7 Reasons to Integrate Your ERP System with BIM 360's Construction Cost Management Module

As projects grow more complex and contractors adopt more software to increase efficiency, integrating those applications is no longer a luxury, but a requirement. Yet there’s one mission-critical area often overlooked for the value it can bring to an organization: integrating project management with accounting and ERP applications. No other applications have as much impact to the success – or failure – of a project-driven organization than a tight linkage between the field-facing project management software and back-office accounting (or construction cost management) applications.

Connecting digital project data is a major goal of the BIM 360 ecosystem, and we’re proud to announce that thanks to an integration with Morpheus Technology Group, that now includes accounting and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Here are seven reasons to integrate your ERP system with the BIM 360 Cost Management module.

The Top 7 Reasons to Integrate Your ERP System with BIM 360 Construction Cost Management 

1. Reduced redundancy of data 

The most visible benefit of integration is reducing duplicate data entry. You can avoid duplicate manual data entry and all the errors associated with manual processes. No longer does the project team enter information only to have the accounting team waste time retyping the same data, or vice versa. 

Everyone wants their “actual cost” from accounting to magically update the project management application. With integration, budgets are entered once by the project team and automatically pushed to the accounting system, saving countless hours and avoiding errors.

2. Single source of truth 

Integration enables contractors to have a single source of truth by having their applications connected and sharing the same data. Having confidence in data integrity allows for better decision-making. 

3. Complete project perspective 

Heighten visibility and gain a holistic perspective by having all project financials and other information sources now available. Gain insight into new sources of information from finance and ERP, PPM, CRM, and other systems. 

4. Lower overhead costs 

By not having to manually enter, import, and export data, core personnel can concentrate on true business objectives. Project managers can produce reports 75% quicker, saving hours of otherwise wasted time. 

5. Increased IT ROI 

Leverage the full potential of your ERP and BIM 360 investment with enhanced collaboration and connectivity. Extend the value of ERP & PPM across the whole project team, while maintaining existing business processes.

6. Speedier decision-making 

Historically, project management applications were updated with accounting data on a monthly basis for cost reviews. However, this doesn’t reflect the speed of the construction business, where decisions need to be made on a daily (and often hourly) basis. 

With this integration, accounting and project management are reconciled rapidly, giving the project team the information they need to make decisions faster and with the most accurate data. A more efficient data exchange between functional departments reduces decision time, while giving managers line-of-sight into issues and accurate daily job cost information for labor, materials, subcontractors, and miscellaneous costs. 

7. Minimized risk

Inaccurate data can create a range of liability issues. Integration lowers exposure to poor or missing data, and reduces litigation risk resulting from such issues. It also reduces change order processing time to 25% of previous processes. 

Morpheus Technology Group: Connecting the Applications That Build the World 

Morpheus is the creator of Frameworks, a Dynamic Integration solution that connects and optimizes ERP, PPM and other mission critical construction applications. Morpheus was founded by construction industry professionals who know the difficulties of integrating processes firsthand, and have been helping integrate construction applications for almost 20 years.

Frameworks is a middleware solution and is invisible to BIM 360 users, who can focus on the project while Frameworks does the job of connecting data. Beyond the initial 10 integration touchpoints (e.g., cost codes, budgets, POs, etc.), users can easily and quickly configure existing and new business integration processes with no coding via an intuitive UI. 

Frameworks + BIM 360 Cost Management Integration

We are pleased to announce that Morpheus’s Frameworks integration product will now connect to BIM 360 Cost Management, allowing BIM 360 users to connect their ERP and accounting systems. This will allow BIM 360 customers to keep the project and accounting teams in sync, leading to better visibility and project decision-making. 

Learn more about the Morpheus and BIM 360 integration here.