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Dear Starshipit Advanced High Performance Integration
GrowthPath
Dear-Starshipit Integration
Starshipit is an excellent cloud-based transport manager, for dispatching, manifesting and interacting with couriers and other transporters. We have clients who are very happy with the product, and with the support. GrowthPath rates Starshipit very highly.
The out of the box Dear integration has some deficiencies. It doesn't work with advanced orders (multiple fulfilments) and it struggles with high-volume sites (> 400 orders a day).
This performance problem is not a problem with Starshipit or Dear, just a problem with the integration.
GrowthPath has a much more sophisticated approach to Dear integrations, with logic and techniques that provide a much more powerful and higher performance integration.
GrowthPath will build custom-logic into the integration. Some examples of this are below. Our development is in-house.
Overview of the GrowthPath Starshipit Integration
Completely replaces the existing Starshipit Dear integration.
Can map Dear...
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GrowthPath Dear Systems to Zoho CRM Integration
Dear Systems (Dear Inventory) to Zoho CRM Integration
GrowthPath has a connector between Dear and Zoho CRM which runs off our GrowthPath Application Server. Full Documentation
This is an advanced connector which has logic and mappings that go well beyond the capabilities of Zapier-style connectors. It is robust, handles very high transaction volumes and uses the advanced caching, server monitoring and other performance features of the GrowthPath Application Server.
Highlights
The sync currently does a Dear to Zoho CRM push of Dear Customer to Zoho CRM Accounts and Dear Contacts to Zoho CRM Contacts. All Contacts belong to a Customer on the Dear side, and are therefore assigned to that Zoho Account.
If you have custom fields in your Zoho Accounts, Contacts or Deals, we can write logic to populate them based on Dear contents and business rules.
You can control which stages of the Dear lifecycle get mapped to which of your Zoho pipeline stages, and for each of these stages you can...
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Advanced and Custom Cloud Integrations
Custom Integrations for Dear, Xero, Cin7, Shopify, Neto and more
About Integrations and Cloud apps
Large business systems are built from modules. For instance, traditionally you had a GL module, an AR module and a Sales module. Accounting has worked like this since the days of fountain pens: it calls these modules "ledgers", so if you are familiar with the "debtors ledger" and the "stock ledger" you already understand the concept.
Business systems before the cloud bundled many modules under one "integrated" solution because there was no agreed standard to connect modules from different providers. Sometimes business systems had to be connected anyway, and it was a very expensive process, requiring custom coding and a lot of software to keep everything working. So traditional ERPs all individually reinvented their own GL ledger, not because they found some exciting new way to do double-entry book-keeping, but because it was cheaper than integrating to an already-existing GL package....
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GrowthPath Application Server
GrowthPath Application server
The GrowthPath Application Server is a dedicated server with software developed to allow GrowthPath's advanced integrations.
The Application Server is a stack of software which makes it fast and easy for GrowthPath to solve complicated integration problems.
The elements of the stack are
A robust, battle-tested cache Dear's data, including the ability to bring together all your deployments of Dear in multiple currencies
A library of Dear automation code for ordering, shipping and production steps, which is also battle-tested. With this code, we can develop highly advanced automations and integrations
A library of connectors to a growing range of cloud software: Zoho Analytics, Zoho CRM, Capsule, Shopify, Starshipit, Xero
We have library for custom 3PL integrations
A front-end server for cloud-interfaces to your customers, using Django
Based on surveying the market and listening to the customers we acquire, this technology stack is well ahead of any...
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Cloud inventory management review Dear Inventory, Unleashed, Cin7
Cloud-based Inventory Management: Review of Unleashed, Dear Inventory, Cin7
Detailed review by a CPA & supply chain expert for small and medium sized businesses needing a cloud-based inventory management solution.
GrowthPath has migrated clients to cloud ERP systems in Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, the UK, PNG and around Australia. Over the years, and before founding GrowthPath, we have worked with ERPs since the 1990s. Tim Richardson started his career as a developer and then implementation consultant with QAD ERP, and has several SAP R/3 implementation experiences. He then moved into finance roles around Asia and Europe with Philips.
GrowthPath was founded in 2011 to help small and medium businesses unlock the incredible power of cloud inventory management, accounting, CRMs and analytics.
At the moment, we recommend Dear Inventory for most clients needing a supply chain solution. We see the competitive pool also including Unleashed and Trade Gecko, but at this stage Dear is our...
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Cloud Accounting and ERP Security Risks
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Business risks of cloud software
Cloud software has security risks, data-lock-out risks and connectivity risks. These risks can be avoided, and cloud software eliminates other major IT risks. Overall, moving to cloud apps such as Xero probably increases overall security and lowers data risk if sensible policies are in place. Before moving to cloud accounting such as Xero, or to a cloud ERP system, it's worth reviewing these risks.
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Comparison of Cloud ERP API Coverage
Cloud ERP API Comparison
DEAR Systems, Cin7, Unleashed
Why does the API matter?
The API does two things
it allows information to be extracted for better reporting
It enables automation, by creating documents and actions. This means that you can automate gaps and workarounds, and add more advanced functionality.
Examples of workflows and API support
Case: Automate the creation of products from another source, such as an online store or a product master database
DEARCin7Unleashed
Yes
No
Yes
Case: Add a product configurator front end, and send custom BOMs to manufacturing module
DEARCin7Unleashed
Yes
No
No
Dear allows creations of assembly orders and therefore one-off BOMs, and it allows them to be stepped through the process of authorising, allocation stock and completion.
DEARCin7Unleashed
Yes
No
No
Case: For near real-time interfacing, have the integrated app respond to events as they happen in the ERP (such as order received from online channel
DEARCin7Unleashed
Yes
No
No
Dear has...
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GrowthPath Cloud ERP Implementation
Cloud software is simple. Implementations should be too.
Since 2013, a 100% success rate (client still using the system three years after going live).
We reduce risks
By being vendor neutral, and using our Go/No-Go milestone, we eliminate the wrong-system risk.
We focus on pragmatically getting ready to go live. There are always surprises after going live. We build that in to the project plan, an approach born of our experience on both sides of ERP implementations.
Advanced Data Conversion
With deep expertise, automation, API scripts and a lot of business feel, we treat your valuable historical data very seriously. Data conversion done wrong is huge business risk.
We build self-sufficiency
Our fixed price implementations finish with a Handover milestone, not with a Go Live milestone. We guide implementations with a strong focus on knowledge transfer.
This is your new system. Your key users need to explore it and learn it, which is why we guide the implementation, rather than manage...
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Cloud Based Accounting Review and Recommendations: Xero, Saasu, MYOB, QuickBooks
A CPA's review, comparison and recommendation of Xero, Saasu, MYOB AccounrtRightand QuickBooks Online. Pros and cons of moving to cloud-based accounting. How it fits with cloud-based inventory management.
In a hurry? This short article covers the key initial questions: Top questions about migrating to Cloud Inventory Management
Quick pros and cons of cloud-based accounting
Moving to cloud accounting may not be right for your business. The pros and cons roughly speaking look like this:
Con: You will lose core functionality if you come from a 'big' ERP like Dynamics or Sage ERP (but are you using this functionality?)
Con: Data security risks change: some risks are much lower, but there are new risks
Con: If you cancel your subscription, you need to export and import your data somewhere else
Pro: Cloud software is easier to use; more people will use it properly, new employees get up to speed faster
Pro: Cloud software is easier to own: no server, no updates
Pro: Cloud software is where all...
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Extracting data from MYOB with ODBC SQL
A tutorial about accessing data from MYOB Premier using SQL.This technique opens up much better insights, interactive reporting and feeding data into dashboard tools, as well as making data migration into a new system much easier. You can also automate or partially automate intercompany reconciliations, and detailed cashflow analysis.
Read more: Extracting...
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MYOB AccountRight Premier / Classic and ATO Single Touch Payroll
On July 1, 2018, the ATO requires all Australian businesses with more than 20 employees to use Single Touch Payroll. The census date is actually in April 2018. Users of MYOB Account Right Premier face an interesting problem. They are using software which doesn't really get feature updates because MYOB is encouraging subscribers to move to Account Right Live, a monthly-subscription product. This product was called Account Right Live for a few years. MYOB now calls it AccountRight, and calls the legacy product AccountRight Classic.
Account Right (Live) is not available as an upgrade for legacy MYOB users, because the new product does not have quite all the features of the existing product (although this may change). There may be other reasons it does not appeal: it requires a Windows computer. It can store data in the "cloud", but it's is often too slow and larger businesses are most likely going to revert to local data, which means you basically have your old MYOB, with all the funny...
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Xero limitations: very large transaction volumes & test results
Xero Transaction Limits: Nov 2018 test results
There are questions about how well Xero performs under "higher loads". Our first concern was for medium-sized wholesalers. Xero talks about limits as low as 1000 'transactions' a month. Our testing shows that Xero performs well at much higher transaction volumes. The first test results are based on 3 years of 2500 transaction rows per month (and then matching payments uploaded via a bank CSV). The second test run was much larger.
Note that after some discussions with Xero and based on our own experience, we (GrowthPath) believe that businesses can interpret the 'limit' of 1000 invoices a month as advisory. This limit does not form part of the terms of service. In Jan 2017 Xero published some small changes to the API limit, and these limits, which are enforced, allow a much, much higher load than Xero's advisory limits. Hence, stress testing is relevant because you will reach the practical limits of Xero before you exceed API limits....
Read more: Xero...
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MYOB crashing and too slow? Don't immediately replace it.
Is MYOB crashing? Too slow? It may be time to upgrade. First there are some fixes worth trying which can reduce crashes & lock-outs, and improve MYOB speed and performance.
Please note: this is an old article, which is fine technically... traditional desktop MYOB is old software. However, ATO rules are changing, such as Single Touch Payroll, and legacy desktop MYOB in 2019 is definitely and finally reaching the end of its long life. If you are still on legacy MYOB (Account Right Premier v19) you now need an exit plan.
If you have no inventory requirements, or very basic requirements, Xero is the best upgrade option. Quick Books Online is a candidate too. MYOB's own 'cloud' version is a candidate, although we don't think it is very good one. We have a comprehensive review of cloud accounting.
If you are looking for a much bigger improvement to your inventory and supply chain management, you may be ready for Cloud ERP. We have probably the best online review of SME cloud inventory...
Read more: MYOB crashing...
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Dear Inventory: Advanced Pricing Module
Easier access to Dear Inventory advanced pricing
Dear Inventory has a powerful advanced pricing module in addition to the standard ten price lists and customer-level discounts. Not many clients use the advanced features because it's hard to understand and hard to set up; for example, the second step requires a CSV upload in many cases.
Dear has now put a graphical front end to advanced pricing, making it easier to use. Advanced pricing is the place to add quantity breaks and free shipping rules, as well as much more.
In 2019, Dear Inventory has several ways of calculating pricing. Pricing for many businesses in complex, and Dear is rising to meet this... with complex choices.
1. Simple price lists. Dear has ten.
2. Customer discount percentage of a simple price list
3. Customer price lists, at sku level. You can upload CSVs of SKU-based pricing per customer.
4. Markup pricing: You can define pricing based on cost price data
5. Advanced pricing, the topic of this article. Advanced...
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Choosing and implementing a new accounting or ERP system
Advice & recommendations on selecting and implementing a new accounting or ERP system, cloud or otherwise. Including strategies for going live, and when to to live. What are the main steps in the project? What testing is needed? When you should you go live?
Read more: Choosing and...
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Dear Inventory B2B Portal overview
Dear Inventory has a fundamental B2B portal which is in its second release. Bottom line: it's easy to setup (a couple of hours at most to get up and running), it's free and it automates basic order enquiries and order entry. You control exactly which customers can use it.
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Allocations in Dear Inventory
Allocation Logic in Dear Inventory, explained
Dear Inventory has two order flows, Standard and Advanced. They both let you prioritise stock with soft and hard allocations if you use manual picking. The Advanced module has another option: authorised orders with no allocation at all. In this article, we see the differences between soft and hard allocations, and how to override soft allocations to prioritise which customers get scarce stock.
You can swap a Standard order to Advanced. An order created in the standard process can move to the Advanced process via the Convert button. See the picture below.
Read more: Allocations...
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Per site cost valuations in Dear Inventory
Some tips on getting per-location costing in Dear Inventory for more accurate margins.
Dear Inventory is a cloud-based inventory system which is currently GrowthPath's default recommendation for general purpose cloud ERP systems.
Dear has a well-thought approach to stock valuation. From the beginning Dear was designed to give users the chance of activate batch and serial number tracking for receipts, and Dear decided to fully support this with FIFO product costing per batch or serial. In fact, Dear users FIFO costing as its costing method for standard stock as well; the common choice is weighted average. FIFO and weighted average are the same over time.
Like its competitors, such as Unleashed, Trade Gecko and Cin7, Dear allows multiple locations, but it does not keep costs per location.
Imagine that you are receiving stock into an Australian warehouse and a New Zealand warehouse from a Chinese supplier. You may have the same FOB price, but different landed costs. Dear handles landed...
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Cloud ERP FAQ
Common questions about cloud ERP
Cloud ERP (Dear Inventory, Unleashed, CIN-7, Trade Gecko, Stitch...) has huge advantages: fast to deploy, easy to learn and with much better reporting and insights that traditional ERP software. Above all, these packages integrate so easily with CRMs, accounting, online stores, third-party fulfilment, shippers. The business model is different: you pay per month, you no longer host the data. Here we quickly cover the main questions, advantages and disadvantages of cloud ERP for SMEs.
We have a much more in-depth review of common cloud ERP solutions here: A review of cloud ERP for Australian SMEs
Read more: Cloud ERP FAQ
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IT used by GrowthPath
Here is the IT in use at GrowthPath.
Accounting
Since our foundation, GrowthPath has used cloud accounting. Initially we used MYOB Essentials, then Saasu, and as of 2016 we are on Xero.
CRM and Project Management
We use Pipedrive. Pipedrive is an excellent CRM for deal-based businesses.
We have become big fans of Trello.
Quotes are prepared with Nifty Quoter.
Email & Cloud Apps, Client OS
We use Google Apps/Google Drive. Desktop OS is a mix: OS X preferred, Chrome OS and Windows get some use. Mobile devices are now mostly Android.
Web services, Analytics
We have servers, and client servers, hosted with AWS and Digital Ocean. We use Ubuntu as the platform of choice. We use namecheap for SSL certificates, and a variety of registrars for domain names. Analytics is 100% Google.
Content Management
GrowthPath uses Joomla, self-hosted, although we have good Wordpress skills.
Traffic Generation
GrowthPath does not currently use any paid traffic generation techniques. Our SEO is good and...
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Advanced use of information for SMEs
Applying relevant information to make better decisions is a very important outcome of a medium-term IT plan. Cloud solutions are really good at enabling this, even if the first phase focuses more on the operational foundations. There are many options available for cost-effective business intelligence solutions in the cloud. Amazon, for example, has developed a rich layer which has stimulated many offers: Google for “Amazon Redshift marketplace”.
Advanced reporting, or business intelligence, has three components. It has a reporting or data visualisation front end (graphs, dashboards, reports etc). It has a data store and analytical logic layer, which imports data from different sources and allows us to group and relate the data to support the visualisation layer. Business Intelligence products always include these two layers. Many of the cheaper cloud solutions, such as Zoho Reports, effectively stop with these two layers.
The third layer is very important. Technically it is know as...
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A hidden gem: Neto/Saasu Integration
A hidden gem: Neto/Saasu Integration
Neto is an excellent hosted online store. It handles wholesale and retail very well (simultaneously), and has the best-on-the-market integration with Australian shippers, anywhere. Better than Unleashed, Dear Inventory, Shopify ...
On top of that, Neto looks after multiple price lists, variations, multiple stock locations,has a decent template engine, a fast backend, good ebay integration. It does backorders like MYOB, which is actually much more suited for smaller wholesalers than the current approach of Dear and Unleashed. A startup from Queensland with Telstra as a significant shareholder. It's not perfect: It doesn't do multi-currency, its reporting is average. And it has no purchasing module. It doesn't do supplier invoices, receipts and costing. For this, is expects you to integrate it with something else. A Neto / Saasu integration offers a lot for the money.
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Making sense of the numbers
It's great to have a well used accounting system quietly gathering thousands of data points about your business. Your bank transactions. Your invoice detail lines. Your purchases. Your stock movements. Your postage and electricity costs. The location of your customers. Their history with you. And so on.
But how to turn it into profitable insights?
Read more: Making sense...
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MYOB: Renovate, Extend or Replace?
Businesses outgrow MYOB. But this doesn't require an immediate replacement.
Read more: MYOB:...
