Last years, many new terms, including business and software ones, appear in everyday life because the newest IT technologies have brought many changes and new capability to business software solutions. As a result, some of the terms are used incorrectly or interchangeably. The same situation is with “ERP accounting software.” Is not it?
Accounting software and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software are not the same.
However, some software providers unite these two concepts and offer customers their product as "ERP accounting software" or "ERP accounting software system."
To better understand the difference between accounting software and ERP software, it is enough to look at the range of functionalities traditionally offered by each of them.
Accounting software deals with accounting transactions such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, payroll, and trial balances. Some additional modules such as invoicing, billing, purchase order, sales order, electronic payment, and others can also be included in the accounting software system.
ERP software deals with resource and is a resource management system. The functionality of the ERP software system includes tracking and managing assets (tangible and intangible), equipment, inventory (parts, materials, goods), human resources, and financial resources.
As you see, ERP software provides a wide band of features that not offered by accounting software.
Moreover, a traditional accounting software package is a subset of the ERP software system.
Accounting software as an entity unto itself has been steadily contracting, more and more offers on the market are larger and more powerful packages. So, when a software provider offers the ERP accounting software, it means that the offered system includes not only the accounting functionality but some additional features too. Such a system helps to organize and integrate all business processes and empower a company to make optimum use of all its resources.