Top 10 benefits & advantages of education ERP software for your school district

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software has been a valuable tool for organizations across all industries for years. This specialized software centralizes financial information and other essential data in one location, enabling organizations to understand current assets and plan for the future.

Yet, K-12 education is largely still relying on legacy systems and managing spreadsheets off the side of their desks. We think it’s time for educational institutions to start reaping the benefits of a modern ERP built specifically for them.

That’s why Edsembli offers education ERP software specially designed to help school districts understand, manage, and plan all aspects of its operations. 

Ready to learn how an education-focused ERP software can help your organization? Check out today’s post to discover the top 10 potent benefits.

Efficiently managing a K-12 school district involves understanding the district’s current assets, and future financial needs, analyzing a wealth of data, and prioritizing student success with every decision.

Yet, administrators and educators face a more complex landscape than ever before. Fortunately, new tools are available to turn these complexities into advantages. 

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has been essential to managing business operations for enterprises for years. Now, ERP software developed specifically for school districts can enable the same benefits and advantages that help enterprises operate effectively and efficiently. 

The education ERP market is projected to grow by a CAGR of 14.2% between 2022 and 2028, which indicates the value this unique software is providing school districts globally. School districts that often have limited resources are now prioritizing an investment in ERP software due to its countless benefits.

What exactly does education ERP software offer school districts? Some of its essential responsibilities include:

• Employee record management
• Absence & attendance management
• Compliance with collective agreements
• Integration with finance
• Project costing
• Payroll
• Student data management
• Financial management
• Certifications and experience

Jurisdictional reporting school districts need to manage each of these tasks regardless of the technology they use. Historically, many of these processes have been in spreadsheets, paperwork, or disjointed systems, which creates a significant workload and hinders collaboration. That’s why it’s essential for districts to invest in purpose-built education software.

Education enterprise resource planning software aims to unite the essential tasks of human resources and financial management under one roof to simplify human resource planning, allocation, and budget tracking. Keep reading to learn the vital benefits of adopting education ERP software for your school district.

We develop education software that empowers educators and administrators to excel and improve student learning. Learn more about who we are and why we care about education technology.

What is education ERP software for K-12 school districts?

While the “E” formally stands for Enterprise, we like to consider it “Education.” Our unique ERP platform is not designed for general enterprise use but specifically for the unique needs of modern education and the educators and school administrators who rely on it.

Our education ERP software focuses on integrating all essential data sources, simplifies financial management, grants visibility into the district’s assets, and automates repetitive tasks. Additionally, leading-edge software significantly cuts down on paperwork and upgrades your systems from disparate tools.

ERP software also makes it easier to stay compliant with all applicable regulations and provide any evidence a regulatory body may request. 

The end result is a powerful ERP system that unites core business functions, including human resources, payroll and financial management, and core tasks related to school operations.

What does a school management system offer K-12 school districts? 

The needs of a modern school district have changed dramatically in the past few years, and education ERP software has risen to meet these needs. In addition, ERP software provides several valuable use cases for school districts.

• Data Centralization: Modern school districts generate a significant amount of data that has the potential to enable data-driven resource planning decisions, but only if data is readily available when it’s needed. ERP platforms create a central location for financial, human capital and student information with customizable reporting, so decision-makers have the data they need on demand.
• Human Resources: ERP software cuts down on the paperwork, emails, and spreadsheets required for HR representatives to handle essential tasks. Additionally, data generated by HR is available for administrators, so they have a better understanding of current financial information.
• Financial Managers: Creating a centralized location for all financial needs, like paying bills, collecting fees, paying suppliers, and transparency into all financial activity.

Ultimately, education ERP software provides educational institutions with a comprehensive school management system, complete with all the tools and functionality required to understand how a district’s resources are being allocated, so they can better plan for future needs.

Key benefits of Enterprise Resource Planning software for educational institutions

Enterprise resource planning has helped organizations across all industries manage employees, and financial responsibilities to enable growth. Now, it’s time for education to reap the benefits of this specialized type of software.

Education ERP software takes the general premise of an ERP platform and hone in on precisely what a school district requires to improve student learning. Let’s explore some of the top benefits of ERP software developed for K-12 educational institutions.

1. Provide a better learning experience

Ultimately, the goal of everything a school district does is to improve the student learning experience. Education organizations with improved insights into their students, finances, employees and future needs are able to make better informed decisions about how to improve the learning experience.

2. Improve district-wide communication and collaboration

Communication and collaboration between departments are essential for every organization, and education institutions are no exception. Education ERP software centralizes data and makes it available to anyone who needs it, promoting collaboration across departments. 

For example, ERP attendance management allows HR, administrators, and educators to gain deeper insights into absences that may begin to affect student success. Once identified, administrators can take corrective action to ensure the student doesn’t miss our on their learning experience.

3. Leave disparate systems and paperwork behind

Paperwork, spreadsheets, and systems that do not share data are significant problems facing school districts. Relying on finding the correct document, email chains of spreadsheets, or exporting/importing data between systems consumes valuable time. Additionally, these processes can result in losing valuable information or lead to making decisions based on inaccurate data.

Education ERP software significantly reduces paperwork and makes spreadsheets and other systems obsolete. Instead, teachers and administrators will work within the same system, uniting all financial and resource information.

4. Automate repetitive manual tasks

You can’t automate everything for your school district, but you can automate repetitive tasks that would otherwise consume an administrator’s time. For example, you likely require frequent reports regarding financial expenditures. The right ERP software will allow you to create and automate custom financial reports to be ready when needed.

5. Reduce operational costs

Education institutions, like any business, have operational costs that must be understood to be reduced. Disjointed financial data may result in missing out on opportunities to cut costs. 

Additionally, education ERP software itself may reduce your operational costs. Leading-edge ERP platforms replace multiple legacy systems, so you can end licenses or subscriptions to various systems you’ll no longer need.

6. Maintain regulatory compliance

Jurisdictional compliance will vary between provinces and states. Depending on local and national regulations, you may be required to submit documentation or evidence that you’re abiding by applicable regulations.

Education ERP software provides out of the box jurisdictional reporting and customizable reports to help you quickly generate the data you need.

7. Integrate essential external systems

Our ERP software provides significant features and tools to help most educational institutions. However, we also know that school districts have unique needs that may require other specialized tools. Therefore, Edsembli’s ERP software offers integrations with our other platforms and many third-party systems so that you’re able to create the right tech stack for your precise needs.

8. Customized on-demand reporting

Whether you need to see current expenses, paid time off reports, or almost any other resource-related information, a dedicated school management system gives you the tools to run the reports you need on demand. No more emailing administrators, educators, or other departments to find paperwork or spreadsheets.

Additionally, ERP solutions like Edsembli offer automation options so you can auto-generate reports you frequently require. For example, you can configure our software to send payroll reports prior to each pay period so you can accurately pay employees on time.

9. Improve student safety

The last thing you want in an emergency situation is to sort through paperwork or look through different systems for a student’s health information. Whether you need allergy information or an emergency contact, the faster you can retrieve student information, the better.

ERP software isn’t just for financial information; it can also store student data. As a result, educators or administrators will be empowered to rapidly find the exact information they need in any emergency situation, so the student can get the help they need immediately.

10. Accurate forecasting

Understanding the current state of the education institution’s resources is vital, but the right education ERP platform takes it further and helps you forecast future needs and expenses. This feature is made possible with in-depth reporting and analyzing historical data. From there, the software can forecast your year-end finances, for example, well ahead of time so you can make adjustments as needed.

What should you look for in ERP software for schools?

Are you ready to upgrade your resource planning and management for your school district? Several platforms are available on the market, including those designed for general usage by enterprises. How can you navigate various options to hone in on the best choice for your needs?

Begin by focusing on platforms designed for educational institutions. Generalized ERP software will likely have features you don’t need while lacking features you do. Once you’ve found a few options for education-focused ERP software, narrow down your choices by evaluating the following:

• Does the platform offer the capability to configure roles, and permissions as necessary for your specific needs?
• The right ERP software will fit within your budget and cost-effectively meet your needs. Most school districts have limited resources, and the ultimate goal of an ERP solution is to improve the management and planning of your resources. Avoid options that will cost too much, and closely evaluate billing plans.
• The right solution will have specific features necessary for school districts, such as attendance management and student information tracking.
• Consider the pros and cons of a cloud platform compared to an on-premises solution. Cloud platforms remove the need for on-premise hardware and an IT support staff, providing you with a dashboard to access the cloud-based software.
• Is migrating to the new service relatively straightforward? How about onboarding administrators and educators? While a learning curve and data migration challenges are expected, the right platform will provide support along the way and have a user interface that is easy to learn and use.

Must-have ERP software features

We mentioned finding the right features above, but what exactly does that look like? Every school district will have unique needs, so carefully evaluate exactly what your district requires before signing up. Some must-have ERP features for most districts include:

• Secure payroll records
• Benefits and pension planning
• Employee and student records
• Multi level approval workflow
• Pay grids and steps
• Seniority calculations and tracking
• Qualifications and expiration date tracking
• Compliance with unions and regulatory agencies
• Criminal record declarations
• Financial records tracking
• Customizable reporting
• Automation for repetitive tasks
• Third-party integrations as necessary

Eliminate the frustration of resource planning with Edsembli | ERP

Tracking paperwork and spreadsheets while navigating countless disjointed systems makes resource planning a constant headache. Fortunately, education ERP software is designed to streamline and simplify resource planning and management processes.

Empower educators to focus on student learning while administrators can effectively manage their time tackling essential tasks. Are you ready to upgrade your education resource planning processes with the right leading-edge software? 

Edsembli | ERP is your all-in-one solution that brings everything together in one easy-to-use platform, including:

• Centralization of critical financial data
• Security and privacy of sensitive employee and student information
• Customizable and automated reporting
• Complete visibility into budgeting and projections
• Seamless reporting for jurisdictional compliance

Ready to learn more? Book a discovery call today with our education ERP experts to learn how Edsembli can help your school district better manage and allocate its resources.