ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
Definition
Software that runs accounting, inventory, purchasing, order management and often manufacturing in one connected system, such as NetSuite, Acumatica or Microsoft Dynamics.
Want a deeper explanation?
An ERP can remove a lot of manual reconciliation, but it is a big project with real cost, and many $1M to $10M brands get further by tightening their current stack first.
The right time is usually when your processes, not just your volume, have outgrown your tools. Watch for: migrating messy data into a new ERP, which only gives you expensive messy data.
Example
A brand at $15M revenue juggling QuickBooks, a separate inventory app and spreadsheets for purchasing moves to an ERP so a PO, its receipt and the bill all live in one place.