The new National Credit Act (NCA) has been blamed in some quarters for causing havoc since it came into effect on 1 July. But, says business software company HansaWorld, it has also created an opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses to take a technology leap and improve their profitability.
"The changes to the credit rules mean many IT systems, especially in medium-sized and smaller businesses, no longer function properly," explains Aadil Aboobaker of HansaWorld partner Brainbug.
"If businesses have to pay for new software anyway, they should seriously consider upgrading systems across their entire organisation. If they shop around carefully, they could end up paying less to get more."
Aboobaker and his team, on behalf of retailer Gem Furnishers, recently developed an NCA compliance module for HansaWorld's integrated business solution. The new module enabled Gem Furnishers to adopt, for the first time, a fully integrated enterprise resource management, financial and customer service solution.
"Gem Furnishers is a substantial retailer with five branches in Vryburg, Mafikeng, Pretoria, Polokwane and Tzaneen," says Aboobaker. "They needed a good risk management and credit control system that could handle multiple companies and branches.
"They previously had standalone legacy systems in each branch, combined with separate financial and accounting systems," he added. "The credit application process involved a great deal of paper which was faxed between the branches and their head office. They realised early on that they stood to save a fortune, as well as increasing their efficiencies, by implementing an integrated system that would handle all aspects of financial and document management."
The module subsequently developed by Brainbug and HansaWorld includes a live link to credit bureaux within the system, enabling much faster processing of credit applications.
"HansaWorld's software is highly flexible and it's easy to develop or alter modules to customer requirements," says South Africa country manager Kevin Clarke. "We've made the system NCA-compliant in just a few weeks where other systems would have taken months."
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