That’s almost four working weeks spent moving and re-entering information, rather than running and growing your business.
Research published by Sage in September 2026 found that UK SMEs lose an average of 19 working days a year to manual tasks involving digital tools. That’s around 152 hours and an estimated £5,700 per business annually.
For business leaders, the bigger question is what that lost time means for productivity, profitability and growth. If your team is constantly re-entering data, reconciling reports or chasing information across different systems, could your business processes and technology be doing more of the work?
Is your ERP ready for your next stage of growth?
The challenge isn’t simply whether your current ERP works today, but whether it will support where your business is heading. As transaction volumes increase, operations become more complex and reporting demands grow; limitations that were once manageable can start to hold the business back.
Before investing in an upgrade or a new system, consider three things:
- Scalability: Can your current system handle greater volumes, more complex operations and new markets without adding layers of manual work?
- Connectivity and insight: Can your finance and operational teams access reliable, timely information to make decisions, or are they still relying on spreadsheets and workarounds?
- Future readiness: Can your technology take advantage of cloud working, automation and AI? Cloud-based systems can give authorised users secure access to information wherever they work. Automation can reduce manual effort by handling routine tasks such as processing transactions, generating reports and triggering approvals. Emerging AI capabilities can help teams analyse data, identify patterns and work more efficiently. If your current system can’t support these developments, you could be missing opportunities to improve productivity and decision-making.
The right next step isn’t necessarily a complete replacement. It may be improving your existing system, integrating other applications or moving to a more capable ERP platform. The priority is understanding what your business needs now, where it is heading and which investment will deliver the greatest commercial value.
The right system is only part of the answer.
Choosing ERP isn’t simply a software decision. Before investing, business leaders should consider three questions:
- What needs to improve? Identify the business problems you want to solve, not just the features you want to buy.
- Where are the gaps? Understand how information moves between teams, where manual workarounds exist, and what limits visibility.
- Will it support future growth? Choose an approach that reflects your business model, complexity, and ambitions, not just today’s requirements.
The right ERP solution should fit the business, its processes and its plans for the future. Implementation, integration and employee adoption are equally important to achieving the expected benefits.
Start with your business, not the software
At EBS, we help businesses assess their requirements and identify ERP solutions that fit their needs. With expertise across Sage 200, Sage X3 and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, we can help you understand your options and make an informed decision.
If your systems are becoming harder to manage as your business grows, it may be time to review whether they’re still fit for purpose.