ERP
Also called Enterprise resource planning
Software such as NetSuite, SAP or Oracle that holds a company's general ledger, orders, invoices and customer records.
In order-to-cash, the ERP is the system of record. Sales orders, invoices, credit memos and applied payments all post there, and the AR aging report is built from it.
ERPs record transactions well but rarely capture the work around them: customer emails, portal submissions, remittance documents and the reasoning behind a dispute. That context usually lives in inboxes and spreadsheets.
Further reading
Related terms
- General ledger (GL)The master record of every financial transaction a company posts, organized by account, from which its financial statements are produced.
- AR subledgerThe customer-by-customer record of open invoices, credits and payments that rolls up to the accounts receivable balance in the general ledger.
- Customer master dataThe core record for each customer in the ERP: legal entity, billing and remit-to addresses, contacts, payment terms, tax details and credit limit.
- Context graphA connected record of the people, documents, decisions and history around each customer and transaction, giving people and agents the full picture behind the numbers.