables them to manage all three business lines as separate offices in a single solution, giving them a full picture of their entire operations. “We can report on just one division at a time or all of them on a single sheet, which is what my financial people want,” Michael says. “It’s been very good.”

Results

Manage Orders and Payments with Ease

Closet Works’ orders can be as unique as their closets – some require deposits while others don’t, for example, just like some are shipped out to wholesalers or resellers while others are installed directly in customers’ homes. Fortunately aACE gives them the flexibility to manage each order appropriately.

To support these scenarios, Closet Works’ customer records in aACE include a deposit percentage and a credit card. When an order is processed by a customer service representative or comes in through their ecommerce store, aACE automatically charges the card on file for the deposit. If that charge fails, aACE auto-generates an email to the customer alerting them to the problem – and sends a notice to the shipping department to ensure that the goods don’t leave the warehouse until the deposit has been received.

Onsite installs follow a similar process. Installers use a mobile app to mark the project complete, which prompts aACE to run the credit card. If the charge doesn’t go through, aACE sends a notice to the installers before they leave the customer’s home so they can secure an alternate form of payment. “That automation and the simplicity of setting it up makes things a lot easier,” Michael says. “I don’t have to write custom code for each process I want to run or each email I want to send. I think those notices are probably one of the coolest things about aACE.”

Accurate, Automated Inventory Management

Knowing which materials they have on hand and how much they have to work with is vital for keeping Closet Works’ production moving. Custom pick tickets sync data between their production system and aACE, so when employees pick something in the warehouse, the corresponding inventory is automatically depleted in aACE.

Once a job is finished, aACE records the cost of goods sold based on data pushed from the production system. “When we close a job out, aACE does all the cleanup,” Michael summarizes. This keeps costs and inventory levels accurate without requiring production users to interact with aACE.

Automation of this nature has helped the company scale. “It’s been really good in terms of getting the company moving forward as we grow,” says Michael, adding that they expect to see a growth rate of up to 20% this year. “And I think taking better advantage of aACE’s automation processes has allowed us to get here.”

Integrations With Best-of-Breed Solutions

In addition to integrating aACE with their custom production system, Closet Works has leveraged a number of aACE’s out-of-the-box integrations to extend its functionality. aACE+ AvaTax enables them to instantly and accurately calculate sales tax based on the precise location of each sale. Likewise, the aACE+ Mailgun email integration allows them to attach every correspondence with a customer or vendor directly to the relevant records in aACE.

The strongest example may be how aACE’s seamless shipping integration has proven integral to Closet Works’ operations. As Closet Works has grown, the aACE+ NRG integration has helped them keep up with the rapid pace of new business. “We’ve had a huge increase in orders, and our NRG integration has been really useful in getting it done,” Michael says. “I’ve integrated aACE and NRG with a mobile app so that our shipping team can take care of all their shipping workflows from an iPad without needing to log in to aACE or NRG.” aACE+ NRG takes care of processing the payment for the goods when the shipping label is printed, and automatically communicates with the carrier as necessary. Michael emphasizes the importance of the integration to Closet Works’ essential workflows in the field, adding, “I couldn’t have done that without aACE and NRG.”

Bring Your Own Developer

Because aACE is built in FileMaker, it’s extremely easy for an in-house developer to learn and begin customizing. This was certainly the case for Michael, who had worked with aACE for about a year at another company before joining the Closet Works team.

“Working with aACE makes all of my development a lot easier,” says Michael. “In many cases all the pieces are already there. All I have to do is create a new flow for them or edit the script a tiny bit in order to have aACE do exactly what I want.”

One example is aACE’s email templates, which Michael has customized for several purposes in addition to the credit card notifications. Rather than creating an entire template from scratch, aACE makes it easy to repurpose existing templates with a few small tweaks. “I can just fill in the blanks with a couple lines of script rather than having to write out, for example, the subject line, from, to, and all of the other substitutions that have to be in place. I put in 10 to 15 variables and we’re off and running, and aACE does everything for me at that point.”

“The modularity of things like that has made my life easier,” Michael continues. “It’s made it a lot easier to customize aACE to give us features that we didn’t have before, or just to take advantage of out-of-the-box features in aACE that we weren’t using before. When somebody says, ‘Hey, can we do this?’ I get to say, ‘Yes, it’s right there.’”

In Their Own Words

Here’s what Michael had to say about the Closet Works aACE implementation:

“Every company I’ve worked for of this size has used something like QuickBooks to take care of their finances, so every transaction had to be entered twice. That’s one of the primary reasons I recommend switching to aACE.

“I’d also recommend aACE to any company who wants to upgrade from legacy order processing interfaces, which can be incredibly daunting to train for because they’re so messy. aACE makes it much simpler to create orders across the board and to create products. There’s great flexibility there.

“One of the biggest benefits is getting real-time data availability rather than just the historical printed-out reports that most people are used to working with. It’s great to be able to just go into aACE and see how much we sold in a day versus asking for a daily report.

“Honestly, if you need some flexibility in a packaged software that does most of the things you’re doing now in a better way, I’d say that’s what you’re looking at with aACE.”

Interested in learning more about what aACE can do for your SMB? Read our feature highlights to see how aACE can help you take your operations to the next level.

Editor's Note: Shortly after this success story was published, Closet Works was acquired by The Container Store.

7 Benefits of Order Management Software

7 Benefits of Order Management Software

Looking for an easy way to keep your sales organized and accounted for?

In a modern eCommerce landscape, traditional manual processes no longer cut it. In a world where next or two-day shipping has become the expectation on nearly any product you can imagine, you’ll lose business if you aren’t able to efficiently communicate and quickly ship products to your customers.

Your customers expect to see when their product will arrive the moment they drop it into their cart. If it’s longer than they’d like, chances are they’ll abandon the sale. Your business needs modern technology to improve your efficiency and transparency to build trust with your customers.

Order management software is your solution.

What is Order Management Software?

Order management software will help streamline your sales process to help you meet these modern customer expectations.

This software organizes multi-channel orders into a single, central, organized system. With order management software in place, your ecommerce orders will run smoothly from the moment your customers place the order until they receive their products.

Order management software stays on top of your inventory, incoming orders, payment processing, and more. You’ll be able to use real-time data based on your customer’s location to get them their product as quickly as possible. You’ll manage your orders from start to finish and keep your entire team – and your customers – on the same page.

Most of all, you’ll wonder how you were able to manage your sales without it.

To dive a little deeper, here are seven benefits of order management software.

1. Product Options & Alternates

Having software that will suggest product options and alternatives is an incredibly powerful tool for your sales.

Let’s say you have a product that goes out of stock. It happens! With order management software, you’ll be able to automatically suggest similar products that may meet your customer’s needs. It also provides you an excellent opportunity to sell additional products your customers may not have been aware of.

It puts these product options and alternatives in front of your team right at the moment of sale. You’ll never have to place a customer on hold again. Whether it’s a substitute or an add-on, the ability to instantly show your customers additional products is something your team could never do manually. Your order management software can.

2. POS Payment Entry

When you empower your sales personnel and order writers with the ability to take payments, you eliminate the possibility of lost payments due to delays and callbacks.

Traditional payment methods are error-prone, time-consuming, unsecure, and inconvenient for your customers. But with order management software in place, you can seamlessly (and securely) process your customer payments via point-of-sale payment entry. Save time, keep your customer’s sensitive data secure, and minimize the potential for errors with fully integrated payment processing.

3. Automated Payment Processing

You can even automate the entire payment process from charging your customer’s card on file for deposits, when goods are shipped, or according to a progress billing schedule. This frees up your A/R staff for higher-level activities while shipment and invoicing is automatically generated.

You and your customers will be able to check on the progress in your system and receive notifications to stay on the same page.

4. Sales Tax Automation

Let’s face it — tax calculations are tricky, but with order management software, you can leave the complex calculations to your tools. Now, you can easily and accurately collect sales taxes without turning it into a chore.

There’s even an optional geolocation integration to pinpoint your customer’s exact tax rates, helping eliminate any surprises during the sale and making it easier to file your taxes later on.

5. eCommerce Integration

The integrations of order management software are truly endless for your eCommerce business. You can integrate with platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, and Amazon, to automate your entire order.

This enhances your online ordering from top to bottom, ensuring your sales process is streamlined no matter where your customers find you or where they place the order.

6. Credit Management

When you have full accounting integration with your order management software, your entire sales team can see your customers’ current A/R balances in real-time. This ensures your customers stay up to date on their invoices – and will not allow them to place new orders if the tool finds they have exceeded their credit limit.

This can help you improve relations with your customers if you notify them of a payment issue they were unaware of and helps you avoid the bad situations that emerge from working with customers who have poor credit.

7. Accounting Automation

When you can auto-generate your invoices and purchase order records you eliminate the majority of accounting-related data entry. This saves your accounting team time and helps prevent data-entry-related errors and delays. As a bonus, you’ll also free your accounting team up to focus on planning and cash management for your business.

Summary

Surely you can see the value in having order management software if your business has multiple warehouses or sells on multiple sales channels. Order management software is imperative to ensure that your order fulfillment is seamless on every possible platform.

Your sales likely come in from a wide variety of channels, making the process of keeping up more complicated than ever. Order management software ensures a sale never gets lost and that you’re able to manage them all together, in one place.

Your business needs an order management system to handle the volume of orders coming your way to avoid bottlenecks, improve your vendor relationships, customer experience, and, of course, boost your sales.

Reliable order management software from aACE is here to help you manage your sales more efficiently. Check out our feature highlights to see what aACE can do for you today.

Transforming Your SMB For The Digital Age Is Easier Than You Think

Transforming Your SMB For The Digital Age Is Easier Than You Think

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) still have a long way to go when it comes to digitization. While the big chain retailers and restaurants allow you to pay through your phone, some small businesses are still cash only. While online ordering is becoming the norm, some don’t even have a website.

Simply put: These businesses won’t last. The power of convenience is taking over, and digitization makes it possible. But for many of these SMBs, digitization seems like a daunting task. Whether they think it’s too expensive or too time-consuming to integrate (or both), many businesses hold onto their old-school mentality.

However, this thinking is outdated. In fact, many of these organizations are going through some form of digital transformation without even realizing it. Maybe it’s finally launching that website or accepting new-age forms of payment. There are many ways to move forward and be relevant in today’s marketplace to meet customer demands and expectations.

The best news is that it’s not the incredible task many believe it to be. And the ROI? Try this — digital SMEs grow revenue and profits up to twice as fast as their offline competition. The bottom line is pretty simple: Go digital to drive revenue and growth.

But there’s no one right way to move into the digital age. You don’t want to go for it all at once — take baby steps, but the right ones. Here are a few strategies your SMB should keep in mind when going digital.

1. Adopt The Technology You Actually Need

Whether it’s installing barcode readers or credit card payment swipes, you can go as tech-savvy as would best suit your particular needs. But having a customer need to find an ATM to complete their purchase is definitely archaic and not providing a good customer experience.

The first thing to do is to consider what technology your business needs. Every company has unique needs and goals — step one is to write them down. Then, prioritize what you need to optimize your customer experience. Whether that means improving delivery times, spending less time at the check-out counter, or handling orders online, you’ll figure out how to easily implement technology to improve your processes and drive revenue.

2. Think Of Technology As Your Ally, Not A Burden

Technology isn’t the enemy! When used properly, technology is your friend. It will make your life easier, improve your customer experience, and drive greater revenues. Aren’t those the three hallmarks of any thriving business?

No matter the size of your enterprise, technology can help you reach a bigger audience.

If you've already adopted basic technology but aren’t taking advantage of the data, we can help. You can define what processes need to be updated and optimized via automation. Then, you can spend your valuable time actually working on your business. Develop new products, spend more time engaging with your customers, and improve your all-around operations with a little help from your friend: digitization.

3. Go Beyond The Website

A digital presence is more than just having a website, and you will need a bigger digital footprint and impact to be competitive in today’s tech-savvy market. Don’t just throw a website up there for the sake of it — optimize it so your name actually shows up in search results. Introduce your customers to the sales funnel and turn a site visitor into a loyal customer.

Make sure your website is mobile-friendly as websites are not one-size-fits-all when it comes to our devices. You have to cater the experience to the increasingly-mobile crowd.

And digitization means installing modern tools in your office or shop as well. Card readers, scanners, pay systems, and more will make your check-out process more convenient.

4. Let Your Data Work For You

The digital age is really based on data. What can you learn about your operation from your sales numbers? Are you using your numbers to your advantage or just logging them for the sake of it?

With digital tools, you can analyze your data in real-time and make better business decisions. You’ll gain insights into your customer behavior and preferences. You’ll learn what to push and what to eliminate. Your business will surely benefit.

Summary

Digitization should no longer be scary for SMBs. On the contrary, it should be embraced with open arms for its sheer power to turn profit. You can harness the power of digitization and ride the wave of a stronger revenue stream.

And you don’t have to do it yourself — find a trusty partner like aACE business management software to help move your company into the digital age. Learn how to manage your operations in a single platform and see what a modern solution can do for you today. Let’s connect!

Why Distributors Need ERP Software

Why Distributors Need ERP Software

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software exists to help businesses manage, collect, store, and communicate data across all functions of your organization. ERP solutions work for many different types of businesses and manufacturers, but for this piece, we’d like to talk specifically about distributors.

How can distributors benefit from ERP software? Let’s take a deeper look.

What Is Distribution ERP Software?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems allow businesses to share real-time data across all departments and manage their back-end processes. This can help streamline your operations and automate common, time-consuming tasks. An ERP solution does that by putting all areas of a business, such as product planning, development, HR, accounting, supply chains, inventory, manufacturing processes, sales, marketing, and more, into one complete enterprise system.

ERP systems are intimately tied to the manufacturing and distribution industries. With an ERP distribution system, all of your organization’s data will be kept in one safe, organized, accessible space. One program keeps track of all the moving parts and gives you a clear picture of your day-to-day operations.

When we’re specifically talking about distribution, this is helpful for order quantities and volume. Depending on the size of your enterprise, you may deal with small or large orders and therefore have a different volume to manage.

Your distribution ERP software can help you through every step, from placing the bulk order with the manufacturer to selling the smaller quantities to stores or end-users. Your ERP will help with logistics and marketing that are difficult and time-consuming to handle in-house. These are vastly different areas of your supply chain, but the right ERP will be flexible enough to manage these needs.

You’ll also be able to take advantage of tools that provide insights into your customer buying habits in addition to ways to optimize your end-to-end solutions. Distribution ERP software can help with inventory management, fleet management, marketing, shipping, and more.

Why You Need Distribution ERP Software

Your distribution ERP software will streamline your processes into a single database and be there to catch issues before they spiral out of control. No matter where an error occurs, whether it’s product issues, shipping, supply chain, or fleet management, your ERP system will alert you to a problem and help you take immediate action. This response time could save your company thousands of dollars.

Your ERP software can also help you manage pricing and forecast changes in your marketplace, helping your business to stay competitive in the rapidly-changing distribution marketplace.

Here’s a quick rundown of the many benefits of having distribution ERP software in place:

  • Keep everything in one place — accounting, sales, operations — everything! Stop wasting time tracking down all of your different departments and moving parts. Let your ERP keep you organized and make faster, better decisions.
  • No more data errors/redundancy — When your data is all over the place, repetition and mistakes are common. But when you integrate an ERP into your distribution business and gain complete visibility into your operations, you can greatly decrease the opportunity for human error.
  • Increase revenue and scale faster — You can use real-time sales and revenue data to make better use of your resources and manage cost variances, leading to increased revenue. When revenue grows, you’ll be able to scale fast without feeling overwhelmed, focusing on managing the increased volume while your ERP handles the data.
  • Improve your customer experience — An ERP allows your team to use accessible, real-time data to better serve your customers. Keep your customers up-to-date without ever putting them on hold.
  • Make smarter decisions — By now you see that an ERP solution helps you make difficult decisions, fast. Not only faster, but armed with real-time data, you’ll also consistently make the best possible decision. That’s a powerful distribution tool.

See How aACE Is The Distribution ERP Software You Need

Want to learn more about how an ERP can benefit your business? Check out our success stories to learn how real customers have been able to take their businesses to the next level with aACE.

7 Benefits of Integrating Inventory Management and Accounting Software

7 Benefits of Integrating Inventory Management and Accounting Software

If you operate a retail or wholesale business, you could assuredly benefit from inventory management and accounting software.

When you’re able to take full control of your inventory and finances, you’ll be well on the right path to optimizing your business performance and profits.

Just what are inventory management and accounting software and how can they help your business? Let’s take a look.

What is Inventory Management & Accounting Software?

Inventory management and accounting software are vital components of a high-performing retail or wholesale business. Those that have them installed already know, but those that don’t yet will wonder what they’ve been waiting for.

Your inventory management software will track how much product you have on your warehouse shelf, in your store, or sitting with other retailers and distributors. When you know your stock amounts, you ensure you have the right number of units in the right place, at the right time, for the right price.

Effectively tracking and controlling your physical inventory helps you know when you’re running low on certain items and replenish your stock in order to keep sales moving. Busy business owners need to be able to do this at a quick glance, or better yet, with automated software that does it for you. That’s what inventory management software does.

Meanwhile, full-featured accounting software integrated with your CRM and ERP handles many business owners’ least favorite task — working the books. Accounting software allows you to track a sale from the lead to the balance sheet without duplicate data entry.

Accounting software defines the current standing of your business while inventory management maintains your inventory health. You can see why each is a must for a business of any size. They will give you a competitive edge, minimize risk, save your money and make your business more efficient, smart, and profitable.

Here are seven ways how:

1. Maintain The Proper Stock

When you optimize your inventory, you can maintain customer satisfaction and avoid wastage. When you have too much stock, excess inventory will become costly as it becomes outdated or obsolete. Excess inventory costs your business money just by sitting there. Likewise, a shortage leads to missed sales opportunities and disappointed customers. This can be harmful to both your bottom line and business reputation.

Inventory management and accounting software will maintain accurate inventory by providing accurate, up-to-date counts at all times. You can use data to make sales forecasts to help predict when you require more or less stock to avoid running into any shortages or overages.

2. Eliminate Missed Sales

You never want your business to lose a sale because you don’t have the item in stock. An accurate inventory report helps you never run out of products and miss out on sales. Clearly, it’s a much more efficient system than relying on your memory or a warehouse visit to determine what you need.

Your inventory management software will allow you to set minimum inventory levels for each item, automatically generating purchase orders for more when you hit the determined threshold. You’ll always be on top of what you need before you need it!

3. Use Your Money Wisely

Having the right amount of inventory is essential for retail success. Remember, your inventory is an investment, and buying the right quantity of each product ensures you keep sales going and avoid outages. It also ensures that items don’t just sit on the shelves and increase carrying costs.

Accurate inventory reports help you quickly identify slow-moving products, mark them down, and clear them out to free up cash and make room to invest in new products, marketing efforts, or whatever else your business may require.

4. Catch Problems Early

When you have inventory management software, you’ll always have an eagle eye on your inventory levels. This enables you to catch problems immediately rather than months later during your annual inventory counts. By then, the discrepancy may have already cost your business a lot of money!

Sometimes, steps in the warehouse process can be missed or errors have been made on sales orders. You need to catch these errors as quickly as possible so they don’t become bigger problems. Bullet-proof inventory management is the way.

5. Make Your Customers Happy

When you have exact inventory reports, you can provide better customer service. How?

Let’s say a customer claims they haven’t received a product they ordered. Rather than just checking in with your supply chain management, you can check your inventory report and see whether or not you have one sitting in the warehouse. You’ll also be able to catch incorrect shipments sooner.

When you’re up to date with your purchase orders, you can sell customers on the products they need because you’ll know inventory is on the way. That kind of upfront communication gives your customers confidence that they can trust you, an incredibly valuable asset for any business.

6. Reduce Your Costs

Labor and warehouse expenses can add up quickly. Relying on staff to manually keep track of your inventory is a costly and time-consuming endeavor. When your inventory management software handles it, it saves you loads of time and money.

And when your staff isn’t wasting time counting your inventory, they can be grabbing product and shipping it out your door, bringing more sales revenue into your business. Accurate inventory levels and accounting software help you optimize your warehouse and reduce labor costs.

7. Provide More Accurate Reports

All businesses must check their inventory stock with accounting data to avoid discrepancies. Your stakeholders and investors rely on you to provide accurate reports and accurate financial statements for tax purposes. When discrepancies become the norm, it tells your stakeholders that you aren’t running a tight ship.

You also need to be able to manage your balance sheet and have a good handle on your cost of sales. These will be vital to management decisions. Accounting software removes complications and helps you provide the accurate reports you need.

Summary

When you’re able to automate each of the above processes, your business will operate much more efficiently. Your staff will be freed up to work on other more important tasks, and your business will always have accurate inventory and accounting numbers.

This is why integrated inventory management and accounting software is so important for the performance and health of your business. They’ll help you assess your needs, optimize your sales, make smart decisions, and make plans for future growth.

Ready to get started? Then see how aACE can streamline your business today!

Take Control of Your Inventory with These 5 Tips

Take Control of Your Inventory with These 5 Tips

If you aren’t careful, inventory control can easily slip into disarray. Every organization should have the right system in place to optimize its merchandising process. This can help you keep track of your products, better organize your inventory, provide accurate data and reports, and improve your warehouse efficiency. Best of all, inventory control does all that while increasing your revenue!

But inventory control only works if you put it to proper use. Let’s dig in on some best practices to help you optimize your warehouse.

What Does Inventory Control Do?

Inventory control tells you what’s currently in stock. It operates as part of your inventory management system. Inventory management handles things like purchasing, production, sales, and reporting while inventory control maintains and manages your stock.

Inventory control will tell you the condition and location of your products and determine when they arrive and leave the warehouse. Your inventory control system will detail not only how much of an item is available, but also when supplies are coming in or going out. This monitors and controls every item that comes in and out of your warehouse.

Inventory control, therefore:

  • Improves loss prevention
  • Optimizes inventory spaces
  • Creates less over- or under-stocking

Now that you know the purpose inventory control serves, let’s take a look at some best practices.

1. Organize Your Floor Plan

You need to organize your warehouse in a way that makes sense. Place your most popular items near the shipping area to maximize efficiency and productivity. As supply and demand change over time, make sure to modify your floor plan accordingly.

2. Improve Your Efficiency With Clear Labels & Signage

When you have labels that clearly state where things are, your warehouse team will be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. This creates more efficient fulfillment. Clearly (and concisely) label all of your racks, bins, and products. You can even use tools like labeling software, RFID systems, barcodes, inventory tags, scanners, and more that assist with real-time inventory control.

3. Utilize Cycle Counting

Counting everything all at once is an overwhelming task. Instead, use cycle counting where you count items in small sections according to a set cycle. This helps you effectively maintain inventory control and find mistakes quickly.

4. Implement A Warehouse Management System

A big cause of issues in the warehouse is human error. With warehouse management and an inventory control system, your team can easily track all of your items, reducing the potential for mistakes. These systems will include barcode scanners, tags, apps, and other tools that provide real-time tracking of your inventory. Your inventory will always be easily accessible within the systems you put in place.

5. Automate Your Inventory Control

When you automate your inventory control, you will greatly reduce the potential for human error and gain greater oversight into your stock. You’ll have more complete data, which leads to more productivity and revenue potential.

aACE can help you take full control of your inventory by giving you the means to track your products from the moment they enter the warehouse until they go out for shipment. You’ll get tools like barcode scanning, label making, reporting, data management, and other features to help you operate a more efficient warehouse.

Not only that — but automated inventory control will free up your staff for other projects, like landing new business. When things run more efficiently in the warehouse, more product can move out the door, and you’ll never run out of inventory.

Implement Inventory Management Software To Reduce Costs and Control Your Business

aACE business management software helps you manage your entire warehouse process from beginning to end. You’ll be able to plan more productively and accurately, which helps eliminate costly mistakes and reduces the need for excess inventory. Of course, inventory control is seamlessly integrated into the platform.

If you’re not yet convinced you need inventory control, consider the following:

  • Without an organized warehouse and clear labeling, staff will spend more time searching for items, leading to more man-hours and expenses.
  • When you aren’t consistently up-to-date on your stocks and what products or supplies you need to order, you’ll run into shortages or overstock issues.
  • When your data isn’t reliable, you can’t accurately forecast your inventory.
  • If there is a break in your supply chain, you won’t have a backup plan in place and your items may not go out on time.

All of these issues cause your operating costs to go up. Plus, your customers will notice the mistakes and will take their business elsewhere. But with efficient inventory control in place, you’ll have a backup plan for when problems arise, and will always be on top of your inventory.

Check out our feature highlights to see how aACE can streamline your business today!

Does An ERP Make Sense For Your Small Business?

Does An ERP Make Sense For Your Small Business?

It seems like every day there’s a new solution that will change the way you run your small business.

It’s hard to know which are legit, what partners you can trust, and what you need versus what would be nice to have. Not to mention what you can squeeze into your budget!

You already have enough on your plate running your business — and that’s exactly what you should be spending your time doing: running the actual business.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software can help. Let’s take a quick look at how.

What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software?

An ERP is a software solution that collects information from all of your departments into a single, centralized database. Depending on what your business does, this may include critical business functions like finance, inventory, manufacturing, sales and marketing, order management, scheduling and more.

With an ERP in place, your team has access to real-time information that covers the entire scope of your small business. This data is available through your ERP's reporting and analytics, which will help your business make smarter, data-driven decisions.

An ERP solution provides enhanced visibility into your business operations and can help improve inefficiencies. You’ll also be able to highlight growth opportunities and use real data to get there.

When you have an ERP in place, your organization can use the program to keep track of your moving parts. All of your data will be in one safe, organized, accessible central database. You won’t ever lose anything to a spreadsheet again.

With an ERP, you have a complete picture of your business’s daily operations. It’s a transparent solution to manage your departments and work together to achieve your goals.

Benefits of ERPs for Small Businesses

We’ve already discussed the benefits of ERPs for businesses, but they’re a bit different when we’re talking specifically about small businesses.

Beyond providing complete visibility into your daily operations, your ERP will make your organization more efficient in these key ways:

Increase Productivity & Reduce Costs

The biggest benefit of an ERP is the ability to identify inefficiencies without having to hire additional IT or staff. The information you capture can help you learn about your business and gain a competitive edge. Using this data, you and your team can become more efficient and productive while reducing your operating costs.

It’s a smarter way to manage your small business.

Gain Agility

The small business environment is challenging and ever-changing. The success of your business depends on how well, and how fast, you are able to respond to that change.

When you have a flexible and scalable ERP, you will be knowledgeable about changing market dynamics. You’ll also have insights into your customer needs and be able to see a shift coming. You can then make decisions to respond to these changes and/or be ready for bigger movements. Staying agile means you’re ready and adaptable. These are the types of businesses that grow and survive.

Enhanced Analytics

ERPs are also incredibly powerful analytical tools. Since all of your information will be collected into one central database, you’ll be able to put that data to good use.

You can see where your business stands and use real data to determine what changes need to be made to meet your goals. You’ll be flexible and scalable and able to respond to shifting market demand. The ability to not just have a collection of data, but to understand and use its power helps your business stay a step ahead.

Become More Productive

Small business ERPs will automate tedious tasks that normally take up too much of your time. Things like manual data entry, inventory monitoring, creating reports, timesheets, invoicing, and more, can all be automated through your ERP. This frees up your team to work on more important tasks for your business.

Summary

Now that you see the value, the next step is to find the best ERP for your small business. With the right partner, your ERP software will keep costs down, improve the efficiency and productivity of your office, and help you scale and grow. Check out our free white paper to learn what kinds of questions you should be asking as you search for the right ERP for your SMB.

5 Ways CRM Software Will Change Your Business For The Better

5 Ways CRM Software Will Change Your Business For The Better

Today’s business world has shifted from an in-person experience to the convenience of shopping online. You can find everything on the web — any product and service you need is there on the Internet.

This means your business needs to be prepared. Are you providing a user-friendly web experience that boosts your business profile, or do you have a bare-bones website that only serves to make you look illegitimate?

You can’t afford not to give your online presence proper attention any longer. Thankfully, it’s not such a daunting task when you have customer relationship management (CRM) software in place. In this post, we’re going to cover why your business needs CRM software and give you five powerful reasons why it will change your business for the better.

But first…

What Is CRM Software?

Keeping your customers happy is a basic principle of good business, no matter your industry. A long-held belief in business is that if you provide high-quality customer service, you will build customer loyalty.

This is where CRM software can help. CRM software can help you run your business more efficiently by managing your customer relationships. You can build connections, attract new clients, and retain your current customers in a much more personal, impactful way.

CRM software is able to provide enhanced service and convenience through automation. You’ll be able to streamline your business operations and organize your customer interactions in one central platform. Here, you can store all of your customer and prospect data to leverage to increase satisfaction and sales, in addition to boosting your staff or team's productivity.

CRM software is highly customizable and can be tailored to fit any business, large or small.

So how can it change your business? Let’s take a deeper look.

1. Improved Customer Relationships & Service

Good customer relations is about much more than just a friendly hello when your customers come in.

Today, it mainly refers to the service you provide before a customer ever sets foot in your business – if they ever will at all. That means you need to provide an incredible user experience online.

A CRM helps you manage your online presence by analyzing and interacting with those who visit your pages. You can keep your prospects and customers engaged by using their data to nurture stronger relationships and provide them with what they are looking for.

A good CRM gives you a 360-degree view of your customer and can manage business tools like document signing, accounting, billing, and more. Identify new leads quickly and turn them into conversions through the power of data and automation.

2. Harness The Power Of Automation

When you have an automated CRM, you can save your team valuable time often spent on repetitive administrative work. A CRM takes care of these tasks and improves your overall productivity and efficiency.

A good CRM puts your entire team on the same page and gives them access to the same information. Everyone has access to the central network and can make informed decisions for marketing campaigns. Your CRM will make it easier for you to convert a lead into a customer by handling the tedious tasks along the way and helping you build stronger customer relationships.

When time-consuming tasks are automated and addressed properly, your team can collectively use its time more wisely and focus on more important tasks while your CRM handles the busy work.

3. Smarter Reporting & Analytics

Generating reports is one of many time-consuming tasks that your CRM can handle for you in seconds. You can easily track how your campaigns are performing, segment audiences, and determine if you are meeting your goals or if changes need to be made.

CRM reporting and accurate revenue forecasts help you make informed decisions to grow your business. You can customize the settings in your CRM to generate reports for only the most important information. This enhanced reporting keeps you up to date on the health of your business and the success of your campaigns, so you can learn what works and what doesn’t, where and when to meet your target customers, and more.

You can even keep track of your team members to see how each are performing, learn what products are selling best (or worst), and what marketing strategies are delivering the most or least ROI. Then, you can keep optimizing to find the best course of action to stay on target to meet your goals.

4. Enhanced Collaboration

Having all of your data and marketing efforts stored on one central system allows for enhanced collaboration across your team and with your clients and customers.

When you have a CRM in place, all of your team members have access to the same information in real-time. This allows your team to work together on campaigns, chat with each other, provide instant feedback, and get things done faster.

With a good CRM, your team can collaborate on documents, share important data and insights, and automate tasks and communications that would otherwise need to be done manually. This streamlines your processes and allows for higher productivity, freeing your staff to work on bigger picture tasks, all while building better customer retention.

Likewise, when working on a client campaign, you can keep them up to date with the progress of your project and allow them to provide feedback and suggest changes along the way, rather than waiting for a final product. This transparency builds trust with your clients and assures them that the project is being done to their preferences.

5. Targeted Marketing Practices

You know your marketing efforts are key to the success of your business, but a CRM helps you and your team work smarter so you can make better choices.

Your team can use your CRM to access your prospect’s data and give them customized marketing content. You can use data gathered in your CRM to tailor your customer experience, meeting your target customers at the perfect time with exactly what they’re looking for. You can modify calls to action, alter product details, and more.

Your CRM can also segment your customers to get the most out of your campaigns. Divide your customers into groups based on things like age, location, gender, preferences, and other categories. Then, you can give them detailed information that is geared specifically for that target group.

Doesn’t that sound like a better marketing plan?

Summary

With detailed insights provided by a robust and reliable CRM, you’ll never miss an opportunity to build a new customer relationship again.

Despite the shift in today’s business moving mostly online, people still value content that feels personal. A CRM allows you to do just that and will strengthen your relationships with customers, vendors, partners, and more.

Check out our customer success story below to learn how aACE’s CRM can streamline your operations and manage your business relationships today.

aACE Earns 5-Star Ratings from Satisfied Customers

aACE Earns 5-Star Ratings from Satisfied Customers

aACE helps SMBs efficiently run sophisticated operations in a single, comprehensive, easy-to-use business management solution – but don't just take our word for it. We've recently moved our reviews platform to G2 and invited real aACE customers to share their experiences. Here's a sampling of what they had to say:

  • "aACE is easy to use, works across any platform, is extremely customizable, and is a complete/powerful ERP."
  • "You should really consider aACE before dumping five times the amount into 'leading' softwares by Oracle, Microsoft, Sage, etc. At the end of the day, almost all accounting packages will get you to where you need to go. But if you want to do it cheaply and without the nightmare-level of conversion effort and correction, aACE is the journey you want to take."
  • "aACE’s flexible and critical approach to our business’ needs have earned them high praise throughout our team. Throughout the implementation process we found ourselves thinking along with the aACE team to utilize this software to mirror and improve our operations during a critical time in our industry. This collaboration has yielded a platform that will not only support our current operations but will help our business grow for years to come."
  • "We have not run into anything that aACE cannot handle and frankly, handle much better than alternatives."
  • "aACE handles backorders better than any system we have found. It's easy to use and learn."

aACE customers have called our solution “the best in everything,” “a major improvement over QuickBooks,” and “a critical component to the success of our company’s future.” We’re constantly hearing from our customers that their day-to-day operations have improved since implementing aACE. To learn more, check out our 5-star reviews on G2 and Capterra, then browse our success stories for a more in-depth look at what aACE has done for small-to-midsize businesses like yours.