| Developing a series of integrated systems is the | | | | - Users can create and link accounts or can link to |
| simplest way to realise the hidden value in your | | | | existing accounts |
| IT investment. An integrated system eliminates | | | | - Changes are submitted and synchronised |
| the double entry of customer details. It provides | | | | automatically |
| key financial information to those that need it | | | | Upload Product and Price Lists |
| allowing customer-facing staff to check | | | | - Synchronises your accounting system products |
| immediately on credit status, to generate orders | | | | into your CRM system |
| and quotes or to complete a transaction on the | | | | - Specify the warehouse/s that you want |
| phone all through a single CRM system. | | | | synchronised |
| Features of an Integrated Accounting, ERP and | | | | - Build sales quotations or sales order templates |
| CRM System Accounting Information | | | | with\ appropriate information |
| - Give customer-facing personnel the information | | | | Benefits of an integrated Accounting, ERP and |
| they need to deliver excellent customer service | | | | CRM System |
| - Display credit limit, current balance, aged debtors | | | | Eliminate Duplication of Work |
| and other information directly in your CRM | | | | SME’s that integrate their CRM systems with |
| application | | | | their back-office solutions will experience a |
| - Drill down to see open sales orders, quotations | | | | number of benefits. One of the most obvious is |
| and invoice history | | | | ‘once-only’ data entry, whereby a |
| Invoice and Order History | | | | customer’s details are input only once through |
| View all sales orders and quotations by status | | | | your CRM system and then automatically updated |
| - View invoice number, date, etc. | | | | across the accounting and management system. |
| - Reference PO numbers, prices, tax, discount, | | | | It also works the other way round, with new or |
| quantities and freight information | | | | amended entries in the accounting system |
| - View order date, number, and ship-to | | | | automatically updating the CRM database. Not only |
| information | | | | does this save time by reducing duplication of |
| - Evaluate open invoice due dates, balance and | | | | effort, it also means that potential mistakes and |
| status | | | | conflicting data are minimised. |
| - Drill down to product details | | | | Sales Advantages |
| Sales and Product Information | | | | Salespeople have greater flexibility in managing |
| - View year/month-to-date sales | | | | their accounts and can respond more quickly to |
| - View sales by product quantity, total value and | | | | customer requests, whether they are in the |
| price | | | | office or working remotely. Integration between |
| - View by last purchase date | | | | your CRM and your accounting system provides |
| Sales Orders and Quotes | | | | your sales professionals with access to relevant |
| - Allows front office staff to enter sales orders | | | | information. Without having to leave their CRM |
| and quotations into the accounting system | | | | screen, they can view customer data such as |
| - Generate quotes and orders directly from your | | | | credit status, account balance, payment due |
| sales opportunities, using products and unit pricing | | | | dates, order history and turnover. Whilst not |
| imported from your accounting system | | | | connected to the network, remote salespeople |
| - Orders are submitted to the accounting system | | | | can also change account information and enter |
| and then validated with current pricing, shipping | | | | sales quotes and orders using cached product and |
| and tax information | | | | pricing information. These can then be submitted |
| Linked Accounts | | | | for processing and are synchronised into the |
| - Avoids replication of data, deploys a ‘smart | | | | back-office system automatically. |
| link’ strategy | | | | |