May 27, 2010

SAP Business One

SAP Business One

Software for Small & Midsize Companies

We believe that doing business should be easy. Check out SAP Business One. It's backed by SAP, the world's largest software company. Don't let that scare you though; the majority of SAP's customers are just like you, small business owners and employees that want to have best-run businesses.



SAP Business One Screenshot

SAP Business One as a Platform for Growth

SAP Business one is a business platform for the future. At ERP BuzZ, we often get asked, "Why can't I find software that meets the unique needs of my business on the shelf in a store?". The truth is, that product doesn't exist. If it did, it wouldn't be backed by a firm that had the ability to support it. SAP Business One is an application developed with small business owners in mind. It's simple yet powerful architecture provides the ability to tailor the application to best fit your unique business needs.

SAP has over 20,000 customers using over 1,000 industry-specific solutions; SAP has published a software road map through 2015. With a clear path towards the future, you can be confident that we'll be around to support your business for years to come. Recently, SAP also acquired Business Objects, the creators of Crystal Reports, to further strengthen its ability to provide customers with value.

Completely Integrated Business Software SAP Business one is a complete platform to run your entire business. In one single application, SAP Business One manages all primary facets of your business, including Financials, Sales, Purchasing, Inventory, Banking, Manufacturing, Forecasts & Budgets, Reporting and more.




May 17, 2010

Sage Accounting - Sample Reports Review

SSage accounting software is leading software in world. Mostly in Pakistan there is no one authorized partner of Sage. Sage recently launched their ERP Software for different industries. Mostly in Pakistan pirated software using of Sage that’s why companies face problems but if it is purchased by online from Sage and proper implement then it is good software for small industries. Sage accounting includes an integrated financial report writer built to meet the unique needs of organizations. The report examples below can be easily configured by an average user – no external or third-party reporting tools are required. Your organization can quickly produce presentation-quality financial statements and analysis reports for your board, auditors, management, and other users of financial information.
FAS-Compliant Financials
·         Statement of activities
·         Statement of cash flows
Other Key Financial Reports
·         Balance sheet
·         Balance sheet by fund
Critical Management & Analysis Reporting
·         Performance budgeting analysis
Government Wide Statements
·         Statement of activities
·         Statement of net assets
Proprietary Funds
·         Fund balance sheets
·         Statement of cash flows
·         Proprietary funds
Supplementary Information
·         Budgetary comparison schedule
·         Capital asset schedule

Sample reports are in adobe acrobat reader format (.pdf). Please share your quires in comments box.

May 10, 2010

The History of SAP

The History of SAP
In 1972, five systems analysts began working nights and weekends to create standard software with realtime data processing. Twenty-five years later their vision is a reality: SAP is the world's market and technology leader in business application software.

On April 1, 1972 five former IBM employees founded SAP as Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung (“Systems Analysis and Program Development”) in Mannheim, Germany. Their vision was to develop and market standard enterprise software which would integrate all business processes. The idea came to them through their work as systems consultants for IBM when they noticed that client after client was developing the same, or very similar, computer programs. The second part of their vision was that data should be processed interactively in realtime, and the computer screen should become the focal point of data processing.

SAP: Human Resources

HR provides solutions planning and managing company's human resources, using integrated applications that cover all personnel management tasks and help simplify and speed the process.

PM: Personnel Management PM is a complete solution for personnel administration, recruitment management, travel management, benefits administration and salary administration.

OM: Organizational Management OM assists in maintaining an accurate picture of organization's structure, no matter how fast it changes. It is systematic and forward planning tool that considers the final effects of all personnel events thus it's complete solution for personnel cost planning.

PA: Payroll Accounting PA addresses payroll functions from a global point-of-view and gives the capability to centralize payroll processing or decentralize the data based on country or legal entities.

TM: Time Management TM is integrated with payroll accounting, controlling, production planning, plant maintenance, project system, external services and shift planning. It provides with a variety of standard reports that will assist in tracking and analyzing employee time with completeness and accuracy.

PD: Personnel Development PD assists with planning, monitoring, and analyzing scheduled seminars, training courses, and business events, registration and booking, price determination and invoicing.

SAP: Financials

Financials:
Financials is a suite of integrated financial application components encompasses all aspects of financial accounting, investment management, controlling, treasury management, and enterprise controlling.

FI: Financial Accounting FI collects all the data in company relevant to accounting, providing complete documentation and comprehensive information, and is at the same an up-to-the-minute basis for enterprise-wide control and planning.

CO: Controlling CO is a complete array of compatible planning and control instruments for company-wide controlling systems, with a uniform reporting system for coordinating the contents and procedures of company's internal processes.

IM: Investment Management IM offers integrated management and processing of investment measures and projects from planning to settlement, including pre-investment analysis and depreciation simulation.

TR: Treasury TR is a complete solution for efficient financial management that ensures the liquidity of worldwide company, its structures, financial assets, profitability and minimizes risks.

EC: Enterprise Controlling EC continuously monitors company's success factors and performance indicators on the basis of specially prepared management information.

SAP: Logistics

Logistics
Logistics comprises all processes involved in purchasing, materials management, manufacturing, warehousing, quality management, plant maintenance, service management and sales and distribution. All applications access a shared consistent database, supported by production data management.

SD: Sales & Distribution SD actively supports sales and distribution activities with outstanding functions for pricing, prompt order processing, and on-time delivery, interactive variant configuration, and a direct interface to profitability analysis and production.

PP: Production Planning and Control PP provides comprehensive process for all types of manufacturing: from repetitive, make-to-order, and assemble-to-order production, through process, lot and make-to-stock manufacturing, to integrated supply chain management with functions extended MRP and electronic kanban, plus optional interfaces to PDC, process control systems, CAD and PDM.

PS: Project System PS coordinates and controls all phases of a project, in direct cooperation with Purchasing and Controlling, from quotation to design and approval, to resource management and cost settlement.

MM: Materials Management MM optimizes all purchasing processes with workflow-driven processing functions, enables automated supplier evaluation, lowers procurement adn warehousing costs with accurate inventory and warehouse management, and integrates invoice verification.

QM: Quality Management QM monitors, captures, and manages all processes relevant to quality assurance along the entire supply chain, coordinates inspection processing, initiates corrective measures, and integrates laboratory information systems.

PM: Plant Maintenance PM provides planning, control, and processing of scheduled maintenance, inspection, damage-related maintenance, and service management to ensure availability of operational systems, including plants and equipment delivered to customers.

SM: Service Management SM provides highly integrated customer service functionality to compete in today's global markets.

PDM: Product Data Management PDM supports in creating and managing product data throughout the product life cycle.

What is SAP?

SAP R/3 Overview
SAP R/3 is SAP's integrated software solution for client/server and distributed open systems. SAP's R/3 is the world's most-used standard business software for client/server computing. R/3 meets the needs of a customer from the small grocer with 3 users to the multi-billion dollar companies The software is highly customizable using SAP's proprietary programming language, ABAP/4. R/3 is scalable and highly suited for many types and sizes of organizations

SAP Modules
R/3's applications are modules. They can be used either alone or combined with other solutions. The integration capability of these applications increases the benefits derived for any company.

May 9, 2010

Which ERP Software is Right for Your Small Business?

With the expansion of enterprise resource planning software into the small and mid size market, more and more small businesses are go for to implement ERP software. The ERP implementation process generally starts with human resources management software, accounting software, and financial management software modules, then continues further into the organization’s distribution and manufacturing operations.

Companies often select different functional specific solutions from different software small vendors or individual to solve their short-term problem. Thus, they do not have one integrated solution to cover their full business needs. As companies grow, the different systems, from different vendors, become insufficient to meet the business requirements .This produces informational inconsistencies and degrades the benefits the software packages provided at purchase.

Common Issues Produced by the Co-Existence of Multiple Software Systems

· Inconsistent information across departments

· Different reports of revenue from sales and financial department

· Confusion by separate databases from accounting, contact centers or other departments

· Redundant paper work and keying of information

In today’s dynamic and fully competitive marketplace, business software (ERP) is designed to make business processes easier and operations much more efficient. If this is truly the case, then why do companies still find that they are in operational pain after installing all of the software systems? The original benefits that those systems bring tend to waste away after the company grows. At the same time, the increasing number of software systems becomes a burden to the IT department and the company itself. The lack of integration produces issues that begin to appear and more common and the need for a new system arises again.

The goal of ERP software is to operate multiple departments as a single, organized unit. ERP software allows small businesses and growing company to achieve this goal by maintaining one comprehensive ERP system.

ERP Buzz consultants encourage small and medium industries to come out on our Blog and discuss freely issues regarding review an organization’s business needs and help location and implement ERP software that fits the entire business’ requirements and helps provide a solid foundation for operational success and growth for years to come.

Software Selection Process

Software selection methodology analyzes data regarding each client’s unique business and technical requirements against viable ERP software solutions to help companies understand all of the options as well as the associated costs, risks and benefits of each choice.



The ERP Software Selection Process

• Task 1: Define and Analyze Business Processes and Requirements
• Task 2: Conduct Technical Fit Assessment
• Task 3: Industry Analysis and Vendor Viability
• Task 4: Preliminary Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Analysis
• Task 5: Vendor Evaluation and Selection
• Task 6: Conduct Organizational and Business Readiness Assessment
• Task 7: Vendor Negotiations
• Task 8: Implementation Planning and Analysis
• Task 9: Business Case Justification and Benefits Realization Plan
• Task 10: Final Vendor Analysis and Decision


This approach helps companies’ best plan and prepare for a new ERP system, forces competing software vendors to address specific business needs, and identifies the total cost of ownership of ERP packages.


May 8, 2010

What Is MRP in SAP?

Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP) is a component of SAP's Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) systems. MRP is often implemented under an umbrella of other business management systems working to optimize supply chains, accounting, and Customer Relations Management (CRM).
History
SAP was formed in Germany by ex-IBM engineers with a vision of real-time business data processing in the 1970s.Through the 1980s and 1990s, SAPs products evolved to include MRP.
Definition
MRP combines people, computer systems and manufacturing methods to to help plan and optimize manufacturing resources at multiple levels of a company's manufacturing operations.
Function
MRP uses real-time manufacturing data to generate automated supply orders and maintain accurate product shipping schedules. In many cases, MRP systems contain embedded work process and procedure documentation to help employees perform day-to-day tasks.
Types
MRP systems are often implemented as one of several types of lean manufacturing systems. Common lean systems that can be implemented with the help of an ERP system include Kanban, Kaizen, Just in Time (JIT), and 5S (Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain) systems.
Business Sizes
MRP systems have historically only been implemented in large manufacturing operations with complex production lines, supply chains, and distribution networks. However, SAP and many other ERP software suppliers are now offering systems optimized for small and medium sized manufacturing ventures

How to Implement ERP Successfully and Avoid Costly Failures

Enterprise resource planning software (ERP) can either make or break your company, depending on how well you implement it. ERP programs such as PeopleSoft or Microsoft Dynamics AX or Epicor are meant to facilitate communication throughout every rung of your organization. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. Learn how to successfully implement enterprise resource planning systems.


Step 1
Evaluate your organization as to whether or not its operation and workflow are compatable with ERP systems as a whole. Not all companies are. Especially tricky are those businesses in which a large number of departments must function independently. Forcing wildly divergent sectors to conform to one unified software system can be asking for trouble. Don't assume, on the other hand, that a fragmented organization can't be unified into one electronic system, just because your staff tells you so.

Step 2
Choose ERP software that's highly customizable. On the other hand, don't assume any easily-configured ERP system should be used in your organization. The more you have to customize, the more troublesome upgrades can be.

Step 3
Map your business processes in detail. ERP failures happen because those doing the planning don't actually know what the workflows are and what happens in the organization. ERP successes happen when the software is customized to fit a company's processes.

Step 4
Implement new security measures along with your ERP. Enterprise resource software increases security risk as departments now communicate with those they were formerly isolated from, data-wise. It's not uncommon for a failure in implementation to occur as a result of the planning committee not realizing they need to properly protect their data in a new way.

Step 5
Engage staff in the system changes. Don't just drop the ERP program on them like a bomb--give them warning, let them know why you're implementing it, and make sure they're willing to use the software successfully.

How to Implement ERP in Small & Mid-Size Companies

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has long been used by larger businesses to manage supply chains, manufacturing processes, human resources management, and financial analysis. Because of the limited market for large server based ERP implementations, many ERP vendors, including SAP, Microsoft, and SSA Global, previously called Baan ERP, offer software solutions designed to run on more simple hardware for small and medium-sized businesses.

Step 1
Define your business processes. By defining your business processes in writing, you will be better prepared to select a software vendor based on your business requirements. Establishing well-defined as-is business processes can also help you decide if changing a particular process to suit an off-the-shelf software solution is cheaper than paying for custom software for a particular process.

Step 2
Contact a number of different ERP solution providers. They will ask for defined business requirements. You will need to define the areas of your business that will operate under the ERP system. Common areas include finance and accounting, supplier chain management, warehousing, and manufacturing. Request proposals from them for solutions to your business requirements.

Step 3
Review the proposals. Some suppliers may offer prices that seem initially high. If a particular system seems well suited for your business, but the price seems high, check to see if they are creating custom modules for your business. If they are, the costs for custom modules are usually higher than existing modules. Explore the possibility of re-engineering your business processes to fit an existing module. In some cases, the costs of re-engineering the processes will in lower software costs for the ERP system and in lower overall operating expenses.

Step 4
Select an ERP provider. The best provider for your business will depend on both the type of business you are in and the areas of your business to be run under the ERP system.

Step 5
Begin the training regimen recommended by the ERP provider. Early training will likely include training on the recommended hardware systems for the ERP system. Later training will likely include how to customize and operate the ERP system.

Step 6
Install the hardware and networking required by the ERP system. Simple ERP systems can run both the software and database on a single computer or server. More complex systems may require separate software and database servers.

Step 7
Install the software on your newly installed hardware systems. Most ERP systems for small and medium-sized businesses are end-user installed with consultation from the manufacturer.

Step 8
Configure the software to suit your business processes. In some cases, you may need to make minor adjustments in your business processes to suit pre-configured ERP modules.

Step 9
Train employees on the new system. ERP can range from the very simple to the very complex.

SAP: Instructions

Step 1
Determine the needs of the company or organization. Analyze the back-office requirements of the company, what assessments of performance management are in place and how they could be improved. Also determine the type of learning procedures the individuals being trained on SAP ERP will need. Ascertain how the employees interact with technology and what other training may be needed in the use of computers.

Step 2
Work with a SAP representative to determine how to best meet those needs. SAP will establish a series of tests that fit the company. Ad-hoc applications will be implemented to ensure the proper management of the company's infrastructure.

Step 3
Establish a profile on the learning-portal portion of the SAP ERP applications. The instructor portal will help manage your learning needs, informing the user of the steps that need to be taken to become proficient with SAP ERP.

Step 4
Perform the tasks and testing applications that have been developed and planned by the instructor portal. Virtual content provided by Adobe Connect will enable a user to interface with the selected applications. Track your progress via the learning-management system.

Step 5
Understand that information will be stored in the content-management system. The individual's superiors will be able to monitor the progress that is being made. Once the user's learning path is completed, she should be competent on the processes of SAP ERP.

May 5, 2010

SME Open Source ERP

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software has traditionally been used by large corporations to integrate and automate diverse departments across the enterprise.

For a long time, smaller companies purchased individual accounting and payroll packages and then migrated to expensive ERP solutions as they grew. They did not have many options as ERP solutions were costlier and required magnitude and many employees to justify their use.

Now, with many Open Source software coming out, it is possible for SMEs to go in for ERPs at an earlier stage. There are several in the market including Compiere, ERP5 and Fisterra. Companies have to carefully study individual requirements and test out these softwares to determine suitability.

In this article, I would like to review CK-ERP, an Open Source ERP/CRM system, ideally suited for use by SMEs. It has a total of 19 modules including accounting ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivables, Purchase Order, Sales Order, Quotation, Point of Sale, Human Resource, Payroll and contact management. It operates as modules running atop phpGroupWare. This makes it possible for the software to be easily installed on Internet if employees are in various locations or on the Intranet for more secure transactions.

Here is a overview of its excellent features.

Customer Billing process

Any company with more than 10 recurring customers should seriously consider using an ERP (such as ck-ERP) to keep track of payments, work orders and related accounting. ck-erp has ck-Quote (a Quotation module), ck-so (Sales order module) and ck-ar (Accounts Receivable module) to keep

* Sales reps can key in Work Quotations for customers. The CK-Quote module allows for easily configurable Quotation templates which can be printed or emailed to customers.

* Sales reps can easily convert the Quotations to Sales Orders when work commences. A Sales order serves as a formal record of a work order and the terms and condition under which the work is executed sent to a customer. This direct conversion from Quotation to Sales Order eliminates a lot of extra work typing out docs. However, it is possible also to manually enter Sales Orders.

* At the time of billing, Sales Orders can again be converted to Invoices. It is possible to create Invoices with or without Tax. Here again, print and email friendly Official invoices can be generated. It is also possible to Bulk-Dispatch several invoices at the same time.

* Want to check out how promptly a customer pays? Simply check the Billing history which says when a customer was invoiced and how quickly he has paid you. You can also check Billing histories of each Sales order.

* Once a customer has been invoiced, it is a easy matter to record payment receipts. A single invoice can have several payments. For instance if a customer is invoiced for $1000, he can pay in parts. It is an easy matter to enter part payments against any invoice. You can also check out the pending payments - invoice wise, customer wise and even company wise. An aging report shows you how much dues you have to get.

* All invoice and payments get automatically integrated with the General Ledger, making accounting very easy. It is possible to view related Journal/Ledger entries for each invoice

You can easily enter customer records and configure various types of tax. The accounts receivables include Accounts Receivable Aging reports, Customer Invoice Aging reports and Detailed list of Tax collected.

If you are a Manufacturing company with thousands of customers, you can consider middle agents like Distributors or C&F agencies as customers and keep track of their payments using the same software.

The system is multi-currency and multi-user, allowing each module multiple access levels.

Inventory and Purchase process

Many companies, especially trading and manufacturing companies are generally swamped with purchase inventory and vendor information. Keeping track of vendor payments and paying bills in time before credit collection agencies call is a major source of tension. Here is what you can do with ck-erp's purchase modules - ck-po(Purchase Order module), ck-ap(Accounts Payable module) and ck-inv(Inventory module) . Lets see how a purchase process works.

* Enter purchase orders to keep track of the service contracts and products you have purchased.

* The moment you receive the purchased products or service, you can add it to your inventory using ck-inventory module. Marking goods receipt, automatically updates the inventory. You can view your Inventory Balance and In/Out History for each product that you have in the Inventory. This feature is very useful for Traders and manufacturers. The inventory is integrated with the General Ledger, so that increases in the inventory also update the Asset value of your company.

* When you receive an invoice from the vendor, you can convert the Purchase Order into a Vendor Invoice. Maintaining vendor invoices on the system, reduces your dependency on the email or paper invoices your vendors keep sending you. You can easily manage vendor payments and due dates with this system.

* When you make payments, Record full or part payments made against Vendor invoices.

* You can view at any time, reports on unpaid invoices and aging reports on the total amounts due per vendor or per purchase order. The ERP gives you an amazing degree of clarity on outgoing dues.

* You can maintain Vendor database and configure various kinds of taxes.

* The Inventory lets you maintain product names and numbers, Bin/Location information, photos, reorder levels, unit and weight information, and 3 different price information.

* Inventory adjustments, Assembly information and Alternate Part/Service information are some other features of ck-inventory.

Accounts

The accounts section has practically everything one would want.

The core General Ledger module has the basic Double Entry accounting system with Ledger and Journal. The interesting aspect of the General Ledger is that it is the base for the Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Inventory, Bank and the Payroll modules. The entries from all these modules ultimately reflect in the General Ledger.

The accounting system has multi-currency support. The admin can set Standard Remarks for the invoice, purchase orders, Quotations and so on. The admin can even setup Multiple Ledgers for various divisions.

A Bank Reconciliation module allows you to reconcile bank statements with ledger entries.

On the flip side of the Accounts module is the fact that it does not have the yearly Opening and Closing balances. This makes it difficult to reconcile yearly accounts. A major flaw, which one can hope will be corrected in the near future.

Point of Sale (POS)

If you are a supermarket with multiple cashier desks and high cash transactions, you could use this module. Again the Point of Sale module is integrated with the General Ledger.

The ck-pos module lets cashiers enter Cash Sales, with or without tax. A good feature of the POS system is that it allows Credit Sales as well. Useful when customers insist on Purchase on Credit, for example in high value goods. Any Credit Sales entered by the cashiers have to be approved by Manager.

The Manager interface to the POS, ck-pos-m allows a manager to remotely control all the cashier operations from his office.

* Cashboxes can be setup for each POS counter and each shift. The manager can setup staff to work at each counter.

* The Manager can for instance view Shift End cash balance per Counter per shift. . The Manager can for instance view the Shift End cash balance at Counter 2 at the end of yesterday's morning shift.

* Managers can setup special price plans

* Managers can add Reduction Charges such as special student discounts, senior citizen discount or Add-On Charge such as Sunday Surcharges or service charges.

* Managers can configure various payment options for non-cash options such as Cash Coupons, Exchange Coupon, Cheques and Credit cards.

* Taxes such as VAT, GST, and PST can be setup.

* Sales reports

Human Resource Management

HR management software of some sort is required if you have more than 10 employees, and better still if payroll is integrated with the General Ledger. CK-ERP has excellent HR management features.

* Manage employee database including name, staff grades and roles, photo, address, email, phone and emergency contacts. A good feature in the HR software is that you are not limited by the number of phone fields. You can enter unlimited records per employee.

* Employees have their own Staff Self Service, something like a ``My Account'', which lets them Apply for Leave, enter Time sheet and attendance details and even request for Expense reimbursement. As soon as someone applies for leave or for expense reimbursement, their supervisor gets an email notification for approval.

* Timesheet and attendance management. Timesheet can be linked to achievements. For example if you are a PC assembling unit, employees can record the number of PCs they have assembled per day or per hour. Sales staff can enter the sales targets they have achieved.

* Multiple department support

* Record Performance Evaluations per employee

* Expense reimbursement management

* Leave application and leave management.

* Payroll management. Automatic/manual payslips via email. Bank statement for payroll.

CRM and Contact Management

CK-ERP's latest addition is the CRM package.

* CK-CRM offers Helpdesk management and Sales contact management (for pre-sales) in a neat package all integrated with the central Customer database. Sales reps can track the sales calls and the sales contacts made. Customer relation executives can check the help calls and the helpdesk contacts made with each customer.

* The Helpdesk system is especially beautiful. Customer relation executives can view the entire Call case History Log per Helpdesk call, record the customer's state of mind(furious, angry, pleased, excited), media(email, phone call, meeting) and the status of contact(research, resolution, follow-up, closed) Monitoring officers can be set for each ticket. Priorities (high, neutral low) and case categories (complaint, suggestion, and bug report) can be setup for each call.

* The CRM is integrated with Quotation, Sales Order and the Invoice modules as well. This makes it very powerful. Customer Relation executives and Sales reps can check for instance the credit rating of the customer, the number of times he has been quoted, billing histories and payment made.

* Customer Contracts can be recorded

* Credit Limits can be set per customer

CK-CRM also includes a Contact module for organisational contacts and individual contacts.