Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a centralized system that catalogs all the essential resources, materials, invoices, purchase orders, contracts, and inventory of a business. It helps in managing and streamlining various aspects of a business, including procurement, supply chain, finances, and accounting. 

While it is not necessary to use an ERP for managing a business, it makes life easier for everyone involved.

Although some data in ERP is generated through transactional activities, much of it comes from material facts such as invoices, purchase orders, and contracts. Often, these documents contain a lot of unstructured but essential data that could help the ERP system work better. 

However, these documents are usually stored elsewhere, not in the ERP, which means that the system references them but doesn’t understand or know them well. This results in missed opportunities for businesses, where important data can be left unutilized, resulting in operational costs or lost receivables.