CRM and accounting software can make collaboration between sales and finance easier. In many cases, sales and finance are at odds with one another—sales, claiming that more leads are needed, so campaigns should be funded, and finance, saying there’s no budget for them.
In reality, both teams seek the same goal: success for their company. This can only be achieved with better collaboration on projects that will help the company gain sales and increase revenue.
Collaboration Is Improved by CRM and Accounting Software
Customer relationship management is called CRM. Often, it is used by sales and marketing teams to manage customer accounts, including communication, orders, and problem-solving.
Combined with accounting software such as an enterprise relationship management (ERP) platform, the two platforms give companies a solid foundation to track sales and manage finances. They each give a glimpse into one aspect of a business. By combining the data, the company can understand how the sales pipeline impacts its financial performance.
3 Ways Sales and Finance Can Work Together
Although they may have the right software in place, many sales teams still feel detached from finance. The goings-on in sales doesn’t seem to impact finance, and vice versa, with finance frustrated by the lack of interest exhibited by the sales team.
The following three ways can help sales and finance collaborate to improve results across the company.
Update Frequently and Regularly
Sales and finance should schedule frequent and regular updates. A common agreement may be reached around expenditures, budgets, and forecasting by sitting down together and reviewing the sales pipeline and financial forecasts. Information can be shared via CRM and accounting software reports since these systems combine all information, enabling collaboration and data sharing.
Create an Accurate Sales Pipeline
It is essential that the sales team keeps its pipeline updated and accurate. This includes tracking the quality of leads, progress toward closing, and potential business closings each month or quarter. Finance can then improve its financial projects based on this pipeline, and both will benefit.
The conservative spending approach of finance often impedes the sales department’s efforts. It isn’t that finance is reluctant to spend money per se, but they want to know how well the campaign will perform if they provide a budget.
Finance and sales can improve collaboration by establishing a set of KPIs (key performance indicators) that can be used to measure the success of sales campaigns. Based on a shared rubric, both teams will feel more comfortable with sales campaigns. Using shared metrics provides finance with quantifiable results to support decisions, while sales can use them to benchmark future campaigns.
Integrating CRM and Accounting Software
A CRM and accounting software integrated into one platform may be the right solution for your company if you’re currently using spreadsheets or a generic accounting system. Various ERP/cloud accounting platforms provide CRM systems, either as separate modules or as add-ons. Reviewing these platforms will allow you to identify which platforms have this functionality.
You can gain valuable insights into your customers, revenues, and finances with an integrated CRM and ERP system. By implementing the right system, finance and accounting collaboration becomes not only easier but part of the culture of the company as well.
Are you ready for a more collaborative company culture? Schedule a free consultation, and we’ll show you how to make it happen.