Automating Sales Orders with a Sage ERP Integration

Introduction

Sales orders differ from invoicing because they serve different purposes. Sales orders help to manage inventory proactively, improve client differentiation, and track sales of products separately from services. Customers--both B2C and B2B--pay for something in the company store, and an inbound sales order is forwarded to the accounting system, which is usually some ERP software, in this case, Sage ERP. The store (Clarity eCommerce) or Sage ERP software assigns stock to fulfill Sage Sales Orders, creates and sends a pick ticket to the warehouse, and updates inventory figures in real time.

After the product is taken from inventory, it's packaged and shipped. Automating sales orders with Sage creates a tracking code for shipping that allows staff and customers to monitor the shipping status. Clarity eCommerce, using Clarity Connect, is capable of integrating Sage with the company's storefront or marketplace operation, which automates the entire inventory tracking, sales, and service (order status) process end-to-end.

Tremendous Cost Savings of Sage Integration

The difference between Sales Orders and invoicing is real and substantial. Sage Sales Orders simplify automation in logical steps where customers order products, the stock is allocated, then the products are picked and dispatched. After orders are sent, it's easy to automate the Invoicing function in an integrated system to create and send an invoice that incorporates taxes, shipping charges, extended warranty charges, duties, insurance, and the costs of other services.

The cost savings of automation include reduced paperwork, lower staff labor costs, fewer mistakes, and better monitoring of the fulfillment process. Value Added Tax (VAT) calculations are simplified and automated. Setting up Sage Sales Order Processing automates a vast number of business processes and generates cost savings 24/7/365. Setting up an integrated Sage & Clarity eCommerce system simplifies these management processes and more: [1]

• Creating a quotation
• Automating sales orders with a Sage ERP Integration
• Fulfilling orders
• Allocating stock for orders
• Generating all-inclusive invoices at any time
• Deleting orders
• Enabling card processing
• Confirming orders
• Amending orders
• Processing sales returns
• Adding goods and services to orders
• Creating purchase orders
• Generating work orders
• Creating and maintaining essential documents for processing sales
• Managing the prices of goods and services including valid discounts, pricing tiers, and dynamic pricing
• Receiving orders by email and sending invoices with the Transaction email utility

Transparency and Customization

Automating sales orders with Sage eCommerce--along with other integrated business applications--provides a complete and transparent view of business processes to sales teams, financial managers, customers, and their authorized stakeholders. Staff can monitor order fulfillment, check inventory quantities in real-time across multiple sales channels, analyze profitability, and create custom reports based on a company's unique reporting and management needs.

Integration Strategy Simplified

Sage 100 simplifies integration by offering developer tools such as Visual Integrator and the Business Object Interface. Sage Intacct software comes with prebuilt connectors for integrating Salesforce CRM software and Avalara, an application that automatically calculates sales taxes in multiple jurisdictions and helps companies comply with regulations and compliance issues. Clarity is also a certified Avalara development partner and can handle any type of Avalara integration and development request.

Choosing the right developer to handle all the side issues that arise during the integration process can be the most critical step of a successful Sage integration. There are multiple versions of Sage ERP software, and choosing the right version for a company's needs can be confusing. A 2017 Act-On and Econsultancy study found that 53 percent of B2B organizations were using marketing automation, and another 37 percent planned to implement it to stay competitive. [2]

About 22 percent of marketing professionals report worries about staying up-to-date with automation technology, upgrades, and best practices. [3]

An experienced developer can recommend the right software and complementary business applications to simplify integration, provide the ability to update and change features easily, and add modules as needed. Experienced B2B developers offer the following benefits when integrating Sage with other applications:

• Reduced costs by automating steps in the order-management cycle
• Analyzing operations to identify the drivers of increased profit
• Improving customer satisfaction with user-friendly features
• Building complementary customer portals and apps
• Troubleshooting integration of third-party resources
• Integrating multiple payment options for customers, improving cash flow, and speeding invoice payments

How to Choose a Developer for Sage Integration

Like all technology--even user-friendly applications--there are always performance issues, adjustments, monitoring, and testing needs. Clarity eCommerce and Connect have managed integrations for many high-profile B2B clients with a unique understanding of SEO and the extended B2B sales cycle.

Clarity also offers many customized modules for BI integrations, sales tax integration, role-based dashboards, personalization, and custom reporting. We also have deep experience with Sage 100, 300, 300 CRE, X3, and more.

References:

[1] Sage/fttp: Sage 200 Accounts v2009

[//ftp://195.12.26.165/Sage%20200/Guides/Sage%20200%202009/Sales%20Order%20Processing%20User%20Guide.pdf](file://ftp/195.12.26.165/sage%2520200/guides/sage%2520200%25202009/sales%2520order%2520processing%2520user%2520guide.pdf)

[2] Act-on.com: 25 Killer Marketing Automation Stats

[//www.act-on.com](file://www.act-on.com)

[3] Emailmonday.com: The Ultimate Marketing Automation Statistics Overview

[//www.emailmonday.com](file://www.emailmonday.com)