A quick look at CRM and how it can work
with you and your accounting software
Streamlining business processes to achieve greater efficiency
and cost savings is important for many businesses. However,
integrations between front-office and back-office systems are
often overlooked or dismissed due to high up-front costs and
security concerns. This whitepaper discusses why businesses
should consider integrating CRM (front-office) and Accounting
(back-office) software, and how they can do this in a cost
efficient and secure way.
Produced by Xact Software Solutions Ltd
18 Kingsway Ave, Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand
Introduction
Do you wish you could do this with your accounting system?
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Send targeted emails to your customers
Access customer information on the go from your smart phone, laptop or tablet
Share accounting information securely with staff who don’t have access to accounting
Store all of your business contacts including customers, prospects and suppliers in one place
Store all of your customer-related information, such as purchase history and communication history,
in one place
If you answered yes to any of the above then you must read this.
Accounting packages are designed to perform accounting-related tasks such as creating invoices. However,
the tasks listed above are sales-related and most accounting packages simply isn’t designed to handle such
tasks.
So what is the solution? Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software.
On the following pages this article discusses in simple terms what CRM is, why businesses need it, and also
the importance of linking CRM and accounting systems.
In short, this article proves how CRM is the best tool available to enable businesses to successfully manage
their contacts and ultimately improve customer service, generate more sales, and improve internal
communication, productivity and workflow processes.
Why should I read this article?
You should read this article if you are interested in:
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Improving the way your business manages and communicates with its prospects, customers and
other business contacts to improve loyalty and generate more sales
Improving productivity and streamlining business processes to reduce communication errors, create
business intelligence that stays in control of the business
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What is CRM and why would any business need it?
What is CRM?
CRM is an acronym for Contact Relationship Management and all information relating to a customer forms
the basis of a customer relationship package including information in your accounting system, email
correspondence and physical documents. Today, CRM is the term generally used to reference CRM software,
this however is merely the tip of the iceberg.
At its heart, CRM is much more than a technology product; CRM is about process – it is about how a business
deals with its customers. CRM at its best is an effective integration of your marketing, sales and customer
service.
One might ask why? .... Why would you want to do any of that? Well, this question can be answered on
multiple levels, but broadly it can be summarized in two words Competitive Advantage. In short, a good CRM
solution builds value for your business by opening up vital communication channels and creating a common
client-focused knowledge base to better serve your customers. Ultimately this means you really do need to
understand what CRM can do for your business specifically and how you can best use that in-built power.
How can businesses benefit from CRM?
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Provide a higher level of service - by knowing more about your customers’ needs your business is
equipped with the knowledge needed to respond to your customer’s queries in a timely and
professional manner.
Provide the right product to the right customer - by keeping track of your customer’s preferences
you are given the advantage of knowing or at least anticipating what they want out of a given
product or a service.
Maintain a strong relationship with its customers - by showing that you care about them,
customers are more than likely to do business again with businesses that show interest in their
needs and who strive to provide the highest quality of service.
Keep everyone in the business on the same page - having information stored in one centralized
place means your business can take ownership of its employee’s knowledge. This means your
business will not suffer if an employee is out for the day or even leaves the organization and their
prospective customer calls asking about the status of a quote.
Measure business performance accurately - if everyone in your business is doing their job correctly
and they’re feeding the business’s CRM database with the correct information then managers and
business analysts can tap into an invaluable resource to analyze and report on how the business is
performing. For example you can analyze the rate of lead-to-customer conversions, why some
prospects opt for a competitor’s product, or how quick your staff responds to customer’s enquiries.
Overall, by effectively integrating your marketing, sales, and customer service functions, a good CRM system
makes it easier for everyone inside your company to work together and share critical information that all
comes together to keep the customer satisfied and loyal.
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Linking CRM with Accounting
The Problem:
Within a typical business it is common to have a number of separate databases each serving a specific
purpose, such as a CRM database (for qualitative data) and an accounting database (for quantitative data).
Within such environments there is a need to enter and maintain the same information across the different
databases, and herein lies a problem – dual entry of data.
Each time the business acquires a new customer, information must be recorded in two databases; and any
changes to this information need to be applied twice. But what if the customer changed their contact details
and the changes were not made across the board? What if the accounting system kept the old billing
address? Having disconnected processes gives the potential for a multitude of errors that can cause
disruption and inefficiencies within the business.
Another thing to consider is from time to time staff may need access to information which is not typically
available to them, for example sales staff may require real time access to a customer’s transaction history.
Within a disconnected environment sales staff that do not have access to accounting software would need
to get this information from the accountant(s). This can be problematic, especially for smaller organizations
that usually employ one or two accountants part-time, as staff may not get the information to the customer
when needed. The loss of productivity as a result of acquiring this information can also be quite significant.
There may also be situations when your staff also require access to certain business functions which are not
normally available to them. For example, consider the process of raising quotes or invoices; when a
customer requests a quote sales staff would require an up-to-date pricing list, and when a quote is
generated it must be forwarded to the accountant to get converted into an order and then an invoice. In a
disconnected environment the risk of sales staff using outdated pricing is high and can cause problems for
the accounting department.
The Solution:
The solution to this is to find a way to provide staff with access to both sets of information from one place so
they can see the “big picture” without having to jump between multiple systems. This can be achieved
through the integration of CRM and accounting processes.
Integrating disconnected processes provides organisations with a number of benefits. Including:
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Reducing or even eliminating dual entry of data, saving time and minimizing data entry errors by
pushing data changes between CRM and accounting systems
Giving sales staff access to vital financial information within the CRM system so they can provide a
higher level of service to customers
Reducing the workload on accounts and close more sales by allowing sales staff to have controlled
access to accounting functions such as estimate and invoice creation, and
Streamlining business processes and improve workflow to enable your business to become more
agile and responsive to your customers and changes in the marketplace.
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Accounting Integration in Action
CRM and accounting integration gives sales staff the ability to be more involved with the organisations
accounting processes and ultimately improve workflow. Below is an example of how the Xact Accounting
Links for ACT! can influence a typical sales process. As you will see, effective CRM/accounting integration can
help to eliminate dual entry of data, reduce human errors, limit the workload on accounts and improve
productivity – all at the same time.
Key:
Tasks performed by the sales-rep
Tasks performed by the accountant
Errors/Problems
Scenario1
No CRM/Accounting Integration
Accounting Integration
A new prospect requests an
estimate from the company
1. The sales rep creates an estimate
in their quoting database or,
more commonly, Microsoft Excel
and emails it to the prospect.
The prospect decides to go
ahead with the purchase
2. The sales rep forwards the
estimate to the accountant.
3. The accountant re-types the data
into the accounting system to
create an invoice.
4. The accountant notices that the
sales rep used outdated pricing
and the company must decide
whether it will honour the
estimate or use the new pricing.
5. The sales rep enters the new
address into ACT! and forwards
the email to the accountant.
6. The accountant also enters the
new address into the Accounting
system.
7. The sales rep creates a sales
order and forwards this to the
accountant and the goods are
sent.
8. The accountant re-enters the
sales order into the accounting
system and also sees that they
must now chase up two
payments from the customer.
1. The sales rep creates an estimate
in ACT! using live data from the
accounting system. When the
estimate is complete the sales rep
emails it to the prospect, and it
also automatically appears in the
accounting system.
2. The sales rep uses an Xact
Accounting Link2 to convert the
estimate into an invoice from
within ACT! using up to date
product information. The invoice
then appears in the accounting
system automatically.3
The customer advises the
sales rep of a new billing
address
The customers’ accounts
department has not paid the
invoice on time and the
customer rings up to place
another order
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3. The sales rep enters the new
address in ACT! and clicks on the
“update customer” button to
automatically update the same
details in the accounting system.
4. Through the Xact Accounting Link,
the sales rep can see the
customers aged receivables from
within ACT! and is able to refuse
the new order request until the
previous invoice has been paid.
In this scenario there is an assumption that the sales rep does not have access to the accounting system
Xact Accounting Links are currently available for MYOB, QuickBooks, Xero and MYOB EXO. For more information visit www.xactsoftware.co.nz
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This process may differ depending on the accounting system you are integrating with. If you are integrating with MYOB or Xero using an Xact
Software accounting link the sales rep would have to ask the accountant to convert the estimate to an invoice from within the accounting system.
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