The buzz around these days is all about Free ERP for Apartment Management. And does it not sound too good to be true? Think about it. An ERP mechanism is supposed to handle your finances, your service desk requests, communication and community database. An ERP system packs in loads of automation that requires thousands of lines of coding, R&D, human resource. And yet Free ERP is headlining trends today.
What Are The Catches With Free ERP for Apartment Management?
- Auto Invoice Mechanism : The paid ERP of an apartment management system is built by integrating about two dozen rules that make the product’s usability universal. GST, late payment penalties are set up keeping the government orders in mind. All arrears are calculated and brings manual intervention to generate invoices to absolute zero. Here is where the Free ERP for Apartment Management loses. The auto invoice mechanism is not built in line with the government issued directives of calculating the relevant taxes and penalties. Manual intervention is still a requirement to ensure correct invoice calculation.
- Defaulter Mechanism : A paid ERP helps you with regular follow ups of defaulters. It shows you the contact details, how many days is the maintenance charge overdue. The majority are unintentional defaulters. They just need a little reminder. Free ERP, on the other hand, gives you a simple list and makes it harder to follow up or remind them.
- Year End Process : A huge hit with Treasurers, Accountants and Auditors, this is an automated process to balance the book with acquired savings and freezing the entries, to ensure no additional entries are made once the book is balanced for a particular financial year. With Free ERP, this automation does not exist.
- Final Accounts & Financial Statements : Over a dozen auditor approved report formats are made available with Inward and Outward columns. The vast range of choices is given to help the housing society or apartment community to choose a format suitable to their income, expenses and savings. Again, a privilege one cannot avail with Free ERPs.
- Audits : When you purchase an ERP product for your housing society or apartment complex, you pay for more than the software. You pay for auditor compliance, audit FAQs, audit support by a network of well established field professionals. A free ERP does not provide this expansive resource and can cost you heavily in form of tax penalties.
- The Others : A paid ERP gives you the A-Z of all financial management of a community – vendor expenses, TDS reports, FD reports, multiline invoicing, automated updation of logs, etc. Free ERP for apartment management falls short of expectations beyond the bare minimum.
As Management Committee, you are responsible for lakhs and lakhs worth of public money. You cannot afford to make mistakes. A paid ERP subscription may seem to be unnecessary with the offer of Free ERPs in the market. However, please do consider this – would you rather compromise your community’s balance sheet and pay hefty penalties or be safe than sorry?