Advance Invoice & Other Accounting Features at a Glance

OpenERP is one of the best OpenSource ERPs. Financial management has never been so easy as you can type it, but its a hard task to be carried out with several critical and delicate details filed up carefully.
We would like to present How Advance Invoice Works in OpenERP ! See OpenERP Advance Invoice How-To Video for more clear details.

OpenERP Financial Management is getting improved each version and slowly proving to be usable by various Firms. We have witnessed the use of OpenERP Accounting in India at their clients’  workplaces. There are several salient features such as Invoice Control, Multi Currency possibilities, Easy reconciliation, Standard Reports, Followups, voucher management,etc.
You can record your operations in a few clicks and manage all your financial activities in one place.

Key Features(Courtesy : OpenERP)

	Smart User Interface   As an accountant, you need to be able to record a set of operations in just a few minutes.		Invoice Control  Get clear visibility of invoices awaiting from your supplier, control and validate them without re-encoding.
	Easy Payment Management   Reconcile invoices easily with payments through bank interfaces and check handling and printing.		Automate your Follow-Ups  Set-up and automate follow-ups to get a periodical financial overview and get paid quickly.
	Integrated Analytic accounting  Get your analytic accounting operations integrated with timesheets, projects, invoices, warehouse, etc.		Easy reconciliation  OpenERP helps you to easily reconcile invoices and payments using the manual approach or the automated wizard.
	Multi-Currency  Unlimited currencies supported with daily automatic updates of currency rates.		We support your country  We support: US, FR, IN, UK, ES, CH + 20 other countries
	Multi-company  Get your consolidated trial balance and consolidate statistics in real time.		Dashboard & KPIs  Get customizable real time statistics with drill-up, drill-down, filter, drill-across data.

Source
Serpent Consulting.

OpenERP & SAP - officially compared! Check out who gets a beating!

Feridis, Luxembourg based IT company, has published in November last year a book analysing the leader (SAP) and the challenger (OpenERP) of the enterprise management software. This book has generated a lot of reactions in the SAP and OpenERP communities, so they have decided to release their book for free, or the price of one tweet.
This book, "OpenERP evaluation with SAP as reference", exposes the SAP experts’ eye on an emerging solution i.e. OpenERP.  It puts into perspective the advantages of their implementation  methodologies, the differences in the features, customization approaches, and business models.
This new book which gives you an idea on everything you ever needed to know about what an ERP can do. Through detailed analysis, it evaluates and compares SAP, the leader, and OpenERP, the challenger, so you can judge for yourself.
SAP  users will discover in this book how OpenERP solves the same problems  as SAP but with a totally different approach and point of view in terms of marketing, product development and distribution model. At the other end, OpenERP users will discover what makes SAP the world leader  in the enterprise management software market.
Through this book, you will learn how to assess differently OpenERP and SAP based on your specific needs, avoid hidden costs of an OpenERP or SAP implementation and the advantages of different implementation methodologies. Moreover, you will discover what makes SAP such a good and popular product and how OpenERP SA succeed to build a software comparable to SAP in only 5 years.
Do you want to get your hands on a copy of this book before anyone else?  Hot of the press, this book is available on Amazon (http://amzn.to/zs28CN), but you can have your free copy by paying with a tweet.
 
To download the free ebook: http://bit.ly/wVTxjo

Danone goes Openerp over SAP

“Although Danone is a significant SAP client, the industry giant decided to use an
open source integrated ERP solution for the emerging countries where it operates.
OpenERP was identified as a good SAP alternative for Danone small entities.
OpenERP was integrated in three entities of Danone in Columbia, Argentina and
Australia.
Although the company has invested a lot for several years
implementing SAP, it proved not to fit the needs that Danone had in the green
field entities. From 2007, the structure of the group has changed, finding itself in
the position to manage smaller entities that were not necessarily generating big
revenue.
So, implementing their core model in SAP didn't make sense.
Consequently, a less expensive and more flexible solution was sought, allowing
faster implementations. Even though SAP covers a large array of needs, it's non-
modular integrated software, leaving not much room for errors.
Currently,
Danone develops a platform in order to synchronise OpenERP with SAP”.

6.1 POS

OpenERP 6.1 version has come with very effective Point-of-Sale module. OpenERP 6.0.3 version also contains the same module but the major difference is, here it is a New touchscreen OpenERP Point of Sale interface.

The system works offline when internal connection not available. The data get synchronize as soon as the internet connection is available. This functionality will work on all the touch screen like iPad, iPod, any Tablet PC.

The key features are as follows :

• Full touchscreen for product picking

• Effective searching of products by category on click

• Selection of Products/ Rate/ Qty to be sold on a single click

• Offers multiple payment methods like Cash/ bank, Cheque etc

• Multiple Sale Tickets (PoS Orders) can be generated at a same time

• Selectable products though Barcode Reader, Browsing Categories, Or Text Search

• Receipt Voucher generation on sale

   


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Source : Pragtech 

Why SME’s & SMB are Selecting Open Source ?

Enterprise Resource planning – ERP software used by big organization to manage their business process and to gain competitive edge in the business area. Any ERP software is selected to streamline their internal business processes. But now the focus of an ERP software implementation is changing from big organization to small and mid sized companies or SMB’s. Previously this was not the case with SME’s as any ERP implementation required heavy investment, time, effort money and due to high risks

Today SME’s are implementing ERP  and business software to gain the advantages of a Proper enterprise resource planning tool and this is because of Open source ERP  software available in the market easily with different modules to start with. Open source ERP software is attracting small and medium sized enterprises to implement ERP solution to manage their business. Another part is lots of ERP vendors started implementing ERP solutions for SME & SMB as the market is huge.

Let’s have a look on the most powerful points where SME are opting for Open source ERP solutions for their businesses.

Costing : One of the most important factors affecting SME to opt for Open source ERP software is the cost. As Open source allows you free code and installation and the company doesn’t have to pay heavy software licence fees every year, which was one of the case with the proprietary ERP software. Hence being costing is one of the factor and Open source ERP doesn’t involve any license fees and maintenance cost.

Easy and quick implementation : As being open to the community and lots of implementation material available online it get easy to implement open source ERP  with the help of technical team, SME’s can also opt for vendor implementation options if require.

Flexible: Another important point of selecting Open source ERP  software is the flexibility and customization ability in the tool, which is very difficult with the proprietary software and that too it involves high investment for certain customization.

Freedom: Open source provides you with the freedom, freedom from the vendor locking, freedom from licensing and so on. The source code of the Open source ERP software is with the client where he can modify in further future and can take support from the vendor whenever necessary.

Training and support: The support and bug fixing gets easy as communities are open to help for the bug fixing part; also the training after the implementation is minimal as compare to the Proprietary

We have covered some of the advantages on why SME’s are opting for open source ERP software but there are disadvantages too if not selected properly. It is necessary for an SME to do a proper study of their business processes before selecting Open source ERP package accordingly. There are lots of Open source ERP software available in the market some of them are OpenERP , OpenBravo, Compiere and so on. . Normally open source ERP software are targeted to those companies whose needs are not covered by the normal ERP  software available in the market and organization whose processes are not standard

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OpenERP LAN vs Cloud Benchmark

Benchmarks with OpenERP server hosted on the Internet

As Akretion starts to host some OpenERP servers for its SMB customers, we want to propose them a solution that is both fast and secure. So far, the majority of our customers host the OpenERP server on their LAN and access it via the Gtk Client through the Net-RPC protocol. The Net-RPC protocol is fast but not secure : the passwords and all the data are sent in clear, but our customers consider that, as the connection is made over their LAN, it’s not a problem. By the way, it is probably a bad assumption, because a lot of IT attacks against companies come from the inside ! And when our customers need to access OpenERP from outside the office, they connect by VPN to their LAN and then they use OpenERP as usual with Gtk Client and Net-RPC protocol.
In order to select the best option for our customers that access an OpenERP server over the Internet, we made a real-life benchmark with an OpenERP server running on a machine in a datacenter, and elaborated a precise usage scenario. Basically, the scenario consist in a full purchase workflow (PO, reception of goods, supplier invoice) and a full sale workflow (SO, delivery order, customer invoice). For each protocol, we executed this scenario manually multiple times. We kept the fastest timing that was measured. As we ran the scenario manually, we estimate that the results are valid with a 10 seconds accuracy.

Bench with OpenERP server hosted on the Internet

	Net-RPC	Net-RPC inside SSH tunnel	XML-RPC	XML-RPC SSL	HTTP access with Firefox 7	HTTP access with Chrome 14	HTTPS access through an Nginx proxy with Chrome 14
Secure ?	no	yes	no	yes	no	no	yes
OpenERP 6.0.3	1 min 49	1 min 47	2 min 11	3 min 08	2 min 04	2 min 11	2 min 05
OpenERP 6.1 (trunk)	1 min 42	1 min 40	1 min 52	not available ?	buggy	1 min 43	1 min 40

Bench with an OpenERP server hosted on the LAN

	Net-RPC
OpenERP 6.0.3	1 min 15
OpenERP 6.1 (trunk)	1 min 08

Here is our analysis of the results of this benchmark :

• OpenERP 6.1 is faster than OpenERP 6.0, thanks to the optimisations in the code of the server and addons (and also thanks to an ergonomy improvement on invoice generation from delivery orders).
• XML-RPC SSL is not an option because it’s too slow. If you activate the debug logs on the OpenERP server, you will see that the SSL session is re-established for every request, which explains the bad performances.
• on OpenERP 6.0, Net-RPC is the fastest, but the Web interface is not too far behind : only 15% slower.
• on OpenERP 6.1, the Web interface is as fast as Net-RPC !

The developers of the new Web interface of OpenERP 6.1 made a great job ! Thumbs up !
As a conclusion, for those who plan to use an OpenERP server over the Internet, the best option is  to run version 6.1

Source : akretion

The POS

The brand new OpenERP touchscreen point of sale available with 6.1 allows you to manage your shop sales very easily. It’s fully web based so that you don’t have to install or deploy any software and all the sales shops can be easily consolidated. It works in connected and disconnected modes so that you can continue to sell if you lose your internet connection.

Here’s a summary of its main features and benefits:
100% WEB based

• available for any touchscreen device (ipod, ipad, any tablet)
• mobile (with portable devices)
• no installation required

Packed as a standard OpenERP module

• no installation, easy deployment
• allows customization & adapts to different needs

Integrated with OpenERP

• no synchronization needed, completely integrated
• all OpenERP available, use OpenERP for backend
• consolidate shops almost in real time

Work offline, with no server connection

• continue working even when your connection is down
• if you close your browser, data won’t be lost

Easy to use

• fully web based with a clean interface
• smart interface

You have different options to select your products. You can do it through the barcode reader, just browse through the categories you have put in place (ie. drinks, snacks, meals, etc.), or text search in case neither of the other options work for you.
If you need to use the POS for your restaurant, for example, your employees can record at the same time multiple tickets without having to wait to do one transaction at a time. Along, to facilitate payment, the application allows multiple payment methods.
The POS application is so simple and accessible to use that your shop or restaurant will never need any other tool to manage orders. Due to its smart and user-friendly interface you don’t need any training to learn how to use it. Think of it as an out-of-the-box solution to boost your business’ productivity.

How to use such complex software as ERP in small companies?

Let’s be honest: trying to implement an ERP for the sake of doing it is obviously unreasonable…

Nevertheless, despite the popular assertion, ERP is not synonym of complexity, all the contrary. It will even simplify your processes and get rid of all your duplicate information. Additionally, some ERP software are very flexible and designed for every life stage and every size of a company.

You have to remember this: even for a small SME, major part of your requirements are similar to bigger structures. You still need pricing and accounting, you still need to quote and follow your customers. And this is what an ERP is aimed for.

OpenERP server is specially suitable for small structures:

• Its simplicity makes it realistic to set it up in weeks.
• With no licence cost, implementation’s cost are reduced by 25%
• With Software as a Service infrastructure, no need for IT technician or even a on-premise server
• With our All-in-one packages, you take full advantage of our quick roll-out methodology specially designed for SME.

But don’t forget that OpenERP is a full ERP: its flexibility, modularity and scalability will follow you all your company’s growth.

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For your OpenERP Implementation in UAE 

Contact : vdigambernath@gmail.com

What is the SMB’s typical path to ERP?

1. Paper and pen
2. Excel (from basic usage to over-complex multi-sheets, multi-file structures)
3. Financial management software for the invoicing control
4. CRM software starting a customer-oriented approach
5. Entry-level ERP with initial functionality such as data management, invoicing and stock management
6. Full-scale ERP including CRM, manufacturing, full traceability, EDI, e-banking

Source : Elico Corp.

The Reseller Problem

A common issue commonly spoken among the small re sellers is the issue of  collecting quotes from the suppliers and re quoting your waiting customer asap. The amount of emails typed out in Outlook is endless.
It all starts with looking up the Supplier's list for the product , typing out an email to the supplier requesting for a quote . Copying the content for the remaining suppliers on the list and mailing them all. Upon receiving organizing the quotes and then immediately re quoting your waiting customer.
Its hell if no software is used , if no automation software is used then emails will definitely slow things down.
The MNC solve this sort of issue using their electronic forms which the suppliers are able to send back so the system can extract the data.Or by using company portals.Websites custom made for suppliers / customers to access and input essential data.

Today with Open Source technology we can do the same at 5 % the cost of propitiatory software enabling small traders to automate their systems. The world of sharing is brilliant or what!?

I have devised a complete module available for implementation which creates forms which are accessible through links send via emails to suppliers to collect quotations which gets filled into a modified Purchase Requisition page containing the quoted prices from all the other suppliers of the product.
Hence a page to analyse and convert it into purchase orders while we can send a Sales quotation to our customer .  An email would be send with a link which when clicked will be taken to a form showing the sales order for the customer to confirm.

This solution saves a lot of time for sure!



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I am always available on vdigambernath@gmail.com

The New Kinda of Solution Providers

Internet is simply brilliant. It is enabling people to work in the most craziest of ways. In terms of  OpenSource ERP like OpenERP it has given rise to this group of Online Solution Providers who are based off on the Internet rather than any physical location and enabling them to cater anyone in the Globe . For those to whom it seems crazy trust me it's been done before but now thanks to Internet it's just become real easy.

All it takes is skill! Know your thing and then opens up this world were your in a position to sell your talent , combine it with others working off the internet to solve complex projects.No rent , salary to pay , legal fees etc just max money for all involved. And all it takes is an Internet connection.

LinkedIn provides a Skill base with people validating each other ,
Odesk and similar platforms provide easy ways to hire any kind of skill.
EC2 / VPS services providing cheap Infrastructure Online

So for people like me , I can concentrate on the functionality and sharpen my ERP Implementation Skills while I am able to share technical work to others who are more skilled , leaving the server maintenance to the HOSTING company  while keeping the Cost for the client minimal.

The perfect , efficient , sharing world.

Eh ? Accountability , dependability you get from a company?
To that I mean really ? It's Trust at the end of the day ! Company and its history doesn't decide any of these for sure! Enron , Satyam and many more are simple examples. Trusting a Human definitely comes before a company!

Essence behind ERP Implementation

Well Our great ocean of knowledge the Internet is filled with information . Its actually very few times that you need to actually create something new! So here I am gonna share two articles which defines an ERP Implementation process.

Now these aspects are very much applicable for a small scale company.The first link will take you through reasons an Implementation might fail or might not bring in the expected result

http://it.toolbox.com/wiki/index.php/ERP_Implementation


The second link will show you the most general steps involved in the Implementation of an ERP or what the techies call a Project Cycle

http://it.toolbox.com/wiki/index.php/ERP_Project_Cycle

For more detailed help please contact me at vdigambernath@gmail.com.

Weapons of mass construction!

This world is definitely changing and people are coming to the realization sharing is after all the better  idea. Even if the governments and the corporations hate the idea of transparency which when applied in the software world turns out to be Open Source!
The Open Source community is huge! and those actively involved in it is definitely making a happier living. Maybe not billions but am sure they do have bigger and more contented smile on their face. They do become Godfathers for the average Joe.
So lets dive into few of the freely available weapons I mean softwares!

One of my favs is OpenERP! (http://www.openerp.com) An Open Source Modular ERP package! With a Huge community working day and night improving it! The best part of it is you can add just those modules that you need to run your business. Say Sales , Purchase and warehousing only !? or add HR to it too. Maybe a bit of  CRM too? How about a POS for the counter sale ? . Running on the rugged Postgres DB and with so many add on and modifications available without you getting your hands dirty with any coding! This is definitely my number one choice for most general business requirements! I would definitely take you through more of its features and why   it is  apt for small - medium scale business in UAE in the upcoming posts.

The next BIG BANGER! is Adempiere. (http://www.adempiere.com/) . Another Open Source product ! I mean truly open source. Unlike OpenERP which has a commercial version which can be bought off at various rates Adempiere is pure Open Source . There isn't a company behind it driving its development.Just pure rebels! Jedi Style! This too is quite popular in the Open Source world and is being used by many firms around the world. That's just signs of how their work matches upto the claimed size of their testicles. Again this product is well equipped with a production module and Hr management. Unlike OpenERP this is a tad more harder may it be with customization , ease of use or even looks . But hey for a free software its worth the effort and hardly lets you down. Just make sure you have a Jedi Knight under your payroll to vanquish those bugs. Its written in Java , well documented , there are functional books , developer books available. For a Java Expert this wouldn't be much of a roller coaster ride. And these boys are rolling out new features and updates very often. Like a Mobile client ! Touch Screen POS ! and many many other goodies!

I haven't forgotten the restaurant folks . You guys get FloreantPOS ! (http://floreantpos.com/) This little fellow is power packed! And open source! Documentation is fine. And this software isn't like the gaints above , can be learned by a bit of trail and error :D . But trust me your small little restaurent , cafe is in safe hands .With features like Kitchen printing , Back office support , Report generation , Multiple cashing methods , support for drive thru , dine in , take away , support for coupons and discounts this guy is packed with functionality! And it is truly opensource too! Did I forget to mention it is touchscreen?

A few others worth mentioning is LemonPos and OpenBravoPos.You could check them out too.They kick some commercial POS ass too.

All this can be self learned , customized and finally implemented by yourself! Provided your a bit of a computer geek.Really just a bit. If you don't have the time for all that and really want to just work on running your business.Thats when you call in open source enthusiast like myself and many others who would be glad to help you out!

Small - Medium Scale Business Software for the coming years

Uncertainty is looming in the air.Political , Economical instability is definitely creating chaos in decision making when it comes to your business. In this times when software to run your business is crucial and choices are plentiful its gonna take a lot of evaluation on what suits best for your business. Sometimes to people it seems an easy decision when leaders like SAP with their vast experience is providing their solution for a lumpish sum. The only obstacle is the lumpish sum.
In this time committing yourself to a huge sum of money for installation , maintenance over the entire lifetime of your business dealings is a good idea? I really doubt it. Your small business might be making the profits to cover the expense but is it cost effective? Can we do better ? Can we look for a more unconventional way to rebel across this corporate greed and do better than what these guys would have done for your business?
Like how modern rebels are defying  established norms in almost every area of our human existence , the same spirit is driving wonders when it comes to business software.
This blog is driven by that spirit to keep things as simple , cheap and practical for a normal business man in any domain may it be retail , trading , restaurant etc .Being in the UAE I would be focusing more on what is apt for this place and introduce difference ways of beating the conventional ways of doing business which definitely would be more effective and less on the pocket.
My major focus would be on OpenSource products , Web based free services , mobile technology and how to incorporate all of this to simulate or even beat the high end technology provided by the Big Brothers of business computing out there. (Eh hey get your work done risk free at the cheapest that is good enough?)
Am a young soul , I hate age old  ways of doing stuff . Oldies dont see the benefits of migrating to new ways of playing the game.If you feel what I feel keep a watch out for my posts.Or do feel free to contact me on my email. I am an implementer providing services in the UAE for SMEs.