The 19 Most Important ERP Features Based On Our Research

ERP systems are incredibly powerful, but with so many features to choose from, it’s easy to get lost in the mix. Here’s the good news: you don’t need everything! We’ve compiled a list of essential ERP features that can make your life (and your workflows) a lot easier.

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ERP Features Checklist

Here’s what you’ll get from this post:

• A handy checklist to ensure you don’t miss any essentials.
• A free ERP software requirements template to get started.
• Tips from ERP experts to get the most out of your process.

Key 19 ERP Features

We’ve analyzed standard ERP features and compiled them into this checklist. You can use this guide as a template for deciding what your business needs from its next system.

We’ve onboarded over 100,000 users into our software selection platform. This has given us a wealth of insights into their usage patterns based on industry, company size and user persona. By leveraging this data, we’ve identified key features you should consider to minimize the risk of selecting the wrong software.

Our goal is to empower you to benefit from the collective experience of your peers who’ve embarked on the same journey before you.

The following is a list of the essential ERP software features, from inventory management and accounting to procurement and warehouse management.

1. Analytics and Reporting

Key Benefit: Provides real-time insights into sales, finances and operations to spot trends and make smart decisions.

While “reporting” and “analysis” are used interchangeably in ERP discussions, they serve distinct purposes. Here’s how they work together:

• ERP Analytics: This is where the real power lies. Special tools, similar to business analytics (BA) software, take a deep dive into your data. They help you spot trends, predict what’s coming next and find areas to improve.
• ERP Reporting: Think of reports as the finished product. They use tools like customizable dashboards, Gantt charts, pie charts and bar graphs to make insights accessible and clear. Many ERP systems also let you control access to these reports, keeping sensitive data safe.

SyteLine’s analytics and BI dashboard.

2. Asset Management

Why It Matters: Tracks and maintains assets like machinery and equipment to maximize usage, reduce downtime, and extend asset life

Asset management systems help you get the most out of your equipment. Balance an asset’s fees, risks and growth possibilities. This feature lets you track downtime, create specific codes for downtime reasons and enable easy tracking with barcodes or QR codes.

Converting fixed assets in Acumatica. Source

• Asset Audits
• Asset Downtime Tracking
• Create and View Asset Hierarchies
• Develop Asset Profiles
• Asset QR and Barcode Assets
• Linear Asset Management
• Multi-Site Asset Management

3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Key Benefit: Tracks customer interactions to enhance service, improve marketing and boost customer satisfaction.

Imagine having all your customer info in one place: contact details, past orders, personal data and billing info. That’s what happens with built-in CRM tools.

In addition to contact management, a CRM does more. It lets you automate marketing campaigns, fill out proofs of service, manage sales pipelines and personalize customer service. In the long run, these functions help improve long-term customer retention.

Furthermore, ERP systems improve these capabilities by providing a unified approach that helps sales and marketing teams track leads, forecast sales, and execute integrated campaigns.

An example of the CRM overview page in Oracle Fusion Cloud. Source

4. Finance and Accounting

Key Benefit: Automates financial tasks and consolidates data to ensure compliance and provide a clear financial picture for planning.

Financial management is a critical business function. ERP systems help you manage accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, risks and taxes. Many systems even help you manage overseas operations with multiple currencies and tax rule compliance.

Automate various accounting functions, like payment processing, sales analysis and expense management. It also improves bookkeeping accuracy and processing times.
This capability frees up your staff’s time and reduces errors so they can focus on more important tasks.

Want to learn more? See our accounting software requirements checklist.

A preview of SAP S/4HANA’s financial and accounting dashboard. Source

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5. HR Management

Key Benefit: Manages employee data, payroll and recruitment to improve HR efficiency.

HR tools are the one-stop shop for managing everything from finding new hires to paying them. This feature automates complex tasks like tax calculations, saving time and money.

A recent LinkedIn report revealed a staggering 94% of employees say skill development opportunities impact their decision to stay with a company. Typically, ERP systems include learning management, an HR module focusing on keeping your workforce competent and skilled.

Oracle Fusion Cloud offers alerts and journey updates. Source

6. Inventory Management

Key Benefit: Offers visibility into stock levels and movements to reduce excess, prevent shortages and improve order fulfillment.​

Inventory management tools allow real-time item tracking to see material locations at all times. You can manage product IDs, descriptions, categories, units of measure and other details in one centralized system.

Perform valuations using standard, specific, average, first-in-first-out (FIFO) and other methods. Assemble kits for particular stocks or orders. You can also take kits apart.

A preview of inventory management data in Rootstock. Source

7. Manufacturing

Key Benefit: Manages production processes and tracks costs to enhance efficiency, reduce waste and ensure timely delivery.

Whether you run a small job shop or dabble withfood manufacturing tools, manufacturing solutions can tackle almost any job and cut down on mistakes.

Track your batches in real time. Manage control batch records (CBRs) to see what’s happening with your batch orders at any given moment.

Build your bills of materials (BOMs) easily. Include items like parts, attachments, subassemblies, descriptions and more. Recipe management tools help you figure out how much work, materials and equipment you’ll need, along with formulas and overhead costs.

The schedule planner in Visibility ERP.

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8. Order Management

Key Benefit: Manages orders from receipt to delivery to improve accuracy, speed up delivery times and provide real-time status updates.

Supervise orders from beginning to end with practical order management tools.

Import orders from external systems for the ultimate consolidation experience. Perform automatic or manual order splitting. Develop dropshipping purchase orders to save on space.

Develop transfer orders with item numbers, shipping from branches, delivering to specific locations, quantities and more.

Quotes management in Epicor Kinetic. Source

9. Procurement

Key Benefit: Improves vendor selection and ensures timely supply.

Procurement helps you find, negotiate and buy goods and services. This feature lets you select suppliers, track their performance and cut everyday costs.

Create purchase requests when filling out requisition forms. Include statuses, names, account dates, requested dates, reasons and other vital data. Draft and distribute requests for quotes (RFQs) to one or several suppliers with delivery dates, item numbers and more.

Send requests for quotes (RFQs) to multiple vendors to compare prices and delivery times.

Review the procurement process in Dynamics 365. Source

• Automatic Purchase Order Creations
• Vendor Contract Creations
• Request for Quotation Creations
• Quota Arrangement Creations
• Creating and Submitting Purchase Requests
• Maintaining Vendor Records
• Create Purchase Orders Manually
• Multi-Subsidiary Vendors
• Three-Way Match

10. Project Management

Key Benefit: Ensures projects are on time and within budget.

Project management solutions include tools to supervise every task from start to finish. Set budgets and spending limits, boost collaboration within your team, and consolidate tasks and milestones in one system.

• Define task scopes, workflows, historical data, project types and risks.
• Build detailed estimates by assigning resource units, quantities, time scales and start/end dates to each task
• Schedule your projects with clear Gantt charts and use dashboards to track progress and deadlines.

A preview of a project management module in Odoo. Source

11. Service Management

Key Benefit: Manages support and field service operations to increase service efficiency and customer satisfaction.

This feature offers a central hub to manage all aspects of your services. Built-in Field service management tools can also streamline field and back-office-related tasks.

Book appointments through self-service portals and mobile apps. The system will automatically find the best time slots based on technician availability, business rules and any existing constraints.

Develop service requests with product and partner IDs, item nodes, categories and more. Manage tower dashboards with predicted risks, alerts, calendar views and late days.

Review appointment bookings in Dynamics 365. Source

• Appointment Booking
• Call Center Management
• Create Service Request
• Customer Service Contracts
• Define Billing Rules
• Installation Management
• Map Route and Resource Tracking
• Technician Portal
• Warranty Management

12. Supply Chain Management

Key Benefit: Provides full visibility and control of the supply chain to manage operations, reduce costs and ensure smooth flow of goods.

Manufacturing businesses rely on a complex network of suppliers and partners to get raw materials to finished goods in customers’ hands.

Supply chain planning tools will help you make sourcing materials a breeze. Manage suppliers, maintain stock levels and ensure distribution based on demand.

These tools also improve transparency, enable you to allocate resources effectively and support better resource management with real-time data.

A preview of Rootstock’s material requirements planning tool. Source

• AI-Based Disruption Mitigations Recommendation
• Automate Logistics Operations Capability
• Collaborative Supplier Portal
• Control Tower Dashboard
• Creation of Supplier Scorecard
• Pricing Analysis or Strategy

13. Warehouse Management

Key Benefit: Enhances warehouse operations with real-time tracking to boost efficiency, reduce errors and improve order accuracy.

Warehouse management tools let you manage incoming and outgoing shipments, inventory and more.

Merge many orders or shipments into batches for picking. Work with client addresses, shipped quantities, available inventory, taxes and discounts.

Predict needed resources and balance them across workflows with historical employee information. Perform automatic scheduling to plan worker numbers according to days, zones, job types, weather and other factors.

An example of a warehouse management system’s dashboard. Source

14. Integration and Extensibility

Key Benefit: Ensures seamless integration with other systems to enhance collaboration and scale with business needs.

Traditional software solutions often struggle to talk to each other. This disconnect can lead to data silos, errors and wasted time. That’s where ERP shines.

ERP systems are designed as a unified suite, meaning all the applications work together seamlessly. This means your finance team uses the same data as your sales team, and your inventory automatically updates when a sale is made.

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15. Automation

Key Benefit: Manage repetitive tasks like invoicing, payroll and inventory tracking without manual intervention.

Automation significantly boosts efficiency, reduces errors and lets your team concentrate on strategic initiatives that create real value.

It also simplifies workflows through predefined rules and triggers. For instance, when inventory levels fall below a designated threshold, the system automatically generates a purchase order, ensuring timely restocking.

This feature offers:

• Time Savings: Frees your team from tedious manual tasks.
• Error Reduction: Mitigates risks associated with data entry and processing inaccuracies.
• Cost Efficiency: Lowers operational expenses by optimizing workflows.

16. Marketing Automation (MA)

Key Benefit: Simplify marketing tasks and deliver personalized customer experiences.

MA features integrate key marketing functions into the overall business process, allowing for seamless campaign management, lead generation, customer segmentation and performance tracking—all guided by predefined workflows.

Marketing automation tools can:

• Improve Efficiency: Saves time by reducing manual effort on marketing tasks, enabling teams to focus on strategy.
• Deliver Personalized Marketing: Supports targeted communication tailored to customer behavior and preferences, improving engagement.
• Measure Performance: Delivers insights into campaign effectiveness, allowing for continuous improvement based on data-driven feedback.

17. eCommerce

Key Benefit: Simplify online sales management while doubling accuracy and customer satisfaction.

eCommerce capabilities simplify online sales by integrating directly to ERP systems to synchronize sales data with inventory management, customer orders and financial reporting, creating a unified solution for online and back-end processes.

Customers benefit from an enhanced experience with up-to-date product availability, supporting a smoother purchasing journey and higher satisfaction.

18. Embedded AI

Key Benefit: Use intelligent insights to boost efficiency and enhance decision-making.

Embedded AI integrates directly into your ERP system, enabling powerful data analysis for predictive insights, task automation and personalized user experiences.

AI algorithms analyze large datasets to help anticipate market trends and customer needs, supporting proactive decision-making. By automating complex tasks, embedded AI frees your teams to focus on higher-value work.

It also delivers tailored recommendations based on historical data to enhance user experience.

19. Remote and Mobile Compatibility

Key Benefit: Provide access to ERP systems from any device, anywhere, to support the workforce.

Remote and mobile compatibility allows you to access your systems through cloud-based platforms or mobile apps, enabling essential functions to be performed outside of traditional office environments.

This feature offers flexibility for employees who work from home or travel frequently. It also provides real-time access to critical data and seamless communication among team members, regardless of location.

A Real-World Success Story From Cetec ERP

Qualtek Electronics Corp., a leader in fan accessories, power supplies and heat shrink products, turned to Cetec ERP to modernize its business processes.

Their Challenges

As a global distributor and manufacturer, Qualtek needed a cost-effective, feature-rich ERP solution to manage complex requirements, like label customization and real-time inventory control, which were critical to their large-scale operations.

Key ERP Features Used by Qualtek

• Cloud-Based Access: Cetec ERP’s fully cloud-hosted model enabled Qualtek to access their ERP without third-party support, improving flexibility and reducing infrastructure costs.
• Quoting Module and Order Entry: Cetec ERP provided Qualtek with an efficient quoting module and one-click order entry, automating sales processes to simplify order management and improve customer responsiveness.
• Advanced Inventory and Barcode Management: With inventory projections, mobile warehouse management and barcoding, Cetec ERP helped Qualtek maintain real-time accuracy across inventory, streamline bin location tracking and simplify order fulfillment with customizable barcodes and packing slips.
• EDI and Document Control: Cetec ERP’s integrated EDI capabilities and ISO-compliant document management ensured that Qualtek could meet strict compliance standards and smoothly handle B2B transactions with larger clients.
• Comprehensive Financial and Costing Tools: The system’s GAAP-compliant accounting, along with flexible costing methods like FIFO and Average Costing, allowed for precise financial reporting, providing Qualtek with real-time visibility into profit and loss, balance sheets and general ledgers.

Impact and Results

With Cetec ERP, Qualtek achieved faster order processing, reduced operational costs and improved data accessibility—all while ensuring a seamless transition without disrupting customer shipments. This modernized ERP platform helped Qualtek to operate efficiently and scale as needed, meeting both current demands and setting the stage for future growth.

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FAQs

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Next Steps

ERP systems come in all shapes and sizes. No matter your industry, there’s a system for your company, too. The best system for your company is one that addresses all your business needs.

Ready to start your software search? Our free ERP requirements template is a good starting point. Built-in frameworks will help you pinpoint ERP capabilities tailored to your company and industry.

What ERP software features are most important to you? Let us know in the comments.

SME Contributors

Jessica Bane is the Operations Director at GoPromotional. She has over a decade of experience in business administration and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the company. Her areas of expertise include HR, sales, marketing and production. As a Director, she values data analysis, problem-solving, leadership and a positive mindset.

Taimur Ijlal is a tech expert and information security leader at Netify, a marketplace specializing in SD-WAN and SASE Cybersecurity comparison. He has over two decades of international experience in cyber-security and IT risk management in the fintech industry. He has won several awards for his industry contributions like CISO of the year, CISO top 30, CISO top 50, and Most Outstanding Security Team.