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The Weighted Average Cost Method of Inventory Valuation

Having accurate inventory valuation is vital to the successful operation of your company. Your inventory valuation can impact the cost of your goods, your profit margins, your working capital, total assets, and more. Essentially, your inventory valuation is the amount of money associated with your goods at the end of a certain period. 

One way to determine your inventory valuation is through the weighted average cost (WAC) method. This method is a good starting place for your business and is great when you’re keeping track of incredibly similar items.

 What is the Weighted Average Cost (WAC) Method?

In this method of inventory valuation, the cost of available goods is divided by the number of available units. This method is typically used when inventory items are practically identical, making it impossible to give specific costs to individual units.

To calculate your weighted average cost, divide your cost of goods available for sale by the number of units available for sale. When considering your cost of goods, take into account the sum of your net purchases and your beginning inventory. Once you determine your weighted average figure, you can use this number to assign a cost to the beginning inventory and the cost of goods sold.

By using this method, you’ll discover that the amount of on-hand inventory you have represents a value between the oldest and newest stock you’ve purchased. On the same note, the cost of goods sold will represent a value between the oldest and newest units sold during the period in question.

 Pros of the Weighted Average Cost Method

The main advantage of the WAC method is its simplicity. It’s by far the easiest way to track your inventory and is perfect for new or small businesses. You don’t need to find out what batch your inventory belongs to in order to store it, and you don’t need to figure out the original cost of an item before you can price it.

You’ll spend less time with the WAC method thanks to its simple calculations, and there will be a lot less paperwork involved. Since everything is so simple, there’s less to keep track of and fewer records to maintain. Additionally, tracking your inventory costs money and man-hours, but with the simplicity here, you’ll spend fewer dollars overall.

Since the WAC method is used across all stock units, you’ll find that this method is incredibly consistent and is hard to manipulate. By choosing a different method such as LIFO (last-in, first-out) or FIFO (first-in, first-out), you’ll encounter a range of costs that can lead to variants.

Finally, the WAC method is good when your inventory is similar and incredibly large. If you’re trying to track a large number of items manually, the process can become incredibly time-consuming and tedious. However, the WAC method makes it easy and quick to keep track of everything.

 Cons of the Weighted Average Cost Method

If your inventory prices vary quite a bit, this might not be the best method for your purposes. The idea is that, since the prices are weighted, you’ll sell less expensive items to make up for what you’re losing on the cost of more expensive items. But this doesn’t always happen, and you might not recover those losses and may even end up discontinuing an item. 

Another disadvantage here is the limited room for variants. The WAC method assumes that all your units are exactly the same, but this often isn’t the case. You might get an item that’s had an upgrade or now comes with new features and therefore shouldn’t be priced the same as the older version of the same item. This situation is particularly impactful when the supplier gives this new version the same name as the old version. 

 WAC vs. FIFO vs. LIFO

As we’ve mentioned, the WAC method competes with two other methods for inventory valuation: FIFO (First In, First Out) and LIFO (Last In, First Out). 

The FIFO method assumes that the first items you purchase are also the first to leave the warehouse. When you complete a sale, items are subtracted from the first list of products that came into your inventory.

On the other hand, LIFO assumes that the last items you purchase are the first to leave. Therefore, items are subtracted from the last list of products that have come into your inventory.

DEAR’s inventory management software provides you with a full range of costing methods and reports that help your business move the highest priority inventory, reduce wastage and gain greater transparency and control over your inventory.

 Discover Your Ideal Costing Method with DEAR

Costing methods affect how the total value of your inventory in your accounting records is calculated over the course of time. DEAR uses actual accounting costing methods. The costing method applied to a product affects the order in which stocks are picked.    

DEAR allows the following costing methods: FIFO, FIFO – Serial Number, FIFO – Batch, FEFO – Serial Number, FEFO – Batch, Special – Batch, Special – Serial Number. The specific method you should utilise depends on your industry and business, and we can help you determine what will work best. 

For example, First Expired First Out (FEFO) is frequently used in the food industry but other methods are more useful while First In First Out (FIFO) provides an effective method for many industries that need to move their oldest inventory first.

The Costing method assigned to each product will affect whether the system automatically picks stocks to fulfil an order or whether the stock can be selected by you. The costing methods that allow you more control in picking a stock are Special – Batch, Special – Serial Number. 

Each method of inventory valuation has its advantages and disadvantages, so take some time to discover what works best for your business. 

If you need some assistance, DEAR is here for you. Our cloud inventory management software provides coverage for accounting, purchasing, inventory management, and so many more departments, giving you everything you need to run your business with confidence in one platform.

Try DEAR’s powerful and feature-rich inventory management software today and learn how accurate inventory valuation and costing can transform your business to a new level.

 Get a DEAR Consultation today

The post The Weighted Average Cost Method of Inventory Valuation appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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What are the Differences Between Product Pricing Methods?

When you’re running a business, one of the most important decisions you can make is the prices of your products. You want to ensure you’re making sufficient profits, but you also want to provide a good value to your customers without impacting your bottom line.

While there are several ways to go about pricing your products, two popular methods are tiered pricing and volume pricing. Either of these methods can be incredibly lucrative when done correctly, and they’re actually often confused since they both provide an incentive for the customer to buy more. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and we’ve created this guide to help you decide which is right for your company.

 Tiered Pricing

The tiered pricing method involves defining a price per unit within a certain range, or “tier.” As the ranges go up to include more products, the price for that tier goes down.

Let’s say your customer purchases 70 units of a product. The first tier is reserved for units 1-20, and each unit costs $15. The second tier contains units 21-40 and each unit costs $12.50. Moving up to the third tier encompasses units 41-60 where each unit costs $10, and the final tier involves units 61+ where each unit costs $8.50. 

So, in this case, the customer will purchase 20 units at $15 each, 20 units at $12.50 each, 20 units at $10 each, and 10 units at $8.50 each.

 Pros and Cons of Tiered Pricing

Tiered pricing is beneficial because it allows you to offer different prices for your products. Customers who can only afford a few units are able to buy what they need, while clients with larger orders will be saving money on their bigger purchases. When a customer sees the lower-priced tiers, they will be intrigued and may be incentivized to purchase more units in the future. You’re also given the freedom to group your products however you please.

However, there is an increased complexity when you’re processing orders and calculating bill amounts. Additionally, tiered pricing isn’t the most user-friendly method out there, which might deter customers since they’re not exactly sure what they’re going to pay right away. 

 Markup Pricing

Markup pricing involves adding a percentage based markup to the cost of a product for the purpose of determining the sales price. This is a simple pricing calculation that can work for a range of businesses. With a focus on the product cost, markup pricing allows businesses to alter their pricing quickly as costs rise and decline due to various factors. 

To determine markup pricing, a company will first determine its product cost, decide on the amount of profit it wishes to earn above that cost, and then add this markup to the product cost to get the final sales price.

 Pros and Cons of Markup Pricing

The strategy of markup pricing offers numerous benefits — in terms of calculation, for instance, making it easy to determine the production cost. The other advantage is that, throughout periods of increasing cost, this method helps fight inflation effects. When costs decline, this method will also reflect the cost charges. In comparison with other sophisticated strategies, markup pricing is a fundamental approach. The business implementing this technique presumes that it can pass on all the production costs to its customers and generate a profit. It is therefore an easy notion to implement in the instance of daily products. However, there are limitations, as the demand for the product is ignored with markup pricing along with the value of the customer.

 Volume Pricing

On the other hand, volume pricing sets one price for all units within a specified range. This method allows for bulk discounts on large orders.

Let’s use our previous example where your customer purchases 70 units. You’ve set a volume pricing model wherein, if the customer buys 30 units, each unit costs $15, but once the customer exceeds 30 units, each one costs just $12.50. In the tiered model, the price drops incrementally, but in the volume model, the total price drops once the customer reaches a certain amount. 

 Pros and Cons of Volume Pricing

Volume pricing is excellent when clients are buying in bulk. The consumer gets a lower price, and you still earn a considerable profit. This strategy can also be helpful when you’re trying to get products moving quickly, particularly when you have excess stock that you’re trying to get rid of.

The calculations for volume pricing are often more straightforward than those involved in tiered pricing, but you will certainly earn less through volume pricing. While customers might be more likely to buy because of the straightforward nature, you won’t be making as much per unit.

 Which is Right for Me?

As we said in the beginning, either pricing model can prove lucrative if done in the correct way. Tiered pricing is better suited for products that are considered necessities. If a product isn’t a necessity and a customer can’t figure out their total right away, they’re likely to search somewhere else where they can get a price more easily. Tiered pricing also works better for items that are typically sold in bulk, so consider your product offering before adopting this method.

For volume pricing, this method works best for companies with lower marginal costs. If it doesn’t cost much for you to get your products to your customers, then you could afford to maintain a smaller profit margin through volume pricing. Volume pricing also allows for up-sell potential, allowing you to make up the difference through a more expensive product.

 Discover the Possibilities with DEAR

No matter which pricing model you select, DEAR Systems is here to help your business run smoothly. DEAR supports simple pricing, markup pricing, custom pricing, and multicurrency that will provide you with the flexibility of choosing the right pricing strategy to benefit your business. We offer products and assistance for almost every aspect of your company, including inventory management, sales, purchasing, accounting, automation, and more. 

Our team has years of experience in the industry and has helped businesses big and small, in virtually all sectors, to skyrocket their operations. We’re always available to answer any questions or address concerns. With DEAR on your side, you’ll find confidence and peace of mind that you never thought possible. Contact DEAR Systems today to discover the possibilities.

 Get a DEAR Consultation today

The post What are the Differences Between Product Pricing Methods? appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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SKU meaning – What is an SKU?

Inventory is key for any business, and for maximum efficiency, you need to be able to track your items accurately. One of the best tools for proper inventory management is the SKU. But what exactly is an SKU, and how can it help boost your business’s sales and productivity?

 What is an SKU?

SKU, or Stock Keeping Unit, is a product’s code that allows you to search for a specific item in your inventory. Essentially, this alphanumeric code lets you find a certain item from any list or order form you might have.

SKUs are one of the most vital aspects of inventory tracking, eliminating countless hours spent on menial tasks. Any business that sells any type of product can benefit.

 What are SKUs Used For?

SKUs actually serve a number of purposes within your business. The first and perhaps most obvious application is inventory management. You can instantly discover where a product is or how many of a certain item you have.

SKUs can also be used for analysis. You can run reports on your items to discover trends among your customers. It’s easy to identify if a product has been particularly in demand recently or if an item hasn’t been selling as well as it did last season. 

An unexpected place you can use SKUs is in customer service. Say your customer wants a particular item in a different size or color. You can browse alternate versions of that item to see what’s in stock in an instant. Similarly, SKUs are often used for product recommendations online. You’ll see a “You might also like…” section when you’re browsing for a certain item; those recommendations likely have similar SKUs to that of the product you’re searching for.

Finally, SKUs can be utilized in advertising. Most of the time, businesses will advertise their SKU instead of the model number assigned by the manufacturer. This practice helps prevent customers from finding the same product from a competitor, decreases the risk of competitors adopting the same pricing strategies, and helps stop customers from browsing in-store to compare prices for an item they intend to buy online.

Why Do I Need SKUs?

As you might guess, the biggest benefit to using SKUs is the ability to track your inventory. Need to know where a specific item is? You can find it in an instance. Curious about how many of a certain product you have? You can run a report at the touch of a button.

You’ll instantly have more control over your supply chain as well. SKUs can help you find damaged or missing items, and you can easily compare your actual stock levels to the levels you’re expecting to have. 

Particularly as your business grows, having a good SKU system becomes increasingly important. There’s always room for human error when you’re tracking inventory manually, but with an SKU, you’ll always have an accurate look at where every single product is. You can even use your SKUs to track variants of a product to see what’s selling well and what’s underperforming.

 SKU vs. UPC

On the surface, an SKU looks almost identical to a UPC or Universal Product Code. They look so similar, in fact, that many people confuse the two. However, there is a distinct difference to be aware of.

A UPC code is issued by the Global Standards Organization, is given to a product for business use, and is readable by anyone, no matter where the product is sold. An SKU, on the other hand, is assigned to a product by the company for internal purposes.

They are both used to identify and track a product, but essentially, a UPC is for external use while an SKU is solely for internal use.

To tell these two codes apart right away, note that an SKU is typically eight digits, while a UPC is always 12 digits.

 Creating SKU Numbers

When you’re creating your SKUs, start by creating a format with the most important information first. You might want to include elements like the manufacturer/brand identifier, part name, category, colour, size, or any other relevant information.

Create your coding system and maintain it on a spreadsheet. This allows you to quickly add or subtract products as necessary. Keep your SKU names short, and use a combination of numbers and letters. There are a number of SKU generators if you’d rather not go through all the work yourself.

In DEAR you can choose whether to generate SKUs for your stock, service and fixed asset inventory items automatically or manually enter SKUs yourself. Auto-generated SKUs will follow the pattern specified in the settings. SKU auto-generation can be enabled and disabled at any time without affecting existing SKUs. If you choose to auto-generate SKUs, you will need to enter the pattern that DEAR will use for your product and/or service SKUs.

DEAR is able to handle 100,000 unique SKUs providing you with the possibility to manage large quantities of stock.

 Improve Your Inventory Control

SKUs are just one element of an efficient inventory management system. For a complete operation, DEAR Systems has everything you need. Our inventory management operations allow you to operate multiple locations, manage large product volumes, and automatically generate product data. 

No matter how big or small your business is, DEAR Systems can give you the tools you need to thrive. Contact DEAR today to learn more about our inventory management systems. 

 Get a DEAR Consultation today

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New Release – 09th AUGUST 2020 – FEATURES: Annual subscription renewal period extended up to 3 years; Additional payment details in DEAR POS reports and Financial Payment Details Report

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New Features

Feature 1: Annual subscription term renewal extended up to 3 years

Impact area: DEAR Subscription.

Introduction: DEAR now allows the user to pay for up to 3 years of their annual subscription at once. Discounts applied to the subscription increase with the subscription term.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality:

Go to Account → My Subscription and click Update or Switch to Annual Plan. Under Term, select 1, 2 or 3 years subscription term and Renew. Note that this is a one-time payment, annual subscriptions do not renew automatically, instead the system will send a notification when your Annual subscription is about to expire so you can visit this page and renew it.

Discount applied:

1 year term: 1 month free

2 years term: 3 months free

3 years term: 5 months free

More information:

My Subscription

 Feature 2: Additional payment details in DEAR POS reports and Financial Payment Details Report

Impact area: DEAR POS Reports, DEAR Reports.

Introduction: Additional payment details have been added to the DEAR POS Register Closure Report, DEAR POS Payment Type Summary Report and Financial Payment Details Reports.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality:

POS Payment Type Summary Report: This report shows the amount charged to each of your payment types. It can be filtered by date, outlet, register, and user. Each payment type displayed in this report can now be expanded to show additional details (Receipt #, Customer and Amount Paid) for all the sales that corresponds to that payment type.

POS Register Closure Report: This report shows a summary for a register after closing and can be filtered by date, outlet, and register. It is divided into Sales, Payments (and now Payment Types), Cash Movements, Account Sales, Surcharges, and Notes blocks, with each block showing more detailed information.

Financial Payment Details Report: Users can now show results from All Accounts as well as each specific account. A new heading, Document Total, has been added, to compare document totals against account payments.

More information:

Using DEAR POS – Basics

Financial Payment Details Report

The post New Release – 09th AUGUST 2020 – FEATURES: Annual subscription renewal period extended up to 3 years; Additional payment details in DEAR POS reports and Financial Payment Details Report appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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Planned weekend update: 09-08-2020

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Watch out for updates in the following areas over the weekend:

Annual subscription renewal period extended up to 3 years.

Additional payment details in DEAR POS reports and Financial Payment Details Report.

 Full release notes for the 09/08/2020 release will be available over the weekend. Please do not hesitate to contact DEAR support (support@dearsystems.com or WhatsApp) if you notice any errors or changes in functionality due to the latest release.

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What is an Inventory Management System? Complete Guide

When you’re running a business, you’re dealing with tons of numbers every single day. You’re thinking about prices, payroll, marketing budgets, and the list just go on. One of the most important numbers you’re dealing with, however, is your inventory. Not only are you thinking about how much inventory you have in stock, but you also need to stay aware of when you’re getting low on a product when a product isn’t selling as it should, and when you have potentially overstocked a certain item.

 Having to manage all these numbers manually takes so much time and energy that could be better spent on other aspects of your business. But since your inventory management needs to be exact every single time, you don’t want to run the risk of human error. The solution? A comprehensive inventory management system that can handle these tedious tasks for you.

 What is an Inventory Management System?

An inventory management system is honestly just what it sounds like: a system that manages your inventory. Your system will automatically keep track of where each piece of inventory is at all times, and you can access this information with the touch of a button. Particularly as your business grows, it can be overwhelming to monitor all your inventory manually. But with an effective system, you can track as much inventory as you please. 

 The phrase “inventory management system” refers to both the hardware and software involved to track your products. For the hardware, you’ll often have tools to read barcode labels, tag products, and the like. Software for your system will help identify each item, analyze data and generate relevant reports, and define processes for labelling and reporting. “Inventory management system” can even refer to the people who are trained to make all these things happen.

 Why Use an Inventory Management System?

Utilizing an inventory management system is potentially one of the best decisions you could make for your business. Imagine your company without a system like this. It’s tedious and time-consuming to label and track every single product, and there’s always room for human error and miscounts. It’s difficult to determine how many products you have at any given time, which might lead to over-ordering or running out of an item too early.

 Having an inventory management system, however, can change all of that. Labelling and tracking each item can be done in an instant, and you always have the numbers available to you. There’s no human error involved, so your counts are always accurate. You can access your reports at any time to determine if you should re-order a product or put something on sale to get it out of your warehouse more quickly.

 Other benefits of an inventory management system include improved cash flow, reduction in storage costs, better organization, enhanced transparency, improved relationships with your suppliers, reduction in deadstock, and more. Your employees will be more relaxed in their positions, and you can spend time managing the parts of your business that you’re truly passionate about.

 Should I Invest in an Inventory Management System?

Especially if you’re on a tight budget, you might be wondering if it’s worth it to invest in an inventory management system right now. But if you’re looking to save money, this might be one investment worth making. Though you’ll have to pay for the system itself, you’ll save money on purchasing excess products, not to mention the extra storage space you’ll need. You’ll also save on payroll since your employees will be using their time more efficiently.

 If your business is growing, it’s definitely time to invest. As you continue to expand, it’s only going to get harder to track your inventory and its costs while staying accurate. By having an inventory management system, you can leave these tasks to the machine while you focus on growing your business. 

 On the other side, if you find your business is slowing down, an inventory management system might do you some good. Sales slowing down can be a key sign that your stock isn’t being managed as efficiently as it could be. Maybe you’re spending more and more time on paperwork or your employees aren’t sure where everything is supposed to be. Having an inventory management system can help you better organize your inventory and get back on track.

 Move Forward with DEAR

For almost any business, a high-quality inventory management system can improve flow and boost sales. At DEAR Systems, we are proud to offer Cloud ERP software that empowers you to effectively manage your business and get up-to-the-minute inventory knowledge. You can manage large product volumes, operate multiple locations, streamline your stocktake, and automatically generate product SKUs with ease.

 We integrate with popular business resources like Amazon, PayPal, Shopify, Square, and more, so you can easily use DEAR’s systems with any of your existing accounts. Our inventory management system covers all processes involving the management of your stocks, including creating and managing products, stock adjustments, inventory write-offs, product availability, and more. 

 Contact DEAR Systems today to discover the difference our inventory management system can make for your business.

 Get a DEAR Consultation today

 The post What is an Inventory Management System? Complete Guide appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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The 10 Ecommerce Automation Tools You Need This Year

We’ve already done a whole blog post talking about the benefits of ecommerce automation. By automating as many of your daily tasks as possible, you can save time, money, and energy, leading to a more streamlined business and invaluable peace of mind for you and your team. But how do you actually go about automating these processes? What ecommerce automation tools are the best on the market right now? In this article, we’ve broken down ecommerce by its pillars to discuss the 10 tools you can’t afford to miss out on.

 Inventory

1. Contalog

Contalog offers a cloud-based inventory management system that lets you quickly track stock levels and inventory status. You can enter as many product attributes and quantities as you need, and the software will easily sort it for your convenience. It can even predict inventory requirements to see when you’ll need to replenish your stock.

 2. Woocommerce

As a business owner, the last thing you want is to run out of stock when you still have orders coming in. Woocommerce allows you to set thresholds and trigger low stock notifications, so you immediately know if you need to reorder something. You’ll never have to worry about running the numbers yourself, and your customers can rest assured that you have what they’re looking for. 

 Fulfillment 

1. ShipStation

With ShipStation, you can automate the flow of your orders from your sales channels to your carriers. You’ll experience customizable automation that does away with manual data entry and spares you from the repetitive, mundane tasks of automation. You can track packages, create labels, manage inventory, and more. 

 2. Fulfillrite

Fulfillrite combines multiple elements of fulfillment, like automated picking and packing, processing of specialty orders, serial number tracking, return labels, packing slip customization, and more. You can monitor orders and returns in real time, and their shipping calculator gives you an idea of the rates before you move forward with an order. 

 Sales

1. Veeqo

Veeqo allows you to manage your entire backend in one place. Customer orders can be synced from multiple sales channels, but you’ll have one easy platform to return in order to check your numbers. Since everything is streamlined, you’ll always know exactly how much stock you have, and you can analyze which platforms are bringing in the most traffic. Veeqo also works well for automating fulfillment.

 2. SharpSpring

SharpSpring combines sales and marketing to create one cohesive platform. You can track where your customers are coming from, utilize dynamic forms to convert leads, take advantage of built-in and 3rd-party CRM integrations, design effective landing pages, and more. You’ll know everything about your target audience members to convert them quickly and accurately.

 Marketing

1. Buffer

This social media scheduling tool allows you to spend one chunk of time creating content, then schedule it out over the coming hours, days, or even weeks. You can access multiple channels through Buffer and return to the platform to analyze your campaigns. Buffer also allows you to engage faster with your audience, helping you gain their trust and build a solid reputation. 

 2. Missinglettr

If you don’t have time to write out all your social posts, Missinglettr can take care of that for you. It can’t write huge blog posts but can take care of things like Twitter campaigns that retweet your content over your preferred course of time. Simply show Missinglettr a piece of content you’ve already created, and the super intelligent software will pull quotes, images, and excerpts to create new posts to go out later. 

 Customer Service 

1. Zendesk

With Zendesk, you can keep all your customer service communications in one place, whether you’re working through phone, email, websites, or any other channel. Your customers will all have the same experience every single time, and you’ll be better able to respond to their needs. Zendesk can even provide question fields so your customers are directed to the right department.

 2. Richpanel

Richpanel allows you to spend less time dealing with customer support requests because your customers will essentially do it themselves! Users are presented with a self-service module where they can specify their issue, see their recent orders, and provide relevant information. Once the request comes to an actual agent, they’ll have everything they need to resolve the problem right away.

 This is just a handful of the incredible ecommerce automation tools on the market. Every business is different, so sample a few platforms to discover what makes the most sense for you. At DEAR Systems, we’re proud to cover multiple aspects of your business, including inventory management, sales, purchasing, accounting, and more. We make it easy to streamline your processes in one place, giving you the freedom to focus on the parts of your business you’re passionate about. For more information about all of our services, contact us today!

 Get a DEAR Consultation today

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New Release – 26th JULY 2020 – EXPANSION: DEAR Inventory lands in China! FEATURES: Automated workflows: Can be created for purchase processes, Create user tasks during workflow automation, attach an image to an email sent via Workflow; G-Suite integration, sign in to DEAR account with Google; DEAR POS: Users can return items via DEAR POS system when products were sold on other sales channels (e.g. Shopify), Add attachments and images to sale order, LoyaltyLion integration, create quotes, optional availability check setting; Access for support personnel to login to client system with authorisation; Production Module improvements: Allocate non-integer numbers of resources, Production orders can be consolidated when in planned status; ShipStation: Option to leave “Ship to Company” blank on shipping label; Shopify: Process orders as draft; DEAR B2B: Remove script tags from product descriptions; Matrix and list view for product family sales/purchases.

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EXPANSION: DEAR INVENTORY LANDS IN CHINA

Greetings from DEAR Systems in China!

DEAR Inventory has officially landed in the Chinese market as of June 2020. It is hosted on the local Microsoft Azure server and the firewall settings are optimised for security, speed and stability. The software offers an English/Chinese interface. Key features have been successfully localized to meet China’s unique business environment.

DEAR has paired up with local service partners who have many years of experience implementing ERP systems for foreign companies in the fields of manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing and eCommerce in China.

Start on your journey to China with DEAR at www.dearsystems.com.cn

 New Features

Feature 1: Automated workflows – Can be created for purchase processes, Create user tasks during workflow automation, attach an image to an automated email via direct link

Impact area: DEAR Automation Module.

Introduction: DEAR’s workflow automation module allows setting up events and actions that trigger automatically once certain conditions are achieved. This is supported by a tasks submodule which assigns tasks to organisation members once trigger conditions are met. The DEAR development team is working to improve and expand automation features for our users.

Pre-conditions: Upgrade subscription to enable Automation module.

Functionality:

Automated workflows can now be created for purchase processes.

Additional options of Create Task and Task workflows are now available as an action in response to workflow events (e.g. sale order authorisation, payment of a purchase).

Additional options of Create Task and Task workflows are now available as an action in response to workflow events (e.g. sale order authorisation, payment of a purchase).

More information:

Using the Automation module

Tasks Module: Using Notifications & Tasks to Create Workflows

Managing Workflow Automation in DEAR

Attaching a Document to an Email Template Used in a Workflow

 Feature 2: G-suite Integration, Sign into DEAR account with Google

Impact area: All.

Introduction: DEAR now supports integration with G-Suite and signing in with Google. Customers that use Google’s business suite can use DEAR G Suite integration to link files directly from Google Drive, export DEAR contacts, and export report data to Google Sheets.

Pre-conditions: G-Suite account.

Functionality:

On the login and registration page, there is now an option to Sign in with Google. Once logged in with Google, the user can confirm the information that they will be sharing with DEAR. If the user already has a DEAR account, logging in with their Google account will associate the Google account with their DEAR account. If the user doesn’t have an active DEAR account, upon successful login with their Google Account, they will be redirected back to the DEAR Registration page.

Go to Integrations → G Suites and click Connect to begin.

More information:

G-Suite Integration

 Feature 3: DEAR POS – Users can return items via DEAR POS system when products were sold on other sales channels (e.g. Shopify), Add attachments and images to sale order

Impact area: DEAR POS.

Introduction: Improvements to the DEAR POS module provide the ability for users to make a sale in one sale channel (Eg: Shopify) and return the product to a different location through DEAR POS system. The ability to add attachments and images to a sale order through POS has also been added.

Pre-conditions: Active DEAR POS connection.

Functionality:

New permission POS – View all Sales has been added to Settings > Users & Roles. This permission must be enabled in order to enable returning the sales channel sale product through POS.

When viewing POS Sale History, the user should toggle All Sales. This enables searching of sales from other sales channels by sale order number, invoice number or customer name.

User can click on a sales record to display the prompt Would you like to return this item?

When the user confirms, the sale is converted into a POS Sal and the return is processed. The sale items will be restocked and transferred in the system to the POS location, and the customer will be refunded.

A new attachment icon has been added to each sale order line in the Sales History page. Documents and images can be attached to the sale orders.

 Feature 4: DEAR POS – Create quotes via POS

Impact area: DEAR POS.

Introduction: Improvements to the DEAR POS module provide the ability for the user to create Quotes via DEAR POS and later convert them into POS sales. Quotes can be printed or emailed to the customer via DEAR POS.

Pre-conditions: Active DEAR POS connection.

Functionality:

On the Checkout screen of a POS order, the user now has the option to Email or Print a quote.

Quotes are not imported from DEAR POS to DEAR until the customer confirms to proceed with the order.

 Feature 5: LoyaltyLion Integration for DEAR POS

Impact area: DEAR POS.

Introduction: DEAR POS provides a free Loyalty system where your customers earn dollars to spend in your store every time they make a purchase. It is now possible to integrate with LoyaltyLion, a third-party loyalty engagement platform which allows for increased customisation and analytics features.

Pre-conditions: LoyaltyLion account

Functionality:

Follow the detailed instructions below to connect to LoyaltyLion, set rewards and configure point earning activities.

More information:

LoyaltyLion Integration for POS

 Feature 6: DEAR POS – Optional availability check setting

Impact area: DEAR POS.

Introduction: When Check Availability on Checkout is turned on, DEAR will perform an availability check during the checkout process. A confirmation message will appear informing the user if the item is no longer in stock. When turned off, no check is performed.

Pre-conditions: Active DEAR POS connection.

Functionality:Go to Integrations → DEAR POS. On the setup tab, enable Check Availability on Checkout.

Feature 7: Access for support personnel to login to client system with authorisation

Impact area: DEAR Support.

Introduction: Previously, DEAR support were able to access the client’s system during support calls via being invited as a user to the client organisation or sharing of passwords. Now support personnel can request access to the client’s organisation for support purposes.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality: Support personnel can request access to the client environment for support purposes. The master user of the client account will receive an email request with the option to allow or deny access to the DEAR support agent.

Feature 8: Production Module improvement – Allocate non-integer numbers of resources, Production orders can be consolidated when in planned status

Impact area: DEAR Production Module.

Introduction: The Production module is aimed at addressing the needs of the production process. New production features will provide our current customers with powerful, logical manufacturing solutions to add to their inventory solution. Following on from our most recent releases, we are continuing to improve the Production module functionality and add features.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality:

Resource quantity in Production BOM can now be specified in non-integer quantities to two decimal places.

Planned Production Orders can now be consolidated. (Previously, only draft orders could be consolidated.).

More information:

Getting Started with the Production Module

Feature 9: ShipStation – Option to leave “Ship to Company” blank on shipping label

Impact area: ShipStation integration.

Introduction: When labels are printed in Shipstation, Ship to Company and Ship to Contact are passed with the sale order. If Ship to Company is left blank, previously Customer name is printed instead. This new feature gives users the option to leave the field blank on the ShipStation shipping label.

Pre-conditions: Active ShipStation integration.

Functionality: In Integrations → ShipStation → Setup, set When Ship to Company is not specified to Leave field blank.

More information:

ShipStation Integration

Feature 10: Shopify – Process orders as draft

Impact area: Shopify integration.

Introduction: When pending Shopify orders are processed by DEAR, new sale tasks are created.

Previously DEAR settings allowed creation of sale tasks with Auto-Pick, Pack and Ship – now it is also possible to download sale tasks in draft state.

Pre-conditions: Active Shopify integration.

Functionality: In Integrations → Shopify → Setup, set Pick, Pack and Ship process mode for online sales to Draft Order.

More information:

Shopify Integration

Feature 11: WooCommerce – Change active shop credentials

Impact area: WooCommerce integration.

Introduction: When pending Shopify orders are processed by DEAR, new sale tasks are created.

Previously DEAR settings allowed creation of sale tasks with Auto-Pick, Pack and Ship – now it is also possible to download sale tasks in draft state.

Pre-conditions: Active WooCommerce integration.

Functionality: In Integrations → WooCommerce → Setup, click Change Credentials to open a pop up window and enter the new WooCommerce credentials.

More information:

WooCommerce Integration

Feature 12: B2B – Remove script tags from product description

Impact area: DEAR B2B.

Introduction: Active B2B integration.

Functionality: Previously, HTML tags in the product description or product family description were rendered as is, even if they contain scripts. With this release, DEAR will remove script tags automatically to increase security and avoid potential issues.

Feature 13: Matrix and list view for product family sales/purchases

Impact area: Sales module, Purchase module.

Introduction: Adding a product family to a sale order or purchase order now takes place via two user-friendly options: Matrix view and list view. Quantities of each product variant to purchase/sell are entered into the new matrix/list fields.

Pre-conditions: None.

The post New Release – 26th JULY 2020 – EXPANSION: DEAR Inventory lands in China! FEATURES: Automated workflows: Can be created for purchase processes, Create user tasks during workflow automation, attach an image to an email sent via Workflow; G-Suite integration, sign in to DEAR account with Google; DEAR POS: Users can return items via DEAR POS system when products were sold on other sales channels (e.g. Shopify), Add attachments and images to sale order, LoyaltyLion integration, create quotes, optional availability check setting; Access for support personnel to login to client system with authorisation; Production Module improvements: Allocate non-integer numbers of resources, Production orders can be consolidated when in planned status; ShipStation: Option to leave “Ship to Company” blank on shipping label; Shopify: Process orders as draft; DEAR B2B: Remove script tags from product descriptions; Matrix and list view for product family sales/purchases. appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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[dearsystems]

The Future of Ecommerce: Holistic Inventory Fulfillment Services

Holistic inventory fulfillment services are the future of ecommerce. Modern ecommerce inventory software allows you the ability to manage all of the moving parts of your business in one place, providing a vast range of benefits to help your business streamline and scale up.

 #1 – One centralised location saves you time

Your team gains many advantages when the key solutions you use to manage your ecommerce business are integrated into one platform. Having one centralised location for your inventory software saves endless amounts of time. 

With DEAR’s modern inventory management solution, you never have to jump from one platform to another to check stock level changes, view and generate sales reports, updating accounting or check order statuses. If you utilise a third-party fulfilment service such as Fulfilment by Amazon, ShipStation,  StarShipIT, Shippit, Shiptheory to ship your orders, you are able to connect this service to DEAR as an external inventory management location. DEAR will send sale order information to the external fulfilment service and has the ability to synchronise inventory quantities once orders are fulfilled and receive shipping info as well as tracking information from the fulfilment service. 

Once your relevant team members learn how to use DEAR, they immediately gain a robust, powerful central management tool that reclaim many hours each week that can be spent towards more profitable efforts.

 #2 – Automation features further speed up your business

Far too many businesses still rely on manual inventory processes which can result in shipping delays, customer service issues and lower revenue than what the business should be earning.

Inventory fulfillment services can be largely automated with modern ecommerce software like DEAR; performing inventory steps manually such as order quantity updates, stock level changes and other updates takes far longer and results in delays and process inefficiencies. 

Automation features can eliminate a range of manual tasks and allow your team members to manage their other priorities. For example, DEAR can automatically push stock level changes to multiple ecommerce stores, sync all your orders with accounting, print shipping labels, use shipping service for shipping rate quotes and more.  

 #3 – Holistic inventory fulfillment services improve your customer service

There are few things more damaging than negative reviews from your customers, especially as a result of preventable shipping delays. When you have to rely on multiple platforms to fulfil your ecommerce orders, time is often lost due to the complexity and challenges of using multiple solutions. 

That lost time results in order and customer service delays which easily turn into frustrated customers. Your entire customer service experience will be improved when you implement a new solution for inventory fulfillment services like DEAR which connects the rest of the branches of your ecommerce business together.

 #4 – Reduce human errors 

Human errors are a part of manual processes and they can be costly for ecommerce businesses. Data entry mistakes, wrong product quantities, incorrect shipment addresses and more can cause unnecessary delays, backorders and confusion in your business. 

You can dramatically eliminate those errors by simplifying your business using modern ecommerce and inventory fulfilment cloud software. By automating your pick, pack and ship processes, quantity updates, and simplifying the rest of your inventory process, these and other errors will be greatly reduced and even potentially eliminated from your business.

 #5 – Your business gains more data visibility  

With the right cloud ecommerce software your business gains far more data visibility for inventory fulfillment through real-time reporting. You can finally leverage the data you have accumulated to make smarter and more profitable business decisions. 

DEAR allows you to view real-time sales reports showcasing your recent highest demand products, low performers, your top suppliers, your most profitable products and so many other actionable reports.

You can then utilise this data to find new product ideas for your business, improve your marketing, reduce backorders and make other key business decisions to help you grow. 

 Try holistic inventory fulfillment with DEAR’s latest cloud software

Holistic inventory fulfillment services are rapidly changing and improving the way that ecommerce is performed. But this approach requires a feature-rich inventory software solution which will enable you to manage your inventory and the rest of your ecommerce business in one central location.

DEAR is a modern solution for inventory fulfillment and every other key component of your ecommerce business (accounting, purchasing, sales, etc.) that can immediately make a dramatic improvement in your efficiency, automation, customer service, human errors, and actionable business analytics. 

DEAR offers a full range of holistic inventory and ecommerce features including centralised management of your inventory across all sales channels, simplified purchasing with real-time insights, live order tracking, a range of inventory reports, integration with leading accounting apps, automation for a range of low level inventory processes, warehouse management software and so much more.

Try DEAR’s latest version of ecommerce inventory software to experience firsthand how holistic inventory fulfillment services can help your business grow. DEAR provides full suite of features that streamline, connect and automate your ecommerce business. 

Get a risk-free trial of DEAR and step into the future of ecommerce with our powerful and comprehensive inventory fulfillment solution.

 Get a DEAR Consultation today

  Why Ecommerce Inventory Management Software is Well Worth it

8 Key Features to Look for in Manufacturing Inventory Software

The post The Future of Ecommerce: Holistic Inventory Fulfillment Services appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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[dearsystems]

Planned weekend update: 12-07-2020

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Watch out for updates in the following areas over the weekend:

Automated workflows can be created for purchase processes.

Create tasks for users during workflow automation for sales and purchase processes.

Attach an image to an automated email via direct link.

Sign in to DEAR account with Google.

Access for support personnel to login to client system with authorisation.

Production Module improvements: Allocate non-integer numbers of resources, Production orders can be consolidated when in planned status.

ShipStation: Option to leave “Ship to Company” blank on shipping label.

DEAR POS: Users can return items via DEAR POS system when products were sold on other sales channels (e.g. Shopify).

DEAR POS: Add attachments and images to sale order.

 Full release notes for the 21/07/2020 release will be available over the weekend. Please do not hesitate to contact DEAR support (support@dearsystems.com or WhatsApp) if you notice any errors or changes in functionality due to the latest release.

The post Planned weekend update: 12-07-2020 appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

This article originally appeared at https://ift.tt/2BIoWJu

[dearsystems]

Why Ecommerce Inventory Management Software is Well Worth it

Is ecommerce inventory management software really worth it for your business?

If you want to quickly expand your ecommerce business, automate several time-consuming tasks, and enjoy real, rapid transformation in your overall efficiency, then it is!

The leading solutions will go far beyond simple inventory management and provide you a centralised solution to connect every moving part of your business into one hub, with multiple automation features.

This article will explore some of the top reasons why you might consider investing in a leading ecommerce inventory management software solution and how it can help you take your business to the next level.

 #1 – It saves you time through automation

Automation is always your friend when running an ecommerce business. It’s well worth your time to invest in solutions that automate your business because it frees up your hands to try creative marketing and growth strategies.

Simply put, the leading ecommerce inventory management software solutions will automate several components of your business that would otherwise cost you or your employees precious time.

For example, DEAR will automate tasks like order fulfillment (including the pick, pack and ship steps) for each sales channel you operate on (Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Etsy, Magento 2, WooCommerce, etc.)

Other automation features include multi-channel product updates, accounting software integration, shipping app and tracking integration, automated reordering and more.

You get one centralised platform that eliminates many of the steps that you or your employees used to perform manually or with limited, outdated software.

 #2 – It connects your ecommerce business together

When you’re running an ecommerce business it’s easy for it to become fragmented – for instance you can easily spend a lot of time updating your products on one channel while your other sales channels and order fulfillment processes get neglected.

Or perhaps you always feel like you’re one step behind, struggling to get your orders fulfilled to keep your customers happy while you juggle multiple channels.

The leading ecommerce inventory management software solutions like DEAR will connect multiple components and processes of your ecommerce business together so that you can get one (or several) steps ahead for once.

Manage all of your key processes in one single cloud-based source that you can access anywhere including: order fulfillment, order routing for your eCommerce Platform integrations, updating and managing your products on multiple sales channels, monitoring your transactions in real time, managing multiple warehouse locations and much more.

You can even use DEAR to track your winning products and suppliers and strategically drive key business decisions through powerful sales reports including sales by product summaries, profit summaries, backorder summaries, customer payment details, fulfilment details and more.

 #3 – Inventory disruptions are costly

Efficiently managing your supply chain almost certainly requires an ecommerce inventory management solution.

There are often simply too many products to keep track of to avoid supply chain disruptions when you are managing everything by hand or with an outdated solutions.

With shipping times increasing in recent months and a variety of products increasing in demand and others declining, you can benefit from implementing automation to avoid costly supply chain problems such as out of stock and backordered products or fulfillment delays.

Not only do these disruptions cost you in terms of a potential sale but they can lead to customer satisfaction problems as well.

DEAR ecommerce inventory management software helps you avoid these situations through efficient supply chain management including automated order processing (pick, pack and ship), real-time stock level updates, automated reordering with the help of Smart Reordering, integration with shipping applications as Fulfilment by Amazon, ShipStation, StarShipIt, ShipIt, ShipTheory, and much more.

The end result is streamlined management of your supply chain, fewer backorders, and far happier customers.

 #4– The cost is small compared to your potential growth

At a very small and reasonably scalable cost, the leading ecommerce inventory management software platforms offer you a low-risk opportunity to push rapid new growth for your business.

At DEAR you can receive a risk-free trial run of our inventory management software for ecommerce for 14-days to see firsthand how it can transform your business almost overnight.

There’s no risk and there’s no reason to wait when there are so many time saving features that can free up your hands to push your revenue to new heights.

Try DEAR’s ecommerce inventory management software today and experience the power of unprecedented automation, far greater order fulfilment efficiency, on-demand reporting to drive new actions for your business, and centralised management of every key component.

 Get a DEAR Consultation today

 8 Key Features to Look for in Manufacturing Inventory Software

What are the Benefits of Cloud ERP Solutions?

 The post Why Ecommerce Inventory Management Software is Well Worth it appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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[dearsystems]

New Release – 21st JUNE 2020

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New Features

Feature 1: Production Module improvements – Inputs/Outputs, Wastage posting

Impact area: DEAR Production Module.

Introduction: The Production module is aimed at addressing the needs of the production process. New production features will provide our current customers with powerful, logical manufacturing solutions to add to their inventory solution. Following on from our most recent releases, we are continuing to improve the Production module functionality and add features.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality:

Some production processes need to stock the intermediate results (products) of their operations for use in later operations. Such intermediate products can be reflected in the Production BOM to increase accuracy in production reporting and transparency for the production process. These are known as intermediate or semi-finished products in DEAR.

In the course of production some wastage can appear. These can include intermediate or semi-finished products which are unsuitable for production or finished goods which are unsuitable for sale. Waste costs can be either included into the production cost or posted to an expense account. This setting can be managed from Settings → General Settings → Purchase Process Customisation.

When posted to an expense account, cost of waste is based on the sales price. Wastage quantities are input …

More information:

Using Inputs/Outputs – Intermediate or semi-finished products

Production BOM – Cost of Wastage

Managing Production Orders

 Feature 2: Bulk deletion of Product Suppliers via CSV file import

Impact area: Inventory module.

Introduction: While it was possible to add supplier product prices to products in bulk via CSV import, DEAR lacked the option to bulk delete them. Bulk deletion of product suppliers has now been added..

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality:

Go to Inventory → Products → Export → Product Prices by Supplier and download the CSV file.

Open the file. Type Delete in the action column of all the supplier product prices you wish to remove from your products.

Save the file and re-upload the edited file via Inventory → Products → Import → Product Prices by Supplier.

More information:

Product and Service Management – Suppliers

 Feature 3: Product images can now be added to stock task document templates

Impact area: Document templates.

Introduction: Product images can now be added to Stock Adjustment, Stocktake and Stock Transfer document templates.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality:

Document templates are customised from Settings → Document and Email templates. ProductImage mailmerge field has been added to the StockTransferOrder, StockTransferDetail, and InventoryAdjustment field code tables. This means product images can now be added to documents of type Product Label (Inventory Adjustment and Transfer), Stocktake, Stock Adjustment, Stock Transfer, and Stock Transfer Order.

Use this mail merge to display image: «Image:ProductImage»

More information:

Managing document and email templates

 Feature 4: Dedicated DB Server removes API call limit

Impact area: DEAR Inventory.

Introduction: Users with a dedicated DB server no longer have restrictions on numbers of API calls. Using a dedicated database server ensures that your DEAR application performance cannot be affected by other DEAR users, giving a more stable and consistent experience. This option is recommended for customers with high volumes of sales.

Pre-conditions: Upgrade subscription to include dedicated database server.

Functionality:

There are three dedicated database server options, all three options remove the API call limit:

Small database server (6 CPU cores, up to 50,000 sale orders per month) – $2,000 USD/Month

Medium database server (8 CPU cores, up to 100,000 sale orders per month) – $2,500 USD/Month

Large database server (10 CPU cores, more than 100,000 sale orders per month) – $3,000 USD/Month

This change is permanent. If you move to a dedicated database server, it is not possible to return back to a shared database.

 Feature 5: DEAR POS – Search additional attributes from POS register

Impact area: DEAR POS.

Introduction: Additional attributes of a product can now be searched from the POS register. This allows POS users to use the feature to store additional or multiple barcodes for a product.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality: Detailed instructions are provided in the link below. Other information stored in additional attributes product fields can also be searched from the POS register. Exact match search only.

More information:

Additional/Multiple Barcodes in POS

 Feature 6: eCommerce, DEAR POS – process order adjustments for unfulfilled returned items

Impact area: DEAR POS, Amazon Integration, eBay Integration, Shopify Integration, Magento Integration, Magento 2.0 Integration, WooCommerce Integration, Shipstation Integration, Etsy Integration, Square Integration.

Introduction: Unfulfilled sales may occur when there is insufficient stock availability in the system but an eCommerce or POS sale is completed anyway. Previously when an eCommerce or DEAR POS sale is unfulfilled (for example, if an order was cancelled), the incomplete fulfillment would block credit notes from being issued and refunds from being issued.

DEAR has applied a fix to the logic of how credit notes, refunds and restock for such sales are handled. Credit notes and refunds are now processed for the authorised invoice amount, regardless of invoice status. Restock of unfulfilled orders is now controlled by new setting Ignore Restock for non-fullfilled Sales.

Pre-conditions: Active eCommerce integration.

Functionality: For DEAR POS and affected eCommerce integrations, credit notes and refunds are issued for the authorised invoice amount regardless of the fulfillment status of the order.

On the eCommerce/POS integration settings tab, a new setting Ignore Restock for non-fullfilled Sales has been added. This setting will be displayed only when the Pick, Pack and Ship processing mode setting value is set to Auto Pick+Pack+Ship.

When the setting is enabled, restock/stock allocation quantities will be edited to match the fulfilled items of the sale.

Keep setting disabled in order for current system logic to be maintained.

In DEAR POS, a notification pop-up will appear informing the user if they about to process a sale for a product with insufficient stock availability. The user must confirm if they wish to go ahead with the sale.

 Feature 7: Shiptheory – Select SO # or Invoice # as reference number

Impact area: Shiptheory integration.

Introduction: Orders are passed from DEAR to Shiptheory with a reference number which is printed on Shiptheory shipping labels. Previously this was set to the invoice number. Fulfilling a customer request, a new setting also allows the sale order number to be used as the reference number.

Pre-conditions: Active Shiptheory integration.

Functionality: In Integrations → Shiptheory, set Use as Document Number to either Invoice number or Order number.

More information:

Shiptheory Integration

 Feature 8: Shopify – separate fulfillment settings for POS/website sales

Impact area: Shopify Integration.

Introduction: For DEAR Shopify integrations, the same business could have their operations running through a website and POS for the same Shopify store. Shopify users would like to have different fulfillment processes defined for the sales initiated through Shopify POS compared to through their Shopify website. An extra layer of validation has also been added to correct issues with fulfillment of Shopify POS orders containing serial/batch products.

Pre-conditions: Active Shopify integration.

Functionality:

Integration setting Pick, Pack and Ship process mode for online sales selects fulfilment type (Auto pick, auto pick + pack, etc.) for sales originating from the organisation’s Shopify website.

In Shopify POS settings, mark orders automatically as fulfilled can be enabled or disabled (typically enabled if customers take their purchase with them upon payment). This fulfilled/not fulfilled status is passed to DEAR when the sale is downloaded to DEAR.

Shopify POS orders are marked as not fulfilled even if the POS setting is set to mark orders as fulfilled when there is at least one product with serial/batch costing method in the order. These orders must be manually fulfilled in DEAR.

More information:

Shopify Integration

Shopify POS – Order fulfilment preferences

 Feature 9: B2B Portal – appearance redesign

Impact area: DEAR B2B Portal.

Introduction: Some improvements have been made to the appearance of the B2B portal. The changes will not affect users’ own customisations.

Pre-conditions: Active B2B Portal.

Functionality:

The default B2B portals have been changed. This will not affect existing custom colours set by users, new colours will be applied only to new stores. Users can restore all colours to default by clicking Restore all colours in the Appearance tab of B2B portal settings.

Quick view has been implemented for product items in the catalog so the customer can see some information about the product and add it to the cart.

Previously, the vertical Navigation bar could only display either Categories, Tags, or Brands. Now all three options can be included on the navigation bar together.

More information:

Getting Started with B2B Portal

 Fix: Allow editing sale order/invoice prices when Allow Editing Authorised Documents permission is Full Access

Impact area: Sale module.

Functionality: Fix has been applied to allow editing sale order and sale invoice prices when Allow Editing Authorised Documents permission is set to full access.

The post New Release – 21st JUNE 2020 appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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[dearsystems]

8 Key Features to Look for in Manufacturing Inventory Software

In the modern-day factory, manufacturing inventory software is a staple to ensure smooth operations. With the right software, you’ll be able to pull up inventory numbers in an instant, saving you time searching for product and money spent over-ordering extras. But where should you even start when it comes to finding the perfect manufacturing inventory software? With so many options on the market, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. When you’re starting your search, make sure that you’re looking out for these key factors.

Superior Inventory Control

We know, this probably seems like a given. Your manufacturing inventory software should be able to control your inventory, right? You would be surprised at how many people overlook the importance of this vital feature. Your software should provide the Product Availability Report and allow you to easily look up an item with a robust SKU item master file. Ideally, a good inventory software will project or forecast demand for a certain item, so you can be aware of when you should re-order or when you start to run low. The Low Stock Reorder function in DEAR allows streamlined reordering of stock that is running low, ensuring no sales are lost due to an item being out of stock. Stock Reorder parameters can be set globally for each product or independently for each location of your organisation.

Usable Inventory Analysis

It’s not enough for your manufacturing inventory software to simply tell you how much of a product you have. Your software should also be able to tell you what to do with the numbers. Like we’ve mentioned, your software should be able to project demand for an item via Smart Reordering functionality, that way you don’t run out of a hot item or over-order a product and that isn’t moving out of your warehouse as quickly. It’s also helpful if your software can help you determine which products might be good candidates for overstock liquidation, helping you to move inventory out of your warehouse as efficiently as possible.

Reorder Automation

Being able to automate as many processes as possible will save you countless headaches down the road, and one of the most important things to automate is product reorders. Within your manufacturing inventory software, you should be able to set a designated amount for a reorder. As soon as your stock begins to get low, the order will be automatically placed without you having to lift a finger. Just run the Inventory Velocity Report or schedule it using the Report Scheduling Module and reorder all the products at a click of a button. This ensures that you will always have enough product for your customers and will never have to worry about falling behind.

Streamlined Expense Tracking

Your manufacturing inventory software should allow you to easily see into your bottom line. Not only should it tell you your inventory and the figures associated with the product, but your software should also let you see service-based expenses. By streamlining every expense your business undergoes, your manufacturing inventory software allows you to take control of your finances and make the best monetary decisions for your company.

Convenient Cloud System

While you will of course have to use your manufacturing inventory software in the warehouse itself, it’s also nice to be able to pull up this information from anywhere in the world. DEAR Warehouse Management Solution (WMS) integrates seamlessly with DEAR manufacturing inventory software, streamlining your order fulfilment processes while increasing your productivity and reducing costs in the warehouse. Be sure that your software comes with a cloud-based and software-as-a-service (SaaS) feature. Not only does this add an extra layer of security to your information, but it also allows you to designate the number of users allowed and the amount of data you require. This feature is especially helpful if you maintain multiple locations, as you can quickly reference the numbers wherever you are and compare them side-by-side.

Flexibility

While many manufacturing inventory software systems are designed to be one-size-fits-all, your business is one of a kind. Make sure that your software can be configured to your exact specifications and can provide the features you need in your factory. This may include being able to designate certain users for specific functions by assigning the fine-grained control over user permissions, setting your own KPIs and metrics, customising the document and email templates, and adopting your own budget and expense accounting structure.

Advanced Barcoding Systems

Your barcode system can make or break your entire operation. If your manufacturing inventory software isn’t able to meet your high demands, you might risk miscounts or find your business lagging behind in a big project. Your software should be able to support a variety of standards, including everything from your typical barcode to more advanced QR codes. DEAR manufacturing inventory software can handle advanced barcodes with embedded data, which are ideal for stores that sell products based on weight or price. 

Progress Tracking

Especially when you have a big order coming through, it’s just not enough to know that your order has or hasn’t been completed. The ideal manufacturing inventory software will allow you to see the progress of a job and track it in real time. This feature is not only advantageous for you when you speak to your clients, but it can also help your employees understand exactly what needs to be done at any given time.

While there are countless manufacturing inventory software systems available today, DEAR Systems is proud to offer one of the most affordable and advanced versions. Our software allows you to create advanced Bills of Materials, implement parallel and non-parallel operations in a Production BOM, define manufacturing processes for a single finished product or for multiple finished products at a time, quickly estimate costs by allocating them correctly to all the produced products as a result of one production process, generate the Production BOM Explosion by displaying an assembly at the highest level broken down into its individual components and parts at the lowest level, address production issues as replanning the Capacity and managing the overallocated resources, reschedule the production orders, production runs and operations, and so much more. Our team is always available to help with any questions or concerns, and once you’ve tried the software for yourself, you’ll wonder how your warehouse ever survived without it! Contact us today to learn more about our services.

 Get a DEAR Consultation today

 What are the Benefits of Cloud ERP Solutions?

5 Ways Cloud Inventory Management Software Helps Your Business Grow

The post 8 Key Features to Look for in Manufacturing Inventory Software appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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[dearsystems]

Planned weekend update: 21th JUNE 2020

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Watch out for updates in the following areas over the weekend:

Production Module improvements: Inputs/Outputs, Wastage posting.

Bulk delete suppliers from products.

ProductImage mailmerge field for stock tasks.

API call limit removed for dedicated database server.

DEAR POS: Search additional attributes from register.

eCommerce, DEAR POS: process order adjustments for unfulfilled returned items.

Shiptheory: Select SO # or Invoice # as reference number.

Shopify: POS Sale Fulfillment method.

DEAR B2B: Appearance Redesign

Fix: Allow editing sale order/invoice invoice prices when Allow Editing Authorised Documents permission is Full Access.

 Full Release Notes for the 21th June 2020 Release will be available on 21th June 2020. Please do not hesitate to contact DEAR support (support@dearsystems.com or WhatsApp) if you notice any errors or changes in functionality over the weekend due to the latest release.

The post Planned weekend update: 21th JUNE 2020 appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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[dearsystems]

New Release – 07th JUNE 2020 – FEATURES: Production Module improvements: Quality control operation; Two-factor authentication – Enforce for AU accounts with Xero, Allow “Remember me” for 30 days; Shopify “Sales Over Time” report; Ability to make document email templates default at Supplier and Customer level; Separate permission settings for Undo and Void tasks; Free Shipping Discount/Deal now applies to DEAR Inventory sales.

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New Features

Feature 1: Two-factor authentication – Enforce for AU accounts with Xero, Allow “Remember me” for 30 days

Impact area: Account security.

Introduction: DEAR Inventory allows users to set up two-factor authentication on user login. DEAR uses “Google Authenticator App” or allows generating authentication key manually to allow users to login. As of this release, two-factor authentication is enforced for Australian accounts with Xero accounting integration enabled. This is a requirement of the Australian Tax Office.

All two-factor enabled accounts will be able to select “Remember me for 30 days” upon logging in with authentication.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality:

Existing users of Australian accounts with Xero integration enabled will be asked to set up two-factor authentication upon login. New users will be asked to set up two-factor authentication the first time they log in after configuring their account.

All two-factor enabled accounts will be able to select “Remember me for 30 days” upon logging in with authentication.

More information:

Account security – Two-factor authentication

 Feature 2: Shopify “Sales Over Time” report

Impact area: Shopify Integration.

Introduction: Previously when logging into the overview tab of the Shopify Integration, the displayed the sales summary in a grid with two tabs, ‘Customers’ and ‘Sales’. This display has been replaced by a view showing Shopify sales over time.

Pre-conditions:

Active Shopify integration.

Functionality:

You can view sales and returns over time for all connected stores as well as each individual Shopify store from Shopify Overview screen. Sales/Returns can be grouped by day, week, month, day of the week and hour of the day over the selected date range.

More information:

Shopify Integration – Sales over time

 Feature 3: Ability to make document/email templates default at Supplier and Customer level

Impact area: Purchase module, Sales module.

Introduction: Previously, the user had the ability to customise and upload document/email templates for purchase and sale documents. Thanks to a popular feature request, DEAR has implemented the ability to set ‘default’ sales/purchase templates for a supplier or customer.

Pre-conditions:

Templates must already be uploaded in Setting → Document & e-mail templates under Purchase and Sale sections.

Functionality:

Customers and Suppliers now have a Default Templates tab in addition to their other details in the Customers/Suppliers record. The Default Templates tab allows the user to select default document and email templates to be used for the customer/supplier’s sale/purchase documents (e.g. invoice, order, etc.). The selected template will be shown in the print/email drop-down. If no default templates are selected, all available templates for that type of document will be shown for the Print/Email options.

More information:

Managing document and email templates

Managing Suppliers – Set default templates for purchase documents and emails

Managing Customers – Set default templates for purchase documents and emails

 Feature 4: Separate permission settings for Undo and Void tasks

Impact area: All task modules.

Introduction: Previously, in the managing users and roles section, any actions for “Undo and Void” are combined within the same permission setting. In this release, the permissions are separated.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality: Every “Undo & Void” permission has now been split into two settings “Undo”, and “Void”. This affects Financial – Spend/Receive Money, Financials – Journal Task, Inventory – Stock Transfer, Inventory – Stocktake and Stock Adjustment, Product Task, Purchase Task, Sale Task permissions.

More information:

Managing users and roles

User permissions explained

 Feature 5: Free Shipping Discount/Deal now applies to DEAR Inventory sales

Impact area: Sale module.

Introduction: Previously “Free shipping” type deals were only applicable across B2B orders. In this release DEAR has implemented changes so that the “Free shipping” deal type also applies across sales made through DEAR inventory.

Free Shipping for DEAR orders is applied as a negative additional charge on Sale Quote, Sale Order, and Sale Invoice pages of a sale order.

NOTE: Free shipping deal types do not apply to sales captured from eCommerce channels.

Pre-conditions:

Create a “Free Shipping” product discount and add it to a product deal.

Make the Free Shipping deal active.

More information:

Product Discounts

Product Deals

 Feature 6: Production Module improvements – Quality control operation type

Impact area: DEAR Production Module.

Introduction: The Production module is aimed at addressing the needs of the production process. New production features will provide our current customers with powerful, logical manufacturing solutions to add to their inventory solution. Following on from our most recent releases, we are continuing to improve the Production module functionality and add features.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality: A new Production BOM operation type has been added, “Quality Control”. This differentiates the production operation from manufacturing operations or setup operations.

More information:

Production BOM

Managing Production Orders

The post New Release – 07th JUNE 2020 – FEATURES: Production Module improvements: Quality control operation; Two-factor authentication – Enforce for AU accounts with Xero, Allow “Remember me” for 30 days; Shopify “Sales Over Time” report; Ability to make document email templates default at Supplier and Customer level; Separate permission settings for Undo and Void tasks; Free Shipping Discount/Deal now applies to DEAR Inventory sales. appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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[dearsystems]

What are the Benefits of Cloud ERP Solutions?

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Your brand is growing. There are moving pieces to manage — figuratively and literally — from inventory to business processes. You’re trying to figure out how to streamline your operations, keep track of everything and continue to deliver for your customers while you scale.

Now what?

In today’s world, the natural next step is to bring in software that can help you do your job and fasttrack the day-to-day, routine tasks of managing the company. That’s where the classic solution comes in: an enterprise resource planning system, or ERP. ERP is a broad term that for systems that can cover an enormous range of functions, particularly inventory and supply chain management.

But not all ERPs are created equal: cloud ERP solutions blow classic ERP systems out of the water with their powerful capabilities and interconnectedness. Here are a few key reasons why:

 Benefit #1: Cloud ERP solutions aren’t traditional ERPs.

Traditional ERPs have a bad reputation for a reason — they’re often clunky and require more time to operate than they save. Cloud ERP systems break that mold. Since they were designed specifically for the cloud, they’re a modern solution that can keep up with the fast-paced needs of growing businesses.

That means you get all the benefits of an ERP solution with none of the downsides, including:

– Better insight into your business’s data

– Optimization of your inventory management

– Centralized management of your core business systems

And unlike traditional models, those benefits come with additional enhancements like automation of mundane, routine tasks to streamline your operations.

 Benefit #2: They’re fast to deploy and user-friendly.

Unlike classic ERP solutions, cloud-based options are built for speed and a streamlined user experience. The implementation process of a gargantuan traditional ERP system can be incredibly costly, requiring specialized experts and months of time, riddled by delays or hidden fees.

Cloud software is different because it doesn’t require hardware or technical expertise to set up. Deployment is fast, often just a couple of days, so that you can enjoy the benefits as swiftly as possible — it’s like installing a very powerful app that will become the beating heart of your business.

That also means that your team will actually use the platform, so you’ll get your money’s worth. Cloud ERPs are typically far more user-friendly than outdated systems and easier to connect. You can deploy the cloud system on any internet-linked device, including tablets that connect your fulfillment workers to your order management system.

 Benefit #3: You get exactly what you need — without hidden costs.

As the svelte contrast to bloated traditional ERP solutions, cloud-based ERPs can be tailored to fit into any system and any business. They’re highly modular — adding a feature simply requires purchasing an extension to your core system — so they adapt to do exactly what you need.

This is a huge step up from older systems, where you might use 10% of a tangled, oversized solution. Instead, the power is in your hands. Don’t have a warehouse? Don’t get the warehouse management feature. Expand your inventory into a warehouse? Add on a WMS feature. Simple as that.

That customizability goes hand-in-hand with increased price transparency. You won’t be caught unawares by hidden fees for implementation or licensing for particular features. Instead, you’ll know what you’re purchasing and be confident in the value it adds to your business.

 Benefit #4: You can integrate cloud ERP software with your existing tech stack.

This benefit is essential for growing businesses, as the cost to transfer everything over to a rigid ERP system may be prohibitive. That’s not the case on the cloud: cloud ERP solutions are by nature built to integrate with other software to link up the features you already use.

Whether your tech stack includes a CRM, sales software like Salesforce or accounting software like Xero, high-end cloud ERP software will make it easy to integrate via APIs. You’ll be able to consolidate your company’s data and save time across platforms by linking them all to a cloud ERP solution.

 Benefit #5: Enjoy great support, consistent upgrades and new features.

As a Software as a Service solution, cloud ERPs come with strong benefits: rolling updates, lightning-fast bug fixes and strong customer support. That means they’re easy to maintain — because most of the maintenance is done by the software provider and can be updated automatically.

Truly high-end software providers will also roll out updates consistently, whether driven by development initiatives or simply by customer feedback. If you’re missing a feature, you can contact your provider: that feature might be already on its way and deploying to your stack soon.

 Benefit #6: Cloud-based ERPs are developer-friendly.

The other side of that coin is that cloud ERP solutions also offer great support for developers. Most will have documentation to enable developers to keep operations running smoothly or add new integrations and personalization.

 Benefit #7: Complete cloud ERP suites offer advanced manufacturing tools.

The most comprehensive cloud ERPs offer a suite of tools that enable advanced workflows and detailed analysis for manufacturing. After all, manufacturing is one of the key areas that legacy ERP solutions aimed to solve, so to compete, cloud ERPs must provide equal functionality.

The best cloud ERP solutions ensure that you’re not compromising in any one category, but bringing all business processes under one roof and enabling efficient, comprehensive manufacturing management.

For instance, complex manufacturing needs a tool for material requirements planning (MRP) so that your process can be streamlined and planned in detail from start to finish.

 Benefit #8: With cloud ERP solutions, you can level the playing field.

All the above benefits combine into one key benefit: cloud ERP software is a true equalizer for growing businesses. Traditional ERPs are highly restrictive, only cost-effective for enterprise-level companies. Cloud-based ERPs are different. They’re cheaper to run, easier to deploy, more user-friendly, customizable and constantly upgrading. They also work with, rather than against, your existing methods.

As a result, they’re an ideal solution for small or medium businesses that are looking to expand and improve operational efficiency along the way.

Looking for more info? Learn more on our related article: 5 Ways Cloud Inventory Management Software Helps Your Business Grow.

 Get a DEAR Consultation today

 5 Ways Cloud Inventory Management Software Helps Your Business Grow

Get a Sneak Peek of DEAR’s Cloud ERP Manufacturing Module

The post What are the Benefits of Cloud ERP Solutions? appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

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[dearsystems]

Planned weekend update: 07th JUNE 2020

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Watch out for updates in the following areas over the weekend:

Production Module improvements: Quality control operation type.

Account Security: Enforce two-factor authentication for AU accounts with Xero, Allow “Remember me” for 30 days for authenticated users.

Shopify “Sales Over Time” report.

Ability to set purchase/sale document templates as default at Supplier and Customer leve.

Separate permission settings for Undo and Void tasks.

Free Shipping Discount/Deal now applies to DEAR Inventory sales.

 Full Release Notes for the 07th June 2020 Release will be available on 07th June 2020. Please do not hesitate to contact DEAR support (support@dearsystems.com or WhatsApp) if you notice any errors or changes in functionality over the weekend due to the latest release.

The post Planned weekend update: 07th JUNE 2020 appeared first on DEAR Cloud Inventory Management.

This article originally appeared at https://ift.tt/3eDDM1w