Tag Archives: accounting software for wholesale distributor

What Wholesale Companies Should Know If You’re Planning a Technology Upgrade in 2026

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For wholesalers, an ERP system isn’t just accounting software, it’s the engine that keeps your business running. It manages inventory levels, tracks orders, controls margins, and connects suppliers to customers. When your ERP can’t keep up, your operations and profitability start to suffer.

If your wholesale company is planning to replace its ERP system within the next six months, now’s the time to take a structured approach. The right preparation can mean the difference between a smooth transition and a costly disruption. Here’s what you need to assess, who to involve, and the key considerations before making your move.

1. Understand Why You’re Replacing Your ERP

Start by identifying your driving factors for change. Common reasons wholesalers replace their ERP systems include:

  • Lack of real-time visibility into stock levels across multiple warehouses
  • Inefficient or error-prone order fulfillment processes
  • Difficulty integrating with eCommerce or EDI systems
  • Inaccurate pricing, discount, or commission tracking
  • Poor reporting or limited analytics
  • Outdated technology that can’t scale with business growth

When you define why you’re replacing your ERP, it becomes easier to prioritize what your next system must deliver from automation to analytics.

2. Map Your Current Operations and Pain Points

Before selecting a new system, document how your business operates today. Examine your entire order-to-cash process, including:

  • Purchasing and vendor management
  • Inventory tracking across multiple warehouses or locations
  • Order entry, picking, packing, and shipping
  • Customer pricing tiers and discounts
  • Returns and backorders

Identify where bottlenecks, duplicate data entry, or delays occur. The goal is to ensure your new ERP system solves current problems, not replicating them in a more modern interface.

3. Build a Cross-Department Evaluation Team

ERP decisions impact everyone, from warehouse staff to accounting. Create a team that includes:

  • Executive Sponsor: Ensures alignment with business strategy and budget approval
  • Operations/Warehouse Manager: Evaluates inventory control, warehouse workflows, and fulfillment processes
  • Sales and Customer Service Representatives: Identify order management, pricing, and customer visibility needs
  • Finance Team: Defines accounting, reporting, and margin tracking requirements
  • IT Lead: Oversees data migration, integrations, and system performance

A cross-functional team ensures your ERP selection supports the entire wholesale operation, not just one department’s priorities.

4. Create a Realistic Six-Month Plan

If you aim to replace your ERP within six months, you are taking on a very tight timeline. But if you are organized and focused, you can achieve your goal. Structure your project into clear phases:

  • Month 1: Define goals, requirements, and pain points
  • Month 2: Research vendors specializing in wholesale and distribution ERP
  • Month 3: Shortlist systems, conduct demos, and evaluate fit
  • Month 4: Select your ERP and begin implementation planning
  • Month 5–6: Data migration preparation and plan user training

Having a defined timeline keeps the project focused and prevents costly delays.

5. Budget for the Full Scope (Not Just Software)

ERP projects often exceed budget when companies underestimate the “extras.” Be sure to include:

  • Implementation and configuration services
  • Data migration and integration with third-party systems (e.g., eCommerce, shipping software, etc.)
  • User training and onboarding
  • Ongoing support and maintenance costs

A complete budget helps you evaluate ROI and build realistic expectations across the organization.

6. Prioritize Real-Time Inventory and Order Visibility

For wholesalers, real-time visibility is critical. Look for ERP software that provides instant access to:

  • Stock levels across all locations
  • Reorder points and purchasing automation
  • Sales order tracking from quote to shipment
  • Drop-shipping and backorder management
  • Profitability by product line or customer

These capabilities help you make faster, smarter decisions and deliver a better experience for your customers.

7. Choose Flexibility and Customization Over Limitations

Every wholesale operation runs differently, from pricing structures to fulfillment methods. Your ERP should adapt to your business – not the other way around.

AccountMate’s customizable ERP gives wholesalers the flexibility to tailor workflows, reports, and features to match their unique processes. Whether you manage complex pricing tiers, high-volume orders, or multiple warehouses, AccountMate lets you configure the system around your specific operational model.

8. Plan for Change Management

Replacing an ERP system can be disruptive. Communicate early with your team, involve users in testing, and provide adequate training to build confidence in the new system. When employees understand how the change benefits them; faster processing, fewer errors, clearer visibility so adoption happens more smoothly.

9. Partner with a Vendor Who Understands Wholesale Distribution

Your ERP vendor should have deep experience in the wholesale industry. Evaluate providers based on:

  • Proven success with wholesale and distribution clients
  • Responsive implementation and support teams
  • Strong inventory and order management capabilities
  • Scalable functionality as your business grows

The right ERP partner will act as an extension of your business, helping you get the most value from your investment long after go-live.

Replacing your ERP system can transform how your wholesale business operates, improving order accuracy, speeding fulfillment, and providing the real-time insights you need to make profitable decisions.

If your company is planning an ERP replacement, consider how AccountMate’s customizable ERP for wholesale and distribution can help you manage inventory, pricing, and customers more efficiently. With full source-code access and flexible modules, AccountMate gives wholesalers complete control to tailor the system to their business needs.

To get started with AccountMate, you need to work closely with experienced ERP consultants who can guide you through the selection and implementation process, ensuring that your ERP system aligns with your business’s immediate needs and long-term vision.

Are you considering a new ERP system? Contact our experts! We have local solution providers who can help you navigate the process. Contact us now or call 707-774-7537 to talk to someone about your specific needs.

Are You Having These Problems with Distribution?

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Are you struggling with rising fuel prices and increasing transportation fees?

Do you find it challenging to manage your orders and order forecasts meet your customers’ delivery expectations due to unpredictable vendor lead times?

Is your inventory either piling up or running out too quickly?

Are your delivery routes optimized for efficiency?

Are you struggling to keep up with the ever-changing regulations in your industry?

Are you dealing with frequent product damage or loss during transit?

Is your distribution network suffering from a lack of technological integration?

Are there communication breakdowns between your warehouse / distribution center, suppliers, and customers?

Is your distribution system struggling to keep up with your business growth?

Are you aware of the environmental footprint of your distribution practices?

Distribution is a critical element of any business that deals with physical products. While it ensures that your goods reach your customers, it also brings a unique set of challenges that can impact your bottom line. Do any of these issues sound familiar?

It has been found that these factors can be pain points in any distribution business that can be greatly improved through end-to-end automation, reporting and communications.

The Solution

If any of these problems resonate with you, it’s time to act. Optimizing your distribution processes can enhance customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and improve overall efficiency.

AccountMate is the backbone of your information management system that provides the base accounting and other crucial functions to run your business.  Pared with deeply integrated third party add on products, AccountMate can be a deeply automated distribution business management system for your business.

INFOtrac SQL for AccountMate

INFOtrac is a front end add on to AccountMate that starts with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Sales Force Management. But this is just the beginning of what INFOtrac will provide in a distribution or any other business.

Customization

Like AccountMate, INFOtrac’s main strength is the ability to customize the system to do exactly what you need, how you need it done.  Customization in INFOtrac is fast and cost effective, where 1 hour of INFOtrac programming, is equivalent to as much as 15 hours of traditional programming.  This means INFOtrac can deliver fast, affordable solutions.

Enter Data Once

Our focus is on ensuring that you never enter data more than once.   This means that all aspects of your workflow are accounted for in INFOtrac and AccountMate so there are no islands of data or software.  This is achieved through the INFOtrac Integration Engine and its deep roots into AccountMate.

Integration

Your business runs on a number of software applications that are all independent.  INFOtrac will integrate these 3rd party applications, such as shipping systems, warehouse inventory management, Microsoft Office, EDI, even CNC machine production and any web-based systems you need to use.  INFOtrac brings these applications into the INFOtrac / AccountMate environment through its own sophisticated Data Broker, eliminating any duplication of data entry and providing for more complete reporting and communications.

Distribution Workflow

INFOtrac with AccountMate will handle your distribution workflow, including the above-mentioned 3rd party applications.  As example, a quotation done in INFOtrac (with product configuration abilities), becomes an order in AccountMate, while it produces all the production orders / work orders / picking and packing, customs export, compliance or any other documentation.  This is communicated to the shipping system, with internal communications and reporting and finally invoicing from AccountMate, which can even be done without human intervention, if required and appropriate.

Dashboards

Key to distribution with INFOtrac is the production dashboard system that allows for a customized view of all your orders in process, color coded to meet your requirements for timelines, inventory availability and exposure of each orders place in the order lifecycle.  These dashboards provide management, order executors, sales and customer service people full visibility of orders and delivery time to ensure customers are taken care of properly.

Reporting

On demand reports as well as automated report delivery allow INFOtrac to automatically send or produce reports to keep key people informed of both status and issues with orders in process.  Reports to help set delivery expectations and to help ensure inventory levels are maintained and managed ahead of any issues that hold up production or delivery.

Communications

INFOtrac provides the ability to automate communication to your customers based on any elements of the process that you define.  Send emails for milestones of the order life cycle to keep customers informed as their order is being processed.  When customers ask about their order, INFOtrac provides all the information needed to answer their questions without having to check on things or speak to anyone.  This is extended into our activity management that allows for all customer and supplier communication to be documented so everyone knows what is going on.

History & Documentation

At the end of the process, invoices are produced in AccountMate and are also in INFOtrac, all the communications and order process history is in INFOtrac.  The full history of all transactions is maintained, and all documentation remains in the system for any future reference, compliance requirements and accounting audit functions.

INFOtrac with AccountMate can provide your distribution business with a full production management / order fulfillment system that eliminates any duplication of data entry, provides effective communication internally and externally and maintains a full history or all information for future reference, powerful reporting and any general inquiry.

It’s essential to work closely with experienced ERP consultants and vendors who can guide you through the selection and implementation process, ensuring that your ERP system aligns with your business’s immediate needs and long-term vision.

Are you considering a new ERP system? Contact our experts! We have local solution providers who can help you navigate the process. Contact us now or call 707-774-7537 to talk to someone about your specific needs.

Planning for Your Next ERP System as a Wholesale Distribution Company

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When it comes to wholesale distribution business, staying ahead requires efficient management of resources, streamlined processes, and real-time data insights. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems play a pivotal role in achieving these objectives, providing a comprehensive solution to integrate and manage core business processes. If you’re a wholesale distribution company gearing up for the future, it’s crucial to plan your next ERP system implementation strategically. This article will guide you through the key steps to ensure a successful transition.

Assess Current System and Business Needs: Before diving into ERP selection, evaluate your existing systems and identify pain points (there is probably a main pain point that brought you to deciding you need a new ERP system, but there are likely other issues that need to be identified before you move forward with options). Understand your current business processes, challenges, and the specific needs of your wholesale distribution operations. This assessment will serve as the foundation for defining the requirements of your new ERP system.

Define Clear Objectives: Establish clear and measurable objectives for implementing the ERP system. Whether it’s improving order fulfillment, enhancing inventory management, or optimizing customer relationship management, align your ERP goals with your business strategy. Clearly defined objectives will guide the selection process and keep your implementation team focused.

Involve Key Stakeholders: Collaboration is key to ERP success. Involve key stakeholders from various departments early in the planning stage. Their insights will provide a holistic perspective on the business processes, ensuring that the chosen ERP system meets the diverse needs of your wholesale distribution company.

Research and Select the Right ERP Solution: Thoroughly research ERP solutions that cater specifically to wholesale distribution and distribution industries. Consider factors such as scalability, customization options, integration capabilities, and user-friendliness. Take advantage of demos, case studies, customer reviews, and references to make an informed decision.

Budgeting and ROI Analysis: Plan your ERP budget carefully, including software costs, implementation expenses, and ongoing maintenance. Conduct a comprehensive Return on Investment (ROI) analysis to ensure that the benefits of the ERP system outweigh the costs over time. Factor in potential productivity gains, cost reductions, and improved decision-making capabilities.

Choose Deployment Model: Decide whether an on-premise, hosted or cloud-based ERP solution is the right fit for your wholesale distribution company. There is a lot to consider when choosing a deployment model. Cloud-based systems often offer flexibility and scalability, while on-premise solutions may provide more control over data security. Assess the pros and cons based on your business requirements and IT infrastructure.

Customization and Integration: Tailor the ERP system to meet the specific needs of your wholesale distribution business. Ensure seamless integration with existing software applications, such as accounting, CRM, and e-commerce platforms. A well-integrated system minimizes data silos and enhances overall operational efficiency.

Training and Change Management: Invest in comprehensive training programs for your employees to adapt to the new ERP system. Change management is a crucial aspect of ERP implementation and ensuring that your team is well-prepared will contribute to a smoother transition.

Data Migration and Testing: Plan the migration of data from existing systems to the new ERP platform meticulously. Conduct thorough testing to identify and address any issues before the system goes live. A phased implementation approach can help mitigate risks and ensure a gradual transition.

Continuous Improvement and Support: ERP implementation is an ongoing process. Establish a mechanism for continuous improvement and provide robust support and maintenance to address any issues that may arise post-implementation. Regularly assess the performance of the ERP system against your defined objectives and adjust as needed.

Whichever path you choose, it’s essential to work closely with experienced ERP consultants and vendors who can guide you through the selection and implementation process, ensuring that your ERP system aligns with your business’s immediate needs and long-term vision.

Planning for your next ERP system as a wholesale distribution company requires a strategic approach that aligns technology with business objectives. By carefully assessing your needs, involving key stakeholders, and selecting the right ERP solution, you can pave the way for improved efficiency, increased productivity, and sustained growth in the competitive wholesale distribution industry.

Are you considering a new ERP system? Contact our experts! We have local solution providers who can help you navigate the process. Contact us now or call 707-774-7537 to talk to someone about your specific needs.