SAP Business One for procurement — honest review after daily use

We've been running SAP B1 for procurement operations for several years. Honest assessment:

What works well:

• Purchase order creation and approval workflow is clean once configured
• GRPO to AP invoice matching is reliable and audit-friendly
• Item master and price list management is solid for FMCG catalog management
• Crystal Reports integration gives decent custom reporting with some setup

What's frustrating:

• The mobile app is almost unusable for anything beyond basic approvals
• Customization requires a developer — you cannot modify forms or add fields without SAP partner involvement
• Integration with external systems (customs portals, freight tracking) requires middleware
• License cost per user is high for large warehouse teams
• The UI hasn't meaningfully changed in years and feels dated

What we've worked around:
We export procurement data to Excel weekly for analysis because the built-in analytics don't give us what we need fast enough. We're looking at Power BI with a direct B1 connection to fix this.

For teams evaluating SAP B1: it's a solid transactional system but not a modern analytics platform. If your reporting needs are complex, budget for a BI layer on top.

What ERP are others running and what's your honest experience with the procurement module?