Open ERP, a modern

approach to integrated
business management
Release 1.0

SIROCO Technologies
Geoff Gardiner

2009-04-09

Open ERP, a modern approach to integrated business management,

Release 1.0

CONTENT
S

i
ii

I Foreword 7
1

Open Source software at the service of management 11

The Open ERP Solution

13

2.1 Why this book? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13
2.2 Whos it for? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
3

Structure of this book

Dedication 17

15

II First steps with Open ERP

19

23

Installation and Initial Setup

5.1 The architecture of Open ERP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

24
5.2 The installation of Open ERP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
5.3 Database creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
36
5.4 New Open ERP functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40
6

Guided Tour

41

6.1 Database creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

41
6.2 To connect to Open ERP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
42
6.3 Installing new functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
50
6.4 Guided Tour of Open ERP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54

Open ERP, a modern approach to integrated business management,

Release 1.0

Developing a real case

7.1 Use case

67

67

.................................................

7.2 Functional requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

68
7.3 Database creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
68
7.4 Installing and configuring modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
70
7.5 Database setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
72
7.6 Testing
a
Purchase-Sale
....................................
81

III Managing Customer Relationships

8

workflow

89

Leads, Business Opportunities and Campaigns 93

8.1 Managing Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

93
8.2 Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
8.3 Sales Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
102
9

Customer Relationship Management

107

9.1 Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

9.2 Case management
110
9.3 Profiling
123

............................................

.................................................

10 Communications Tools

127

10.1 Microsoft Outlook interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

127
10.2 Mozilla Thunderbird interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
130

10.3 Microsoft Word interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

132

IV General Accounting 137

11 From invoice to payment 141
11.1 Accounting workflow and the automatic generation of invoices
. . . . . . . . . 141

...........

11.2 Invoicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

11.3 Accounting entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
153
11.4 Management
of
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

payments

12 Financial Analysis 167

12.1 Managing accounts payable / creditors and accounts receivable / debtors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
12.2 Statutory
taxes
and
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

accounts

12.3 Company Financial Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

178
13 Configuring Accounts from A to Z
13.1 Chart of Accounts
183

183

............................................

13.2 Journals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

13.3 Periods
and
fiscal
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

years

13.4 Payment Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

13.5 Entries at the start of a year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
190

V Effective Management of Operations

14 Analytic Accounts 195

191

Open ERP, a modern approach to integrated business management,

Release 1.0

14.1 To each enterprise [his] own analytic chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . 196
14.2 Putting analytic accounts in place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 201
14.3 Analytic records
203

.............................................

14.4 Financial Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

15 Organization of Human Resources
211
15.1 Managing Human Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
211
15.2 Timesheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
16 Services Management

223

16.1 Managing Service Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

223
16.2 Planning that improves leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 227
16.3 Treatment of expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
231
17 Internal Organization and Project Management 233
17.1 Project management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
233
17.2 The art of productivity without stress
. . . . . . 238

VI Stock and Manufacturing

............................

243

18 Logistics and Stock Management

247

18.1 Understanding double-entry stock management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . 248
18.2 Complete
workflow
from
supplier
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

to

customer

18.3 Stocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

18.4 Logistics
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Configuration

18.5 Import / Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

18.6 Warehouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
18.7 Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
18.8 Management of lots and traceability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 280
18.9 Management by Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
284
18.10
Advanced
elements
of
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
19 Manufacturing

stock

management

297

19.1 Management of production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

297
19.2 Bills of Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
19.3 Multi-level Bills of Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
302
19.4 Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
19.5 Workflow for complete production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 308
19.6 Production
order
in
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

detail

19.7 Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

19.8 Calculation of lead times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
321
19.9 Operations
322

................................................

19.10
Events
and
barcodes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
19.11
Treatment of exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . 332
19.12
Manual
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

procurement

19.13
Management of waste products and secondary products . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Open ERP, a modern approach to integrated business management,

Release 1.0

19.14
Management
of
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

VII Sales and Purchasing

20 Management of Sales

repairs

343

347

20.1 Sales Quotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

20.2 Management of Packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
353
20.3 Management of Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
354
20.4 Control of deliveries and invoicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 356
20.5 Management of Carriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
357
20.6 Margin Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
20.7 Price management policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
364
20.8 Rebates at the end of a campaign
. . 370
20.9 Open orders

..................................

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

20.10
Layout
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

templates

21 Purchasing Management 375

21.1 All the elements of a complete workflow
. . . . 375

............................

21.2 Analyis of purchases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

384
21.3 Supplier
relationship
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
21.4 Analytic accounts
386

management

............................................

VIII Process and Document Management 387

22 Process

389

22.1 The integration of processes into the management system

. . . . . . . . . . . . 389

...........

22.2 Workflows and User Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

394
23 Integrated Document Management
23.1 The

403

importance
of
good
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

document

management

23.2 Classic document management solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . 404
23.3 The

Open
ERP
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

23.4 Internal and external access using FTP

. . . . . 407

solution

............................

23.5 Mapping between Open ERP resources and directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . 408
23.6 Managing Attachments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
410
23.7 Virtual Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
23.8 Standardizing Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
412
23.9 Searching for documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
413
23.10
Integration with emails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . 415
23.11
Working
with
users
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
23.12
Version
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

changes
Management

23.13
Documents used for company processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . 417

IX System Administration and Implementation 419

Open ERP, a modern approach to integrated business management,

Release 1.0

24 Configuration & Administration 423

24.1 Creating a Configuration Module
. . 424

..................................

24.2 Configuring
the
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

menu

24.3 User Login . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

24.4 Managing access rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
429
24.5 Groups and Users
430

............................................

24.6 Configuring
workflows
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

and

processes

24.7 Configuring reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

434
24.8 Importing and exporting data
. . . . 441
25 Implementation Methodology

..................................

449

25.1 Requirements Analysis and Planning

. . . . . . 449
25.2 Deployment

............................

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

25.3 User training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453

25.4 Support
and
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

X Conclusion

457

26 You arent alone

461

maintenance

26.1 Bypass the technical difficulties by using the SaaS offer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . 461
26.2 Consult the available resources
. . . 461

..................................

Index 463

11

Part I

Foreword

13

Open ERP, a modern approach to integrated business management, Release 1.0

Information Systems have played an increasingly visible role over the past several years in
improving the competitiveness of business. More than just tools for handling repetitive
tasks, theyre used to guide and advance all of a companys daily activities. Integrated
management software is today very often a key source of significant competitive advantage.
The standard response to a need for responsiveness, reliability, and rapidly increasing
expectations is to create an organization based on departments with a clear linear structure,
integrated around your operating processes. To increase efficiency amongst salespeople,
accountants, logistics staff and everyone else you should have a common understanding of
your problems.
For this you need a common language for shared references, policies and communication.
An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system makes the ideal platform for this common
reference point.

15

ONE

OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

AT THE
SERVICE OF MANAGEMENT
Risks and integration costs are important barriers to all the advantages you
gain from such systems. Thats why, today, few small- and medium-sized
companies use ERP. In addition, the larger ERP vendors such as SAP,
Microsoft and Oracle havent been able to reconcile the power and
comprehensive cover of an ERP system with the simplicity and flexibility
wanted by the users. But this is exactly what small and medium enterprises
are looking for.

17

The development processes of open source software, and the new business
models adopted by their developers, provide a new way of resolving such
problems of cost and quality for this kind of enterprise software.
To make an ERP system fully available to small and medium enterprises,
cost reduction is the first priority. Open source software makes it possible to
greatly reduce development costs by aggressive reuse of open source
software libraries; to eliminate intermediaries (the distributors), with all of
their expensive sales overhead; to cut out selling costs by free publication of
the software; and to considerably reduce the marketing overhead.
Since there is open interaction among thousands of contributors and
partners working on the same project, the quality of the resulting software
benefits greatly from the scrutiny. And you cant be everything at once:
accountant, software developer, salesperson, ISO 9001 quality professional,
specialist in agricultural products, expert in the customs and habits of
pharmaceutical vendors, just as a start.
Faced with these wide-ranging requirements, what could be better than a
world network of partners and contributors? Everyone adds their own
contribution according to their professional competence. Throughout this
book youll see that the results exceed any reasonable expectations when
such work is well organized.
But the real challenge of development is to make this solution simple and
flexible, as well as complete. And to reach this level of quality you need a
leader and co-ordinator who can organize all of these activities. So the

development team of Tiny ERP, today called Open ERP, is responsible for
most of the organization, synchronization and coherence of the software.
And Open ERP offers great performance in all these areas!
Chapter 1. Open Source software at the
service of management

TWO

THE OPEN ERP SOLUTION

Because of its modularity, collaborative developments in Open ERP have
been cleanly integrated, enabling any company to choose from a large list of
available functions. As with most open source software, accessibility,
flexibility, and simplicity are important keywords for development.
Experience has shown that theres no need to train users for several months
on the system, because they can just download it and use it directly.

19

So youll find the modules for all types of needs, allowing your company to build its
customized system by simply grouping and configuring the most suitable modules.
Hundreds of modules are available.
They range from specific modules like the EDI interface for agricultural
products, which has been used to interface with Match and Leclerc stores,
up to the generic demonstration automation module for ordering
sandwiches, which can take care of the eating preferences of your staff.
The results are rather impressive. Open ERP (once called Tiny ERP when it
started out) is management software that is downloaded more than any
other in the world, with over 600 downloads per day. Its available today in
18 languages and has a world network of partners and contributors. More
than 800 developers participate in the projects on the collaborative
development system of Tiny Forge.
To our knowledge, Open ERP is the only management system which is
routinely used not only by big companies but also by very small companies
and independent companies. This diversity is an illustration of the softwares
flexibility: a rather elegant coordination between peoples functional
expectations of the software and great simplicity in its use.
And this diversity is also found in the various sectors and trades which use the
software, including agricultural products, textiles, public auctions, IT, and trade
associations.

Lastly, such software has arisen from the blend of high code quality, welljudged architecture and use of free technologies. In fact, you may be
surprised (if youre an IT person) to find that the download size of Open ERP
is only around 6 MB. When thats expanded during installation its size is
mostly attributable to all the official translations that are packaged with it,
not the operating code. Weve moved a long way from the days when the
only people who could be expected to benefit from ERP were the owners of a
widget factory on some remote industrial estate.

2.1 Why this book?

Many books set out to tell readers about the management of enterprise, and
equally many aim to instruct the reader in the use of a piece of specialized
software. Were not aiming to add to those lists because our approach is
intended to be different.
Having restructured and reorganized many businesses, we wanted our
management experience to generate a work that is both instructive and
practical. It was important for us not to write a manual about Open ERP, but
instead a work that deals with advanced management techniques realized
through these IT tools. Youll see what management practices might be
useful, whats possible, and then how you could achieve that in Open ERP.

21

Its this that well consider Open ERP for: not as an end in itself but just the tool
you use to put an advanced management system into place.

2.2 Whos it for?

Written by two CEOs who have been successful with new technologies, this
book is aimed at directors and managers who have an ambition to improve
the performance of their whole companys management team. Theyre likely
already to have significant responsibilities and possess the influence to get
things done in their company.
Its likely that most readers will come from small- and medium-sized
enterprises (up to a few hundred staff), and independent companies,
because of the breadth of functions that need to be analyzed and involved
in change. The same principles also apply to larger companies, however.

Chapter 2. The Open ERP Solution

THREE

STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK

Part One, First steps with Open ERP, starts with the installation of Open ERP.
If you have already installed Open ERP you can directly take your first steps
on a guided tour in the Guided Tour chapter. If youre already familiar with
Open ERP or Tiny ERP you can use the Developing a real case chapter to
find out how to create a new workflow from scratch in an empty database
with nothing to distract you. Or you can skip directly to the Customer
Relationship Management chapter in the Managing Customer Relationships
part, to start with details of Open ERPs functional modules.
Part Two, Managing Customer Relationships, deals with Supplier and
Customer Relationship Management (SRM & CRM). Youll find the elements
necessary for managing an efficient sales department there, and
automating tasks to monitor performance.

23

Part Three, General Accounting, is devoted to general accounting and its key role in
the management of the whole enterprise.
Part Four, Effective Management of Operations, handles all the operational
functions of enterprise management: Human Resources for managing
projects, through financial analyses supplied by analytic (or cost) accounts.
Youll see how using Open ERP can help you to optimize your leadership of
an enterprise.
Part Five, Stock and Manufacturing, describes the physical movement of Stocks
and their Manufacture (the transformation or products and services into other
products).
Part Six, Sales and Purchasing, deals with Purchasing and Selling goods and
services.
Part Seven, Process and Document Management, is focused on the Process
description and Documentation handling that Open ERP manages.
Finally Part Eight, System Administration and Implementation, structured in two
chapters, explains first how to administer and configure Open ERP then provides a
methodology for implementing Open ERP in the enterprise.
Note: About the authors

About SIROCo Technology Private Limited:

Leveraging fully on the strong proprietary technology base, SIROCo
Technologies has derived ultimate business solution in online marketing, web
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25

Part II

First steps with Open ERP

27

Open ERP, a modern approach to integrated business management,

Release 1.0
Open ERP is an impressive software system, being simple to use and yet providing
great benefits in helping you manage your company. Its easy to install under both
Windows and Linux compared with other enterprise-scale systems, and offers
unmatched functionality.
The objective of this first part of the book is to help you to start discovering it in
practice.
The first chapter, Installation and Initial Setup, gives detailed guidance for
installing it. Next, in Guided Tour, youre taken on a step-by-step guided tour using
the information in its demonstration database. Then in Developing a real case you
can try out a real case, from scratch in a new database, by developing a complete
business workflow that runs from purchase to sale of goods.

29

CHAPTER

FIVE

INSTALLATION AND INITIAL

SETUP
Installing Open ERP under Windows or Linux for familiarization use should
take you only half an hour or so and needs only a couple of operations.
The first operation is installation of the application and database server on
a server PC (thats a Windows or Linux or Macintosh computer).
Youve a choice of approaches for the second operation: either install a
web server (most probably on the original server PC) to use with standard

web clients that can be found on anybodys PC, or install application

clients on each intended users PC.
When you first install Open ERP youll set up a database containing a little
functionality and some demonstration data to test
the installation.

31

Figure 5.1: Options for reading this part of the book

This chapter, Installation and Initial Setup, focuses on the installation of Open ERP
so that you can begin to familiarize yourselves with its use. If youre not a systems
administrator, or if youve already installed Open ERP, or if youre planning to use
an online SaaS provider, then you can skip this chapter and move straight to the
next chapter, Guided Tour. If youve already used Open ERP (or Tiny ERP) a bit then
you can move past that to the third chapter in this part of the book, Developing a
real case.
Note: Renaming from Tiny ERP to Open ERP
Tiny ERP was renamed to Open ERP early in 2008 so somebody whos already used
Tiny ERP should be equally at home with Open ERP. The two names refer to the
same software, so theres no functional difference between versions 4.2.X of Open
ERP and 4.2.X of Tiny ERP. This book applies to versions of Open ERP from 5.0.0
onwards, with references to earlier versions from time to time.
Note: The SaaS, or on-demand, offer
SaaS (Software as a Service) is delivered by a hosting supplier and paid in the form
of a monthly subscription that includes hardware (servers), system maintenance,
provision of hosting services, and support.
You can get a months free trial on Tinys http://ondemand.openerp.com, which
enables you to get started quickly without incurring costs for integration or for
buying computer systems. Many of Tinys partner companies will access this, and
some may offer their own similar service.

This service should be particularly useful to small companies that just want to get
going quickly and at low cost. It gives them immediate access to an integrated
management system thats been built on the type of enterprise architecture used
in banks and other large organizations. Open ERP is that system, and is described
in detail throughout this book.
Whether you want to test Open ERP or to put it into full production, you have at least
two starting points:
evaluate it on line at http://www.openerp.com and ask Tiny for an SaaS trial hosted
at http://ondemand.openerp.com, or the equivalent service at any of Tinys partner
companies,
install it on your own computers to test it in your companys systems environment.
There are some differences between installing Open ERP on Windows and on Linux
systems, but once installed, it gives the same functions from both so you wont
generally be able to tell which type of server youre using.
Note: Linux, Windows, Mac
Although this book deals only with installation on Windows and Linux systems, the
same versions are also available for the Macintosh on the official website of Open
ERP.

33

Note: Web sites for Open ERP

Main Site: http://www.openerp.com,

SaaS or on-demand Site:

http://ondemand.openerp.com,

Documentation Site: http://doc.openerp.com/,

Community
discussion
forum where you
often receive informed assistan
can http://www.openobject.com/forum.
ce:
Tip: Current documentation
The procedure for installing Open ERP and its web server are sure to change and
improve with each new version, so you should always check each releases
documentation both packaged with the release and on the website for exact
installation procedures.
Once youve completed this installation, create and set up a database to confirm
that your Open ERP installation is working. You can follow these early chapters in
this part of the book to achieve this.

5.1 The architecture of Open ERP

To access Open ERP you can:

 use a web browser pointed at the Open ERP client-web server, or

use an application client (the GTK client) installed on each computer.
The two methods of access give very similar facilities, and you can use both on the
same server at the same time. Its best to use the web browser if the Open ERP
server is some distance away (such as on another continent) because its more
tolerant of time delays between the two than the GTK client is. The web client is
also easier to maintain, because its generally already installed on users
computers.
Conversely youd be better off with the application client (called the GTK client
because of the technology its built with) if youre using a local server (such as in
the same building). In this case the GTK client will be more responsive, so more
satisfying to use.
Note: Web client and GTK client
The main functional difference between the two Open ERP clients is the presence of
the calendar view in the web client, which doesnt exist in the GTK client at present
(versions 4.x and 5.0). Apart from that you will find that there are small differences
in their general usability.
When youre changing the structure of your Open ERP installation (adding and
removing modules, perhaps changing labels) youll find the web client to be
irritating because of its use of caching.
Caching speeds it all up by keeping a copy of data somewhere between the server
and your client, which is usually good. But you may have made changes to your

35

installation that you cannot immediately see in your browser. Many apparent faults
are caused by this! The workaround is to use the GTK client during development
and implementation where possible.
The Tiny company will continue to support two clients for the foreseeable future, so
you can use whichever client you prefer.
An Open ERP system is formed from three main components:
the PostgreSQL database server, which contains all of the databases, each of which
contains all data and most elements of the Open ERP system configuration,
the Open ERP application server, which contains all of the enterprise logic and
ensures that Open ERP runs optimally,
the web server, a separate application called the Open Object client-web, which
enables you to connect to Open ERP from standard web browsers and is not needed
when you connect using a GTK client.

5.1.

architecture of Open ERP

37

Figure 5.2: The architecture of Open ERP

Note: Terminology: client-web server or client?
The client-web component can be thought of as a server or a client depending on
your viewpoint.
It acts as a web server to an end user connecting from a web browser, but it also
acts as a client to the Open ERP application server just as a GTK application client
does.
So in this book its context will determine whether the client-web component is
referred to as a server or a client.
Note: eTiny
The web application used to be known as eTiny. Its name changed to clientweb as Tiny ERP was renamed to Open ERP, but its characteristics have generally
stayed the same.
Note: PostgreSQL, the relational and object database management system.
Its a free and open-source high-performance system that compares well with other
database management systems such as MySQL and FirebirdSQL (both free),
Sybase, DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server (all proprietary). It runs on all types of
Operating System, from Unix/Linux to the various releases of Windows, via Mac OS
X, Solaris, SunOS and BSD.
These three components can be installed on the same server or can be distributed
onto separate computer servers if performance considerations require it.

If you choose to run only with GTK clients you wont need the third component the
client-web server at all. In this case Open ERPs GTK client must be installed on the
workstation of each Open ERP user in the company.

5.2 The installation of Open ERP

Whether youre from a small company investigating how Open ERP works, or on
the IT staff of a larger organization and have been asked to assess Open ERPs
capabilities, your first requirement is to install it or to find a working installation.
The table below summarizes the various installation methods that will be described
in the following sections.
Table 5.1: Comparison of the different methods of installation on Windows or Linux
Method

Average
Time

All-in-one
Windows
Installer
Independent
installation on
Windows

A few
minutes
Half an
hour

Level of
Complexit
y
Simple

Medium

Notes

Very useful for quick evaluations because it

installs all of the components pre-configured on
one computer (using the GTK client).
Enables you to install the components on
different computers. Can be put into production
use.

39

Ubuntu Linux
packages
From source,
for all Linux
systems

A few
Simple
Simple and quick but the Ubuntu packages arent
always up to date.
minutes
More
Medium
This is the method recommended for production
to
than
environments because its easy to keep it up to
slightly
half an
date.
difficult
hour
Each time a new release of Open ERP is made, Tiny supplies a complete Windows
auto-installer for it. This contains all of the components you need the PostgreSQL
database server, the Open ERP application server and the GTK application client.
This auto-installer enables you to install the whole system in just a few mouseclicks. The initial configuration is set up during installation, making it possible to
start using it very quickly as long as you dont want to change the underlying code.
Its aimed at the installation of everything on a single PC, but you can later connect
GTK clients from other PCs, Macs and Linux boxes to it as well.
The first step is to download the Open ERP installer. At this stage you must choose
which version to install the stable version or the development version. If youre
planning to put it straight into production youre strongly advised to choose the
stable version.
Note: Stable versions and development versions
Open ERP development proceeds on two parallel tracks: stable versions and
development versions.
New functionality is integrated into the development branch. This branch is more
advanced than the stable branch, but it can contain undiscovered and unfixed

faults. A new development release is made every month or so, and Tiny have made
the code repository available so you can download the very latest revisions if you
want.
The stable branch is designed for production environments. Releases of new
functionality there are made only about once a year after a long period of testing
and validation. Only fault fixes are released through the year on the stable branch.
To download the version of Open ERP for Windows, follow these steps:
1. Navigate to the site http://openerp.com.
2. Click Downloads on the menu at the left then, under Windows Installers, All in One.
3. This brings up the demonstration version Windows installer, currently openerpallinone-setup-5.0.0-3.
4. Save the file on your PC - its quite a substantial size because it downloads
everything including the PostgreSQL database system, so will take some time.
To install Open ERP and its database you must be signed in as an Administrator on
your PC. Double- click the installer file to install it and accept the default parameters
on each dialog box as you go.
If you had previously tried to install the all-in-one version of Open ERP, you have to
uninstall that first because various elements of a previous installation could
interfere with your new installation. Make sure that all Tiny ERP, Open ERP and

41

PostgreSQL applications are removed: youre likely to have to restart your PC to

finish removing all traces of them.
The Open ERP client can be opened, ready to use the Open ERP system, once you
have completed the allin-one installation. The next step consists of setting up the
database, and is covered in the final section of this chapter Creating the database.

5.2.1 Independent installation on Windows

System administrators can have very good reasons for wanting to install the
various components of a Windows installation separately. For example, your
company may not support the version of PostgreSQL or Python thats installed
automatically, or you may already have PostgreSQL installed on the server youre
using, or you may want to install the database server, application server and web
server on separate hardware units.
For this situation you can get separate installers for the Open ERP server and client
from the same location as the all-in-one auto-installer. Youll also have to download
and install a suitable version of PostgreSQL independently.
You must install PostgreSQL before the Open ERP server, and you must also set it up
with a user and password so that the Open ERP server can connect to it. Tinys webbased documentation gives full and current details.
Connecting users on other PCs to the Open ERP server

To connect other computers to the Open ERP server you must set the server up so
that its visible to the other PCs, and install a GTK client on each of the those PCs:
1. Make your Open ERP server visible to other PCs by opening the Windows
Firewall in the Control Panel, then asking the firewall to make an exception of
the Open ERP server. In the Exceptions tab of Windows Firewall click on Add a
program... and choose Open ERP Server in the list provided. This step enables
other computers to see the Open ERP application on this server.
2. Install the Open ERP client (openerp-client-5.X.exe), which you can download
in the same way as you downloaded the other Open ERP software, onto the
other PCs.
Tip: Version matching
You must make sure that the version of the client matches that of the server. The
version number is given as part of the name of the downloaded file. Although its
possible that some different revisions of client and server will function together,
theres no certainty about that.
To run the client installer on every other PC youll need to have administrator rights
there. The installation is automated, so you just need to guide it through its different
installation steps.
To test your installation, start by connecting through the Open ERP client on the
server machine while youre still logged in as administrator.

43

Note: Why sign in as a PC Administrator?

Youd not usually be signed on as a PC administrator when youre just running the
Open ERP client, but if there have been problems in the installation its easier to
remain as an administrator after the installation so that you can make any
necessary fixes than to switch user as you alternate between roles as a tester and
a software installer.
Start the GTK client on the server through the Windows Start menu there. The
main client window appears, identifying the server youre connected to (which is
localhost your own server PC by default). If the message No database found, you
must create one appears then youve successfully connected to an Open ERP server
containing, as yet, no databases.

Figure 5.3: Dialog box on connecting a GTK client to a new Open ERP server
Note: Connection modes
In its default configuration at the time of writing, the Open ERP client connects to
port 8069 on the server using the XML-RPC protocol (from Linux) or port 8070 using
the NET-RPC protocol instead (from Windows). You can use either protocol from
either operating system. NET-RPC is quite a bit quicker, although you may not

45

notice that on the GTK client in normal use. Open ERP can run XML-RPC, but not
NET-RPC, as a secure connection.
The all-in-one installer also provides a web server, but this was not yet working at
the time of writing.
Resolving errors with a Windows installation
If you cant get Open ERP to work after installing your Windows system youll find
some ideas for resolving this below:
1. Is the Open ERP application working? Signed in to the server as an
administrator, stop and restart the service using Stop Service and Start
Service from the menu Start Programs OpenERP Server .
2. Is the Open ERP application server set up correctly? Signed in to the server as
Administrator, open the file openerp-server.conf in C:\Program Files\OpenERP
AllInOne and check its content. This file is generated during installation with
information derived from the database. If you see something strange its best
to entirely reinstall the server from the demonstration installer rather than try
to work out whats happening.

47

Figure 5.4: Typical Open ERP configuration file

3. Is your PostgreSQL server running? Signed in as administrator, select Stop
Service from the menu Start Programs PostgreSQL. If, after a couple of
seconds, you can read The PostgreSQL4OpenERP service has stopped then
you can be reasonably sure that the database server was working. Restart
PostgreSQL.
4. Does PostgreSQL work at all? Still in the PostgreSQL menu, start the pgAdmin
III application which you can use to explore the database. Double-click on the
PostgreSQL4OpenERP connection. You can find the password in the Open ERP
server configuration file. If the database server is working youll be able to
see some information about the empty database. If its not then an error
message will appear.
5. Are your client programs correctly installed? If your Open ERP GTK clients
havent started then the swiftest approach is to reinstall them.
6. Can remote client computers see the server computer at all? Check this by
opening a command prompt window (enter cmd in the window Start Run... )
and enter ping <address of server> there ( where <address of server>
represents the IP address of the server). The server should respond with a
reply.
7. Have you changed any of the servers parameters? At this point in the
installation the port number of the server must be 8069 using the protocol
XML-RPC.

8. Is there anything else in the servers history that can help you identify the
problem? Open the file openerp-server.log in C:\Program Files\OpenERP
AllInOne(which you can only do when the server is stopped) and scan through
the history for ideas. If something looks strange there, contributors to the
Open ERP forums can often help identify the reason.

5.2.2 Installation on Linux ( Ubuntu )

This section guides you through installing the Open ERP server and client on
Ubuntu, one of the most popular Linux distributions. It assumes that youre using a
recent release of Desktop Ubuntu with its graphical user interface on a desktop or
laptop PC.
Note: Other Linux distributions
Installation on other distributions of Linux is fairly similar to installation on Ubuntu.
Read this section of the book so that you understand the principles, then use the
online documentation and the forums for your specific needs on another
distribution.
For information about installation on other distributions, visit the documentation
section by following Product Documentation on http://www.openerp.com.
Detailed instructions are given there for different distributions and releases, and
you should also check if there are more up to date instructions for the Ubuntu
distribution as well.

49

Installation of Open ERP from packages

At the time of writing this book, Ubuntu hadnt yet published packages for Open
ERP, so this section describes the installation of version 4.2 of Tiny ERP. This is very
similar to Open ERP and so can be used to test the software.
Heres a summary of the procedure:
1. Start Synaptic Package Manager, and enter your root password as required.
2. Check that the repositories mainuniverse and restricted are enabled.
3. Search for a recent version of PostgreSQL, for example postgresql-8.3then select it
for installation along with its dependencies.
4. Search for tinyerp then select tinyerp-client and tinyerp-server for installation along
with their dependencies. Click Update Now to install it all.
5. Close Synaptic Package Manager.
Installing PostgreSQL results in a database server that runs and restarts
automatically when the PC is turned on. If all goes as it should with the tinyerpserver package then tinyerp-server will also install, and restart automatically when
the PC is switched on.

Start the Tiny/Open ERP GTK client by clicking its icon in the Applications menu, or
by opening a terminal window and typing tinyerp-client . The Open ERP login dialog
box should open and show the message No database found you must create one!.
Although this installation method is simple and therefore an attractive option, its
better to install Open ERP using a version downloaded from http://openerp.com.
The downloaded revision is likely to be far more up to date than that available from
a Linux distribution.
Note: Package versions
Maintaining packages is a process of development, testing and publication that
takes time. The releases in Open ERP (or Tiny ERP) packages are therefore not
always the latest available. Check the version number from the information on the
website before installing a package. If only the third digit group differs (for
example 5.0.1 instead of 5.0.2) then you may decide to install it because the
differences may be minor fault fixes rather than functionality changes between
the package and the latest version.

Manual installation of the Open ERP server

In this section youll see how to install Open ERP by downloading it from the site
http://openerp.com, and how to install the libraries and packages that Open ERP
depends on, onto a desktop version of Ubuntu. Heres a summary of the procedure:

51

1. Navigate to the page http://openerp.com with your web browser,

2. Click Downloads on the left menu,
3. Download the client and server files from the Sources (Linux) section into your home
directory (or some other location if youve defined a different download area).
To download the PostgreSQL database and all of the other dependencies for Open
ERP from packages:
1. Start Synaptic Package Manager, and enter the root password as required.
2. Check that the repositories mainuniverse and restricted are enabled.
3. Search for a recent version of PostgreSQL (such as postgresql-8.3 then select it for
installation along with its dependencies.
4. Select all of Open ERPs dependences, an up-to-date list of which should be found in
the installation documents on Tinys website, then click Update Now to install them.
Note: Python programming language
Python is the programming language thats been used to develop Open ERP. Its a
dynamic, non-typed language that is object-oriented, procedural and functional. It
comes with numerous libraries that provide interfaces to other languages and has
the great advantage that it can be learnt in only a few days. Its the language of
choice for large parts of NASAs, Googles and many other enterprises code.

For more information on Python, explore http://www.python.org.

Once all these dependencies and the database are installed, install the server itself
using the instructions on the website.
Open a terminal window to start the server with the command sudo -i -u postgres
openerp-server ,
which should result in a series of log messages as the server starts up. If the server
is correctly installed, the message [...] waiting for connections... should show within
30 seconds or so, which indicates that the server is waiting for a client to connect to
it.

Figure 5.5: Open ERP startup log in the console

Manual installation of Open ERP GTK clients

53

To install an Open ERP GTK client, follow the steps outline on the website installation
document for your particular operating system.
Tip: Survey: Dont Cancel!
When you start the GTK client for the first time, a dialog box appears asking for
various details that are intended to help the Tiny company assess the prospective
user base for its software.
If you click the Cancel button, the window goes away but Open ERP will ask the
same questions again next time you start the client. Its best to click OK, even if you
choose to enter no data, to prevent that window reappearing next time.

Figure 5.6: Open ERP client at startup

Open a terminal window to start the client using the command openerp-client.
When you start the client on the same Linux PC as the server youll find that the
default connection parameters will just work without needing any change. The
message No database found, you must create one! shows you that the connection
to the server has been successful and you need to create a database on the server.

55

Creating the database

You can connect other GTK clients over the network to your Linux server. Before
you leave your server, make sure you know its network address either by its
name ( such as mycomputer.mycompany.net ) or its IP address (such as
192.168.0.123 ).
Note: Different networks
Communications between an Open ERP client and server are based on standard
protocols. You can connect Windows clients to a Linux server, or vice versa, without
problems. Its the same for Mac versions of Open ERP you can connect Windows
and Linux clients and servers to them.
To install an Open ERP client on a computer under Linux, repeat the procedure
shown earlier in this section. You can connect different clients to the Open ERP
server by modifying the connection parameters on each client. To do that, click the
Change button on the connection dialog and set the following field as needed:
Server : name or IP address of the server over the network,
Port : the port, whose default is 8069 or 8070,
Connection protocol : XML-RPC or NET-RPC .

Figure 5.7: Dialog box for defining connection parameters to the server
Its possible to connect the server to the client using a secure protocol to prevent
other network users from listening in, but the installation described here is for direct
unencrypted connection.
If your Linux server is protected by a firewall youll have to provide access to port
8069or 8070for users on other computers with Open ERP GTK clients.

Installation of an Open ERP web server

57

Just as you installed a GTK client on a Linux server, you can also install the Open
ERP client-web server. You can install it from sources after installing its
dependencies from packages as you did with the Open ERP server, but Tiny have
provided a simpler way to do this for eTiny using a system known as ez_setup.
Before proceeding, confirm that your Open ERP installation is functioning correctly
with a GTK client. If its not youll need to go back now and fix it, because you need
to be able to use it fully for the next stages.
To install client-web follow the up-to-date instructions in the installation document
on the website.
Note: Ez tool
Ez is the packaging system used by Python. It enables the installation of programs
as required just like the packages used by a Linux distribution. The software is
downloaded across the network and installed on your computer by ez_install.
ez_setup is a small program that installs ez_install automatically.
The Open ERP Web server connects to the Open ERP server in the same way as an
Open ERP client using the NETRPC protocol. Its default setup corresponds to that of
the Open ERP server youve just installed, so should connect directly at startup.
1. At the same console as youve just been using, go to the Openerp web
directory by typing cd openerp-web-5.X.

2. At a terminal window type start-openerp-web to start the Open ERP Web

server.

59

Figure 5.8: Open ERP web client at startup

You can verify the installation by opening a web browser on the server and
navigating to http://localhost:8080 to connect to eTiny as shown in the figure Open
ERP web client at startup. You can also test this from another computer connected
to the same network if you know the name or IP address of the server over the
network your browser should be set to http://<server_address>:8080 for this.
Verifying your Linux installation
Youve used default parameters so far during the installation of the various
components. If youve had problems, or you just want to set this up differently, the
following points provide some indicators about how you can set your installation
up.
Tip: psql and pgAdmin tools psql is a simple client, executed from the command
line, thats delivered with PostgreSQL. It enables you to execute SQL commands on
your Open ERP database.
If you prefer a graphical utility to manipulate your database directly you can install
pgAdmin III ( it is commonly installed automatically with PostgreSQL on a
windowing system, but can also be found at http://www.pgadmin.org/ ).

1. The PostgreSQL database starts automatically and listens locally on port 5432 as
standard: check this by entering sudo netstat -anpt at a terminal to see if port 5432
is visible there.
2. The database system has a default role of postgres accessible by running under the
Linux postgres user: check this by entering sudo su postgres -c psql at a terminal to
see the psql startup message then type \q to quit the program.
3. Start the Open ERP server from the postgres user (which enables it to access the
PostgreSQL database) by typing sudo su postgres -c tinyerp-server.
4. If you try to start the Open ERP server from a terminal but get the message
socket.error: (98 , Address already in use) then you might be trying to start Open
ERP while an instance of Open ERP is already running and using the sockets that
youve defined (by default 8069 and 8070). If thats a surprise to you then you may
be coming up against a previous installation of Open ERP or Tiny ERP, or something
else using one or both of those ports.
Type sudo netstat -anpt to discover what is running there, and record the PID.
You can check that the PID orresponds to a program you can dispense with by
typing ps aux | grep <PID> and you can then stop the program from running
by typing sudo kill <PID>. You need additional measures to stop it from
restarting when you restart the server.
5. The Open ERP server has a large number of configuration options. You can see what
they are by starting the server with the argument -help By efault the server

61

configuration is stored in the file .terp_serverrc in the users home directory (and for
the postgres user that directory is /var/lib/postgresql .
6. You can delete the configuration file to be quite sure that the Open ERP server is
starting with just the default options. It is quite common for an upgraded system to
behave badly because a new version server cannot work with options from a
previous version. When the server starts without a configuration file it will write a
new one once there is something non-default to write to it it will operate using
defaults until then.
7. To verify that the system works, without becoming entangled in firewall problems,
you can start the Open ERP client from a second terminal window on the server
computer (which doesnt pass through the firewall). Connect using the XML-RPC
protocol on port 8069 or NET-RPC on port 8070. The server can use both ports
simultaneously. The window displays the log file when the client is started this way.
8. The client setup is stored in the file .terprc in the users home directory. Since a GTK
client can be started by any user, each user would have their setup defined in a
configuration file in their own home directory.
9. You can delete the configuration file to be quite sure that the Open ERP client is
starting with just the default options. When the client starts without a configuration
file it will write a new one for itself.
10.The web server uses the NET-RPC protocol. If a GTK client works but the web server
doesnt then the problem is either with the NET-RPC port or with the web server
itself, and not with the Open ERP server.

Hint: One server for several companies

You can start several Open ERP application servers on one physical computer
server by using different ports. If you have defined multiple database roles in
PostgreSQL, each connected through an Open ERP instance to a different port, you
can simultaneously serve many companies from one physical server at one time.

5.3 Database creation

Use the technique outlined in this section to create a new database, openerp_ch01 .
This database will contain the demonstration data provided with Open ERP and a
large proportion of the core Open ERP functionality. Youll need to know your super
administrator password for this or youll have to find somebody who does have it
to create this seed database.
Note: The super-administrator password
Anyone who knows the super-administrator password has complete access to the data on
the server able to read, change and delete any of the data in any of the databases there.
After first installation, the password is admin. You can change it through the GTK client from
the menu File Databases Administrator Password, or through the web client by logging
out (click the Logout link), clicking Databases on the login screen, and then clicking the
Password button on the Management screen. This password is stored in a configuration file
outside the database, so a server systems administrator can change it if you forget it.

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Figure 5.9: Changing the super-administrator password through the web client

5.3.1 Creating the database

If youre using the GTK client, choose Files Databases New database in the menu at
the top left. Enter the super-administrator password, then the name of the new
database youre creating.

Figure 5.10: Creating a new database through the GTK client

If youre using the web client, click Databases on the login screen, then Create on the
database management page. Enter the super-administrator password, and the name of the
new database youre creating.
In both cases youll see a checkbox that determines whether you load demonstration data or
not. The consequences of checking this box or not affect the whole use of this database.
In both cases youll also see that you can choose the Administrator password. This makes
your database quite secure because you can ensure that it is unique from the outset. (In fact
many people find it hard to resist admin as their password!)
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5.3. Database creation

5.3.2 Database openerp_ch01

Wait for the message showing that the database has been successfully created, along with
the user accounts and passwords (admin/XXXX and demo/demo ). Now youve created this
seed database you can extend it without having to know the super-administrator password.
Tip: User Access
The combination of username/password is specific to a single database. If you have
administrative rights to a database you can modify all users. Alternatively you can install the
users_ldap module, which manages the authentication of users in LDAP (the Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol, a standard system), and connect it to several Open ERP
databases. Using this, many databases can share the same user account details.
Note: Failure to create a database
How do you know if youve successfully created your new database? Youre told if the
database creation has been unsuccessful. If you have entered a database name using
prohibited characters (or no name, or too short a name) you will be alerted by the dialog box
Bad database name! explaining how to correct the error. If youve entered the wrong superadministrator password or a name already in use (some names can be reserved without your
knowledge), youll be alerted by the dialog box Error during database creation!.
Connect to the database openerp_ch01 that you just created, using the default administrator
account.
If this is the first time youve connected to this database youll be asked a series of questions
to define the database parameters:
1. Select a profile : select Minimal Profile and click Next.
2. Company Details : replace the proposed default of Tiny sprl by your own company name,
complete as much of your address as you like, and add some lines about your company, such
as a slogan and any statutory requirements, to the header and footer fields. Click Next.
3. Summary : check the information and go back to make any modifications you need before
installation. Then click Install.
4. Installation Completed : click Ok.
Once configuration is complete youre connected to your Open ERP system. Its functionality
is very limited because youve selected a minimal installation, but this is sufficient to
demonstrate that your installation is working.

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Figure 5.11: Defining your company during initial database configuration

5.3.3 Managing databases

As a super-administrator youve not only got rights to create new databases, but also to:
delete databases,
backup databases,
restore databases.
All of these operations can be carried out from the menu File Databases... Backup
databases in the GTK client, or from the Database button in the web clients Login screen.
Tip: Duplicating a database
To duplicate a database you can:
1. make a backup file on your PC from this database.
2. restore this database from the backup file on your PC, giving it a new name as you do
so.
This can be a useful way of making a test database from a production database. You can try
out the operation of a new configuration, new modules, or just the import of new data.
A system administrator can configure Open ERP to restrict access to some of these database
functions so that your security is enhanced in normal production use.
You are now ready to use databases from your installation to familiarize yourself with the
administration and use of Open ERP.

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5.3. Database creation

5.4 New Open ERP functionality

The database youve created and managed so far is based on the core Open ERP functionality
that you installed. The core system is installed in the file system of your Open ERP application
server, but only installed into an Open ERP database as you require it, as is described in the
next chapter, Guided Tour.
What if want to update whats there, or extend whats there with additional modules?
To update what you have, youd install a new instance of Open ERP using the same
techniques as described earlier in this section, Database creation.
To extend what you have, youd install new modules in the addons directory of your current
Open ERP installation. There are several ways of doing that.
In both cases youll need briefly to be a root user or Administrator of your Open ERP
application server.

5.4.1 Extending Open ERP

To extend Open ERP youll need to copy modules into the addons directory. Thats in your
servers openerp-server directory (which differs between Windows, Mac and some of the
various Linux distributions and not available at all in the Windows all-in-one installer). If you
look there youll see existing modules such as product and purchase. A module can be
provided in the form of files within a directory or a a zip-format file containing that same
directory structure.
You can add modules in two main ways through the server, or through the client. To add
new modules through the server is a conventional systems administration task. As rootuser
or other suitable user, youd put the module in the addons directory and change its
permissions to match those of the other modules.
To add new modules through the client you must first change the permissions of the
addonsdirectory of the server, so that it is writable by the server. That will enable you to
install Open ERP modules using the Open ERP client (a task ultimately carried out on the
application server by the server software).
Tip: Changing permissions
A very simple way of changing permissions on the Linux system youre using to develop an
Open ERP application is to execute the command sudo chmod 777 <path_to_addons>
(where <path_to_addons> is the full path to the addons directory, a location like
/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/openerp- server/addons).
Any user of Open ERP who has access to the relevant administration menus can then upload
any new functionality, so youd certainly disable this capability for production use. Youll see
examples of this uploading as you make your way through this book.
CHAPTER

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GUIDED TOUR
Starting to discover Open ERP, using demonstration data supplied with the system,
is a good way to familiarize yourself with the user interface. This guided tour
provides you with an introduction to many of the available system features.
Youd be forgiven a flicker of apprehension when you first sit at your computer to connect to
Open ERP, since ERP systems are renowned for their complexity and for the time it takes to
learn how to use them. These are, after all, Enterprise Resource Planning systems, capable of
managing most elements of global enterprises, so they should be complicated, shouldnt
they? But even if this is often the case for proprietary software, Open ERP is a bit of an
exception in the class of management software.
Despite its comprehensiveness, Open ERPs interface and workflow management facilities are
quite simple and intuitive to use. For this reason Open ERP is one of the few software
packages with reference customers in both very small businesses (typically requiring
simplicity) and large accounts (typically requiring wide functional coverage).
A two-phase approach provides a good guide for your first steps with Open ERP:
1. Using a database containing demonstration data to get an overview of Open ERPs
functionality (described in this chapter, Guided Tour)
2. Setting up a clean database to configure and populate a limited system for yourself
(described in the next chapter, Developing a real case).
To read this chapter effectively, make sure that you have access to an Open ERP server. The
description in this chapter assumes that youre using the Open ERP web client unless it states
otherwise. The general functionality differs little from one client to the other.

6.1 Database creation

Use the technique outlined in Installation and Initial Setup to create a new database,
openerp_ch02 . This database will contain the demonstration data provided with Open ERP
and a large proportion of the core Open ERP functionality. Youll need to know your super
administrator password for this or youll have to find somebody who does have it to create
this seed database.
Start the database creation process from the Welcome page by clicking Databases and then
completing the following fields on the Create new database form:

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New database name : openerp_ch02 ,

Load Demonstration data checkbox: checked ,

Default Language : English ,

Administrator password : admin (because its easiest to remember at this stage, but
obviously completely insecure),

Confirm password : admin .

6.2 To connect to Open ERP

Since this is the first time youve connected to it youll have to go through the Setup wizard in
steps:
1. Select a profile : select Minimal Profile and click Next.
2. At the Define Main Company step you should select your own Company Name and Currency,
and address details on the first tab General Information; and add more details on the second
tab Report Information including a logo, if you have one, that appears on reports. Click Next.
3. At the Summary page you can go back to change details if you need. Click the Install button.
4. Finally, at the Installation done page, click Start Configuration.
Configuration consists of a set of wizards that help you through options for the installed
modules. Hardly anything is installed so this is a very simple process at the moment.
1. At the first screen click Continue to go into the first wizard. Choose View Mode : Simplified
Interface and then click Set to save it.
2. Click Skip Step to step over the next wizard, which would enable you to add other users.
3. Youve now reached the end of the configuration so click Continue to start using the system
as the Administrator.
Once youre displaying the main menu youre able to see the following screen items, as
shown in screenshot The Main Menu of the openerp_ch02 database:
the Preferences toolbar to the top right, showing the user name, links to the Home page,
Preferences, About and Logout,
just below youll find information about the Request system,
links to the MAIN MENU and the SHORTCUTS,
information about copyright and the database youre logged into at the bottom of the page,
the main contents of the window with by the menu toolbar to the left: links generally line up
on the right but there are none to show at the moment.

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Figure 6.1: The Main Menu of the openerp_ch02 database

Two menus are available on the left:
Partners,
Administration.

6.2.1 Preferences toolbar

When youre connected to Open ERP the Preferences toolbar indicates which user youre
connected as. So it should currently be showing Welcome Administrator (unless you logged in
as another user and its reflecting the name of that user instead).
Youll find a link to the Home page to its right. This takes you to either the dashboard or the
available menus, depending on the user configuration. In the case of the
openerp_ch02database so far the Home page is the Main Menu. But in general each user of
the system is presented with a dashboard thats designed to show performance indicators
and urgent documents that are most useful to someone of the users position in the company.
Youll see how to assign dashboards to different users in a later chapter, Configuration &
Administration.
Tip: Multi-nationals and time zones
If you have users in different countries, they can configure their own timezone. Timestamp
displays are then adjusted by reference to the users own localization setting.
So if you have a team in India and a team in England, the times will automatically be
converted. If an Indian employee sets her working hours from 9 to 6 that will be converted
and saved in the servers timezone. When the English users want to set up a meeting with an
Indian user, the Indian users available time will be converted to English time.
The next element in the Toolbar is a link to Preferences. By clicking that link you reach a page
where the current user can set their password, a timezone, a working language, and a
signature:
The Password field gives the user the opportunity to change their own password. You should
take steps ( perhaps written policies) to prevent users making these too trivial.

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The Language field enables the users working language to be changed. But first the system
must be loaded with other languages for the user to be able to choose an alternative, which
is described in the next subsection of this chapter. This is a mandatory field, although might
initially be set as blank.
The Timezone setting indicates the users location to Open ERP. This can be different from
that of the server. All of the dates in the system are converted to the users timezone
automatically.
The Signature field gives the user a place for the signature attached to messages sent from
within Open ERP.
The About link gives information about the development of the Open ERP software and
various links to other information.
The Logout link enables you to logout and return to the original login page. You can then login
to another database, or to the same database as another user. This page also gives you
access to the super-administrator functions for managing databases on this server.
The Requests link sits just below this toolbar. It is only visible if youre logged into a database.
If your database is new it will say No request. You can click on that link to look at requests
that have been sent to you at any time.
Installing a new language
Each user of the system can work in his or her own language. More than twenty languages
are currently available besides English. Users select their working language using the
Preferences link. You can also assign a language to a partner (customer or supplier), in which

intothat
language.

Attention:

Moreinformation
about
languages
Thebaseversion
ofOpenERPistranslated
intothefollowing
languages:
English,
German,
Chinese,
Spanish,
Italian,
Hungarian,
Dutch,
Portuguese,
Romanian,
Swedish
andCzech.
Butother
languages
arealsoavailable:
Arabic,
Afghan,
Austrian,
Bulgarian,
Indonesian,
Finnish,
Thai,Turkish
and
Vietnamese..

case all the documents sent to that partner will be automatically translated
As administrator you can install a new main working language into the system.
1. Select Administration in the Menu Toolbar and click Translations Load an Official Translation
in the main menu window,
2. Select the language to install, French for example, and click on Start Installation,
3. When the message Installation done appears in the Language file loaded window, click OK to
return to the menu. (Your system will actually need the French locale loaded to be able to do
this, so you may not be
successful here.)
To see the effects of this installation change the preferences of your user to change the
working language (you may first need to ensure that you have explicitly selected English as
your language, rather than keep the default, before youre given the French option). The main
menu is immediately translated in the selected language. If youre using the GTK client youll

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first have to close the menu then open a new main menu to start seeing things in the new
language.
Note: Navigating the menu
From this point in the book navigation from the main menu is written as a series of menu
entries connected by the character. Instead of seeing Select Administration in the Menu
toolbar then click Translations > Load an Official Translation youll just get use menu
Administration Translations Load an Official Translation .

Requests as a mechanism for internal communication

Requests are a powerful communication mechanism between users of the system. Theyre
also used by Open ERP itself to send system messages to users.
They have distinct advantages over traditional emails:
requests are linked to other Open ERP documents,
an events history is attached to the request,
you can monitor events effectively from the messages theyve sent.
Open ERP uses this mechanism to inform users about certain system events. For example if
theres a problem concerning the procurement of a product a request is sent by Open ERP to
the production manager.
Send a request to get an understanding of its functionality:
1. Click on the Requests link that should currently be showing No Requests. This opens a window
that lists all of your waiting requests.
2. Click New to create and send a new request.
3. Complete the subject of the request, such as How are things? then give a description of the
enquiry in the field.
4. Click the Search button to the right of the To field and select Administrator in the window that
opens ( thats the user that youre already connected as).
5. You can then link this request to other system documents using the References field, which
could, for example, be a partner or a quotation or a disputed invoice.
6. Click Send to send the request to the intended recipient thats yourself in this case. Then
click MAIN MENU to return to the original screen.

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Figure 6.2: Creating a new request

To check your requests:
1. Click on the link to the right of the Requests label to open a list of your requests. (Its possible
that youll still see the statement No Requests because this information is updated
periodically ather than instantly.) The list of requests then opens and you can see the
requests youve been sent there.
2. Click the Edit icon, represented by a pencil, at the right hand end of the request line. That
opens the request in edit mode.
3. You can then click the Reply button and make your response in the Request field that appears
in place of the original message.
4. Click Send to save your response and send it to the original sender.
Note: Requests vs. email
The advantage of an Open ERP request compared with a set of emails about one thread of
discussion is that a request contains all of the conversation in one place. You can easily
monitor a whole discussion with the appropriate documents attached, and quickly review a
list of incomplete discussions with the history within each request.
Look at the request and its history, then close it.
1. Click on the History tab in the Request form to see the original request and all of the
responses. By clicking on each line you could get more information on each element.
2. Return to the first tab, Request and click End of Request to set it to closed. This then appears
greyed out.

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The request is no longer active. Its not visible to searches and wont appear in your list of
waiting requests.
Tip: Trigger dates
You can send a request with a future date. This request wont appear in the recipients
waiting list until the indicated date. This mechanism is very useful for setting up alerts before
an important event.

6.2.2 Configuring Users

The database you created contains minimal functionality but can be extended to include all of
the potential functionality available to Open ERP. About the only functions actually available
in this minimal database are Partners and Currencies and these only because the definition
of your main company required this. And because you chose to include demonstration data,
both Partners and Currencies were installed with some samples. Because you logged in as
Administrator, you have all the access you need to configure users. Click Administration
Users Users to display the list of users defined in the system. A second user, Demo User , is
also present in the system as part of the demonstration data. Click the Demo User name to
open a non-editable form on that user.
Click the Security tab to see that the demo user is a member of only the Employee group, has
no roles and is subject to no specialized rules. The admin user is different, as you can see if
you follow the same sequence to review the its definition. Its a member of the admin group,
which gives it more advanced rights to configure new users.
Tip: Roles, Groups and Users
Users and groups provide the structure for specifying access rights to different documents.
Their setup answers the question Who has access to what?
Roles are used in business processes for permitting or blocking certain steps in the workflow
of a given document. For example you can assign the role of approving an invoice. Roles
answer the question Who should do what?
Click Administration Users Groups below the main menu to open the list of groups
defined in the system. If you open the form view of the admin group by clicking its name in
the list, the first tab give you the list of all the users who belong to this group.
Click the Security tab and it gives you details of the access rights for that group. These are
detailed later in Configuration & Administration, but you can already see there further up in
the window, the list of menus reserved for the admin group. By convention, the admin in
Open ERP has rights of access to the Configuration menu in each section. So Partners /
Configuration is found in the list of access rights but Partners isnt found there because its
accessible to all users.
You can create some new users to integrate them into the system. Assign them to predefined
groups to grant them certain access rights. Then try their access rights when you login as
these users. Management defines these access rights as described in Configuration &
Administration.
Note: Changes to default access rights
New versions of Open ERP differ from earlier versions of Open ERP and Tiny ERP in this area:
many groups have been predefined and access to many of the menus and objects are keyed
to these groups by default. This is quite a contrast to the rather liberal approach in 4.2.2 and
before, where access rights could be defined but were not activated by default.

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6.2.3 Managing partners

In Open ERP, a partner represents an entity that you do business with. That can be a
prospect, a customer, a supplier, or even an employee of your company.
List of partners
Click Partners Partners in the main menu to open the list of partners. Then click the name
of the first partner to get hold of the details a form appears with several tabs on it:
the General tab contains the main information about the company, such as its corporate
name, its primary language, your different contacts at that partner and the categories it
belongs to.
the Sales & Purchases tab contains information thats slightly less immediate.
the History tab contains the history of all the events that the partner has been involved in.
These events are created automatically by different system documents: invoices, orders,
support requests and so on, from a list that can be configured in the system. These give you
a rapid view of the partners history on a single screen.
the Notes tab is an area for free text notes.
To the right of the form is a list of Reports, Actions and Links related to a partner. Click some
of them to get a feel for their use.

Figure 6.3: Partner form

Tip: Partner Categories
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Partner Categories enable you to segment different partners according to their relation with
you (client, prospect, supplier, and so on). A partner can belong to several categories for
example it may be both a customer and supplier at the same time.
But there are also Customer, Supplier and Rental checkboxes on the partner form, which are
different. These checkboxes are designed to enable Open ERP to quickly select what should
appear on some of the system drop-down selection boxes. They, too, need to be set
correctly.

Partner Categories
You can list your partners by category using the menu Partners Partners by category . This
opens a hierarchical structure of categories where each category can be divided into subcategories. Click a category to obtain a list of
partners in that category. For example, click all of the partners in the category Supplier or
Supplier Components Supplier. Youll see that if a company is in a subcategory (such as
Components Supplier ) then it will also show up when you click the parent category (such as
Supplier).

Figure 6.4: Categories of partner in a hierarchical structure, for example Customer, Prospect,
Supplier
The administrator can define new categories. So youll create a new category and link it to a
partner:
1. Use Partners Configuration Partner Categories to reach a list of the same categories as
above but in a list view rather than a hierarchical tree structure.
2. Click New to open an empty form for creating a new category

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3. Enter My Prospects in the field Name of Category. Then click on the Search icon to the right of
the Parent Category field and select Prospect in the list that appears.
4. Then save your new category using the Save button.
Tip: Required Fields
Fields colored blue are required. If you try to save the form while any of these fields are
empty the field turns red to indicate that theres a problem. Its impossible to save the form
until youve completed every required field.
You can review your new category structure using Partners Partners by category. You
should see the new
structure of Prospects / My Prospects there.

Figure 6.5: Creating a new partner category

To create a new partner and link it to this new category open a new partner form to modify it.
1. In the General tab, type New Partner into the Name field.
2. Then click on the search icon to the right of the Categories field and select your new category
from the list that appears: Prospect / My Prospects
3. Then save your partner by clicking Save The partner now belongs in the category Prospect /
My prospects.
4. Monitor your modification in the menu Partners Partners by category. Select the category
My Prospect. The list of partners opens and youll find your new partner there in that list.
Tip: Searching for documents
If you need to search through a long list of partners its best to use the available search
criteria rather than scroll through the whole partner list. Its a habit thatll save you a lot of
time in the long run as you search for all kinds of documents.
Note: Example Categories of partners
A partner can be assigned to several categories. These enable you to create alternative
classifications as necessary, usually in a hierarchical form.
Here are some structures that are often used:

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geographical locations,

interest in certain product lines,

subscriptions to newsletters,

type of industry.

6.3 Installing new functionality

All of Open ERPs functionality is contained in its many and various modules. Many of these,
the core modules, are automatically loaded during the initial installation of the system and
can be updated online later. Although theyre mostly not installed in your database at the
outset, theyre available on your computer for immediate installation. Additional modules can
also be loaded online from the official Open ERP site http://openerp.com. These modules are
inactive when theyre loaded into the system, and can then be installed in a separate step.

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Youll start by checking if there are any updates available online that apply to your initial
installation. Then youll install a CRM module to complete your existing database.

6.3.1 Updating the Modules list

Click Administration Modules Management Update Modules List to start the updating
tool. The Scan for new modules window opens showing the addresses that Open ERP will look
in for downloading new modules (known as the repositories), and updating existing ones.
Tip: Remote module repositories
If the repository list doesnt reflect your needs then you can edit it from Administration
Modules Management Repository List. There you can link to new repositories by adding
their URLs and disable listed ones by unchecking their Active checkbox. If youre not
connected to the Internet then you probably want to disable anything there.
Your Open ERP installation must be configured with its addons directory as writable for you to
be able to download anything at all. If it hasnt been, then you may need the assistance of a
systems administrator to change your servers settings so that you can install new modules.
Click Check New Modules to start the download from the specified locations. When its
complete youll see a New Modules window indicating how many new modules were
downloaded and how many existing modules were updated. Click OK to return to the updated
list.
It wont matter in this chapter if you cant download anything, but some of the later chapters
refer to modules that arent part of the core installation and have to be obtained from a
remote repository.
Note: Modules
All the modules available on your computer can be found in the addons directory of your
Open ERP server. Each module there is represented by a directory carrying the name of the
module or by a file with the module name and .zip appended to it. The file is in ZIP archive
format and replicates the directory structure of unzipped modules.
Tip: Searching through the whole list
The list of modules shows only the first available modules. In the web client you can search
or follow the First / Previous / Next / Last links to get to any point in the whole list, and you
can change the number of entries listed by clicking the row number indicators between
Previous and Next and selecting a different number from the default of 20.
If you use the GTK client you can search, as you would with the web client, or use the + icon
to the top left of the window to change the number of entries returned by the search from its
default limit of 80, or its default offset of 0 (starting at the first entry) in the whole list.

6.3.2 Installing a module

Youll now install a module named product, which will enable you to manage the companys
products. This is part of the core installation, so you dont need to load anything to make this
work, but isnt installed in the Minimal Profile.
Open the list of uninstalled modules from Administration Modules Management
Modules Uninstalled modules. Search for the module by entering the name product in the

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search screen then clicking it in the list that appears below it to open it. The form that
describes the module gives you useful information such as its version number, its status
and a review of its functionality. Click Schedule for Installation and the status of the module
changes to To be installed.

6.3. Installing new functionality

Figure 6.6: Installation of the product module

Tip: Technical Guide
If you select a module in any of the module lists by clicking on a module line and then on
Technical Guide at the top right of the window, Open ERP produces a technical report on that
module. Its helpful only if the module is installed, so the menu Administration Modules
Management Modules Installed Modules produces the most fruitful list. This report
comprises a list of all the objects and all the fields along with their descriptions. The report
adapts to your system and reflects any modifications youve made and all the other modules
youve installed.
Click Apply Scheduled Upgrades then Start Upgrade on the System Upgrade form that
appears. Close the window when the operation has completed. Return to the main menu
youll see the new menu Products has become available.
Tip: Refreshing the menu in the GTK client

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After an update in the GTK client youll have to open a new menu to refresh the content
otherwise you wont see the new menu item. To do that use the window menu Form
Refresh/Cancel.

6.3.3 Installing a module with its dependencies

Now install the CRM module (Customer Relationship Management) using the same process as
before. Start from Administration Modules Management Modules Uninstalled modules.
1. Get the list of modules to install, and search for the crm module in that list.
2. Schedule the module for installation by clicking Schedule for Installation.
3. Do the same for account.
4. Click Apply Scheduled Upgrades on the action toolbar to the right.
5. Click Start Upgrade to install both modules.
6. After a wait, when the installation is complete, click Start Configuration.
7. Accept the defaults for accounts setup and select None for the chart of accounts.
8. Youll see details of all the features installed by the modules on a new Features tab on the
module form.
When you return to the main menu youll find the new customer relationship management
menu CRM & SRM. Youll also see all the accounting functions that are now available in the
Financial Management menu.
There is no particular relationship between the modules installed and the menus added. Most
of the core modules add complete menus but some also add submenus to menus already in
the system. Other modules add menus and submenus as they need. Modules can also add
additional fields to existing forms, or simply additional demonstration data or some settings
specific to a given requirement.
Note: Dependencies between modules
The module form shows two tabs before its installed. The first tab gives basic information
about the module and the second gives a list of modules that this module depends on. So
when you install a module, Open ERP automatically selects all the necessary dependencies
to install this module.
Thats also how you develop the profile modules: they simply define a list of modules that
you want in your profile as a set of dependencies.
Although you can install a module and all its dependencies at once, you cant remove them in
one fell swoop youd have to uninstall module by module. Uninstalling is more complex than
installing because you have to handle existing system data.
Note: Uninstalling modules
Although it works quite well, uninstalling modules isnt perfect in Open ERP. Its not
guaranteed to return the system exactly to the state it was in before installation.
So its recommended that you make a backup of the database before installing your new
modules so that you can test the new modules and decide whether theyre suitable or not. If
theyre not then you can return to your backup. If they are, then youll probably still reinstall

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the modules on your backup so that you dont have to delete all your test data. If you
wanted to uninstall you would use the menu Administration Modules Management
Modules Installed Modules and then uninstall them in the inverse order of their
dependencies: crm, account, product.

6.3.4 Installing additional functionality

To discover the full range of Open ERPs possibilities you can install many additional modules.
Installing them with their demonstration data provides a convenient way of exploring the
whole core system. When you build on the openerp_ch02 database youll automatically
include demonstration data because you checked the Load Demonstration Data checkbox
when you originally created the database. Click Administration Modules Management
Modules Uninstalled modules to give you an overview of all of the modules available for
installation.
To test several modules you wont have to install them all one by one. You can use the
dependencies between modules to load several at once. For example, try loading the
following modules:

profile_accounting,

profile_crm,

profile_manufacturing,

profile_service.

To find these quickly, enter the word profile in the Name field of the search form and click
Filter to search for the relevant modules. Then install them one by one or all at once.
As you update youll see thirty or so modules to be installed. Move on from the System
upgrade done form by clicking Start configuration and then accepting the default crm
configuration and picking configuration in turn.

6.3. Installing new functionality

Finally install the additional modules Analytic Accounting and Document Management when
youre offered that configuration option. Dont install any more - you now have quite a fullyloaded system to look at.
Click Home and youll be returned to a dashboard, not the main menu you had before. To get
to the main menu, use the MAIN MENU link.

6.4 Guided Tour of Open ERP

Youll now explore the database openerp_ch02 with these profile modules installed to give
you an insight into the coverage of the core Open ERP software.
Tip: Translating new modules

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When youve installed a new module and are using additional languages to English you have
to reload the translation file. New terms introduced in these modules arent translated by
default. To do this use Administration Translations Load an Official Translation.
Depending on the user youre connected as the page appears differently from the Main Menu
that showed before. Using the installation sequence above, certain dashboards may be
assigned as various users home pages. They show a summary of the information required to
start the day effectively. A project dashboard might contains:
a list of the next tasks to carry out,
a list of the next deadlines,
public notes about projects, a planning chart of hours required,
the timesheet.
Each of the lists can be reordered by clicking on the heading of a column first in ascending
then in descending order as you click repeatedly. To get more information about any
particular entry click on the name in the first column, or if you want to show a particular
panel click Zoom above it.

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Figure 6.7: Project Dashboard

Users home pages are automatically reassigned during the creation or upgrading of a
database. Its usual to assign a dashboard to someones home page but any Open ERP
screen can be assigned to the home page of any user.
Tip: Creating shortcuts
Each user has access to many menu items throughout all of the available menu hierarchy.
But in general an employee uses only a small part of the systems functions.
So you can define shortcuts for the most-used menus. These shortcuts are personal for each
user. To create a new shortcut open the select menu and click on the Add link to the far right
of SHORTCUTS.
To change or replace a link click SHORTCUTS. Open ERP then opens a list of editable
shortcuts.
The following sections present an overview of the main functions of Open ERP. Some areas
are covered in more detail in the following chapters of this book and youll find many other
functions available in the optional modules. Functions are presented in the order that they
appear on the main menu.

6.4.1 Partners
To familiarize yourself with Open ERPs interface, youll start work with information about
partners. Clicking Partners Partners brings up a list of partners that were automatically
loaded when you created the database with Load Demonstration Data checked.
Search for a partner

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Above the partner list youll see a search form that enables you to quickly filter the partners.
Two tabs are available for searching Basic Search and Advanced Search. The latter simply
shows more fields to narrow your selection.
If youve applied no filter, the list shows every partner in the system. For space reasons this
list shows only the first few partners. If you want to display other records you can search for
them or navigate through the whole list using the First, Previous, Next, Last arrows.

Figure 6.8: Standard partner search

Note: List limits
By default the list in the GTK client shows only the first 80 records, to avoid overloading the
network and the server. But you can change that limit by clicking the + icon to the left of the
search criteria, and you can change the offset so that it starts further down the whole list
than the first entry.
Similarly the list in the web client shows only the first 20, 40, 60, 80 or 100 records.
The actual number can be switched by clicking on the number and selecting one of the other
limits, but you cant select any other limit (so, unlike the GTK client you cant select
hundreds or thousands).
If you click on the name of a partner the form view corresponding to that partner opens in
Read-Only mode. In the list you could alternatively click the pencil icon to open the same
form in Edit mode. Once you have a form you can toggle between the two modes by clicking
Save or Cancel when in Edit mode and Edit when in Read-Only mode.
When youre in Read-Only mode you can navigate through the whole list you selected, as
though you were in the List view. In Read-Only mode you can also click Search to see the
form in List view again.
Partner form

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The partner form contains several tabs, all referring to the current record:

General,

Suppliers & Customers,

History,

Notes.

The fields in a tab arent all of the same type some (such as Name) contain free text, some
(such as the Language) enable you to select a value from a list of options, others give you a
view of another object (such as Partner Contacts because a partner can have several
contacts) or a list of link to another object (such as Categories). There are checkboxes (such
as the Active field in the Suppliers & Customers tab), numeric fields (such as Credit Limit)
and date fields (such as Date).
The History tab gives a quick overview of things that have happened to the partner an
overview of useful information such as orders, open invoices and support requests. Events
are generated automatically by Open ERP from changes in other documents that refer to this
partner.
Its possible to add events manually, such as a note recording a phone call. To add a new
event click Create new record. to the right of the Partner Events field. That opens a new
Partner Events dialog box enabling an event to be created and added to the current partner.
Actions possible on a partner
To the right of the partner form is a toolbar containing a list of possible Reports , Actions, and
quick Links about the partner displayed in the form.
You can generate PDF documents about the selected object (or, in list view, about one or
more selected objects) using certain buttons in the Reports section of the toolbar:
Labels : print address labels for the selected partners,
Certain actions can be started by the following buttons in the Actions section of the toolbar:
Company Architecture : opens a window showing the partners and their children in a
hierarchical structure.
Send SMS : enables you to send an SMS to selected partners. This system uses the bulk SMS
facilities of the Clickatell company http://clickatell.com.
Mass Mailing : enables you to send an email to a selection of partners.
Tip: Reports, Actions and Links in the GTK client
When youre viewing a form in the GTK client, the buttons to the right of the form are
shortcuts to the same Reports, Actions and Links as described in the text. When youre
viewing a list (such as the partner list) those buttons arent available to you. Instead, you
can reach Reports and Actions through two of the buttons in the toolbar at the top of the list
Print and Action.

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Partners are used throughout the Open ERP system in other documents. For example, the
menu Sales Management Sales Orders All Sales Orders brings up all the Sales Orders in
list view. Click the name of a partner rather than the order number on one of those lines and
youll get the Partner form rather than the Sales Order form.
Tip: Right clicks and shortcuts
In the GTK client you dont get hyperlinks to other document types. Instead, you can rightclick in a list view to show the linked fields (that is fields having a link to other forms) on that
line.
In the web client youll see hyperlink shortcuts on several of the fields on a form thats in
Read- Only mode, so that you can move onto the form for those entries. When the web form
is in Edit mode, you can instead hold down the control button on the keyboard and rightclick with the mouse button in the field, to get all of the linked fields in a pop-up menu just
as you would with the GTK client.
You can quickly try this out by going to any one of the sales orders in Sales Management
Sales Order All Sales Orders and seeing what you can reach from the Customer field on
that sales order form using either the web client with the form in both read-only and in edit
mode, or with the GTK client.

Figure 6.9: Links for a partner appear in an order form

Before moving on to the next module, take a quick look into the Partners Configuration
menu, particularly Partner Categories and Localisation menus. They contain some of the
demonstration data that you installed when you created the database.

6.4.2 Financial Management

The chapters in General Accounting in this book are dedicated to general and analytic
accounting. A brief overview of the functions provided by these modules is given here as an
introduction.

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Accounting is totally integrated into all of the companys functions, whether its general,
analytic, budgetary or auxiliary accounting. Open ERPs accounting function is double-entry
and supports multiple company divisions and multiple companies, as well as multiple
currencies and languages.
Accounting thats integrated throughout all of the companys processes greatly simplifies the
work of entering accounting data, because most of the entries are generated automatically
while other documents are being processed. You can avoid entering data twice in Open ERP,
which is commonly a source of errors and delays.
So Open ERPs accounting isnt just for financial reporting its also the anchorpoint for many
of a companys management processes. For example if one of your accountants puts a
customer on credit hold then that will immediately block any other action related to that
companys credit (such as a sale or a delivery).
Open ERP also provides integrated analytical accounting, which enables management by
business activity or project and provides very detailed levels of analysis. You can control your
operations based on business management needs, rather than on the charts of accounts that
generally meet only statutory requirements.

6.4.3 Dashboards
Dashboards give you an overview of all the information thats important to you on a single
page. The Dashboards menu gives you access to predefined boards for Financial
Management, Manufacturing and Project Management.
Note: Dashboards
Unlike most other ERP systems and classic statistically-based systems, Open ERP can
provide dashboards to all of the systems users, and not just to a select few such as
directors and accountants.
Users can each have their own dashboard, adapted to their needs, to enable them to
manage their own work effectively. For example a developer using the Project Dashboard
can see such information as a list of the next tasks, task completion history and an analysis
of the state of progress of the relevant projects.
Dashboards are dynamic, which lets you navigate easily around the whole information base.
Using the icons above a graph, for example, you can filter the data or zoom into the graph.
You can click on any element of the list to get detailed statistics on the selected element.
Dashboards are adaptable to the needs of each user and each company.
Note: Construction of dashboards
Open ERP contains a dashboard editor. It lets you construct your own dashboard to fit your
specific needs using only a few clicks.

6.4.4 Products
In Open ERP, product means a raw material, a stockable product, a consumable or a service.
You can work with whole products or with templates that separate the definition of products
and variants.
For example if you sell t-shirts in different sizes and colors:

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the product template is the T-shirt which contains information common to all sizes and all
colors,
the variants are Size:S and Color:Red, which define the parameters for that size and
color,
the final product is thus the combination of the two t-shirt in size S and color Red.
The value of this approach for some sectors is that you can just define a template in detail
and all of its available variants briefly rather than every item as an entire product.
Note: Example Product templates and variants
A product can be defined as a whole or as a product template and several variants. The
variants can be in one or several dimensions, depending on the installed modules.
For example, if you work in textiles, the variants on the product template for T-shirt are:
Size (S, M, L, XL, XXL),

Colour (white, grey, black, red),

Quality of Cloth (125g/m2, 150g/m2, 160g/m2, 180 g/m2),

Collar (V, Round).

This separation of variant types requires the optional module product_variant_multi. Using it
means that you can avoid an explosion in the number of products to manage in the
database. If you take the example above its easier to manage a template with 15 variants
in four different types than 160 completely different products. This module is available in
the addons-extra list (it had not been updated, at the time of writing, to work in release 5.0
of Open ERP).
Tip: Consumables
In Open ERP a consumable is a physical product which is treated like a stockable product
except that stock management isnt taken into account by the system. You could buy it,
deliver it or produce it but Open ERP will always assume that theres enough of it in stock. It
never triggers a procurement exception.
The Products menu gives you access to the definition of products and their constituent
templates and variants, and to
price lists.
Open a product form to see the information that describes it. Several different types of
product can be found in the demonstration data, giving quite a good overview of the possible
options.
Price lists (Products Pricelists) determine the purchase and selling prices and adjustments
derived from the use of different currencies. The Default Purchase Pricelist uses the products
Cost field to base a Purchase price on. The Default Sale Pricelist uses the products List Price
field to base a Sales price on when issuing a quote.
Price lists are extremely flexible and enable you to put a whole price management policy in
place. Theyre composed of simple rules that enable you to build up a rule set for most
complex situations: multiple discounts, selling prices based on purchase prices, price
reductions, promotions on whole product ranges and so on.

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You can find many optional modules to extend product functionality through the Open ERP
website, such as:
membership : for managing the subscriptions of members of a company,
product_electronic : for managing electronic products,
product_extended : for managing production costs,
product_expiry : for agro-food products where items must be retired after a certain period,
product_lot_foundry : for managing forged metal products.

6.4.5 Human Resources

Open ERPs Human Resources Management modules provide such functionality as:
management of staff and the holiday calendar,
management of employment contracts,
benefits management,
management of holiday and sickness breaks,
managing claims processes,
management of staff performance,
management of skills and competencies.
Most of these functions are provided from optional modules whose name starts with
hr_rather than the core hr module, but theyre all loaded into the main Human Resources
menu.
The different issues are handled in detail in the fourth part of this book Effective
Management of Operations, dedicated to internal organization and to the management of a
services business.

6.4.6 Stock Management

The various sub-menus under Stock Management together provide operations you need to
manage stock. You can:
define your warehouses and structure them around locations and layouts of your choosing,
manage inventory rotation and stock levels,
execute packing orders generated by the system,
execute deliveries with delivery notes and calculate delivery charges,
manage lots and serial numbers for traceability,

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calculate theoretical stock levels and automate stock valuation,
create rules for automatic stock replenishment.
Packing orders and deliveries are usually defined automatically by calculating requirements
based on sales. Stores staff use picking lists generated by Open ERP, produced automatically
in order of priority.
Stock management is, like accounting, double-entry. So stocks dont appear and vanish
magically within a warehouse, they just get moved from place to place. And, just like
accounting, such a double-entry system gives you big advantages when you come to audit
stock because each missing item has a counterpart somewhere.
Most stock management software is limited to generating lists of products in warehouses.
Because of its doubleentry system Open ERP automatically manages customer and suppliers
stocks as well, which has many advantages: complete traceability from supplier to customer,
management of consigned stock, and analysis of counterpart stock moves.
Furthermore, just like accounts, stock locations are hierarchical, so you can carry out
analyses at various levels of detail.

6.4.7 Customer and Supplier Relationship Management

Open ERP provides many tools for managing relationships with partners. These are available
through the CRM & SRM menu.
Tip: CRM & SRM
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, a standard term for systems that
manage client and customer relations. SRM stands for Supplier Relationship Management,
and is commonly used for functions that manage your communications with your suppliers.
The concept of a case is used to handle arbitrary different types of relationship, each
derived from a generic method. You can use it for all types of communication such as order
enquiries, quality problems, management of a call center, record tracking, support requests
and job offers.
Open ERP ensures that each case is handled effectively by the systems users, customers
and suppliers. It can automatically reassign a case, track it for the new owner, send
reminders by email and raise other Open ERP documentation and processes.
All operations are archived, and an email gateway lets you update a case automatically from
emails sent and received. A system of rules enables you to set up actions that can
automatically improve your process quality by ensuring that open cases never escape
attention.
As well as those functions, youve got tools to improve the productivity of all staff in their
daily work:
a document editor that interfaces with OpenOffice.org,
interfaces to synchronize your contacts and Outlook Calendar with Open ERP,
an Outlook plugin enabling you to automatically store your emails and their attachments in a
Document Management System integrated with Open ERP,

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a portal for your suppliers and customers that enables them to access certain data on your
system.
You can implement a continuous improvement policy for all of your services, by using some
of the statistical tools in Open ERP to analyze the different communications with your
partners. With these, you can execute a real improvement policy to manage your service
quality.
The management of customer relationships is detailed in the second section of this book (see
Managing Customer
Relationships).

6.4.8 Purchase Management

Purchase management enables you to track your suppliers price quotations and convert
them into Purchase Orders as you require. Open ERP has several methods of monitoring
invoices and tracking the receipt of ordered goods.
You can handle partial deliveries in Open ERP, so you can keep track of items that are still to
be delivered on your orders, and you can issue reminders automatically.
Open ERPs replenishment management rules enable the system to generate draft purchase
orders automatically, or you can configure it to run a lean process driven entirely by current
production needs.

6.4.9 Project Management

Open ERPs project management tools enable you to handle the definition of tasks and the
specification of requirements for those tasks, efficient allocation of resources to the
requirements, project planning, scheduling and automatic communication with partners.
All projects are hierarchically structured. You can review all of the projects from the menu
Project Management All Projects. To view a projects plans, select a project line and then
click Print. Then select Gantt diagram to obtain a graphical representation of the plan.

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Figure 6.10: Project Planning

You can run projects related to Services or Support, Production or Development its a
universal module for all enterprise needs.
Project Management is described in Internal Organization and Project Management.

6.4.10 Manufacturing
Open ERPs production management capabilities enable companies to plan, automate, and
track manufacturing and product assembly. Open ERP supports multi-level bills of materials
and lets you substitute subassemblies dynamically, at the time of sales ordering. You can
create virtual sub- assemblies for reuse on several products with phantom bills of materials.
Note: BoMs, routing, workcenters
These documents describe the materials that make up a larger assembly. Theyre commonly
called Bills of Materials or BoMs.
Theyre linked to routings which list the operations needed to carry out the manufacture or
assembly of the product. Each operation is carried out at a workcenter, which can be a
machine, a tool, or a person.
Production orders based on your companys requirements are scheduled automatically by
the system, but you can also run the schedulers manually whenever you want. Orders are
worked out by calculating the requirements from sales, through bills of materials, taking
current inventory into account. The production schedule is also generated from the various
lead times defined throughout, using the same route
The demonstration data contains a list of products and raw materials with various
classifications and ranges. You can test the system using this data.

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6.4.11 Sales Management

The Sales Management menu gives you roughly the same functionality as the Purchase
Management menu the ability to create new orders and to review the existing orders in
their various states but there are important differences in the workflows.
Confirmation of an order triggers delivery of the goods, and invoicing timing is defined by a
setting in each individual order.
Delivery charges can be managed using a grid of tariffs for different carriers.

6.4.12 Document Management

Open ERP integrates a complete document management system that not only carried out the
functions of a standard DMS, but also integrates with all of its system-generated documents
such as Invoices and Quotations. Whats more it keeps all of this synchronized.

6.4.13 Process Management

Many documents have a workflow of their own, and also take part in cross-functional
processes. Take a document that could be expected to have a workflow, such as a Sales
Order, and then click the Process button above its form to see the full process.

Figure 6.11: Process for a Sales Order

You can see the position of that particular document in its process, if you have selected a
single document, by the solid bar on one of the process nodes. You also link to documents
and menus for each of the stages.
There is a clear distinction between a cross-functional process (that is currently only shown
in the web client) and the detailed document workflow (that is shown in both the web client

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from a process node, and the GTK client from the Plugins > Execute a Plugin... menu and
clicking either the Print Workflow or the the Print Workflow ( Complex ) option.

Figure 6.12: Workflow for a Purchase Order

Alongside the document management system, the process visualization features make Open
ERP far better for documentation than similar systems.

6.4.14 Other functions

Youve been through a brisk, brief overview of many of the main functional areas of Open
ERP. Some of these a large proportion of the core modules are treated in more detail in
the following chapters.
You can use the menu Administration Modules Management Modules Uninstalled
modules to find the remaining modules that have been loaded into your installation but not
yet installed in your database. Some modules have only minor side-effects to Open ERP
(such as base_iban), some have quite extensive effects (such as the various charts of
accounts), and some make fundamental additions (such as multi_company).
But there are now more than three hundred modules available. If youve connected to the
Internet, and if your addons directory is writable as described at the beginning of this
chapter, you can download new modules using the menu Administration Modules
Management Update Modules List.
A brief description is available for each module, but the most thorough way of understanding
their functionality is to install one and try it. So, pausing only to prepare another test
database to try it out on, just download and install the modules that appear interesting.

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CHAPTER

SEVEN

DEVELOPING A REAL CASE

Now that youve discovered some of the many possibilities of Open ERP from a tour
of the demonstration database, youll develop a real case. An empty database
provides the starting point for testing a classic workflow from product purchase to
sale, completing your guided tour and your familiarization with Open ERP.
A database loaded with demonstration data is very useful for understanding Open ERPs
general capabilities. But to explore Open ERP through a lens of your own companys needs
you should start with an empty database. Youll work in this chapter on a minimal database
containing no demonstration data so that there is no confusion about what you created. And
youll keep the database youve created so that you can build on it throughout the rest of
this book if you want to.
Youll develop a real case through the following phases:
1. Specify a real case.
2. Describe the functional needs.
3. Configure the system with the essential modules.
4. Carry out the necessary data loading.
5. Test the system with your database.
The case is deliberately extremely simple to provide you with a foundation for the more
complex situations youll handle in reality. Throughout this chapter its assumed that youre
accessing Open ERP through its web interface.

7.1 Use case

Configure a system that enables you to:

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buy

products

supplier,

from
stock

a
the

products in a warehouse,

sell these products to a

customer.

The system should support all aspects of invoicing, payments to suppliers and receipts from
customers.

7.2 Functional requirements

For working out the business case youll have to model:
the suppliers,
the customers,
some products,
inventory for despatch,
a purchase order,
a sale order,
invoices,
payments.
To test the system youll need at least one supplier, one customer, one product, a
warehouse, a minimal chart of accounts and a bank account.

7.3 Database creation

Use the technique outlined in Database creation to create a new database, openerp_ch03 .
This database will be free of data and contain the least possible amount of functionality as a
starting point. Youll need to know your super administrator password for this or youll have
to find somebody who does have it to create this seed database. You wont be able to use
the openerp_ch1 or openerp_ch2 databases that you might have created so far in this book
because they both contain demonstration data.
Start the database creation process from the Welcome page by clicking Databases and then
completing the following fields on the Create new database form, as shown in Creating a
blank database:

Super admin password : by default its admin , if you or your system administrator
havent changed it,

New database name : openerp_ch03 ,

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Load Demonstration data checkbox: not checked (this step is very important, but
catches out many people) ,

Default Language : English ,

Administrator password : admin (because its easiest to remember at this stage, but
obviously completely insecure),

Confirm password : admin .

Figure 7.1: Creating a blank database

Then click OK to create the database and move to the setup screen Setting up a blank
database - first screen.

Figure 7.2: Setting up a blank database - first screen

After a short delay you are connected to the new openerp_ch03 database as user adminwith
the password you gave it. Youll have to go through the Setup wizard in steps:

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1. Select a profile : select Minimal Profile and click Next.
2. At the Define Main Company step you could select your own Company Name and Currency,
and address details on the first tab General Information; and you can add more details on the
second tab Report Information including a logo that would appear on reports. In this test you
should leave everything untouched for the moment and just click Next: youll change them
later.
3. At the Summary page you can go back to change details if you need. Click the Install button.
4. Finally, at the Installation done page, click Start Configuration.

7.3. Database creation

Configuration consists of a set of wizards that help you through options for the installed
modules. Since you chose the minimal database hardly anything is installed so this is a
very simple process at the moment, starting with the menu layout Configuring a minimal
database - first screen .

Figure 7.3: Configuring a minimal database - first screen

1.

At the first screen click Continue to go into the first wizard. Choose View Mode : Extended
Interface so that you can see everything and then click Set to save it.

2.

Click Skip Step to step over the next wizard, which would enable you to add other users.

3.

Youve now reached the end of the configuration so click Continue to start using the system as
the Administrator as shown in the screenshot Starting the minimal database.

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Figure 7.4: Starting the minimal database

7.4 Installing and configuring modules

All of the functional needs are provided by core modules from Open ERP:
product management (the product module),
inventory control (the stock module),
accounting and finance (the account module),
purchase management (the purchase module),
sales management (the sale module).
Use the menu Administration Modules Management Modules Uninstalled modules to
show the list of all modules that are registered within Open ERP but as yet uninstalled. Then:
1. Enter product into the Name field and click Filter to list the product module.
2. Click the name product in the list to display the product module in form view, rather than the
list view that a search displays.
3. Click the Schedule for Installation button on the product module form.
4. Click the Search button at the top of the form to toggle back to the list view with search
selection fields on it.
5. Search for the sale module then select it, too, as you did with product, to show it in form
view.
6. Click the Dependencies tab to see that youll automatically be loading the product, stock,
mrp, and process modules along with the sale module. product and process are both already
marked for installation as a result of the first steps.
7. Return to the Module tab and then click its Schedule for Installation button.
8. Click Apply Scheduled Upgrades in the Action toolbar to the right.

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9. When the System Upgrade form appears, review the list of Modules to update it may be
longer than you had expected, and now includes all the modules you need, because the
dependencies themselves had their own dependencies.
10.Click Start Upgrade, wait for System upgrade done to be displayed, then click Start
Configuration on that form.
Configuration is required for both the accounts setup and the sales defaults.
1. Accept the defaults for the Fiscal Year and choose the Charts of Account to be None then click
Continue.
2. The sales defaults are shown in the screenshot The module form once a module is installed.
The selections you make determine how Open ERPs processes work by setting its default
behaviour (although you can override any of them for any sales order, so you are not strictly
bound by these defaults). Accept the initial set by clicking Set default behaviour.
3. Youve reached the end of this configuration stage so click Continue to continue using the
system as the Administrator. You first reach a new tab Features that lists the new menus and
views as shown in the figure The module form once a module is installed. Each of the
modules that were installed has its own new tab - its not only the one you see displayed in
front of you. Click Next and Previous to move between them.
4. The main menu now displays all of the menu items that were loaded by the modules you
installed. Click MAIN MENU to see this, shown in the screenshot Continuing with the
database after installing new modules.

7.4. Installing and configuring modules

Figure 7.5: The module form once a module is installed

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Figure 7.6: Continuing with the database after installing new modules

7.5 Database setup

Youll create all the elements in the database that you need to carry out the use case. These
are specified in the functional requirements.

7.5.1 Configuring Accounts

You need to start off with a minimal set of accounts, and to do that you will need a couple of
account types. You can structure your accounts into a chart at any time (and, in fact, you can
structure them into several additional charts at the same time as youll see in the chapter
Configuring Accounts from A to Z), so you dont need to be concerned unduly about
structure.
Account Types
Create account types using Financial Management Configuration Financial Accounting
Financial Accounts Account Types and then clicking the New button. Youll need the
following four types, the first of which is shown in figure New Account Type.

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Table 7.1: Defining Account Types
Acc. Type
Name
View
Income

Code
view
incom
e
expen
se
cash

Expense
Cash

Sequen
ce
5
5

Sign on
Reports
Positive
Positive

Deferral
Method
None
Unreconciled

Partner
Account
unchecked
unchecked

Positive

Unreconciled

unchecked

Positive

Balance

unchecked

Figure 7.7: New Account Type

Accounts
Create accounts using Financial Management Configuration Financial Accounting
Financial Accounts List of Accounts and then clicking the New button.
You need accounts to handle the purchase and sales orders that havent yet been paid, two
more for the receipt and shipping of goods, and one for the payment and receipt of funds.
And one organizing account thats just a view of the other five. So youll need the following
six accounts, one of which is shown in New Account.
Table 7.2: Defining Accounts
Name

Cod
e
0

Internal
Type
View

Parent

Account
Type
View

AP

Payable

Expense

Receivable

AR

Receivable

Income

checked

Cash

Others

Cash

Purchases

Others

Sales

Others

0 Minimal
Chart
0 Minimal
Chart
0 Minimal
Chart
0 Minimal
Chart
0 Minimal

Reconci
le
uncheck
ed
checked

uncheck
ed
uncheck
ed
uncheck

Minimal
Chart
Payable

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Income

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Chart

ed

Figure 7.8: New Account

The Account Type entry is taken from the list of types that you just created. Although it looks
a bit like a text box, it doesnt behave in quite the same way. A single Del or Backspace
keystroke is all you need to delete the whole text, and when you type the name (or part of
the name) you still need to associate that text with the entry by clicking the Search icon to
the right of the field.
Properties
You now define some default properties so that you dont have to think about which account
is used for which transaction every time you do something. The main new properties are the
four that associate accounts payable and receivable to partners, and expenses and income
to product categories.
Create properties using Administration Configuration Properties Default Properties and
then clicking the New button.
Table 7.3: Defining Properties
Name
property_account_payable
property_account_receivabl
e
property_account_expense
_categ
property_account_income_
categ
Tip: Mistakes in configuring

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Compan
y
Tiny sprl

Fields

Account
Payable
Tiny sprl
Account
Receivable
Tiny sprl
Expense
Account
Tiny sprl
Income
Account
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Value
(account.account)
Payable
(account.account)
Receivable
(account.account)
Purchases
(account.account)

AP

Parent
Resource
( None )

AR

( None )

( None )

S Sales

( None )

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Its easy to make mistakes in configuring the accounts and their properties, but the
consequences are not immediately obvious. Youll mostly discover mistakes when trying to
make a Purchase or Sale Order (see later, for example, Purchase Order), where the accounts
are required fields or, if youre diligent, when you set up Partners.
If you configure them correctly at this stage then fields will be completed automatically and
youll never know a thing. If you dont configure all this correctly then you wont be able to
save the order form until you have corrected the problem or until you manually set the
accounts.
Since this configuration is quite tedious youd be best finding a certified Chart of Accounts
that that has already been set up to meet your needs, if you can find one.

7.5.2 Configuring Journals

Youll also need to configure some journals, which are used to record the transactions from
one account to another when invoices are raised and then paid. Create journals from the
menu Financial Management Configuration Financial Accounting Financial Journals
and then clicking the New button.
Table 7.4: Defining Journals
Journal
Name
Purchase
Journal
Sale
Journal
Bank
Journal

Cod
e
PUJ

Type

View

Purcha
se
Sale

Entry
Sequence
Purchase
Journal
Sale
Journal
Account
Journal

Default Debit
Account
P Purchases

Default Credit
Account
P Purchases

Journal
View
SAJ
Journal
S Sales
S Sales
View
BNK Cash
Cash
C Cash
C Cash
Journal
View
Tip: Mistakes in configuring journals
Its easy to make mistakes in configuring the journals, too, and the consequences are also
not immediately obvious. Youll mostly discover mistakes when creating an invoice (which
happens at different points in the process depending on your configuration). In this example,
validating a Purchase Order creates a draft invoice (see later, again for example, Purchase
Order), where a journal is required.
As with accounts and properties, if you configure them correctly at this stage then the fields
will be completed automatically and youll never know a thing. If you dont configure all this
correctly then there will be errors with the order form or corresponding draft invoice until
you have corrected the problem or until you manually set the journal.

7.5.3 Configuring the Main Company

Start to configure your database by renaming the Main Company from its default of Tiny sprl
to the name of your own company or (in this case) another example company. When you
print standard documents such as quotations, orders and invoices youll find this
configuration information used in the document headers and footers.

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To do this, click Partners Partners and click the name of the only company there, which is
Tiny sprl . This gives you a read-only view form view of the company, so make it editable by
clicking the Edit button to the upper left of the form.
Tip: Editable form in the web client
When toggling from the list view to the form view of an item, you can generally click its
name in the list view to show a non-editable view or the pencil icon by the left-hand edge of
the line to open it in an editable view. You can toggle between editable and non-editable
once youre in form view.
Change the following:

Name : Ambitious Plumbing Enterprises ,

Contact Name : George Turnbull .

Before you save this, look at the partners accounting setup by clicking the fifth tab
Accounting. The fields Account Receivable and Account Payable have account values in them
that were taken from the account properties you just created. You dont have to accept those
values: you can enter any suitable account you like at this stage, although Open ERP
constrains the selection to ones that make accounting sense.
Back at the first tab, Generalchange any other fields you like, such as the address and phone
numbers, then :guilabel:Save. This changes one Contact for the Partner, which is sufficient
for the example.
From the MAIN MENU, click Administration Users Company Structure Companies and
edit the only entry there:

Company Name : AmbiPlum ,

Partner : should already show Ambitious Plumbing Enterprises ,

Report Header : Ambitious Plumbing ,

Report Footer 1 : Best Plumbing Services, Great Prices ,

Report Footer 2 : Ambitious - our Registered Company Details .

Figure Changing company details shows the effect of this. You can also change various
other company-wide parameters for reports and scheduling in the other tabs, and you can
upload a company logo of a specific size for the reports. Click Save to store this.

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Figure 7.9: Changing company details

You can leave the currency at its default setting of EURfor this example. Or you can change it
in this Company and the two default Pricelists (Products Pricelists Pricelists) if you feel
compelled to do that.
Note: Currency
The examples in this book are in USD and EUR. You, the reader, could use your home
currency (perhaps CAD, CNY, GBP, or IDR) in their place.

7.5.4 Creating partner categories, partners and their contacts

Youll now create a suppliers category and a customers category. Partner categories are
useful for organizing groups of partners but have no special behavior that affects partners,
so you can assign them as you like. Then youll define one supplier and one customer, with a
contact for each.
To do this use the menu Partners Configuration Partner Categoriesand click
:guilabel:New to open a new form for defining Partner Categories. Define the two categories
that follow by just entering their Category Name and saving them:

Suppliers ,

Customers .

Then create two partners from the menu Partners Partners. Click on the New button to
open a blank form and then add the following data for the first partner first:

Name : Plumbing Component Suppliers ,

Customer checkbox : unchecked ,

Supplier checkbox : checked ,

Contact Name : Jean Poolley ,

Address Type : Default ,

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add Suppliers to the Categories field by selecting it from the Search List, then save the
partner by clicking the Save button.
Figure New Partner Form shows the result.

Figure 7.10: New Partner Form

Note: Contact Types
If youve recorded several contacts for the same partner you can specify which contact is
used for various documents by specifying the Address Type.
For example the delivery address can differ from the invoice address for a partner. If the
Address Types are correctly assigned, then Open ERP can automatically select the
appropriate address during the creation of the document an invoice is addressed to the
contact thats been assigned the Address Type of Invoice, otherwise to the Default address.
For the second partner, proceed just as you did for the first, with the following data:

Name : Smith and Offspring,

Customer checkbox : checked,

Supplier checkbox : unchecked, Contact Name : Stephen Smith,

Address Type : Default.

Then add Customers in the Categories field. Save the form. To check your work you can go to
the menu Partners Partner Categories and click on each category in turn to see the
companies in the category.

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Note: Multiple Partner Categories
If this partner was also a supplier then youd add Suppliers to the categories as well, but
theres no need to do so in this example. You can assign a partner to multiple categories at
all levels of the hierarchy.

7.5.5 Creating products and their categories

Unlike partner categories and their assigned partners, product categories do have an effect
on the products assigned to them and a product may belong to only one category. Select
the menu Products Configuration Product Categories and click New to get an empty
form for defining a product category.
Enter Radiators in the Name field. Youll see that other fields, specifically those in the
Accounting Properties section, have been automatically filled in with values of accounts and
journals. These are the values that will affect products equivalent fields in a product will
take on these values if they, too, are blank when their form is saved. Click Save.
Note: Properties fields
Properties have a rather unusual behavior. Theyre defined by parameters in the menus in
Administration Configuration Properties, and they update fields only when a form is
saved, and only when the fields are empty at the time the form is saved. You can manually
override any of these properties as you need.
Properties fields are used all over the Open ERP system and particularly extensively in a
multi- company environment.
There, property fields in a partner form can be populated with different values depending on
the users company.
For example the payment conditions for a partner could differ depending on the company
from which its addressed.
Note: UOM
UOM is an abbreviation for Unit of Measure. Open ERP manages multiple units of measure
for each product: you can buy in tons and sell in kgs, for example. The conversion between
each category is made automatically (so long as you have set up the conversion rate in the
product form first).
Tip: Managing double units of measure
The whole management of stock can be carried out with double units of measure (UOM and
UOS for Unit of Sale). For example an agro-food company can stock and sell ham by piece
but buy and value it by weight. Theres no direct relationship between these two units so a
weighing operation has to be done.
This functionality is crucial in the agro-food industry, and can be equally important in
fabrication, chemicals and many other industries.
Now create a new product:
1. Go to the Products Products menu and click New.
2. Create a product type Titanium Alloy Radiator in the Name field.
3. Click the Search icon to the right of the Category field to select the Radiators category.

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4. The Product Type field should stay as Stockable Product its default value. The fields Procure
Method, Supply Method, Default UOM, and Purchase UOM should also stay at their default
values: in fact every other field in this tab remains untouched.

Figure 7.11: Product Form

5. Click on the Prices & Suppliers tab and enter 57.50 into the Cost Price field and 132.50 into
the Sale Price field.
6. Click the Accounting tab, then click Save and observe that Accounting Properties here remain
empty. When product transactions occur, the Income and Expense accounts that youve just
defined in the Product Category are used by the Product unless an account is specified here,
directly in the product, to override that.
7. Once the product is saved it changes to a non-editable state. If you had entered data
incorrectly or left a required field blank, the form would have stayed editable and youd need
to click from tab to tab to find a field colored red, with an error message below it, that would
have to be correctly filled in.

7.5.6 Stock locations

Click Stock Management Stock Locations Structure to see the hierarchy of stock locations.
These locations have been defined by the minimal default data loaded when the database
was created. Youll use this default structure in this example.
Open ERP has three predefined top-level location types , Physical Locations and Partner
Locations that act as their names suggest, and Virtual Locations that are used by Open ERP
for its own purposes.
1. From the Main Menu click on Stock Management Configuration Locations to reach a list
view of the locations (not the tree view).

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2. Click on the name of a location, such as Physical Locations/Tiny SPRL to open a descriptive
form view. Each location has a Location type and a Parent Location that defines the
hierarchical structure. An Inventory Account can also be assigned to a location. While youre
here you should change the locations name to Ambitious Plumbing Enterprises, since it was
named before you changed the company name.
3. From the Main Menu click Stock Management Configuration Warehouses to view a list of
warehouses. Theres only the one at the moment, which should also be renamed from Tiny
SPRL to Ambitious Plumbing Enterprises.
Tip: Valuation of stock
If you want real-time stock valuation that tracks stock movements you must assign an
account to each stock location. As product items are added to and taken from each location
Open ERP generates an account entry for that location defined by the configuration of the
product being moved and a stock valuation based (in the current versions of Open ERP) on
either Cost Price or Average Price.
For example, if you assign an account to the Supplier location youll be able see the value of
stock that youve taken from the supplier. Its contents can be valued in your accounts and it
can manage inventory on consignment.
A Warehouse contains an input location, a stock location and an output location for sold
products. You can associate a warehouse with a partner to give the warehouse an address.
That doesnt have to be your own company (although it can be): you can easily specify
another partner who may be holding stock on your behalf.
Note: Location Structure
Each warehouse is composed of three locations Location Input, Location Output, and
Location Stock. Your available stock is given by the contents of the Location Stock and its
child locations.
So the Location Input can be placed as a child of the Location Stock, which means that when
Location Stock is interrogated for product quantities, it also takes account of the contents of
the Location Input. Location Input could be used as a goods-in QC location. The Location
Output must never be placed as a child of Location Stock, since items in Location Output,
which can be considered to be packed ready for customer shipment, should not be thought
of as available for sale elsewhere.
In the default configuration, Open ERP uses the same Stock location for both Input and
Output because it is easier to understand when youre starting out.

7.5.7 Setting up a chart of accounts

You can set up a chart of accounts during the creation of a database, but for this exercise
youll start with the minimal chart that you created (just a handful of required accounts
without hierarchy, tax or subtotals).
A number of account charts have been predefined for Open ERP, some of which meet the
needs of national authorities (the number of those created for Open ERP is growing as
various contributors create and freely publish them). You can take one of those without
changing it if its suitable, or you can take anything as your starting point and design a
complete chart of accounts to meet your exact needs, including accounts for inventory, asset
depreciation, equity and taxation.

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You can also run multiple charts of accounts in parallel so you can put all of your
transaction accounts into several charts, with different arrangements for taxation and
depreciation, aggregated differently for various needs.
Before you can use any chart of accounts for anything you need to specify a Fiscal Year. This
defines the different time periods available for accounting transactions. An initial Fiscal Year
was created during the database setup so you dont need to do any more on this.
Click Financial Management Charts Charts of Accounts and then click Open Charts to
open a new Account charts form where you define exactly what you want to see. Click Open
Charts to accept the defaults and see a hierarchical structure of the accounts.

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7.5.8 Make a backup of the database

If you know the super-administrator password, make a backup of your database using the
procedure described at the very end of Installation and Initial Setup. Then restore it to a new
database: testing .
This operation enables you to test the new configuration on testing so that you can be sure
everything works as designed. Then if the tests are successful you can make a new
database from openerp_ch03 , perhaps called liveor production, for your real work.
From here on, connect to this new testing database logged in as admin if you can. If you have
to make corrections, do that on openerp_ch03 and copy it to a new testing database to
continue checking it.
Or you can just continue working with the openerp_ch03 database to get through this
chapter. You can recreate openerp_ch03 quite quickly if something goes wrong and you
cant recover from it but, again, youd need to know your super-administrator password for
that.

7.6 Testing a Purchase-Sale workflow

To familiarize yourself with the system workflow youll test a purchase-sale workflow in two
phases.
The first consists of product purchase, which requires the following operations:
1. Place a purchase order with Plumbing Component Suppliers for 10 Titanium Alloy Radiators at a
unit price of
60.00.
2. Receive these products at your Goods In.
3. Generate a purchase invoice.
4. Pay your supplier.
Following this, youll sell some of these products, using this sequence:
1. Receive a sales order for 6 Titanium Alloy Radiators from Smith and Sons, sold at a unit price of
130.00.
2. Despatch the products.
3. Invoice the customer.
4. Receive the payment.

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7.6.1 Purchase Order

To place a Purchase Order with your supplier, use the menu Purchase Management New
Purchase Order for a new Purchase Order form.
Complete the following field:
Partner : Plumbing Component Suppliers .
As you complete the Partner field, Open ERP automatically completes the Address field and
the Price List field from information it takes out of the Partner record. Then click on the Save
Parent Record. icon to the right of the Order Line field. This automatically saves the body of
the Purchase Order, and changes to a Create New Record. icon. Click that to open the
Purchase Order Line window.
Enter the following information
Product : Titanium Alloy Radiator - type in part of this name then click the Search icon at the end
of the line to complete it,
When youve selected a product on the product line, Open ERP automatically completes the
following fields from information it finds in the Product record:
Product UOM : the unit of measure for this product,
Description : the detailed description of the product,
Scheduled date : based on the product lead time,
Unit price : the unit price of the product,
Analytic account : if any account is specified then it will appear on the order line (its not in this
example),
Taxes : applicable taxes defined in the partner, if specified, otherwise in the product, if specified
(there arent any in this example).
You can edit any of these fields to suit the requirements of the purchase order at the time of entry.
Change the:
Quantity : 10,
Unit Price to 56.00.
Save the order line and close the Purchase Order Line window by clicking the Close button. You
can then confirm the whole one-line order by clicking Save, which makes the form noneditable.
Its now in a state of Request for Quotation, so click Confirm Purchase Order, which
corresponds to an approval from a manager or from Accounts within your own company and
moves the order into Confirmedstate. Finally click Approved by Supplier to indicate the
suppliers acknowledgment of the order. The order becomes Approved .

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If you click the Delivery & Invoices tab youll see the delivery Destination is your own
companys Stock location and that the invoice was created from the order and is SI: PO001.
Its not entirely obvious at this stage, but the invoice is in a draft state so it can be edited
and, crucially, has no accounting impact yet: its just ready for your accounting group to
activate it.

7.6.2 Receiving Goods

After confirming the order youd wait for the delivery of the products from your supplier. Typically
this would be somebody in Stores, who would:
1. Open the menu Stock Management Incoming Products Packings to Process using the
expand/collapse icon.
Note: From the Purchase Order
You could have clicked the Packing link to the right of the Purchase Order to reach the same
screen, but this would confuse the purchasing role with the stores role. That link is very
useful during testing and training, however.
2. When the Packing window appears, select the name of the entry in the list (PACK1 to
display the Packing List itself youd usually do a search for the supplier name or order
number in a list that was larger than this then click Validate to load the Make Packing
form.
3. Click Make Picking to indicate that youre receiving the whole quantity of 10 units.
At this point youve accepted 10 units into your company, in a location that youve already seen.
To check actual stock levels, use the menu Stock Management Location Structure, find
Stockin the hierarchy under Physical Locations, using the expand/collapse controls to make
your way through the tree and click it. Youll next get a View Stock of Products screen, where
you just click Open Products to select everything that the system knows.
Youll see that Products: Stock shows everything in the Stocklocation (and below it) with Real
stock (the actual quantity recorded) and Future stock (the quantities expected in future
when all receipts and despatches have been made) both 10 in this case.
Alternatively you could have clicked the Ambitious Plumbing Enterprisesline to highlight it
(the line, not the Ambitious Plumbing Enterprisestext itself), and then click the Lots by
Location button in the Reports to the top right of the form. Youll see that youve now got 10
pieces of Titanium Alloy Radiatorin the location Stockand also in the location Ambitious
Plumbing Enterprises, its parent as shown in the figure List of products and their stock levels.
If you explore further youll also see you have -10 pieces in the Partner Location Suppliers.

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Figure 7.12: List of products and their stock levels

Tip: Traceability in double-entry
Open ERP operates a double-entry stock transfer scheme similar to double-entry accounting.
Because of this you can carry out various analyses of stock levels in your warehouse, along
with the corresponding levels in Partner Location at your Supplier. The double-entry system,
analogous to that of accounting, enables you to keep track of stock movements quite easily,
and to resolve any errors that occur.

7.6.3 Control of purchase invoices

When youve received an invoice from your supplier (which would usually be sent to your
Accounts department) go to the menu Financial Management Invoices Supplier Invoices
Draft Supplier Invoices to open a list of supplier invoices waiting for receipt. These
invoices enable your Accounts Department to match the the price and quantities ordered
against the price and quantities on the suppliers invoice (and since its not uncommon to
receive an invoice showing details more favourable to the supplier than those agreed at the
time of purchase, this is a useful function).
In this example, you created an invoice automatically when you confirmed the suppliers
Purchase Order. Thats because the Invoicing Control field on the order was set to From
Order(the default option). Other options enable you to create invoices at the time of
receiving goods or manually. The initial state of an invoice is Draft .
Now click the invoice for your order PO001 to display its contents. You can compare the goods
that youve recorded there with the invoice received from your supplier. If theres a difference
its possible to change the order lines to, for example, add a delivery charge. Click Validate to
confirm the invoice and put it into the Open state.
Accounting entries are generated automatically once the invoice is validated. To see the
effects on your chart of accounts, use the menu Financial Management Charts Chart of

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Accounts ,then click Open Charts at the Account charts page to see that you have a debit of
560.00 in the Purchases account and a credit of 560.00 in the Payable account.

7.6.4 Paying the supplier

Select the menu Financial Management Invoices Supplier Invoices Unpaid Supplier
Invoices for a list of supplier invoices that havent yet been paid. Click the PO001 text itself
to open the invoice in read-only mode. In practice youd search for the invoice by order
number or, more generally, for invoices nearing their payment date.
Click Pay Invoice in the toolbar to the right of the form, which opens a Pay invoice window
with a description of the payment. Type Pay Supplier in the Entry Name field, and select
Bank Journal in the Journal/Payment Mode field. Then click Full Payment to the top left of the
form, which carries out the payment action within Open ERP and returns you to the invoice.
Although this invoice is still in the Unpaid Invoices screen, you can see it is actually paid
because the Paid/Reconciled box is now checked and the State is now Done .
Note: Payment of an invoice
The method described here is for companies that dont use their accounting system to pay
bills just to record them. If youre using the account module fully other, more efficient,
methods let you manage payments, such as entering account statements, reconciling
paperwork, using tools for preparing payments, interfacing with banks.
You can monitor the accounting impact of paying the invoice through the chart of accounts
available from the menu Financial Management Charts Chart of Accounts. Open ERP
automatically creates accounting entries from the payment and can reconcile the payment
to the invoice. You now have a new transaction that has debited the Payable account with
560.00 and credited the Cash account.
If you look in Financial Management Reporting Journals youll see both accounting
transactions, one in each of the Purchase Journal and Bank Journal in Draft state.

7.6.5 From Sales Proposal to Sales Order

In Open ERP, sales proposals and sales orders are managed using documents that are based
on the same common functionality as purchase orders, so youll recognize the following
documents in general but see changes to their detail and to their workflows. To create a new
sales proposal, use the menu Sales Management Sales Orders New Quotation which
creates a new order in a state of Quotation , then:
1. Select the Customer Smith and Offspring . This has the effect of automatically completing
several other fields: Ordering Contact, Invoice Address, Shipping Address, and the Pricelist
Default Sale Pricelist. Theyre all only defaults so these fields can be modified as you need.
2. Click the Save parent record. icon to the right of the Sales Order Lines field. It saves the
main order form and becomes a new Create new record. icon. Click that to open a Sales
Order Lines window.
3. Select the product Titanium Alloy Radiator Although the Product field isnt itself required,
its used by Open ERP to select the specific product so that several other fields can be
automatically completed on the order line of the proposal, such as Description, Product
UoM, Unit Price, Procure Method, Delivery Delay, and Taxes.

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4. Change the Quantity to 6 and the Unit Price to 130.00Then click Save and the line appears
on the quotation form. A blank order line form reappears so that you can enter another
line, but its enough now just to click Close to return to the order form.
5. On the Other data tab of this Sales Order select a Packing Policy of Complete Delivery and
Shipping Policy of Invoice on Order After Delivery from their dropdown menu lists.
6. Return to the first tab Sale Order and validate the document by clicking guilabel:Confirm
Order which calculates prices and the changes the orders state from Quotation to In
Progressas shown in
screenshot Sales Order Form. If you were in negotiation with the prospective customer
youd keep clicking Compute and Save keeping the document in Quotation state for
as long as necessary.

Figure 7.13: Sales Order Form

7. In the last tab of the order, History you can see the Packing List thats been created and
youll be able to see any invoices that relate to this order when theyre generated.
From the Main Menu click Products Products to display a list of products: just the one, Titanium
Alloy Radiator , currently exists in this example. Its Real Stock still shows 10.00 but its Virtual
Stock now shows
4.00 to reflect the new future requirement of 6 units for despatch.

7.6.6 Preparing goods for despatch to customers

The stores manager selects the menu Stock Management Outgoing Products Confirmed
Packing Awaiting Availability to get a list of orders to despatch. In this example theres only
one, PACK2 , so click the text to open the Confirmed Packing Waiting Availability form.
Tip: Running Schedulers

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At the moment your Sales Order is waiting for products to be reserved to fulfil it. A stock
reservation activity takes place periodically to calculate the needs, which also takes
customer priorities into account. The calculation can be started from the menu
Manufacturing Compute All Schedulers. Running this automatically reserves products. If
you dont want to have to work out your stock needs but have a lean workflow you can
install the mrp_jit (Just In Time) module.
Although Open ERP has automatically been made aware that items on this order will need to
be despatched, it has not yet assigned any specific items from any location to fulfil it. Its
ready to move 6.00Titanium Alloy Radiators from the Stock location to the Customers
location, so start this process by clicking Check Availability. The Move line has now changed
from the Confirmed state to the Available state.
Then click the Packing Done button to reach the Make Packing window, where you click the
Make Picking button to transfer the 6 radiators to the customer.
To analyze stock movements that youve made during these operations use Stock
Management Locations Structure to see that your stocks have reduced to 4 radiators and
the generic Customers location has a level of 6 radiators.

7.6.7 Invoicing Goods

Use the menu Financial Management Invoices Customer Invoices Draft Customer
Invoices to open a list of Sales invoices generated by Open ERP. These are in the Draftstate,
which means that they dont yet have any presence in the accounting system. Youll find a
draft invoice has been created for the order SO001 once you have despatched the goods
because youd selected Invoice on Order After Delivery .
Once you confirm an invoice, Open ERP assigns it a unique number, and all of the
corresponding accounting entries are generated. So open the invoice and click Create to do
that and move the invoice into an Open state with a number of 2009/001.
You can send your customer the invoice for payment at this stage. Click Invoices from the Reports
section of the toolbar at the right of the form to get a PDF document that can be printed or
emailed to the customer.
You can also attach the PDF document to the Open ERP invoice record. Save the PDF
somewhere convenient on your PC (such as on your desktop). Then click the Add an
attachment to this resource button to the top right of the invoice form (it looks like a
clipboard). Browse to the file you just saved (record.pdf if you didnt change its name) from
the Attachments dialog box that pops up, and Close the dialog box. This gives you a
permanent non-editable record of your invoice on the Open ERP system.
Review your chart of accounts to check the impact of these activities on your accounting. Youll
see the new revenue line from the invoice.

7.6.8 Customer Payment

Registering an invoice payment by a customer is essentially the same as the process of
paying a supplier. From the menu Financial Management Invoices Customer Invoices
Unpaid Customer Invoices, click the name of the invoice that you want to mark as paid, or
just check its checkbox in the list:

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1. Use the Pay Invoice button in the Action section of the toolbar at the right to open a
window that enables you to register the payment.
2. Select the Entry Name and type Got paid by customer and select the Journal to be Bank
Journal .
3. Click Full Payment. The invoice is then marked as paid, with its Paid/Reconciled box
checked as you can see if you select it again Invoice Form.

Figure 7.14: Invoice Form

Check your Chart of Accounts as before to see that you now have a healthy bank balance in the
Cash account.

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Part III

Managing

Customer Relationships

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The Sales department is the engine of your whole company. Sales success drives
staff motivation and your companys general dynamism, which in turn enables you
to keep innovating and lay the foundations for future success.
The key to continued Sales success is effective Customer Relationship
Management (most often known as CRM). Open ERPs CRM capabilities are flexible
and highly developed to assist you in managing all aspects of both supplier and
customer relationships. Analytic tools help you understand your performance
drivers, and the automation of data and processes drives new levels of efficiency.
Open ERP can share information through its interfaces to the most common office
applications, minimizing disruption to your operations when you first install it. Your
staff can build on their previous productivity by continuing to use their email and
office systems, now connected to Open ERP, transferring to the Open ERP
interface only if they need to.

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EIGHT

LEADS, BUSINESS
OPPORTUNITIES
AND CAMPAIGNS
This chapter introduces the pre-sales activities of managing leads and
opportunities. Youre introduced to a more complex set of relationships
between partners and contacts than offered by the : mod:base module,
and shown how to use the company calendar. Youll finish by discussing
how a call center might use the Open ERP system.

8.1 Managing Contacts

The standard way of representing partners and contacts throughout Open ERP and
many other enterprise systems (such as phone contact applications) is having a
partner with multiple contacts. Partner is the word for any entity that you do
business with - supplier, customer, etc. This representation may not be flexible
enough for some uses, so Open ERP provides an alternative, which is brought into
the system by installing the base_contact module.
The two figures UML class diagram with base_contact module installed and UML
class diagram with base_contact module not installed show the structure of partners
and contacts in the form of UML classes both with and without this base_contact
module. For the non-programmer this diagram can be a bit of a brutal way of
showing it, but its the clearest way to illustrate the complexities that can be
accomplished.

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Figure 8.1: UML class diagram with base_contact module installed

Figure 8.2: UML class diagram with base_contact module not installed
A concrete example may illustrate this concept of multiple relationships between
contacts and partners ( companies ) better. The figure Example of a structure with

management of partners and contacts shows two companies each having several
addresses (places of business) and several contacts attached to these addresses.

Figure 8.3: Example of a structure with management of partners and contacts

In this example youll find the following elements:

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 The ABC bank has two places of business, represented by the addresses of ABC
Belgium and ABC Luxembourg,
The addresses of Dexey France and Dexey Belgium belong to the Dexey company,
At the office of ABC Luxembourg, you have the contacts of the director (D Fogerty)
and the accountant ( A.
Jacket),
Mr Jacket holds the post of accountant for ABC Luxembourg and Dexey France,
Mr J Smith is director of Dexey France and Dexey Belgium and we also have his
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Depending on your needs, Open ERP provides three menus to access the same information:
List of partners: Partners Partners,
List of contacts: Partners Contacts,
List of posts held by contacts at partners: Partners Contacts Jobs.
The three menus above are only three different views on the same data. If you correct a contact name
on the contact form, this will be modified on all the posts occupied in the different companies.
The screen above represents a partner form. You can see several possible address there and a list of
contacts above each address. For each contact you see a name, a function, a phone number
and an email.

Figure 8.4: A partner form with the base_contact module installed

If you click on the line you can get more detail about the function (such as start date, end date, and
fax) or enter into the contact form (such as personal phone, different posts occupied, and
personal blog).

Figure 8.5: Detail of a job post occupied by a contact at a partner

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8.1. Managing Contacts

Figure 8.6: Detail of a contact form for someone employed in several job posts
Partner management is found in the Open ERP base modules. To manage partner relations you have to
install the CRM modules. Then start by installing a CRM profile and configure the system to meet your
needs.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, using the CRM
profile and no particular chart of accounts configured. Open ERPs modularity enables you to install
only the CRM module if your requirements are limited to customer relationships.

Figure 8.7: Creating a new database

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Once the database is installed, Open ERP suggests that you configure it using a series of questions:
Creating users: click Skip,
Simplified or Extended mode: select simplified and click Ok, Select the CRM functionality to install.

Figure 8.8: Selecting the CRM functionality to install

Note: The CRM configuration module
The pre-configuration of the management of customer relations to generate prospects, opportunities,
and phone calls isnt supplied by the crm module itself but by the crm_configuration module.
If you install the modules separately dont forget to install the crm_configuration module. The crm
module just contains the generic case management system.
Open ERP proposes a selection from pre-configured functions for CRM:
managing a prospects database,
managing and tracking opportunities,
managing meetings and the company calendar,
managing pre-sales,
managing phone calls and/or a call center,
managing after-sales service,
managing employment offers,
managing technical service,
tracking bugs and new functional requests.
You see that Open ERPs CRM module isnt limited just to Customer relationships but is designed to
generate all types of relations with a partner: such as suppliers, employees, customers, prospects. This
book will describe just customer relationships. The other CRM functions are similar to use, so you
shouldnt have huge problems with understanding those functions.
The following cases will be looked at for this chapter
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Prospect management,

8.1. Managing Contacts

Opportunity management,
Management of the company calendar,
Management of phone calls.
The figure Selecting parameters for CRM modules for the reader of this chapter shows the CRM
module configuration screen after selecting some functions to install.

Figure 8.9: Selecting parameters for CRM modules for the reader of this chapter

8.1.1 Organizing Prospects

If you have installed the management of prospects and opportunities, Open ERP implements the
following workflow for the qualification of prospects and future opportunities.

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Figure 8.10: Process of converting a prospect into a customer or opportunity

8.2 Leads
A lead represents a potential customer or a possible future business or sales opportunity.
They arent usually qualified yet and they arent yet assigned to an individual person for
following up. When a lead needs to be followed up, its converted to a partner and/or a sales
opportunity.
For example, the following events could result in the creation of one or several leads:

A business card from a prospective customer met briefly at an exhibition: you must
contact him again to qualify the lead and to know if there is any possibility of a key sales
opportunity,

A database of potential customers in a given sector and region. The potential customers
must be contacted again individually or using a mass mailing to determine which contacts
need to be followed up,

A contact that youve been given by a friend. You must then qualify it before starting to
assign a salesperson to the contact,

A form completed on your website directly integrated into Open ERP. Before converting
the form into a sale proposition or opportunity, you should read and handle the persons
request.
Note: Separation of sales services
In companies of a certain type, you often distinguish between the sales department and the
presales department. The role of the presales department is to acquire and qualify new
leads, and the role of the sales department is to crystallize the sales opportunities or work
with existing customers.

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System users in the pre-sales department will usually work on leads. Once these leads are
converted into customers or sales opportunities the sales department pays individual attention
to each opportunity.

8.2.1 Entering prospects into the system

New prospects are usually entered as a lead in the system. This means that you dont create
a partner form or sales opportunity until you have qualified whether the lead is interesting or
not. If the new contact is indeed interesting you then enter the data on into a partner form
and, eventually, a sales opportunity.
To enter a lead manually use the menu CRM & SRM Sales Leads New Lead. A form
opens to let you enter data about this new contact.

Figure 8.11: Creating a new lead

Leads have a status that depends on the qualification work thats been carried out:

8.2. Leads
Draft : the lead data has been entered, any work has not yet been done and a salesperson has not yet
been assigned to the request,
Open : the lead is being handled,
Closed : the lead has been converted into a partner and/or a sales opportunity,
Waiting : the lead is waiting for a response from the customer,
Cancelled : the lead has been cancelled because the salesperson has decided that its not worth
following up.
When a new lead has been created its automatically put into the open state.
You can also import a huge list of leads. Thats useful if youve bought a database of potential
prospects and you want to load them all into the system to handle them all at the same time.
To do that you should start with a list of leads in CSV format. If your prospects are provided in another
format its easy to convert them to the CSV format using Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc. Open the

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leads list using the menu CRM & SRM Sales -> Leads -> My Leads. At the bottom of the list click on
the Import link. Open ERP opens a form for importing the data.

Figure 8.12: Importing leads into the system

You then define which columns are present in your CSV file in the correct order. Then select your file
and click on Import. Check in the chapter about system administration, Configuration & Administration,
for more information on import and export.
Tip: Various Imports
Importing and Exporting data in Open ERP is a generic function available to all resources. So you can
import and export such lists as partners, sales opportunities, accounting entries, products and
pricelists.
There are other methods of importing leads automatically or semi-automatically:
Using the Outlook or Thunderbird plugin to insert new leads directly from an email client after a
salesperson sees promising emails,
Using the email gateway for each incoming email from a certain address
[email protected]) creating a lead automatically from the contents of the email,

(such

as

Using Open ERPs XML-RPC web-services to connect to a form on your website.

These different methods are described in the next CRM chapter, Customer Relationship Management.

8.2.2 Organizing leads

To help the users organize and handle leads efficiently, Open ERP provides several menus in the CRM
system that can be used depending on the needs of each:
Leads New Lead opens an entry form directly onto a new lead. This menu can usefully be put into
your shortcuts,
Leads My Leads gives a list of all the leads (both open and not) which youre linked to,
Leads My Leads My Current Leads gives a list of all your leads that you still need to handle (your
open, draft and waiting leads),
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Leads My Leads My Current Leads My Pending Leads gives a list of all your leads that that are
still waiting for a customer response. This enables you to check periodically on your work to do,
Leads All Leads is a list of all the leads assigned to different salespeople. This menu as those
beneath it are used by managers to check on each persons work.

Figure 8.13: List of leads to be handled

Leads are prioritized. Salespeople should ideally start at the top of the list. They then open a form to
describe the lead. At this stage they contact the suspected customer by email or phone and enter the
result of the contact on the lead form.
They can then change the status of the lead to a state that depends on the response from the suspect:
Cancelled : not to be followed as a lead,
Waiting : waiting for a response from the suspect.

8.2. Leads

8.2.3 Converting leads into customers or opportunities

If a lead is interesting you convert it into a partner in the system. To do that, push the button Convert
to Partner. Open ERP opens a partner form with the information from the lead entered into it. At this
stage you can add more information such as the exact partner address and the contact details.

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The created partner is automatically attached to the lead, which enables you to keep complete
traceability from the lead. To do that look at the second tab in the lead History.
If the salesperson thinks that there is a real opportunity with the lead, following the contact, he can
convert it into a sales opportunity using the button Convert to Opportunity. Open ERP then opens a
window asking the title of the opportunity, the estimated revenue and the percentage success of
converting to a sale.

Figure 8.14: Converting a lead into a sales opportunity

Some companies have more advanced processes for the qualification of a lead. They pass through
several steps, such as first call, renewing contact, waiting for a verbal agreement. You can then use
the field Step that is found up to the right of the lead definition. To move it automatically through the
next step, you can use the button that looks like a right arrow.

8.3 Sales Opportunities

While a lead represents the first contact with a prospect yet to be qualified, a sales opportunity
represents a potential contract. Each opportunity must be followed up by a salesperson spending time
to make a quotation or the cancellation of the opportunity.
Leads are generally handled en masse, with the automation of certain responses or emails.
Opportunities, in contrast, are usually tracked one by one by the salespeople because that involves a
process of negotiation.

8.3.1 Ensuring that you track opportunities

Just like leads, Open ERP provides several menus to handle sales opportunities efficiently. All the
menus for opportunities are under the menu CRM & SRM Sales Opportunities.
To quickly create a new opportunity, use the menu CRM & SRM Sales Opportunities New
Opportunity. You usually use this menu in the case where the opportunity is direct and doesnt come
first from a lead. It can also be useful to create a shortcut to this menu so that you can quickly open a
new opportunity form when you need to after a phone call, or an email, that needs followup.
The salesperson uses the menu CRM & SRM Sales Opportunities My Opportunities My Open
Opportunities to track their opportunities. After various customer contacts, the salesperson can enter
the information into the form to describe the activity. The history tab provides a history of all the
information about the activity throughout its life. The activities are automatically reported on the
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partner form of the associated customer. To see this, open the events tab when you open the partner
form.

Figure 8.15: History of events in a partner form

When the leads have been converted into opportunities, the opportunities can be assigned to any
salesperson. Then you designate an opportunity manager in the company who is responsible for
assigning the new opportunities to different salespeople to suit their speciality, location or availability.
The manager can use the menu Opportunity All Opportunities Unassigned Opportunities to do this.
This gives you a list of all opportunities that havent yet been assigned to a salesperson. The manager
can the enter the salesperson responsible for the opportunity into the field Responsible.

8.3.2 The company calendar

There are several methods for entering a new meeting with a partner. The first method is to enter the
meeting directly in the company calendar. To do that, use the menu CRM & SRM Calendar All
Meetings.
You can use the monthly, weekly or daily views to plan a meeting. To move between one mode and
another use the buttons above and to the right of the calendar.

Figure 8.16: Meetings calendar in monthly view

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8.3. Sales Opportunities

Figure 8.17: Meetings calendar in weekly view

In the calendar you distinguish between multi-day events and events that last only for a few hours.
Multi-day events have a colored background whereas single events have a colored font. Each event
has a color that represents the user that created the meeting. You can filter the different users by
selecting them from the list at the left of the screen.
To enter a new meeting into the system you can click the day and the hour for a new meeting. In the
weekly and daily views you can also press the mouse left button on the calendar and slide the mouse
along to create an event of several hours. Open ERP then opens an entry screen for a new meeting.

Figure 8.18: Entering a new meeting

Tip: Consolidated Calendar
The advantage of integrated management is that the enterprise calendar will group several system
events. Then in the Open ERP calendar youll automatically find both these meetings and such
information as business opportunities, technical interventions, and requests for staff meetings.

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8.3.3 Tracking phone calls

Open ERP has functions to manage a telephone call centre. If, hen you installed the CRM module, you
selected the option for calls youll be able to manage incoming and outgoing calls.
Call management can be used for two particular needs:
Entering customer calls so that you keep a record of the communication attached to a partner or a
sales opportunity,
Managing a call centre with operators who handle lists of calls to carry out one after another.
To enter details of a phone call, use one of the two following menus:
CRM & SRM Sales Phone Calls Inbound,
CRM & SRM Sales Phone Calls Outbound.
The phone call will then be visible on the partner form to give you complete visibility of the events
about that customer or supplier.

8.3.4 Managing a Call Center

You can manually encode calls that happen or you can pass them into Open ERP. But for mass
campaigns, you can import a list of phone calls to make. To do this, click on the import link at the
bottom of the list of phone calls. On the GTK client use the toolbar button Form Import at the top.
Phone calls that have occurred in the open state. The different operators can be assigned calls and
handle them one by one using the menu CRM & SRM Phone Calls Outbound New Outgoing Call.
The operator can open the calls one by one. For each call, after having contacted the customer, the
operator can click on one of the following buttons:
Cancel: you cancel the call. For example you could cancel the call if youve tried to call them more than
three times.
Held: youve spoken to the customer by phone. In this case the operator can change the case section
and send it to sales opportunities, for example. You could alternatively leave it in this state if you dont
need to carry out any more actions with this customer.
Not Held: the customer hasnt been called, youll try to call him again later.

8.3.5 Advanced Customer Relations

Open ERP also supplies several tools to improve and automate relationships with partners. They wont
be described extensively here, just introduced briefly.
The supplier/customer portal gives you the ability to provide your suppliers and customers with
constrained access to Open ERP. They will then be able to view or enter sets of information directly
online to Open ERP. For example they could enter their orders, reprint their invoices, or work on
communal projects. To activate the portal you should install the modules that start with the string
portal_....

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The email gateway lets you interface the CRM with incoming and outgoing emails. The scripts used for
the email gateway are available in the crm module in the scripts subdirectory.
Outlook and Thunderbird plugins let you synchronize your contacts between your email client and your
ERP. They both enable you to create sales opportunities based on exchanges you have with the
customer.
The rules for automating actions enable you to send emails automatically based on the event, such as
assigning opportunities to the most appropriate person. To access the CRM rules, use the menu CRM &
SRM Configuration Cases Rules. The segmentation tools let you create partner groups and act
on each segment differently. For example you could create pricelists for each of the segments, or start
phone marketing campaigns by segment. To enable the management of segmentation you should
install the module crm_profiling. The base_report_designer module enables you to create letter
templates in OpenOffice and automate letters for different prospects. Open ERP also has plugins for
MS Word to simplify the creation of mass mailing.

8.3. Sales Opportunities

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CHAPTER

NINE

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT
Its often said that the customer is king. You would treat all your customers as royalty, at the
center of your attention if you had a way of keeping your eyes on them at all times. Open
ERPs CRM module is designed to make this aim a reality, helping employees of the business
understand their customers needs better, and automating their communication efforts.
Tip: CRM & SRM
CRM is the abbreviation for Customer Relationship Management, and SRM is Supplier Relationship
Management.
If you want to focus on your customers, you need tools to make that focus easy. Tools that will capture
all the knowledge you have available, tools that will help you analyze what you know, and tools that
will make it easy to use all of that knowledge and analysis.
A crucial advantage that Open ERP gives you over the more specialist CRM applications is that Open
ERP knows more about your customers and your ability to supply them because its handling all of
your accounting, sales, purchases, manufacturing and fulfilment as well as linking to all of your
internal staff. Open ERPs crm module uses that information and offers several significant features that
enable you and your staff to monitor and control your supplier and customer relationships effectively,
such as delegating issues to the most appropriate people, keeping a history of communications and
events, qualifying prospects and detecting problems.
It also uses several statistical tools that can analyze relationships quantitatively your customer
service performance and the quality of your suppliers, for example. Using performance analysis, you
can easily put a policy of real continuous improvement in place by developing an automatic rulesbased system in Open ERP.
To minimize re-typing work, Open ERP provides an email gateway that links your emails to the
databases. This is a significant feature many of your staff will then use Open ERP automatically
through email without ever logging into it themselves and having to learn a new system.
Finally, at the end of this chapter youll see an efficient method of qualifying prospects or customers
that enables you to offer a service tailored to the potential value of different prospects.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, using the CRM profile
and no particular chart of accounts configured.
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9.1 Partners
In Open ERP, a partner represents all the entities that you can do business with. Some possible
different types of partners are:
suppliers,
manufacturers,
customers,
clients, employees,
prospects.
The concept of a partner here is much more flexible than in many other management applications
because a partner can correspond to one type or a combination of several of these types. This avoids
double data-entry and provides greater flexibility in the features available.
So a partner can be both your supplier and your customer at the same time. This feature is particularly
important when you have subsidiaries or franchises since transactions between the parent and its
subsidiaries in these cases will generally be two-way.
To get a list of partners using demonstration data, use the menu Partners Partners.

Figure 9.1: A partner form

To the right of the partner form youll find all of the actions, reports and shortcuts available to the
selected partner. This enables you to quickly send an SMS message, for example, or review a partners
order history, or print a reminder letter.
Tip: Send an SMS message
To send an SMS message from standard Open ERP youll have to place an order with the bulk SMS
gateway operator
Clickatellhttp://clickatell.com.
Youll then receive an API number, a login and a password which you can use in Open ERP to send SMS
messages to your partners.
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Or you can just develop a new module based on the inbuilt SMS functions, targeted at any of the other
SMS service suppliers, and use that instead.
To send an SMS message to a partner or a selection of several partners, first select the partners then
click the Send SMS Action icon.
To create a company in Open ERP (that is a new partner) you should at a minimum enter the
companys Name in the partner form.

9.1.1 Contacts
You can have several contacts for one partner. Contacts represent company employees that youre in
contact with, along with their address details. For each address you can indicate their type (Default ,
Invoice , Delivery , Contact or Other ). Based on this, Open ERP can supply an address that matches
the contacts function when generating documents at various stages through an Order process.
Contacts can be entered into the first (General) tab of the Partners form, or you can get direct access
to the list of addresses through the Partners Partner Contacts menu.
You can search for a subset of Partners and Contacts using their company Name or Contact name or
part of the address, or any of the other search fields in either the Basic Search or the Advanced Search
tab.
Note: Independent partners or physical people
If you want to represent a physical person rather than a company, in Open ERP, that persons name
can be typed directly into the Name field on the Partner form. In this case dont put in any Contact
Name.

9.1.2 Partner Categories

Open ERP uses hierarchical categories to organize all of its partners. To reach the list of available
partner categories, use the menu Partners Partners by Category.

Figure 9.2: Example Partner Category structure

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Double-click one of the categories in the partner category structure to get a list of the partners in that
category. If you click on a category that has sub-categories youll get a list of all of the partners in the
main category and in all of its subcategories.
Because categories are structured in a hierarchical manner, you can apply an action at any level of the
structure: a marketing promotion activity, for example, can be applied either to all customers, or
selectively only to customers in one category and its subcategories.
The tree structure is also very useful when youre running the various statistical reports. You can
structure reports at any level of the hierarchy using this partner segmentation.
In the following sections youll see how to assign partners to categories manually (perhaps for a
newsletter subscription or as a hot prospect), or automatically using segmentation rules.
Use the menu Partners Configuration Categories Edit Categories to define a new category.
To try Open ERPs partner capabilities described here for yourself, log into your database as
admin/XXXXX then

9.1. Partners
click Partners Configuration Categories Edit Categories and create a new category of Small
Suppliers whose parent is Suppliers . Then create a new Partner whose Name is Susan Trent \ and
category is \ Small Suppliers .
Click Partners Partners by Category and then click Suppliers Small Suppliers to find just Susan
Trent . Do this again but now click the Suppliers category in Partners by Category and youll find that
both Plumbing
Component Suppliersand Susan Trent are in the higher-level category: Susan Trent is there because
shes in a child category.
Add new contact Graham Strong to Plumbing Component Suppliers . Grahams Address Type is
Invoice . Click Partners Partner Contacts and see that both Susan and Graham appear on that list.

9.2 Case management

The following sections describe the steps you might use to implement an effective customer
relationship management policy. The policy is implemented by basing new types of case on the builtin Open ERP case handling system.
Note: Case
Case is a generic term that refers to a discussion with a partner about a specific subject. This subject
could be in any category the monitoring of responses to a job advert, perhaps, or a purchase or sales
order, or an after-sales quality problem.
A case is used for following the history of the messages on a topic and for automating some
operations in response to certain conditions. Interfaces are available for OpenOffice.org and for email
such as Microsoft Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook, so that you can make productive use of the
case system from your existing tools.
Case statistics generated by the system can be used by your managers to improve their handling of
supplier and customer interactions.

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9.2.1 CRM configuration

Case management is a generic system that can be configured to your more precise needs. Youll
develop three case types here, to see how to build the following systems:
1. A system to manage business opportunities.
2. A system for managing support contracts on two levels.
3. A system for managing supplier quality.

Sections
To handle each of these case types in a different way, you must create different sections in Open ERP
using the menu CRM & SRM Configuration Case Sections . Do this as user admin in your
database to try it for yourself.
Youll define the following four sections:
Sales
Support Level 2 Support Level 1
Quality.

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Put the name in the field Case Section. You construct a tree structure for sections is
constructed using the Parent
Section field in the Section form. So here youd say that Support Level 2 is the parent of
Support Level 1 . Open ERP doesnt restrict the order you use to define these two you can
save the parent while defining the child (try it by starting with Support Level 1 ).
A manager can then be assigned to each section (from the list of Open ERP system users),
and an email address can optionally be added. Cases in this section are then automatically
connected to this email address case messages are emailed out automatically from this
address and emails to this address are automatically logged in this section of the CRM
system. This functionality is based on the email gateway referred to in detail further on in this
chapter.
Click the menu CRM & SRM Cases Cases by Section to get the sections in a hierarchical
list, then click a section name to list the cases that have been assigned to that section.
Note: Cases by Section with data
Click the menu CRM & SRM Cases Cases by Section to get the sections in a hierarchical
list, then click a section name, such as Helpdesk or Support, to list the cases that have been
assigned to that section.

Categories
Once youve defined the different sections you can create Categories, which are used to
differentiate the cases in a section. You create categories using the menu CRM & SRM
Configuration Cases Categories . Create the following in your database:
Table 9.1: Categories assigned to the
different sections
Category
Installation
Requests
Potential
Distributor
Interest in
Training
Fault Fix
Functional
Problem
Corrective
Actions
Preventative
Actions
Menu

Section
Sales
Sales
Sales
Support
Level 1
Support
Level 1
Quality
Quality

Once the sections and the categories are defined you can generate some menus to make it
easier to use these cases. Select the menu CRM & SRM Configuration Create Menus for a
New Section.

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The procedure is to create the name of the new menu in Menu base name, select the name of
a suitable Parent menu for the menu and the Case Section name, then click Create menu
Entries. Following this procedure, create the following menus:
Table 9.2: Example of creating menus that make it easier to use cases
Menu base name
Business
Opportunities
Support L1
Support L2
Quality Problems

Case
Section
Sales
Support
Level 1
Support
Level 2
Quality

Parent menu
Sales
Management
CRM & SRM
CRM & SRM

Purchase
Management
Each time you run this utility (that is, for each line in the table above), Open ERP generates
a menu structure like Business Opportunities menu automatically
generated.

Figure 9.3: Business Opportunities menu automatically generated

Note: Case sections
Open ERP enables you to select the view mode you want when the menu is opened to display
the cases for each section such as Sales, Helpdesk, and Support Request.
Your selection of view determines the type of form that opens when showing a case in each
section. So the form following a support request case could differ from the form for a
business opportunity.
If youre working in a different language from the default, you can define the labels in that
language after youve created the new menus.
Note: Personalizing menus
You can rename menus if you dont like the way theyve been generated by the system. To
do this, select the menu line by single-clicking on the line (but not on the menu text itself)
and then clicking the Switch icon.
Youll see a form view of the menu definition. If its in edit mode you can change its name
and position in the hierarchy, and you can select a different icon for it. You can also choose a
different action for when the menu is clicked. If youve saved or cancelled the menu form so
that its not in edit mode you can duplicate it or delete it completely. Duplicating it can

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sometimes be helpful, placing a copy somewhere else in the menu hierarchy and perhaps
making it accessible to different groups of users.

9.2.2 Using cases

Although youve created special menu trees for each of the types of case you defined, you
can continue using the generic case system reached through CRM & SRM Cases. The new
case types are just versions of the generic case.
Tip: Transferability of cases
Its quite useful to base the whole management of customer relationships on a generic
system, as Open ERP does. Since each section is just a specialization of the generic system
you can transfer requests from one section to another, and this means that you dont lose
cases in the system as you delegate work to other staff in your company. For example you
can imagine a support request becoming a business opportunity. Or an after-sales service
request becoming a supplier quality issue where a fault is found in a purchased product. You
can also track items across the whole company.

Figure 9.4: An entry following a business opportunity

To enter a new business opportunity, you can use the menu that youve just created: Sales
Management Business Opportunities. Or you could have used the generic menus CRM &
SRM Cases Cases by section, or CRM & SRM Cases All cases.
Create a case from Sales Management Business Opportunities by entering information
about the request, namely:
a Description of the case,
its Section will already be completed with Sales ,
a Priority,
the Partner,
the Partner Contact (which will be completed automatically when the Partner is filled in but
can be overwritten),

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the Partner Email address (which will be completed from the Partner Contacts email address
but can be overwritten),
the person in your own company who will be the User Responsible for the case.
Tip: The email gateway
Youll see later in this chapter that cases can be generated automatically from emails. If the
email gateway is configured properly youll no longer have to enter cases manually through
the menu system theyll just be created from incoming emails.
A case starts in the Draft state once its been created. You can then open it to indicate that
youre working on it by clicking the Open button.
To enter text about the request or about actions taken to satisfy it, type an entry in free text.
To save the history of your comments, click Historize. If you click Send Partner and Historize
the partner will also receive a copy of your comment as you save it.
While the case is open you can click Close if its been completed or Cancel if its to go no
further. If you want the case to wait for a response from a partner click Pending.
Add some text for this example case in the database, then close it.
If youve organized the sections in a hierarchical structure you can click on Escalate. The case
then escalates into the parent section. You cant do that with the Business Opportunity that
you just defined, which is single-level but you could with a Support L1 case. For example if a
developer on level 1 cant handle a customer problem then she can escalate the request to
level 2 where it can be handled by a more experienced user.
Tip: Assigning a case
Two approaches are available to you for assigning a case to a suitable manager. Any case
can be assigned by the user who creates the original case, or this field can be left blank. If
its blank youd review the resulting list of unassigned cases and pick one up and assign it to
yourself.
You can also imagine a mixed method: all cases arrive unassigned and a user is responsible
for the division of work to the relevant section.
You can look up the history of comments and actions on the request at any time by looking at
the case History, which is in its own tab.
Users can create their own shortcuts from menus such as My Support Requests and My
Business Opportunities to quickly list cases that theyre personally responsible for.

9.2.3 Generating calendars

The Open ERP web client can display any type of resource in the form of a timetable. You can
generate calendar views for each of your cases as you create menus for those cases.
So if you want to implement a shared calendar for your calendar in Open ERP all you need to
do is:
1. Create a section Meeting Calendar

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2. Create menus for this section while specifying that you want a calendar view from CRM &
SRM Configuration Create Menus for a New Section.
Youll get menus enabling you to manage calendars for each employee, and youll also get a
shared calendar for the company. This calendar view is totally dynamic. You can move an
event or change its duration just using your mouse.

Figure 9.5: Monthly view of the meeting calendar for cases

You can change the view and return to the list view, forms or graphs by using the buttons at
the top right. Open ERPs usual search tools and filters enable you to filter the events
displayed in the calendar or, for example, to display the calendar for only some employees
at a time.

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Figure 9.6: Weekly view of the meeting calendar for cases

Note: The generic calendar
Unlike traditional CRM software, Open ERPs calendar view is not limited to displaying
appointments. Its available for any type of resource.
So in addition to the cases handled here, you could obtain calendars of tasks, deliveries,
manufacturing orders, sales or personal leave.
This view is very useful for planning or to get a global overview of a list of dated elements.

9.2.4 Analyzing performance

Since all of your customer communications are integrated into the Open ERP system, you can
analyses the performance of your teams in many ways. Open ERP has a module that helps
handle this report_crm. Its not part of the core Open ERP so you must first download it to
your desktop from Open ERPs modules repository, then into your server using Administration
Modules Management Import module. Then install it into the database.
Once youve installed it you can use menu CRM & SRM Reporting to create different
reports.

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Figure 9.7: Analyzing the performance of your support team

If you want to analyze the performance of your service and support group, for example, use
the graph from CRM & SRM Reporting All Months Cases by User and Section. Click the
menu to obtain a list view, then click the Graph button to the top right of the list. The system
shows you statistics per user and its possible to filter on each section and use other criteria
for searching. For example, you can type in a date range, click Filter, and see the graph
change to reflect the new data.
By default, the system provides a list containing the following information for each month,
user and section, and an indication of the state of each set of information:

number of cases,

average delay for closing the request,

estimated revenue for a business opportunity,

estimated cost,

estimate of revenue multiplied by the probability of success, to give you an estimated

weighted revenue figure.

Tip: Navigating through the statistics

You can obtain more information about a user or a case section from these reports, drilling
down into the data displayed.
In the web client you click the appropriate text string on one of the lines (such as Demo User
or Helpdesk and Support) to open a form for it, and then click one of the buttons in the
Action toolbar to the right of the User or Section form that is displayed.
In the GTK client youd right-click over the text instead this brings up a context menu with
the same options as the web client would give you.
You can specify that the graph view, say, appears by default so that you can consistently
present the information more visually.

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9.2.5 Automating actions using rules

Analyzing figures gives you a better basis for managing all of your services and customer and
supplier relationships. But you can do more than just display the figures graphically from time
to time.
If the performance of a section, a user or a category of a case is beginning to cause concern
then you can use Open ERPs rules system to monitor the situation more closely. Rules enable
you to automatically trigger actions depending on criteria you define for each case. They
provide a good way of implementing a proper continuous improvement policy for your
customer relations and quality of service.
Using these rules you could:
automatically send emails to the client during different phases of a support request, to keep
the client up to date with progress,
assign the case to another person if the the case manager is on holiday,
send a reminder to the supplier if their response is delayed too long,
always mark a case as urgent if its from a major client,
transfer the case to technical services if the request is about a technical fault.
To define new rules use the menu CRM & SRM Configuration Cases Rules.

Figure 9.8: Screenshot of a rule

The criteria for activating this rule are defined on the main part of the screen. These criteria
are:
a condition about the initial state (for example during the creation of a case initial state:
None , eventual state: Draft ) ,
a condition about the destination state (for example at the closure of a case to send a
confirmation or thank you email),

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the case section to which the rule applies,
the category for the case,
a condition about the manager of the case (for example to send copies of case progress to a
manager if the client request is handled by a trainee),
a condition about the priority level (for example to provide different types of reaction
depending on the urgency of the request),
a partner or a category to be applied to the rule,
a date for the trigger
reporting by the date of creation
reporting by date of the last action
reporting by the length of time that its been active.
If you have defined several criteria Open ERP will apply the rule only if all of the criteria are
valid.
You define the action that will be taken if the rule is met in the second tab of the lower part of
the setup window. The following actions are included:
change the state of the case,
move the case to a new section,
assign the case to a system manager,
change the priority of a case,
send a reminder to the case manager or a partner,
attach information (or not) to a reminder,
send copies of the case discussion to specified email addresses,
send a predefined email.

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Note: Example 1 Improvement in the quality of support
For example, on the graph that analyses the performance of team support in Figure 4-6 you
can see that the Demo User takes an average time of 3 days and 4 hours to close a
customer support request. This is too long. After analyzing the data in depth, you can see
that most cases were closed in less than two days, but some may take more than ten days.
If you think that the quality of service should be improved you can automate certain actions.
You could send copies of the discussion to a technical expert if the case remains open for
longer than two days, defined by the following rule: Rule Name : Copy to an expert after 2
days,

Case state from : Open,

Case state to : Open,

Responsible : Demo User,

Trigger Date : Creation date,

Delay after trigger date : 2 days,

Add watchers (cc) : [email protected] ,

Remind responsible : Yes.

After the rule has been defined, the expert will receive a copy of the whole discussion
between the Demo User and the customer for every case that remains unclosed after two
days. Hell be able to interact with the discussion to avoid lengthy delays on complex
problems.
Some companies use several support levels. The first level is handled by the least qualified
support people and the higher levels by users who have the advantage of more experience.
A user on level 1 can escalate the case to a higher level when necessary.
To systematically train employees at level 1 you can create the following rule: when the
case has been escalated they will continue to be copied on the progress of the case. If a
user at support level 1 cant handle a request he can escalate it to level 2. Then when an
expert at level 2 answers the customers request, the level 1 support person also receives
the answer to the problem that he couldnt originally handle. So your team can be educated
automatically from listening in to the passage of live support calls.
Suppose that you supply two types of support contract to your customers: Gold and Normal.
You can then create a rule which raises the priority of a case automatically if the partner is
in the Gold Support Contract category. Define the case this way:

Rule Name : Priority to Gold Partners,

Case state from : /,

Case state to : Open,

Partner Category : Support Contract / Gold,

Set priority to : High.

Improved client relations can flow from using such rules intelligently. With the statistical
control system you can manage certain SLAs (Service Level Agreements) with your
customers without a great deal of effort on your part. So you can be selective in replying to
those of your partners based on the specific quality of service that you are contracted to

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supply.
Note: Example 2 Tracking supplier quality
Remember that an Open ERP partner can be a supplier as much as a customer. You can use
the same mechanism for the management of supplier quality as you do for customer
support.
If any of your staff detect a quality problem with a product from a supplier they should
create a new case in the Quality section. If the email gateway is installed all you need to do
is copy an email to a specified address (for example [email protected]) while
sending your email of complaint to the supplier. The case is automatically created in Open
ERP and the suppliers email response will close the case and be placed automatically in the
case history. In this case the user can add corrective or preventative actions to conform to
ISO 9001, without having to enter every action into Open ERP most of the information
comes just from the emails.
The systems statistics provide analyses about the number and the cost of quality problems
from different suppliers. If certain suppliers dont offer the service quality that you expect
you can automatically create rules that:

send a reminder to the supplier after a few days if the case still remains open

remind the production manager to call the supplier and resolve the situation if the case
hasnt been closed within a week

select and qualify your suppliers on the basis of their quality of service
Tip: The CRM portal
Open ERPs portal_service module enables you to open parts of your CRM functionality to
suppliers and customers. They can then connect to your system using their own login and
follow their orders or requests online. For example the customer could make a support
request directly in your system, perhaps avoiding a lengthy process of data entry.

9.2.6 Using the email gateway

To automate the creation of current cases you can install the email gateway.
The email gateway enables you to use Open ERPs CRM without necessarily using the Open
ERP interface. Users
can create up-to-date cases just by sending and receiving emails. This system works with
the major current email clients such as Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express,
Thunderbird and Evolution.

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Figure 9.9: Schematic showing the use of the email gateway

Installation and Configuration
To use the email gateway you must install it on your server. You can use a variety of methods
to configure it. Described here is a simple and generic approach using the Fetchmail program
under Linux. Youll need a system administrator to carry out this work.
To start with you have to create an email account (POP3 or IMAP) for each Section that youll
want to connect an email to. If you have the support email address
[email protected] use the following entries:

POP server : pop.mycompany.com ,

User : support ,

Password : <mypass> .

Youll also need to choose an Open ERP user that the gateway will use to access your
database, such as:

User Id : 3 ,

Password : support .

Tip: Identifying a resource

Each resource on the Open ERP system has a unique identifier number. This corresponds to
an identifier in the underlying PostgreSQL database table, in the ID column for that resource.
With the web client you can usually find this number by going to the form view of a resource
and clicking the View Log button to the top right of the form. The ID is shown at the top of
the Information dialog box. (This didnt work in some of the earlier versions prior to 4.2.3.3.)
You can also use the GTK client for this. Viewing any resource, such as a User, you can
directly see its ID at the bottom left of the form.
Then specify the case section in Open ERP that youll use when this user is connected by
email, for example, the Helpdesk and Support section.

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Install Fetchmail on your Open ERP server. You can download it from the address
http://fetchmail.berlios.de/.
Note: Fetchmail
Fetchmail is a Free / Open Source software utility used on Unix-like operating systems to
retrieve e-mails with the remote protocols POP, IMAP, ETRN and ODMR on the local system.
Its downloadable from this address: http://fetchmail.berlios.de/.
Create a fetchmailrc file that contains the following rules:
# fetchmailrc
poll pop.mycompany.com proto pop3:
username support password mypass mda "/path/to/terpmg/openerp-mailgate.py -u3 - padmin -ssupport
- [email protected]"

Then start the fetchmail program, giving it a link to the configuration file that you just
created:
fetchmail -f fetchmailrc

Tip: Error detection

If youre executing fetchmail for the first time you should use the -v argument. This makes its
output verbose so you can easily see whats happening as the program executes.

Creating and maintaining cases

Each time you start fetchmail it downloads all the emails and creates or updates the cases in
CRM. You can turn fetchmail into a daemon to check all new emails every five minutes by
using the command:

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fetchmail -d 300
If you want to receive customer requests by email you must first create a rule that
automatically assigns new cases to a specified user. You must then verify that this user
possesses a suitable email address in the Address field within Open ERP.
To find out if the new email should create a new case or update an existing case, Open ERP
analyzes the subject line of the email. Existing cases are identified by the case number in the
subject line, for example
Re: [101] Problem with ...
When a customer sends a new request by email the case is automatically created and the
email is transferred by the gateway to the user responsible for new cases, changing the
subject line to add the case identifier. The user can then respond by emailing or by using the
Open ERP interface to the case. If the user responds by email the case can be automatically
closed in Open ERP, keeping the responses in the history list. If the partner responds again,
the case is reopened.

9.3 Profiling
9.3.1 Establishing the profiles of prospects
During presales activities its useful to qualify your prospects quickly. You can pose a series of
questions to find out what product to offer to the customer, or how quickly you should handle
the request.
Tip: Profiling
This method of rapidly qualifying prospects is often used by companies who carry out
presales by phone. A prospect list is imported into the Open ERP system as a set of partners
and the operators then pose a series of questions to each prospect by phone.
Responses to these questions enable each prospect to be qualified automatically which leads
to a specific service being offered based on their responses.
As an illustration, take the case of the Tiny company which offers a service based on the
Open ERP software. The company goes to several exhibitions and encounters dozens of
prospects over a few days. Its important to handle each request quickly and efficiently.
The products offered by Tiny at these exhibitions are:
training on Open ERP for independent people or small companies,
partner contract for IT companies that intend to offer an Open ERP service,
Open ERP as SaaS for small companies,
a meeting in conjunction with a partner to provide a demonstration aimed at providing a
software integration for companies that are slightly larger.
The Tiny company has therefore put a decision tree in place based on the answers to
several questions posed to prospects. These are given in the following figure Example of
profiling customer prospects by the Tiny company:

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9.3. Profiling

Figure 9.10: Example of profiling customer prospects by the Tiny company

The sales person starts by asking the questions mentioned above and then with a couple of
minutes of work can decide what to propose to the prospective customer.
At the end of the exhibition prospects details and their responses to the questionnaire are
entered into Open ERP. The profiling system automatically classifies the prospects into
appropriate partner categories.
This enables your sales people to follow prospects up efficiently and adapt their approach
based on each prospects profile. For example, they can send a letter based on a template
developed for a specific partner category. Theyd use Open ERPs report editor and generator
for their sales proposition, such as an invitation to a training session a week after the show.

9.3.2 Using profiles effectively

To use the profiling system youll need to install Open ERPs crm_profiling module. Its part of
the core Open ERP system in version 5.0.0 so you dont have to download it separately from
addons-extra.
Once the module is installed you can create a list of questions and the possible responses
through the menu CRM & SRM Configuration Segmentation Questions.
To obtain the scheme presented earlier you can create the following questions and responses:
Table 9.3: Questionnaire for defining profiles
Questions
Journalist ?
Industry Sector ?
Number of Staff ?

Possible Responses
Yes / No
IT / ERP Consultant / Services / Industry
/ Others
1 / 2-20 / 21-50 / 51-100 / 101-500 /
500+
Decision-maker / Not decision-maker
Yes / Soon / No

Contacts job function ?

Already created a specification for
the work ?
Implementation budget ?
Unknown / <100k / 101-300k / >300 k
For instance, a sales person specializing in large accounts for the service sector could have a
profile defined like this:

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Budget for integration: Unknown , 100k-300k or >300k ,
Already created a specification for the work? Yes ,
Industry Sector? Services .
When entering the details of a specific prospect, the prospects answers to various questions
can be entered in the new fifth tab of the partner form. Open ERP will automatically assign
prospects to the appropriate partner category based on these answers.
Tip: Sales targets
The module report_invoice_salesman enables you to set up regular business targets. These
can be based on sales turnover or sales margins.
With this module you can compare the performance of each sales person with their targets
for the period. Sales people can view their own performance against target in real time
through a dashboard.
This module is totally integrated with the rest of accounting so theres no need to extract any
data from another system to get the sales figures against objectives by sales person or
sector its just available all the time in real time.
Customers corresponding to a specific search profile can be treated as a priority. The sales
person can access the profile of the large active accounts from the menu Partners Partners
by category.

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CHAPTER

TEN

COMMUNICATIONS TOOLS
Open ERP provides all the information you need to pursue your companys business
opportunities effectively. But to stay productive with all the information you have to
handle its essential that you can keep using your normal communications tools by
interfacing them with Open ERP, and not be limited just to Open ERPs interface.
Open ERP can do most things you need to pursue your business opportunities. But there can
be quite a quite a bit to learn, which reduces your efficiency while youre learning. And if
thats true for a heavy user of the system, its doubly true for an occasional user or someone
who already makes heavy use of standard Office applications and cant easily change.
So for those who need to continue using their traditional Office applications to maintain their
efficiency, Open ERP can be fitted out with interface adapters to some of the most common.
Your users can participate in many Open ERPmaintained processes without ever leaving their
familiar Office-based environment, and can avoid double data-entry yet link into Open ERPs
database automatically.
The three following modules are described:
Mozilla Thunderbird interface,
Microsoft Outlook interface,
Microsoft Word interface.
These three modules were developed by the Axelor company (http://axelor.com/ , located in
Paris) and are available through the official Open ERP site in the modules section.
The chapter is a mix of installation and configuration instructions, and basic interaction
exercises.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with sale and
its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.
You will also need to have administrator access to your Windows PC to install the Outlook and
Word interface adapters described in the chapter.

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10.1 Microsoft Outlook interface

The Microsoft Outlook plugin enables you to carry out a series of Open ERP operations directly
from the Outlook email client:
create a contact or partner from an email,
archive an email and its attachments in Open ERP,
send any file attached to an Open ERP document (such as proposals, projects, and tasks).
Tip: Outlook versions
The Microsoft Outlook plugin works with Microsoft Outlook 2003 and 2007 but not with
Outlook Express

10.1.1 Installing the Outlook plugin

To start, you must install the email_interface module in Open ERP. Its the same module as
used by the Thunderbird extension. Dont install it again if its already there (which it might
be because you can use both Outlook and Thunderbird simultaneously to get the same Open
ERP functionality so some of your staff may use one and other may use the other).
Once youve installed
the
module
all
you
need is
to
run
the
Windows
auto-installer tiny_outlook_plugin-X.exe where X corresponds to
the version number downloaded. This file can be found in the list of modules on the official
Open ERP site.
Installation is then automatic.

10.1.2 Using the Outlook plugin

Using the Microsoft Outlook plugin is quite similar to using the Thunderbird extension. In
Outlook find the menu Tools Open ERP Options.

Figure 10.1: Configuration menu for the interface between Outlook and Open ERP

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In the window that you use for configuring the Outlook plugin you can enter parameters for
accessing the Open ERP server, with various options for:
how to handle attachments,
which color to give emails transferred to Open ERP.
Once the server data entry is completed, click Test the Connection to check that your
parameters make it function correctly.

Figure 10.2: Configuring access to Open ERP from Word

When Outlook is configured, archiving an email and its attached files in Open ERP can be
done in several ways:
directly from the toolbar,
from the context menu by right-clicking on an email, from the page while looking at the
email.

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Figure 10.3: Saving an Outlook email in Open ERP
You can select an existing contact or create a new contact on the fly in the Open ERP
database. Then you can send the email and its attachments and also save it in Open ERP.
Its possible to send attachments to all types of Open ERP objects. For example this might be
useful for:
sending documents about a customer project into the corresponding project in Open ERP,
attaching the documents about an order (such as proof of payment and order receipts),
attaching documents to an employee file (such as their CV or annual appraisal).

10.1. Microsoft Outlook interface

Once the email is sent into Open ERP its marked with another color in Outlook to help remind
you not to archive it again.
Note: Testing the Outlook adapter
If you install the Outlook adapter as described, explore its functionality with the database as
described in this section.

10.2 Mozilla Thunderbird interface

Everything that you can do with the Outlook plugin you can also do with the Mozilla
Thunderbird plugin enabling you to carry out a series of Open ERP operations directly from
Thunderbird, such as:
create a contact or partner from an email,
save an email and its attachments in Open ERP,
send any file attached to an Open ERP document (such as proposals, projects, and tasks).

10.2.1 Installing the Thunderbird extension

To be able to use the Thunderbird plugin you first have to install the Open ERP module
email_interface . It may not be loaded in the core of the Open ERP Server so you might have
to load it using one of the methods described at the end of Installation and Initial Setup. Once
youve got it into your servers filesystem its installed the same way as all of the other
modules youve handled so far.
Youll then have to install the Thunderbird extension. To do that, use the file
tiny_plugin_2.0.xpi which is found in the plugins directory of the email_interface module.
Dont install it again if its already there (which it might be because you can use both Outlook
and Thunderbird simultaneously to get the same Open ERP functionality so some of your
staff may use one and other may use the other).
Then take the following steps:

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1. From Thunderbird, open the menu Tools Complementary Modules.
2. Click the Install button.
3. Select the file tiny_plugin-2.0.xpi.
4. Click Install Now then restart Thunderbird.
Once the extension has been installed, you have only to create a shortcut in your
Thunderbird toolbar for the function Archive to Open ERP. Do it like this:
1. Click the right mouse button on the toolbar and select Personalize,
2. Place the icon Archive to Open ERP in your toolbar in the place of your choice.
Tip: Thunderbird version
The Open ERP plugin for Thunderbird only works with Thunderbird version 2.0 and above.
So check your Thunderbird version before installing, and download the latest version that
you need from the following address: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

10.2.2 Thunderbird user interface

When youve installed the module the first thing to do is connect it to Open ERP from
Thunderbird. To do this use the menu Tools Open ERP Plugin.
A configuration window appears enabling you to enter configuration data about your Open
ERP server.

Figure 10.4: Configuration for accessing Open ERP from Thunderbird

To archive an email in Open ERP from Thunderbird select the email and click on the icon
Archive in Open ERP. Alternatively you could right-click the mouse: either opens a search
dialog box.
This allows you to select an object that youd like to add to your email and its attachments.
You can select a partner, a task, a project, an analytical account, or
any other object.

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Figure 10.5: Selecting Open ERP objects from Thunderbird

10.2. Mozilla Thunderbird interface

Tip: Document Management
The Thunderbird plugin is compatible with Open ERPs document management. So if you
install the module document you could:

search through the content of your companys documents (those that have the type
.doc, .pdf, .sxw and .odt) and also in archived emails,

have a shared filesystem thats connected to various Open ERP documents to share
information and access it with your favorite browser,

organize and structure your documents (such as projects, partners and users) in Open
ERPs system.
If you cant find a partner or contact to correspond with your email in Open ERP its possible
to create one on the fly simply by using the information contained in the email and
clicking the Create button.

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Figure 10.6: Creating a contact on the fly from Thunderbird

To access archived data from different documents in Open ERP you can use the Email
Thunderbird interface that appears over Open ERP documents.
Note: Testing the Thunderbird adapter
If you install the Thunderbird adapter as described, explore its functionality as described in
this section using the database you installed.

10.3 Microsoft Word interface

Open ERP supplies a Microsoft Word plugin that enables you to create your own document
templates. Whats more you can use the merge tool Tools Merge documents to insert data
from Open ERP while you generate different business documents.
So you can create templates for a number of needs, such as proposals, business letters of
agreement, or price requests. Each user can create his or her own document and use the
plugin to obtain data from Open ERP. The plugin is very helpful for easily automating business
actions.

10.3.1 Installing the Word plugin

The module for connecting Microsoft Word is also found in the list of Open ERP modules at
http://openerp.com. Once its been downloaded install the file tiny_word_plugin-X.exe .
When the program is installed, you must run Microsoft Word and configure the parameters
that enable you to access the Open ERP server from Word. Click the menu
Tools Open ERP options.

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Figure 10.7: Menu for accessing the configuration of the plugin

Figure 10.8: Configuration of the Word plugin for accessing Open ERP

10.3.2 Using the Word interface

Start by selecting the module from which you want to make a report, for example a Sales
Order. From Word you can access all the fields in an Open ERP Order, and all of the fields
linked to that order such as from Order Lines, and from Products in those Order Lines.

10.3. Microsoft Word interface

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Figure 10.9: Select the module that will generate the report
Complete your document and insert Open ERP fields into the appropriate places.

Figure 10.10: Add Open ERP fields into a Word document

Note: Fields in red
When youve selected some fields and added them into your Word document, some of them
appear in red. This color indicates that you cant use that particular field because it has a
complex data relationships that can only be discovered when you start to use the field.
Select the merge tool from by clicking Perform Mail Merge from the toolbar. This connects
Microsoft Word to
Open ERP, at which point it searches for data to insert into the document. This tool enables
you to select which documents must be included in the report. Make your selection and click
Start Merge to run the tool that produces your different documents.

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Figure 10.11: Selecting the Open ERP documents to use in the merge
Word then generates the documents by inserting the Open ERP data. You get one page for
each selected document.

Figure 10.12: Result of merging a Word document with data from Open ERP
Note: Testing the Word adapter
If you install the Word adapter as described, explore its functionality using the database as
described in this section.
In Configuration & Administration youll see another, more powerful, module that enables you
to create complete reports in OpenOffice.org through an interface added directly in Open ERP.
So you can create your own templates, such as fax and invoice templates.
These reports can then be exported in PDF by leaving Open ERP, or can be edited before
sending to a customer. So you can also personalize the details of your faxes and invoices as
needed, even though they are based on your templates.

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Part IV

General Accounting

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Release 1.0
When its well integrated with the management system, an accounting system
offers a company special benefits in addition to the obvious abilities it should have
to report on the financial position. This part deals with the practical aspects of
accounting, and accountings role throughout the whole company.
Open ERPs accounting modules enable you not only to manage your operations
clearly, following the workflow through from invoicing to payment, but also to use
various tools for financial analysis based on both real-time data and recent history
depending on the analysis.
Your accounting structure can be completely configured from A to Z to match the
needs of your company very closely.

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ELEVEN

FROM INVOICE TO PAYMENT

11.1 Accounting workflow and the automatic
generation of invoices
The chart Accounting workflow for invoicing and payment shows the financial
workflow followed by each invoice.

Figure 11.1: Accounting workflow for invoicing and payment

In general, when you use all of Open ERPs functionality, invoices dont need to be
entered manually. Draft invoices are generated automatically from other documents
such as Purchase Orders.

11.1.1 Draft Invoices

The system generates invoice proposals which are initially set to the Draft state.
While these invoices remain unconfirmed they have no accounting impact within the
system. Theres nothing to stop users creating their own draft invoices if they want
to.
The information thats needed for invoicing is automatically taken from the Partner
form (such as payment conditions and the invoice address) or from the Product
(such as the account to be used) or from a combination of the two ( such as
applicable Taxes and the Price of the product).

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Tip: Draft invoices

There are several advantages in working with Draft invoices:

Youve got an intermediate validation state before the invoice is approved. This is
useful when your accountants arent the people creating the initial invoice, but are still
required to approve it before the invoice is entered into the accounts.

It enables you to create invoices in advance, without approving them at the same time.
Youre also able to list all of the invoices awaiting approval.

11.1.2 Open or Pro-Forma Invoices

you can approve (or validate) an invoice in the Open or Pro Forma state. A Pro Forma
invoice doesnt yet have an invoice number, but the accounting entries on the
invoice thats created correspond to the amounts that Open ERP will record as the
customers payables.
Tip: Pro Forma invoices
In some countries, youre not allowed to generate accounting entries from pro
forma invoices. You create instead a report from the purchase order, which prints a
pro forma invoice that has no accounting consequences within the system.
You can use the module described in Configuration & Administration to create this
report.

An open invoice has a unique invoice number. The invoice is sent to the customer
and is marked on the system as awaiting payment.

11.1.3 Reconciling invoice entries and payments

In Open ERP an invoice is considered to be paid when its accounting entries have
been reconciled with the payment entries. If there hasnt been a reconciliation an
invoice can remain in the open state until you have entered the payment.
Tip: Payment and reconciliation
To avoid surprises, its important to understand the idea of reconciliation and its link
with invoice payment. Youll find both a Reconciled field and the Paid checkbox on
an invoice. They differ from each other only if an invoice has been paid (using
reconciliation of records) but has subsequently been marked as unreconciled.
Note: Reconciliation
Reconciliation links entries in an account that cancel each other out theyre
reconciled to each other (sum of credits = sum of debits).
This is generally applied to payments against corresponding invoices.
Without the reconciliation process, Open ERP would be incapable of marking invoices
that have been paid. Suppose that youve got the following situation for the Smith
and Offspring customer:

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 Invoice 145: 50 ,
Invoice 167: 120 ,
Invoice 184: 70.
If you receive a payment of 120, Open ERP will delay reconciliation because theres
a choice of invoices to pay. It could either reconcile the payment against invoices
145 and 184 or against invoice 167.
You can cancel an invoice if the Allow Cancelling Entries function has been activated
in the journal and the entries havent yet been reconciled. You could then move it
from Canceled , through the Draft state to modify it and regenerate it.
Tip: Treatment in Lots
Usually, different transactions are grouped together and handled at the same time
rather than invoice by invoice. This is called batch work or lot handling.
You can select several documents in the list of invoices: check the checkboxes of
the interesting lines using the web client and click the appropriate shortcut button
at the right; or shift-click the lines using the mouse in the GTK client and use the
action or print button at the top these give you the option of a number of possible
actions on the selected objects.
At regular intervals, and independently of the invoices, an automatic import
procedure or a manual accounts procedure can be used to bring in bank statements.

These comprise all of the payments of suppliers and customers and general
transactions, such as between accounts.
When an account is validated, the
automatically generated by Open ERP.

corresponding

accounting

entries

are

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Invoices are marked as paid when accounting entries on the invoice have been reconciled
with accounting entries about their payment.
This reconciliation transaction can be carried out at various places in the process, depending
on your preference:
at data entry for the accounting statement,
manually from the account records,
automatically using Open ERPs intelligent reconciliation.
You can create the accounting records directly, without using the invoice and account
statements. To do this, use the rapid data entry form in a journal. Some accountants prefer
this approach because theyre used to thinking in terms of accounting records rather than in
terms of invoices and payments.
You should really use the forms designed for invoices and bank statements rather than
manual data entry records, however. These are simpler and are managed within an errorcontrolling system.

11.1.4 A records-based system

All the accounting transactions in Open ERP are based on records, whether theyre created
by an invoice or created directly.
So partner reminders are generated quickly from the list of unreconciled entries in the trade
receivables account for that partner. In a single reminder youll find the whole set of unpaid
invoices as well as unreconciled payments, such as advance payments.
Similarly, financial statements such as the general ledger, account balance, aged balance (or
chronological balance) and the various journals, are all based on accounting entries. It
doesnt matter if you generated the entry from an invoice form or directly in the invoice
journal. Its the same for the tax declaration and other statutory financial statements.
When using integrated accounting, you should still go through the standard billing process
because some modules are directly dependent on invoice documents. For example, a
customer sale order can be configured to wait for payment of the invoice before triggering a
delivery. In such a case, Open ERP automatically generates a draft invoice to send to the
client.

11.2 Invoicing
In Open ERP, the concept of invoice includes the following documents:
the customer invoice,
the supplier invoice,
a customer credit note,
a supplier credit note.

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Note:Types
ofinvoice
There
aremany
advantages
inderiving
thedifferent
types
ofinvoice
fromthesame
object.
Twoofthemost
important
are:
Inamulti-company
environment
withinter-company
invoicing,
acustomer
invoice
inonecompany
becomes
Open
ERP, a modern
approach
to integrated
business
management,
Release
1.0a
supplier
invoice
forthe
other,

Thisenables
youtoworkandsearch
forallinvoices
fromthesame
menu.If youre
looking
foraninvoicing
history,
OpenERPprovides
bothsupplier
andcustomer
invoices
inthesame
list,aswellascredit
notes.
Note:Credit
Note
Acredit
noteisadocument
thatenables
youtocancel
aninvoice
orpartofaninvoice.

Only the invoice type and the representation mode differ for each of the four documents. But
theyre all stored in the same object type in the system.

You get the correct form for each of the four types of invoice from the menu you use to open
it. The name of the tab enables you to tell the invoice types apart when youre working on
them.
To access invoices in Open ERP, use the submenus of Financial Management Invoices.
Most of the time, invoices are generated automatically by Open ERP as they are generated
from other processes in the system. So its not usually necessary to create them manually,
but simply approve or validate them. Open ERP uses the following different ways of
generating invoices:
from Supplier or Customer Orders,
from receipt or despatch of goods,
from work carried out (timesheets, see Organization of Human Resources) ,
from closed tasks (see Internal Organization and Project Management) ,
from fee charges or other rechargeable expenses (see Services Management).
The different processes generate Draft invoices. These must then be approved by a suitable
system user and sent to the customer. The different invoicing methods are detailed in the
following sections and chapters.
To get the list of draft invoices generated by Open ERP, you can use the menu Financial
Management Invoices Customer Invoices Draft Customer Invoices. Youll find a similar
menu for Purchase Invoices that havent yet been received or approved Financial
Management Invoices Supplier Invoices Draft Supplier Invoices.
Its also possible to enter invoices manually. This is usually done for invoices that arent
associated with an Order (usually purchase orders) or Credit Notes. Also if the system hasnt
been configured correctly you might need to edit the invoice before sending it to the
customer.
For example, if you havent realized that the customer is tax-exempt, the invoice you
generate from an Order will contain tax at the normal rates. Its then possible to edit this out
of the invoice before validating it.

11.2.1 Entering a customer invoice

The principle of entering data for invoices in Open ERP is very simple, as it enables nonaccountant users to create their own invoices. This means that your accounting information
can be kept up to date all the time as orders are placed and received, and their taxes are
calculated.

11.2. Invoicing

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At the same time it allows people who have more accounting knowledge to keep full control
over the accounting entries that are being generated. Each value proposed by Open ERP can
be modified later if needed.
Start by manually entering a customer invoice. Use Financial Management Invoices
Customer Invoices for this.
A new invoice form opens for entering information.

Figure 11.2: Entering a new invoice

The document is composed of three parts:
the top of the invoice, with customer information,
the main body of the invoice, with detailed invoice lines,
the bottom of the page, with detail about the taxes, and the totals.
To enter a document in Open ERP you should always fill in fields in the order that they appear
on screen. Doing it this way means that some of the later fields are filled in automatically
from the selections made in earlier fields. So select the Partner, and the following fields are
completed automatically:
the invoice address corresponds to the partner contact that was given the address type of
Invoice in the partner form (or otherwise the address type of Default) ,
the partner account corresponds to the account given in the Accounting which is found in the
last tab of the partner form. By default the software is configured with Account Receivable as
Main Receivable ,
a specific or a default payment condition can be defined for this partner in the Sales &
Purchases area of the partner form. Payment conditions are generated by rules for the
payment of the invoice. For example: 50% in 21 days and 50% in 60 days from the end of
the month.
Note: Properties fields
The Properties fields on the Partner form or the Product form are multi-company fields. The
value that the user sees in these fields depends on the company that the user works for.

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If you work in a multi-company environment thats using one database, you have several
charts of accounts. Asset and liability accounts for a partner depend on the company that
the user works for.
Tip: Seeing partner relationships
You can reach more information from certain relation fields in Open ERP.

In the web client in read-only mode a relation is commonly a hyperlink - it takes you to
the main form for that entity, with all of the actions and links.

In the web client in edit mode you can press the keyboard Ctrl button at the same time
as right-clicking in the field to get a context menu with links and other options.

And in the GTK clientyou can right-click the field to get that same context menu.

So one way or another you can rapidly reach the partners:

current sales and purchases,

CRM requests,

open invoices,

accounts records,

payable and receivable accounts.

You can add more detailed additional information to the invoice and select the currency that
you want to invoice in.
Once the invoice heading is saved you must enter the different invoice lines. You could use
either of two techniques:
enter the whole field manually,
use a product to complete the different fields automatically.
Tip: Invoice Line Description
The invoice line description is more of a title than a comment. If you want to add more
detailed comments you can use the field in the second tab Notes.
So select the product Titanium Alloy Radiatorin the product field in an invoice line. The
following fields are then completed automatically:
Description : this comes from the product, in the language of the partner,
Account : determined by the purchase or sales account defined in the product properties. If
no account is specified in the product form, Open ERP uses the properties of the category
that the product is associated with.
Unit of Measure : this is defined by default in the product form,
Unit Price : this is given by the list price in the product form and is expressed without taxes,
Taxes : provided by the product form and the partner form.

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Tip: Managing the price with tax included
By default, Open ERP invoices and processes the price without taxes theyre managed as a
separate amount. If you want to have invoices provided with tax included you can install the
module account_tax_include.
The module adds a field on each invoice that enables you to set the invoice to be tax
exclusive or tax inclusive.
Note: Information about the product
When youre entering invoice data it can sometimes be useful to get hold of more
information about the product youre invoicing. Since youre already in edit mode, youd
press the Ctrl key and use a right mouse-click on the Product field (in both the web and the
GTK clients). Then select the available reports. Open ERP provides three standard reports
about the product:

forecasts of future stock,

product cost structure,

location of the product in your warehouses.

(At the time of writing this function worked on pop-up windows of the GTK client but not the
web client.)
You can enter several invoice lines and modify the values that are automatically completed
by Open ERP.
Once the invoice lines have been entered, you can click Calculate on the invoice to get the
following information:
details of tax calculated,
tax rate, total taxes,
total price.
In the Taxes area at the bottom left of the invoice youll find the details of the totals
calculated for different tax rates used in the invoice.
Tip: Tax Calculations
You can double-click on one of the lines in the tax summary areas in the invoice.
Open ERP then shows you the detail of the tax charges which will form your tax declaration
at the end of the period. It shows you the total that will be computed in the different parts of
the legal declaration. This enables you to manage the declaration in Open ERP
automatically.

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Figure 11.3: Detail of tax charges on an invoice

Before approving the invoice you can modify the date and the accounting period, which are
entered by default as todays date. These fields are found on the second tab Other
Information.
Note: Invoice layout
If you want to make your invoice layout more elaborate you can install the module
account_invoice_layout. This enables you to add various elements between the lines such as
subtotals, sections, separators and notes.
Click Validate when you want to approve the invoice. It moves from the Draftstate to the
Open state.
When youve validated an invoice, Open ERP gives it a unique number from a defined
sequence. By default it takes the form Year / Sequence Number for example 2008/00101 . If
you want to modify the sequence numbers use the menu Administration Configuration
Sequences Sequences.
Accounting entries corresponding to this invoice are automatically generated when you
approve the invoice. You see the detail of this by clicking the entry in the Journal and
searching there for the account moves generated by that invoice number.
..index:: single: taxes; DEEE

11.2.2 Managing taxes

Details on the product form and the partner form determine the selection of applicable taxes
for an invoice line. By default Open ERP takes account of all the taxes defined in the product
form. If a tax is defined in the Properties tab of the Partner form then Open ERP will base its
tax calculation on the Partner taxes instead, so a Partner that is defined as tax-exempt, for
example, will take precedence over taxes defined in the Product.
Take the case of the following product
Applicable taxes:
TVA: 19.6% type TVA
DEEE: 5.5, type DEEE
Note: DEEE tax

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The DEEE tax (disposal of electronic and electrical equipment) is an ecological tax that was
imposed in France from 2007. Its applied to batteries to finance their recycling and is a
fixed sum thats applied to the before-tax amount on the invoice
If you trade with a company in your own country, and your country has a DEEE-type tax, the
applicable taxes for this invoice could be:
DEEE: 5.5 ,
TVA: 19.6 %.
If you sell to a customer in another company in the community (intracommunity), instead,
then tax is not charged. Your foreign partners would then be zero-rated by selecting a 0% tax
in the last tab, Accounting. When you create an invoice for this customer, Open ERP will
calculate the following taxes on the product:
DEEE: 5.5 ,
TVA intracommunity: 0 %.
If you havent entered the parameters in the customer form correctly, Open ERP will suggest
incorrect taxes in the invoice. Thats not an insuperable problem because you can always
modify the information directly in the invoice before approving it.
Tip: Occasional invoices
When you create an invoice for a product that will only be bought or sold once you dont
have to encode a new product. But youll have to provide quite a bit of information manually
on the invoice line:

sale price,

applicable taxes,

account,

product description.

11.2.3 Cancelling an invoice

By default Open ERP wont allow you to cancel an invoice once it has been approved. Since
accounting entries have been created you theoretically cant go back and delete them.
However in many cases its more convenient to cancel an invoice when theres an error than
to produce a credit note and reconcile the two entries. Your attitude to this will be influenced
by current legislation in your accounting jurisdiction and your adherence to accounting
purity.
Open ERP accommodates either approach. Cancelling an invoice can be permitted by
checking the box Allow Cancelling Entries in the Journal corresponding to this invoice. Youll
then be allowed to cancel the invoice if the following two conditions are met:
1. The accounting entries havent been reconciled or paid: if they have then youll have to
cancel the reconciliation.

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2. The accounting period or the fiscal year hasnt already been closed: if it has then no
modification is possible.
Cancelling an invoice has the effect of automatically modifying the corresponding accounting
entries.
When the invoice has been cancelled you could then put it back into the Draftstate. So you
could modify it and approve it again later.
Tip: Numbering invoices
Some countries require you to have contiguously numbered invoices (that is, with no break
in the sequence). If, after cancelling an invoice that youre not regenerating, you find
yourself with a break in the numbering youd have to go and modify the sequence, redo the
invoice and replace the sequence number with its original value.
You can control the sequences using the menu Administration Configuration Sequences
Sequences.
Cancelling an invoice will cause a break in the number sequence of your invoices. Youre
strongly advised to recreate this invoice and re-approve it to fill the hole in the numbering if
you can.
Tip: Duplicating a document
The duplication function can be applied to all the system documents: you can duplicate
anything a product, an order, or a delivery.
Note: Some points
1. Duplicating invoices
Instead of entering a new invoice each time, you can base an invoice on a
similar preceding one and duplicate it. To do this, first search for a suitable
existing one. In the web client, show the invoice in read-only (non-editable)
form view, then click Duplicate. In the GTK client, select Form Duplicate from
the top menu.
The duplication creates a new invoice in the Draft state. That enables you to
modify it before approving it. Duplicating documents in Open ERP is an
intelligent function, which enables the duplicated invoice to be given its own
sequence number, todays date, and the draft state, even if the preceding
invoice has been paid.
2. Saving partner preferences
Open ERP has many functions to help you enter data quickly. If you invoice the
same products frequently for the same partner you can save the last invoice
preferences using conditional default values.
To test this functionality, create an invoice for a partner and add some lines
(from the GTK client). Then hold Ctrl and click with the right mouse button on
the contents of the Invoices field and select Set as default. Check the box that
indicates this default should apply only to you.
Then the next time you create an invoice these invoice lines will be
automatically created and youll only have to modify the quantities before
confirming the invoice.
For taxes you could put the default amount in the invoice lines (in France it
would be 19.6%, in Belgium 21%, in the UK 17.5% or 15%). Doing this you
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wont forget to add tax when youre manually entering invoices.
(The capabilities of the GTK client are more extensive than those of the web
client. You can set defaults for multiple lines in the GTK client but only a single
line in the web client, so you need to be quite sure what is possible before you
use this functionality routinely.)
3. Getting information by navigating to it
As youre creating an invoice youll often find you need extra information
about the partner to help you complete the invoice. As described earlier, you
can navigate to other information linked to this partner, such as:

tasks completed,

benefit details,

most recent invoices,

latest orders.

Do the same to get information about the products youre invoicing,. For
example: is there enough stock? When will you be getting more stocks in?
What are the costs and normal list prices for this product?
By making this information easily accessible while youre invoicing, Open ERP
greatly simplifies your work in creating the invoice.

11.2.4 Creating a supplier invoice

The form that manages supplier invoices is very similar to the one for customer invoices.
However, its been adapted to simplify rapid data entry and monitoring of the amounts
recorded.
Tip: Entering data
Many companies dont enter data on supplier invoices but simply enter accounting data
corresponding to the purchase journal.
This particularly applies to users that have focused on the accounting system rather than all
the capabilities provided by an ERP system. The two approaches reach the same accounting
result: some prefer one and others prefer the other depending on their skills.
However, when you use the Purchase Management functions in Open ERP you should work
directly on invoices because they provide Purchase Orders or Goods Receipt documents.
To enter a new supplier invoice, use the menu Financial Management Invoices Supplier
Invoices New Supplier
Invoice.
Everything is similar to the customer invoice, starting with the Journal unless the default is
acceptable, and then the
Partner, which will automatically complete the following fields
Invoice address,
partner Account.
Unlike the customer invoice you dont have to enter payment conditions simply a Due Date
if you want one. If you dont give a due date, Open ERP assumes that this invoice will be paid

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in cash. If you want to code in more complete payment conditions than just due date you can
use the Payment Term field which you can find on the second tab Other Info.
You must also enter the invoice Total with taxes included. Open ERP uses this amount to
check whether all invoice lines have been entered correctly before it will let you validate the
invoice.
Indicate the Currency if the invoice isnt going to use the default currency, then you can
enter the Invoice lines.
Just like the customer invoice you have the choice of entering all the information manually or
using a product to complete many of the fields automatically. Entering a product, all of the
following values are completed automatically:
the product Account is completed from the properties of the product form or the Category of
the product if nothing is defined on the product itself,
the Taxes come from the product form and/or the partner form, based on the same principles
as the customer invoice,
the Quantity is set at 1 by default but can be changed manually,
set the Unit Price from the total price youre quoted after deducting all the different
applicable taxes,
Click Compute Taxes to ensure that the totals correspond to those indicated on the paper
invoice from the supplier. When you approve the invoice, Open ERP verifies that the total
amount indicated in the header correspond to the sum of the amounts without tax on the
invoice lines and the different applicable taxes.
Tip: The Calculate button
Even though you should calculate the invoice before approving it you dont have to push the
Compute Taxes button.
If you approve the invoice directly the software calculates the different taxes itself and
verifies the total. This button is only used for making a pre-check of the amount displayed
before you confirm it finally.
Open ERP automatically completes the Date Invoiced and the accounting period, but you can
still change these values manually in the second tab on the invoice before saving it.
Note: Dates and Accounting Periods
Accounting periods are treated as legal period declarations. For example a tax declaration
for an invoice depends on the accounting period and not on the date of invoicing.
Depending on whether your declarations are made monthly or quarterly, the fiscal year
contains either twelve or four accounting periods.
The dates are shown in the document you created in the accounting system. Theyre used
for calculating due dates.
The two pieces of information dont have to have the same date. If, for example, you receive
an invoice dated 5th January which relates to goods or services supplied before 31st
December, the invoice may be coded into the December accounting period and thus be
recognized in that period for the tax declaration, while the invoice can remain 5th January
which remains the basis of the due date for payment.
You can find that the amounts dont correspond with what your supplier has given you on
paper for reasons that can include:

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the supplier made a calculation error,
the amounts have been rounded differently.
Tip: Rounding Tax
It often happens that a supplier adds 1 to the total because the tax calculation has been
rounded upwards. Some tax amounts arent valid because of this rounding.
For example its impossible to arrive at the amount of 145.50 if youre working to a precision
of 2 decimal places and a rate of 19.6%:

121.65 x 1.196 = 145.49

121.66 x 1.196 = 145.51

In this case you can modify a value in the lines that the totals based on, or the total amount
of taxes at the bottom left of the form: both are editable so that you can modify them to
adjust the total.
When the totals tally you can validate the invoice. Open ERP then generates the
corresponding accounting entries. You can manage those entries using the Account fields on
the invoice and on each of the invoice lines.

11.2.5 Credit Notes

Entering a customer credit note is almost identical to entering a customer invoice. You just
start from the menu Financial Accounting Invoices Customer Refunds.
Similarly, entering a supplier credit note is the same as that of the supplier invoice and so
you use the menu Financial Accounting Invoices Supplier Refunds.
Its easy to generate a credit note quickly from an existing invoice. To do this, select a
customer or supplier invoice and click Refund invoice on the toolbar to the right. Open ERP
opens a new credit note form for you in the Draft state so that you can modify it before
approval.
Tip: Crediting several invoices
You can refund several invoices in one operation. From the web client youd display a list of
invoices and then click the checkboxes alongside the ones you want to refund. Then click
the Refund invoice action from the right toolbar. In the GTK client youd make a multiple
selection of invoices by clicking whichever lines you want to select while holding the
keyboard Ctrl button down. Then youd execute the action by clicking the Action (gears) icon
on the icon toolbar and selecting Refund invoice.

11.2.6 Invoice payment

The invoice is automatically marked as paid by Open ERP once invoice entries have been
reconciled with payment entries. You yourself dont have to mark the invoices as paid: Open
ERP manages that when you reconcile your payments.
Tip: Reconciling a credit note
Generally you reconcile the invoices accounting entries with their payment(s). But you can
also reconcile an invoice with the entries from the corresponding credit note instead, to
mutually cancel them.
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Youve probably seen the Pay Invoice action button in the toolbar to the right of the invoice
form. This lets you enter payments and get entries reconciled very quickly. This functionality is
usually employed by companies that use Open ERP as a simple billing system and not for
complete accounting. They enter their payments manually on different invoices.
You probably shouldnt use this functionality if you have all of your accounting in Open ERP.
Its much more convenient to manage the payment of invoices when youre entering bank
statements and cash transactions. These allow better control of financial transactions and
permit greater flexibility in areas such as:
advance and partial payments of invoices,
payment of several invoices by several payments,
fine-grained management of different due dates on the same invoices,
management of adjustments if there are different amounts to those on the invoice.

11.3 Accounting entries

Various methods of creating accounting entries can be used. Youve already seen how an
invoice creates its own entries, for example.
This section deals, in order, with
managing bank statements,
managing cash,
manual journal entries,
Youll see how to proceed with entering financial transactions here. In Open ERP you use the
same form for handling bank statements and for managing cash. The two types of transaction
differ only in the journal thats used.

11.3.1 Managing bank statements

Open ERP provides a visual tool for managing bank statements that simplifies data entry into
accounts. As soon as a statement entry is validated the corresponding accounting entries are
automatically generated by Open ERP. This lets non-accounting people to enter financial
transactions without fussing about such things as credit, debit and counterparts
Start by entering a statement line. To do that use the menu Financial Management Entries
Encoding Entries by Statement New Statement. A data entry form for statements then
opens as shown in figure Data entry form for a bank statement.

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Figure 11.4: Data entry form for a bank statement

The statement reference (Name) and the Date are automatically suggested by Open ERP from
the preceding statement line. You can configure your own reference by managing sequences
in the Administration menu.
You must then select the :guilableJournal. Ideally, when youre configuring your company
youd create at least one journal for each bank account and one journal for petty cash in your
company. So select the journal corresponding to the bank account whose statement youre
handling.
The currency that youre using for the statement line is that of the selected journal. If youre
entering statement lines for an account in American dollars (USD) the amounts must be
entered in USD. The currency is automatically converted to the companys main currency
when you confirm the entry, using the rates in effect at the date of entry (which means that
youd need valid currency conversion rates to be created first).
The initial balance is completed automatically by Open ERP based on the final balance of the
preceding statement. You can modify this value and force another value. This lets you enter
statements in the order of your choice. Also if youve lost a page of your statement you can
enter the following ones immediately and youre not forced to wait for a duplicate from the
bank.
So, complete the final balance, which corresponds to the last value on the account after all of
the statement entries. This amount will be the control for operations before approving the
statement.
Then you must enter all the lines on the statement. Each line corresponds to a banking
transaction.
Enter the transaction line. When you type the Partner name, Open ERP automatically proposes
the corresponding account. The total amount due for the customer or supplier is precompleted by Open ERP (Amount). This gives you a simple indication of the effective payment.
You must the enter the amount that appears on your statement line: a
negative sign for a withdrawal and a positive sign for a cash payment or deposit. When the
payment entry has been
made you can reconcile this directly with the accounting entry for the invoices. Press the Ctrl
key on the keyboard

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(necessary for the web client, though not the GTK client) and then press the <F1> key while
your cursor is in the Reconcile field on the payment line.

Figure 11.5: Reconciliation from data entry of the bank statement

The reconciliation form then appears. To the right youll find the amount for payment. You
must then select the invoices paid by this transaction (Entries). To enable you to reconcile this
the amount of payment must correspond exactly with one or several due dates of invoice.
Note: Reconciliation
Other methods of reconciliation are possible: from accounting entries, when saving the
payment directly on an invoice, or using the automatic reconciliation tool. But if you can, you
should do a reconciliation when youre encoding the payment because thats the time when
you have all of the information you need to hand for reconciling the payment with the
corresponding invoice.
You can carry out either a full or a partial reconciliation.
If you see a difference between the payment and the invoices to reconcile, you can enter the
difference in the second part of the form Write-off. You have to set an account for the
adjustment. The main reasons explaining the difference are usually:
losses or profits,
exchange differences,
discounts given for rapid payment.
When the reconciliation is complete - that is the payment is equal to the sum of the due
payments and the adjustments - then you can close the reconciliation form.
The reconciliation operation is optional you could very well do it later or not do it at all. Its
got two significant effects, however:
marking that the invoices have been paid,
preventing the payment and invoice amounts from appearing on customer reminder letters.
Unless youve reconciled them a customer will see the invoice and payment amounts on her
reminder letter (which wont alter the balance due since theyll just cancel each other out).
Finally, once you have entered the various lines of your bank statement you can validate it.
Open ERP then automatically generates the corresponding accounting entries if the balance

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calculated equals the final balance indicated in the header. The reconciled invoices are
marked as paid at that point.
A user with advanced accounting skills can enter accounting entries directly into the bank
journal. The resulting account is the same but the operation is more complex because you
must know the accounts to use and must have mastered the ideas of credit and debit.

11.3.2 Cash Management

To manage cash, you use the same form as before. At the start of the day you set the opening
amount of cash in the entry (Starting Balance). Instead of confirming the entry immediately
you should leave it in the Draft state.
All the transactions throughout the day are then entered in this statement. When you close
the cash till, generally at the end of the day, you enter the amount found in the cash till in the
field Ending Balance. Then confirm the statement to close the days cash statement and
automatically generate the corresponding accounting entries.
Tip: Confirming the statement
Accounting entries are only generated when the statement is confirmed. So if the total
statement hasnt been approved (thats to say during the day, in the case of petty cash) you
shouldnt be surprised if partner payments havent been deducted from their corresponding
account.

11.3.3 Manual entry in a journal

Invoices and statements produce accounting entries in different journals. But you could
equally create entries directly in a journal without using the forms to help you. This
functionality is often used for various entry transactions.
To do this, use the following menu Financial Management Entries Encoding Entries
Encoding by Line.
Select the journal and the accounting period. A window opens, enabling you to enter the
accounting data in an editable list. You can then enter data from a supplier invoice.
As youll recall, these entries are usually generated automatically by Open ERP. If you havent
created an invoice youll have to enter values manually.
Fill these fields manually in this order:
Effective Date : invoice date,
Move : leave this empty so that Open ERP can fill it in automatically from the next number in
sequence for line validations,
Ref. : reference from the supplier invoice,
Partner Ref. : partner concerned,
Account : account for the purchase line (Products Purchase ) ,
Name : description of the invoice line ( PC2 ) ,

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Credit : 1196 .
Press the Enter key on your keyboard to validate this first line. The next sequence number is
assigned to your accounting entry. Your line is then colored red and takes the Draft state.
When a line is in the draft state then its not yet reflected in the accounts. Open ERP wont
validate that line until the balancing entry is made (so the credit amounts must balance the
debit amounts for that set of entries).
Open ERP now proposes the balancing accounting line to be filled in. If the account used (in
this case account 600 ) includes taxes by default in its definition Open ERP automatically
proposes taxes associated with the amount entered. At this stage you can modify and validate
this second line of the account, or replace it with other information such as a second purchase
line.
When youve entered all of the data from your lines, Open ERP automatically proposes
counterpart entries to you, based on the credit entries. If you validate it, the accounting
entries are all matched together and the lines move from the Draft state (red) to the Open
state ( black ).
Tip: Completing a balancing entry
When an accounting entry is matched, Open ERP moves it to the open state automatically
and prepares to enter the next data.
If you want to add some other balancing lines you can enter the number of the entry on the
new line that youre entering. In such a case the whole line stays at Draft until the whole set
balances to zero.

11.3.4 Process of reconciliation

The reconciliation operation consists of matching entries in different accounts to indicate that
they are related. Generally reconciliation is used for:
matching invoice entries to payments so that invoices are marked as paid and customers
dont get payment reminder letters (reconciliation in a customer account),
matching deposits and cheque withdrawals with their respective payments,
matching invoices and credit notes to cancel them out.
A reconciliation must be carried out on a list of accounting entries by an accountant, so that
the sum of credits equals the sum of the debits for the matched entries.
Reconciliation in Open ERP can only be carried out in accounts that have been configured as
reconcilable (the Reconcile field).
Tip: Dont confuse: account reconciliation and bank statement reconciliation
Its important not to confuse the reconciliation of accounting entries with bank statement
reconciliation. The first consists of linking account entries with each other, while the second
consists of verifying that your bank statement corresponds with the entries of that account in
your accounting system.

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There are different methods of reconciling entries. Youve already seen the reconciliation of
entries while doing data entry in an account. Automatic and manual reconciliations are
described here.
Automatic reconciliation
For automatic reconciliation, youll be asking Open ERP to make its own search for entries to
reconcile in a series of accounts. It tries to find entries for each partner where the amounts
correspond.
Depending on the level of complexity that you choose when you start running the tool, the
software could reconcile from two to nine entries at the same time. For example, if you select
level 5, Open ERP will reconcile three invoices and two payments if the total amounts
correspond.

Figure 11.6: Form for automatic reconciliation

To start the reconciliation tool, click Financial management Periodical Processing
Reconciliation Automatic Reconciliation.
A form opens, asking you for the following information:
Account to reconcile : you can select one, several, or all reconcilable accounts,
the period to take into consideration (Start of Period / End of Period) ,
the Reconciliation Power (from 2 to 9 ) ,
information needed for the adjustment (details for the Write-Off Move).
Note: Reconciling
You can reconcile:

all the Accounts Receivable your customer accounts

of type Debtor,

all the Accounts Payable your supplier accounts of

type Creditor.
The adjustment option enables you to reconcile entries even if their amounts arent exactly
equivalent. For example, Open ERP permits foreign customers whose accounts are in different
currencies to have a difference of up to, say, 0.50 units of currency and put the difference in a
write- off account.

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Tip: Limit write-off adjustments
You shouldnt make the adjustment limits too large. Companies that introduced substantial
automatic write-off adjustments have found that all employee expense reimbursements
below the limit were written off automatically!
Note: Default values
If you run the automatic reconciliation tool regularly you should set default values for each
field by pressing the Ctrl key and using the right-click mouse button (when the form is in edit
mode using the web client), or just right-click using the GTK client. The resulting context
menu enables you to set default values. This means that you wont have to re-type all the
fields each time.

Manual reconciliation
For manual reconciliation, open the entries for reconciling an account through the menu
Financial Management Periodical Processing Reconciliation Reconcile Entries. You can
also call up manual reconciliation from any screen that shows accounting entries. Select
entries that you want to reconcile. From the selection, Open ERP indicates the sum of debits
and credits for the selected entries. When these are equal you can click the Reconcile Entries
button to reconcile the entries.

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Note:Example
Realcaseofusing
reconciliation
Suppose
thatyoure
entering
customer
orderdetails.Youaskwhats
outstanding
onthecustomer
ac
count?(thatisthelistofunpaid
invoices
andunreconciled
payments).
Toreview
itfromtheorder
form,
andPayables
navigate
tothePartner
record
andselect
theviewReceivables
. OpenERPopens
ahistory
Open ERP,ofunreconciled
a modern accounting
approach
to integrated
entries
onscreen. business management, Release 1.0

accounting
entries
Figure
11.7:Unreconciled
Youseeaninvoicefor1900anda payment
twoweekslaterof 1900withthesamereference.
Youcanselectthetwo
linesin thatview.Thetotalatthebottom
ofthepageshowsyouthatthecreditamount
equalsthedebitamount
for
Entriesto reconcile
theselected
line.ClickReconcile
thetwolines.
Afterthistheselinescantbeselected
andwontappearwhentheentriesarelistedagain.If theresa difference
between
thetwoentries,
OpenERPsuggests
thatyoumakeanadjustment.
Thisadjustment
is a compensating
entry
thatenables
a completereconciliation.
Youmusttherefore
specifythe journalandtheaccount
tobeusedforthe
adjustment.

For example, if you want to reconcile the following entries:

Table 11.1: Entries for reconciliation
Date

Ref.

12 May
FAC2
08
3
25 May
FAC4
08
4
31 May
PAY0
08
1
On reconciliation,
possibilities:

Description
Car hire

Accoun
t
4010

Car insurance

4010

Debi
t
544.
50
100.
00

Credi
t

Invoices n
4010
644.0
23, 44
0
Open ERP shows a difference of 0.50. At this stage you have two

dont reconcile, and the customer receives a request for 0.50 ,

reconcile and accept an adjustment of 0.50 that you will take from the P&L account.
Open ERP generates the following account automatically:
Table 11.2: Write-off account

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Date

Ref.

Description

Accoun
t
Account
4010

Debi
t
Debit

Credi
t
Credit
0.50

Date
Ref.
Description
03 Jun
AJ00
Adjustment: profits and
08
1
losses
03 Jun
AJ00
Adjustment: profits and
XXX
0.50
08
1
losses
The two invoices and the payment will be reconciled in the first adjustment line. The two
invoices will then be automatically marked as paid.

11.4 Management of payments

Open ERP gives you forms for preparing, validating and executing payment orders. This
enables you to manage issues such as:
1. Payment provided on several due dates.
2. Automatic payment dates.
3. Separating payment preparation and payment approval in your company.
4. Preparing an order during the week containing several payments, then creating a payment file
at the end of the week.
5. Creating a file for electronic payment which can be sent to a bank for execution.
6. Splitting payments dependent on the balances available in your various bank accounts.

11.4.1 Process for managing payment orders

To use the tool for managing payments you must first install the module account_payment.
Its part of the core Open ERP system.
The system lets you enter a series of payments to be carried out from your various bank
accounts. Once the different payments have been registered you can validate the payment
orders. During validation you can modify and approve the the payment orders, sending the
order to the bank for electronic funds transfer or just printing cheques as you wish.
For example if you have to pay a suppliers invoice for a large amount you can split the
payments amongst several bank accounts according to their available balance. To do this
you can prepare several Draft orders and validate them once youre satisfied that the split is
correct.
This process can also be regularly scheduled. In some companies, a payment order is kept in
Draft state and payments are added to the draft list each day. At the end of the week its an
accountants job to work on all of the waiting payment orders.
Once the payment order is confirmed theres still a validation step for an accountant to carry
out. You could imagine that these orders would be prepared by an accounts clerk, and then
approved by a manager to go ahead with payment.
Tip: Payment Workflow

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An Open ERP workflow is associated with each payment order. Select a payment order and if
youre in the GTK client click Plugins Print workflow from the top menu.
You can integrate more complex workflow rules to manage payment orders by adapting the
workflow. For example, in some companies payments must be approved by a manager
under certain cash flow or value limit conditions.

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Figure 11.8: Payments workflow

When the accounting manager validates the document, Open ERP generates a banking file
with all the payment orders. You can then just send the file over your electronic connection
with your bank to execute all your payments.
In small businesses its usually the same person who enters the payment orders and who
validates them. In this case you should just click the two buttons, one after the other, to
confirm the payment.

11.4.2 Preparation and execution of orders

To enter a payment order, use the menu Financial Management Payment Payment
Orders New Payment Order.

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Figure 11.9: Entering a payment order

Open ERP then proposes a reference number for your payment order.
You then have to choose a payment mode from the various methods available to your
company. These have to be configured when you set the accounting system up using menus
Financial Management Configuration Payment Type and Financial Management
Configuration Payment Mode. Some examples are:
Cheques
Bank transfer,
Visa card on a FORTIS account,
Petty cash.
Then you set the Preferred date for payment:
Due date : each operation will be effected at the invoice deadline date,
Directly : the operations will be effected when the orders are validated,
Fixed date : you must specify an effective payment date in the Scheduled date if fixed field
that follows.

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The date is particularly important for the preparation of electronic transfers because banking
interfaces enable you to select a future execution date for each operation. So to configure
your Open ERP most simply you can choose to pay all invoices automatically by their
deadline.
You must then select the invoices to pay. They can be manually entered in the field Payment
Line but its easier to add them automatically. For that, click Add payment lines and Open
ERP will then propose lines with payment deadlines. For each deadline you can see:
the invoice Effective date,
the reference Ref. and description of the invoice, Name,
the deadline for the invoice,
the amount to be paid in the companys default currency,
the amount to be paid in the currency of the invoice.
You can then accept the payment proposed by Open ERP or select the entries that youll pay
or not pay on that order. Open ERP gives you all the necessary information to make a
payment decision for each line item:
account,
suppliers bank account,
amount that will be paid,
amount to pay,
the supplier,
total amount owed to the supplier,
due date,
date of creation.
You can modify the first three fields on each line: the account, the suppliers bank account
and the amount that will be paid. This arrangement is very practical because it gives you
complete visibility of all the companys trade payables. You can pay only a part of an invoice,
for example, and in preparing your next payment order Open ERP automatically suggests
payment of the remainder owed.
When the payment has been prepared correctly, click Confirm. The payment then changes to
the Open state and a new button appears that can be used to start the payment process.
Depending on the chosen payment method, Open ERP provides a file containing all of the
payment orders. You can send this to the bank to make the payment transfers.
In future versions of Open ERP its expected that the system will be able to prepare and print
cheques.
As usual, you can change the start point for the payment workflow from the Administration
Customization Workflow menus.

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Accounting is at the heart of managing a company: all the companys operations have an
impact here. It has an informational role (how much cash is there? what debts need to be
repaid? whats the stock valuation?) and, because of the information it provides, a reliable
and detailed accounting system can and should have a major decision-making role.
In most real companies, accounting is limited to producing statutory reports and satisfying
the directors curiosity about certain strategic decisions, and to printing the balance sheet
and the income statement several times a year. Even then theres often several weeks of
delay between reality and the report.
Note: Valuing your accounting function
In many small companies, the accounting function is poorly treated.
Not only do you see the data for documents being entered into the system twice, but also
the results are often just used to produce legal documentation and regular printouts of the
balance sheet and income statements some weeks after the closing dates.
By contrast, integrating your accounts with your management system means that you can:

reduce data entry effort you only need do it once,

run your processes with the benefit of financial vision: for example in managing
projects, negotiating contracts, and forecasting cash flow,

easily get hold of useful information when you need it, such as a customers credit
position.
So accounting is too often underused. The information it brings makes it a very effective tool
for running the company if its integrated into the management system. Accounting
information really is necessary in all of your companys processes for you to be effective, for
example:
for preparing quotations its important to know the precise financial position of the client, and
to see a history of any delays in payment,
if a given customer has exceeded their credit limit, accounting can automatically stop further
deliveries to the customer,
if a project budget is 80% consumed but the project is only 20% complete you could
renegotiate with the client, or review and rein in the objectives of the project,
if you need to improve your companys cash flow then you could plan your services projects
on the basis of billing rates and payment terms of the various projects, and not just delivery
dates you could work on shortterm client projects in preference to R&D projects, for
example.
Open ERPs general accounting and analytic accounting handle these needs well because of
the close integration between all of the application modules. Furthermore, the transactions,
the actions and the financial analyses happen in real time, so that you can not only monitor
the situation but also manage it effectively. The account module in Open ERP covers general
accounting, analytic accounting, and auxiliary and budgetary accounting. Its double-entry,
multi-currency and multi-company.
Note: Accounting

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General accounting (or financial accounting) is for identifying the assets and liabilities
of the business. Its managed using double-entry accounting which ensures that each

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transaction is credited to one account and debited from another.

Analytical accounting (or management accounting, or cost accounting) is an

independent accounting system which reflects the general accounts but is structured
along axes that represent the companys management needs.

Auxiliary accounting reflects the accounts of customers and/or suppliers.

Budgetary accounts predefine the expected allocation of resources, usually at the start
of a financial year.
Tip: Multi-company
There is a choice of methods for integrating Open ERP in a multi-company environment:

if the companies hold few documents in common (such as products, or partners - any
Open ERP resource), you should install separate databases,

if the companies share many documents, you can register them in the same database
and install Open ERPs multi-company documents to finely manage access rights,

you can synchronize specified document types in several databases using the
base_synchro module, which is a shared-funding module rather than in the standard
open repositories.
One of the great advantages of integrating accounts with all of the other modules is in
avoiding the double entry of data into accounting documents. So in Open ERP an Order
automatically generates an Invoice, and the Invoice automatically generates the accounting
entries. These in turn generate tax submissions, customer reminders, and so on. Such strong
integration enables you to:
reduce data entry work,
greatly reduce the number of data entry errors,
get information in real time and enable very fast reaction times (for bill reminders, for
example),
exert timely control over all areas of company management.
Tip: For accountants
When you create a database you can elect to install only the accounting modules by
choosing the Accounting only profile profile_accounting.
You should then install the web portal portal_account. With appropriate rights management,
this allows trustees to provide customers with real-time access to their data. It also gives
them the opportunity to work on certain documents that have no direct accounting impact,
such as budgets.
This can provide an added-value service that greatly improves the interaction between
trustees and their clients.
All the accounts are held in the default currency (which is specified in the company
definition), but each account and/or transaction can also have a secondary currency (which
is defined in the account). The value of multi-currency transactions is then tracked in both
currencies.

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For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with sale
and its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.

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CHAPTER

TWELVE

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
This chapter is devoted to statutory taxation and financial reporting from Open
ERP. Whether you need reports about customers and suppliers, or statements for
various statutory purposes, Open ERP enables you to carry out a whole range of
parametric analyses of the financial health of your company.
Whether you want to analyze the general health of your company or review the status of an
Account Receivable in detail, your companys accounts are the place to define your various
business indicators.
To bring you the most accurate picture of your business, Open ERPs different accounting
reports are flexible, and the results are calculated in real time. This enables you to automate
recurring actions and to change your operations quickly when a company-wide problem
(such cash reserves dropping too low, or receivables climbing too high) or a local problem (a
client that hasnt paid, or a project budget overspend) occurs.
So this chapter describes the various reports and financial statements supplied by Open
ERPs accounting modules. It also describes how Open ERP handles purchase and sales
taxation, and the reporting of taxation.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with sale
and its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.

12.1 Managing accounts payable / creditors and accounts

receivable / debtors
Open ERP provides many tools for managing customer and supplier accounts. Youll see here:
financial analysis of partners, to understand the reports that enable you to carry out an
analysis of all of your partners,
multi-level reminders, which is an automatic system for preparing reminder letters or emails
when invoices remain unpaid,
detailed analysis of individual partners.

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12.1.1 Financial analysis of partners

When members of your accounts department sign on to the Open ERP system, they can
immediately be presented with the Accounting Dashboard. By default it contains a useful
graph for analyzing Receivables. To get access to it, install the module board_account. Then
look at it using the menu Dashboards Accounting Accounting Dashboard.

Figure 12.1: Accounting Dashboard

In the dashboard, the graph at the right entitled Aged Receivables represents your
receivables week by week. That shows you at a glance the cumulative amount of your
customer debtors by week.
All of Open ERPs graphs are dynamic. So you can, for example, filter the data by clicking
Zoom and then Filter on the Search form. Or just click on Zoom to open in a larger window
for a graph, then click Search to display this in a list view.
To obtain a more detailed report of the aged balance (or order by past date) use the menu
Finance Accounting Reporting Partner Accounts Aged Partner
balance.

Figure 12.2: Aged balance using a 30 day period

When opening that report, Open ERP asks for the name of the company, the fiscal period and
the size of the interval to be analyzed (in days). Open ERP then calculates a table of credit
balance by period. So if you request an interval of 30 days Open ERP generates an analysis
of creditors for the past month, past two months, and so on.

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For an analysis by partner you can use the partner balance that you get through the menu
Financial Management
Reporting Partner Accounts Partner balance. The system then supplies you with a PDF
report containing one line per partner representing the cumulative
credit balance.

Figure 12.3: Partner balances

If you want detailed information about a partner you can use the partner ledgers that you
reach through the menu Financial Management Reporting Partner
Accounts Partner Ledger.

Figure 12.4: Partner ledger

Finally you can look up individual account entries by searching for useful information. To
search for account entries:
by journal, go through the menu Financial Management Entries Encoding Entries
Encoding by Line,

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by account, go through the menu Financial Management Charts Chart of Accounts and
double-click the appropriate account,
by making a global search, go through the menu Financial Management Entries Encoding
Entries Encoding by Move and searching,
by partner, do it by navigating from a Partner field in any form that shows it to the partner
then using the buttons to the right of the partner form.

12.1. Managing accounts payable / creditors and accounts receivable / debtors

Tip: Exporting entries
Its helpful to remember that you can export all types of resource in Open ERP. From the web
client you need to navigate to a search list for the resource then click the Export link at the
bottom left of the list. From the GTK client youd use the menu Form Export. This enables
you to easily make your own analysis in Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.org Calc, by exporting
accounting entries.

12.1.2 Multi-step follow-ups

To automate the management of followups (reminders) you must install the module
account_followup. This is installed automatically as part of the accounting profile, but is not
part of the other profiles. Or you can install it alone.
Once the module is installed configure your levels of followup using the menu Financial
Management Configuration Follow-Ups.
The levels of follow-up are relative to the date of creation of an invoice and not the due date.
This enables you to put payment conditions such as payable in 21 days and send a
reminder in 30 days, or the converse.
For each level you should define the number of days and create a note which will
automatically be added into the reminder letter. The sequence determines the order of the
level in ascending order.
Table 12.1: Example of configuring followup levels
Sequen
ce
1

Level

Days

Description

Level
30 days net
First payment
1
reminder
2
Level
45 days net
Second reminder
2
3
Level
60 days from end of
Put on notice
3
month
You can send your reminders by mail and/or email with the menu Financial Management
Periodical Processing Send followups.

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Figure 12.5: Form for preparing follow-up letters

Open ERP presents you with a list of partners who are due reminders, which you can modify
before starting the procedure. On the second tab of the form you can supply the information
youll send in the email reminder.
The system then gives you a PDF report with all of the reminder letters for each partner.
Each letter is produced in the language of the partner (if thats available) and you can
therefore get letters in several languages in the same PDF on several pages.
To check the due date of customers and/or suppliers before starting the reminder procedure,
use the menu Financial Management Periodical Processing Send followups. You get a list
of unreconciled entries accounts. You can then modify the date and the last follow-up and the
level of reminder for each entry.
To obtain a detailed report per partner use the menus in Financial Management Reporting
Follow-Ups.
The different reports are standard Open ERP screens, so you can filter them and explore
the elements in detail.

Figure 12.6: Summary screen for follow-ups

12.1.3 Partner situation

In daily use of Open ERP a manager will often need to search quickly for financial information
amongst partner data. For this she can use the buttons to the right of form when she opens a
partner form, to go directly to:
a follow-up letter from the Overdue payments Report button,

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the list of open Invoices,
a shortcut to All account entries,
the unclosed CRM requests from Open cases,
a shortcut to the unreconciled Receivables and Payables.
The exact links depend on the modules that are installed in Open ERP.
These links are also available to her using the navigation features such as right-clicking
partner fields in the GTK client.
The Overdue payments report produces a PDF document which is used for follow-up but it
doesnt modify any of the partners accounting entries. Its use doesnt increase the follow-up
level so you can run this report repeatedly without any problem.
In Open ERP you can search for a partner on the basis of the value of its trade receivables.
So search for partners with a credit amount between 1 and 99999999 and youll get a list of
partners that owe you payment. You can then select the whole list and print follow-up letters
for them all.
To the right of the partner form theres a shortcut to Invoices. This link includes all of the
invoices defined in the systems, namely:
customer invoices,
supplier invoices,
credit notes,
supplier credit notes.

12.1. Managing accounts payable / creditors and accounts receivable / debtors

Tip: Reminders from accounting entries
Companies that do not have computerized records tend to keep track of payments from
invoices and paperwork and not from a formal partner account.
Its better to create reminder letters from a partners account receivable than from unpaid
bills, however. By using the Open ERP system you can easily take account of all advances,
unreconciled payments, credit notes and credit payments.
So its better to send a letter based on the accounting entries of invoices and unreconciled
payments than just on a list of unpaid invoices.
In the links appearing on the partner form, two buttons enable the opening of partner
accounting entries:
All account entries,

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Receivables & Payables.
The first button is useful for obtaining a historical analysis of the customer or supplier. You
can get information about such significant items as sales volume and payment delays. The
second button is a filter which shows only the open trade credits and debits for the partner.

12.2 Statutory taxes and accounts

This section deals with statutory taxes and accounts which are legally required from the
company:
the taxation structure provided by Open ERP,
the accounts ledgers,
account balance (used to produce the income statement and balance sheet),
the different journals (general, centralized and detailed),
the tax declaration.
Tip: Other declarations
In addition to the legal declarations available in the accounts modules, Open ERP supplies
declarations based on the functionality in other modules. You can, for example, install the
report_intrastat module for intra-stat declarations about sending goods to and receiving
goods from other countries.

12.2.1 Taxation
You can attach taxes to financial transactions so that you can
add taxes to the amount that you pay or get paid,
report on the taxes in various categories that you should pay the tax authorities,
track taxes in your general accounts,
manage the payment and refund of taxes using the same mechanisms that Open ERP uses
for other monetary transactions.

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Since the detailed tax structure is a mechanism for carrying out governments policies, and
the collecting of taxes so critical to their authorities, tax requirements and reporting can be
complex. Open ERP has a flexible mechanism for handling taxation that can be configured
through its GUI or through data import mechanisms to meet the requirements of many
various tax jurisdictions.
The taxation mechanism can also be used to handle other tax-like financial transactions,
such as royalties to authors based on the value of transactions through an account.
Setting up a tax structure
Three main objects are involved in the tax system in Open ERP:
a Tax Case (or Tax Code), used for tax reporting, that can be set up in a hierarchical structure
so that multiple codes can be formed into trees in the same way as a Chart of Accounts.
a Tax, the basic tax object that contains the rules for calculating tax on the financial
transaction its attached to, and is linked to the General Accounts and to the Tax Cases. A tax
can contain multiple child taxes and base its calculation on those taxes rather than the base
transaction, providing considerable flexibility. Each tax belongs to a Tax Group (currently just
VAT or Other ).
the General Accounts, that record the taxes owing and paid. Since the general accounts are
discussed elsewhere in this part of the book and are not tax-specific, they wont be detailed
in this section.
You can attach zero or more Supplier Tax and Customer Tax items to products, so that you
can account separately for purchase and sales taxes (or Input and Output VAT where VAT is
Value Added Tax). Because you can attach more than one tax, you can handle a VAT or Sales
Tax separately from an Eco Tax on the same product.
You can also attach a Default Tax to a Partner, which replaces any taxes belonging to the
same Tax Group that may have been defined in a Product.
So you can define a Tax Exempt tax in the VAT group and assign it to partners who declare
themselves to be charities. All product sales to a charity would then be VAT free even if the
products themselves carry various tax rates, but non-VAT taxes such as Eco-taxes can still be
applied.
Tax Cases
Tax Cases are also known in Open ERP as Tax Codes. Theyre used for tax reporting, and can
be set up in a hierarchical structure to form trees in the same way as a Chart of Accounts.
To create a new Tax Case, use the menu Financial Management Configuration Taxes
Tax Codes. You define the following fields:
Tax Case Name : a unique name required to identify the Case,
Company : a required link that attaches the Case to a specific company, such as the Main
Company,

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Case Code : an optional short code for the case,
Parent Code : a link to a parent Tax Case that forms the basis of the tree structure like a
Chart of Accounts,
Sign for Parent : choose 1.00 to add the total to the parent account or -1.00 to subtract it,
Description : a free text field for documentation purposes.
You can also see two read-only fields:
Year Sum : a single figure showing the total accumulated on this case for the financial year.
Period Sum : a single figure showing the total accumulated on this case for the current
financial period ( perhaps 1 month or 3 months).
You will probably need to create two tax cases for each different tax rate that you have to
define, one for the tax itself and one for the invoice amount that the tax is based on. And
youll create tax cases that you wont link to Tax objects (similar to General Account View
types) just to organize the tree structure.
To view the structure that youve constructed you can use the menu Financial Management
Reporting Taxes Report Chart of Taxes. This tree view reflects the structure of the Tax
Cases and shows the current tax situation.
Tax objects
Tax objects calculate tax on the financial transactions that theyre attached to, and are linked
to the General Accounts and to the Tax Cases.
To create a new Tax Case, use the menu Financial Management Configuration Financial
Accounting Taxes Taxes. You define the following fields:
Tax Name : a unique name required for this tax (such as 12% Sales VAT ) ,
Company : a required link to a company associated with the tax, such as the Main Company,
Tax Group : VAT or Other , used to determine which taxes on products can be substituted by
taxes on partners,
Tax Type : a required field directing how to calculate the tax: Percent , Fixed , None or
Python Code , (the latter is found in the Compute Code field in the Special Computation tab),
Applicable Type : a required field that indicates whether the base amount should be used
unchanged (when the value is True ) or whether it should be processed by Python Code in
the Applicable Code field in the Special Computation tab when the value is Code ) ,
Amount : a required field whose meaning depends on the Tax Type, being a multiplier on the
base amount when the Tax Type is Percent , and a fixed amount added to the base amount
when the Tax Type is Fixed ,
Include in base amount : when checked, the tax is added to the base amount and not shown
separately,
Domain : is only used in special developments, not in the core Open ERP system,

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Invoice Tax Account :a General Account used to record invoiced tax amounts, which may be
the same for several taxes or split so that one tax is allocated to one account,
Refund Tax Account : a General Account used to record invoiced tax refunds, which may be
the same as the Invoice Tax Account or, in some tax jurisdictions, must be separated,
Tax on Children : when checked, the tax calculation is applied to the output from other tax
calculations specified in the Childs Tax Account field (so you can have taxes on taxes),
otherwise the calculation is applied to the base amount on the transaction,
Tax included in Price : when checked, the total value shown includes this tax,
Tax Application : selects whether the tax is applicable to Sale, Purchase or All transactions,
Child Tax Accounts : other tax accounts that can be used to supply the figure for taxation.
Tip: Using Child Taxes
You can use child taxes when you have a complex tax situation that you want to hide your
end users from. For example, you might define a motor mileage expenses product with a
composite tax made up of two child taxes a non-reclaimable private element and a
reclaimable business element (which is the case in some European countries). When your
staff come to claim motor mileage, they do not need to know about this taxation, but the
accounting impact of their claim will be automatically managed in Open ERP.
The fields above apply the taxes that you specify and record them in the general accounts
but dont provide you with the documentation that your tax authorities might need. For this
use the Tax Declaration tab to define which Tax Cases should be used for this tax:
Invoices/Base Code : tax case to record the invoiced amount that the tax is based on,
Invoices/Tax Code : tax case to record the invoiced tax amount
Credit Notes/Refund Base Code : tax case to record the refund invoice amount that the tax is
based on,
Credit Notes/Refund Tax Code : tax case to record the refund invoice tax amount.
Use of Taxes on Products, Partners, Projects and Accounts
When youve created a tax structure consisting of Tax Cases and Tax objects, you can use the
taxes in your various business objects so that financial transactions can be associated with
taxes and tax-like charges.
Tip: Retail Customers
When youre retailing to end users rather than selling to a business, you may want to (or be
required to) show taxinclusive prices on your invoicing documents rather than a taxexclusive price plus tax. To do this in Open ERP just install the account_tax_include module.
Each invoice is given a new Price method field, in which you choose Tax included or Tax
excluded. Prices are then displayed appropriately.
You can assign a tax to a Partner so that it overrides any tax defined in a Product. Youd do
this, for example, if a partner was a charity and paid a lower or zero rate of VAT or Sales Tax
on its purchases. Assuming that you have an appropriate Charities VAT or Sales Tax in the

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VAT Tax Group, use the menu Partners Partners to open and edit a Partner form for the
charity, then:
select the Properties tab,
set the Default Tax field to the Charities VAT tax.
You can assign multiple taxes to a Product. Assuming you have set up the appropriate taxes,
you would use the menu Products Products to open and edit a Product definition, then:
select one or more Customer Taxes for any products that you might sell, which may include a
Sales Tax or
Output VAT , and a Sales Eco Tax ,
select one or more Supplier Taxes for any products that you might purchase, which may
include a Purchase Tax or Input VAT , and a Purchase Eco Tax .
Generally, when you make a purchase or sale, the taxes assigned to the product are used to
calculate the taxes owing or owed. But when you make a transaction with a partner that has
a Default Tax defined, for example a sale to a charity with Charities \ \ Tax , that tax will be
used in place of other Product taxes in the same group in this case replacing the standard
Sales Tax or Output VAT .
You can also assign multiple taxes to a Project, so that invoices from the Project carry an
appropriate rate of tax (project invoicing is dealt with in detail in Internal Organization and
Project Management).
Note: Tax regions
The third-party module import_export (currently in addons-extra can be used to extend
Open ERPs tax system, so that you can assign taxes to different accounts depending on the
location of the Partner. The Partner is given a new Partner Location field that can be set to
Local, Europe or Outside, so that taxes and tax bases can be channelled to different
accounts.
This module could be the basis of more ambitious location-based tax accounting.
And you can assign multiple taxes to an account so that when you transfer money through
the account you attract a tax amount. In such a case, this tax may not be legally-required
taxation but something tax-like, for example authors royalties or sales commission.

12.2.2 The accounts ledgers and the balance sheet

To print the balance of accounts or the accounts ledgers you should turn to the Chart of
Accounts. To do that go to the menu Financial Management Charts Charts of Accounts.
Select the accounting period and type of moves (all entries or just posted entries) youre
interested in and click Open Charts to display the chart in a tree view, then select one or
several accounts for analysis by clicking and highlighting the appropriate line(s). Click the
General Ledger, the Account balance, or an Analytic check in the Reports toolbar at the right.
If you select an account which has sub-accounts in the hierarchy you automatically analyze
both that account and its child accounts.
Tip: Simulated balance
While youre printing account balances, if you have installed the account_simulation module

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from addonsextra, Open ERP asks you which level of simulation to execute.
Results will vary depending on the level selected. You could, for example, print the balance
depending on various methods of amortization:

the normal IFRS method,

the French method.

More generally it enables you to make analyses using other simulation levels that you could
expect.
The account_reporting module was developed to provide configurable reports for balance
sheets or earnings statements in legally required formats.

12.2.3 The accounting journals

To

obtain the
different
journals
Management Reporting Journals.

use

the

menu Financial

Note: Journals
Note there are different types of journal in Open ERP

accounting journals (detailed in this chapter),

purchase journals (for distributing supplies provided on certain dates),

sales journals (for example classifying sales by their type of trade),

the invoice journals (to classify sales by mode of invoicing - daily / weekly / monthly and automating the tasks.

To get access to these different journals install the modules sale_journal (found at the time
of writing in addons, so available in a standard installation) and purchase_journal (found in
addons-extra at the time of writing, so needing special installation).
Then select one or several journals and click Print. Open ERP then proposes various reports:
detailed accounting entries,
general journal,
journal grouped by account.

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Figure 12.7: Printing a journal

12.2.4 Tax declaration

Information required for a tax declaration is automatically generated by Open ERP from
invoices. In the section on invoicing youll have seen that you can get details of tax
information from the area at the bottom left of an invoice.
You can also get the information from the accounting entries in the columns to the right.
Open ERP keeps a tax chart that you can reach from the menu Financial Management
Periodical Processing Taxes. The structure of the chart is for calculating the tax
declaration but also all the other taxes can be calculated (such as the French DEEE).

Figure 12.8: Example of a Belgian TVA (VAT) declaration

The tax chart represents the amount of each area of the tax declaration for your country. Its
presented in a hierarchical structure which lets you see the detail only of what interests you

12.2. Statutory taxes and accounts

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and hides the less interesting subtotals. This structure can be altered as you wish to fit your
needs.
You can create several tax charts if your company is subject to different types of tax or taxlike accounts, such as:
authors rights,
ecotaxes such as the French DEEE for recycling electrical equipment.
Each accounting entry can then be linked to one of the tax accounts. This association is done
automatically by the taxes which had previously been configured in the invoice lines.
Tip: Tax declaration
Some accounting software manages the tax declaration in a dedicated general account. The
declaration is then limited to the balance in the specified period. In Open ERP you can
create an independent chart of taxes, which has several advantages:

its possible to allocate only a part of the tax transaction,

its not necessary to manage several different general accounts depending on the type
of sale and type of tax,

you can restructure your chart of taxes as you need.

At any time you can check your chart of taxes for a given period using the report Financial
Management Reporting Taxes Reports Print Taxes Report.
This data is updated in real time. Thats very useful because it enables you to preview at any
time the tax that you owe at the start and end of the month or quarter.
Furthermore, for your tax declaration you can click on one of the tax accounts to investigate
the detailed entries that make up the full amount. This helps you search for errors such as
when youve entered an invoice at full tax rate when it should have been zero-rated for an
inter-community trade or for a charity.
In some countries, tax can be calculated on the basis of payments received rather than
invoices sent. In this instance choose Base on Payments instead of Base on Invoices in the
Select period field. Even if you make your declaration on the basis of invoices sent and
received it can be helpful to compare the two reports to see the amount of tax that you pay
but havent yet received from your customers.

12.3 Company Financial Analysis

Youll see here the analysis tools for your companys financial situation, in particular:
management indicators,
budgets,
the accounting dashboard.

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12.3.1 Management Indicators

Note: Financial Indicators
Indicators, sometimes called financial ratios, are tools for analyzing a companys finances.
They enable you to compare two accounts or sets of accounts from the balance sheet or the
profit and loss account, in the form of a ratio. They also let you measure the financial health
of a company and make comparisons from one year to the next or against those of other
companies.
To define financial indicators in Open ERP you should install the module account_report.
When installing the module the usual financial indicators are registered in Open ERP.
You can consult your indicators, calculated in real time, from the menu Financial
Management Reporting Custom Reports.

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Indicators defined by default in Open ERP are the following:
Indicators of Working Capital : determines if the company can pay its short term debts in
normal conditions.
Its calculated from (Stocks + Cash + Current Assets) / Current Liabilities .
Financial Ratios : enables you to calculate the companys liquidity. It is defined as follows:
( Current
Assets - Stocks) / Current Liabilities .
Fixed Assets : in a going concern, the value of fixed assets are covered in the first place by
owners capital and in the second place by all of the long term liabilities. Ideally this
indicator will be greater than 1.
Tip: Calculation of indicators
Calculating indicators can take quite a while in Open ERP because you have to analyse the
whole companys accounting entries.
So its best not to calculate all of the indicators at once, but just a small selection to keep
calculation time within limits.

Time analysis of indicators

You can analyze the financial indicators along two axes. You must have a figure calculated at
a particular instant of time when you compare accounts, balances and the ratios between
them. But you can also calculate a time series to follow the change of a given indicator
throughout the life of the company. To do a temporal analysis of your indicators, you must
install the module account_report_history from the set of modules in addons-extra.
Once this module is installed, you can click on a financial indicator to get a graph of its
evolution in time.

Figure 12.9: History of an accounting indicator

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Defining your own indicators
You can define your own indicators in Open ERP using the menu Financial Management
Configuration Custom Reporting New Reporting Item Formula.

12.3. Company Financial Analysis

Figure 12.10: Defining a new indicator

You should make sure that the accounts that you base indicators on are given unique account
codes, because codes are used in the creation of formulae. Create a formula using the syntax
indicated in the instructions at the bottom of the form:

Sum of debits in a general account: debit(12345) ,

Sum of credits in a general account: credit(12345) ,

Balance of a general account: balance(12345) ,

Value of another indicator: report (IND) . where:

12345 represents the code of a general account,

IND represents the code of another indicator.

So, using this notation, the cash ratio is defined by balance(4, 5) / balance(1) thats the
balance in accounts 4 and 5 divided by the balance in account 1.

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12.3.2 Good management budgeting

Open ERP manages its budgets using both General and Analytic Accounts. Youll see how to
do this here for General Accounts and then in Analytic Accounts for Analytical Accounts.
Install account_budget to be able to do this.
Use the menu Financial Management Configuration Budgets General Budgets to define
a new budget.
Tip: Budget Revisions
Even though you can modify a budget at any time to make a revision of it, its best if you
dont do that.
Rather than edit an existing budget document, make a new version so that you can keep
your original estimates safe for comparison. This lets you analyze your changing
perspectives of the company from revision to revision.
Begin data entry by entering a Name, a Code, and a Start Date and an End Date in your new
budget. Then you can define the budgeted amounts within that period, one by one. For each,
you define:
an Analytic Account
a Budgetary Position : for example Sales or Purchases,
a Start Date and End Date for the use of the budget,
a Planned Amount in the default currency of the chart of accounts.
Once its completed you can save your budget.
To print a budget and make calculations of expenditure to budget use the menu Financial
Management Budgets Budget Open ERP then gives you a list of available budgets. Select
one or more budgets and then click Print
Budgets to create the report for each in a date range of your choosing. The figure Printing a
budget gives an example of a budget produced by Open ERP.

Figure 12.11: Printing a budget

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You could also use the menu Financial Management Reporting Budgets which gives you a
choice of one or more Budgetary Position entries before clicking Budget and choosing a date
range. This gives a budgetary analysis report for each of the positions.

12.3.3 The Accounting Dashboard

Figure 12.12: Accounting Dashboard

12.3. Company Financial Analysis

If youve installed the module board_account, Open ERP gives you an accounting dashboard
that can be presented to your accounting staff as they sign into the system (if you have set it
as their Home Page). This dashboard provides an analysis of the companys financial health
at a glance.
This gives a description of the different parts of the dashboard, from top to bottom then from
left to right:
Analytic accounts to close : when youre managing cases each analytical account is a project
or a contract. This area gives the accounts that must be closed (for example, contracts
expired, support hours exceeded).
Accounts to invoice : shows analytical accounts where there are charges to be invoiced.
Draft invoices : gives the list of invoices waiting to be approved by an accountant.
Costs to invoice : gives the weekly changes which can be, but havent yet been, invoiced.
Aged receivables : gives a weekly graph of the receivables that havent yet been reconciled.
Aged income : gives a weekly graph of the companys turnover.
In each panel of the accountants dashboard you can click the Zoom button at the top right to
investigate the detail of your financial indicators.

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The Accounting dashboard is dynamically integrated, which means that you can navigate
easily through the data if you want more detail about certain factors, and edit the entries if
necessary.

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CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

CONFIGURING ACCOUNTS FROM

A TO
Z
Accounts must be configured to meet your companys needs. This chapter explains
how to modify your chart of accounts, journals, access rights, initial account
balances, and default values for the initial configuration of your Open ERP accounts.
Assuming that it calculates sufficiently accurately, the best accounting software would be
marked out by its usability and simplicity of data entry, and flexibility in configuring its
different components. Youd be able to easily modify the accounting module to meet your
own needs so that you could optimize it for the way you want to use it.
Open ERP lets you adapt and reconfigure many functions to ease the task of data entry:
adding controls for data entry,
customizing the screens,
filling fields automatically during data entry with data thats already known to the system.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with sale and
its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.

13.1 Chart of Accounts

On installation, the software is given a default chart of accounts thats the same regardless of
your country. To install the chart of accounts and tax definitions for your own country install
the module l10n_XX where XX represents your country code in two letters. For example to get
the chart of accounts for France install the module l10n_fr.
Some of these pre-built modules are comprehensive and accurate, others have rather more
tentative status and are simply indicators of the possibilities. You can modify these, or build
your own accounts onto the default chart, or replace it entirely with a custom chart.

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You view active charts of accounts using the menu Financial Management Charts Charts
of Accounts, and Open Charts for the selected year and account moves.
Note: Hierarchical charts
Most accounting software packages represent their charts of accounts in the form of a list.
You can do this in Open ERP as well if you want to, but its tree view offers several
advantages:

it lets you show and calculate only the accounts that interest you,

it enables you to get a global view of accounts (when you show only summary
accounts),

it simplifies searches semantically,

its more intuitive, because you can search for accounts on the basis of their
classification,

its flexible because you can easily restructure them.

The structure of the chart of accounts is hierarchical, with account subtotals called account
views. You can develop a set of account views to contain only those elements that interest
you.
To get the detail of the account entries that are important to you, all you need to do is click
the accounts Code ( if you have no codes, you can select the line, then click Switch to get
the acount definition, then click the Entries in the LINKS part of the toolbar).
Displaying the chart of accounts can take several seconds because Open ERP calculates the
debits, credits and balance for each account in real time. If you just want to work with a chart
of accounts that has structure but shows no totals, use the function Financial Management
Charts Charts of Accounts Fast Charts of Accounts.

13.1.1 Creating a chart of accounts

Figure 13.1: Definition of an account

To add, modify or delete existing accounts, use the menu Financial Management
Configuration Financial Accounting Financial Accounts List of Accounts.
Tip: Multi-lingual fields

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In Open ERP multi-lingual fields are marked by a small flag to their right. Click on the flag to
get a translation of the value of the field in the different installed languages. You can also
edit the translation.
This enables you to efficiently manage other languages as you need them. The fields value
appears in the language of the logged-in user or, in the case of reports printed for a partner,
that of the partner.
The main account fields are:
Name : the name of the account is a multi-lingual field, which is why theres a little flag to the
right. Give the field a name.
Active : if you deactivate an account (by unchecking the box) it will no longer be visible in the
chart of accounts but can be reactivated later. Only accounts which arent needed for account
entries can be deactivated.
Account Type : account types determine an accounts use in each journal. By default the
following types are available: View,:guilabel:Receivable, Payable, Income, Expense, Tax, Cash,
Asset, Equity. You can add new types through the menu Financial Management
Configuration Financial Accounting Financial Accounts Account Types. Use the View
type for accounts that make up the structure of the charts and have no account data inputs
of their own.
Note: Type of account
The account types are mainly used as an informative title. The only two types that have any
particular effect are Receivables and Payables.
These two types are used by reports on partner credits and debits. Theyre calculated from
the list of unreconciled entries in the accounts of one of these two types.
Account Number : the code length isnt limited to a specific number of digits. Use code 0 for
all root accounts.
Currency : the default currency for that account.
Deferral Method : determines how to treat the account and its entries at the closing of the
books at the end of the year. Four methods are available:
Balance : an entry is generated for the account balance and carried across to the new year
(generally used for bank accounts),
None : no accounting entries are transferred across to the new financial year (generally for
classes 6 and
7) ,
Detail : all entries are kept for the new fiscal year,
Unreconciled : only unreconciled entries are carried over to the new fiscal year (usually used
for thirdparty accounts).
Reconcile : determines if you can reconcile the entries in this account. Activate this field for
partner accounts and for chequing (checking) accounts.
Parents : determines which account is the parent of this one, to create the tree structure of
the chart of accounts.

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Default Taxes : this is the default tax applied to purchases or sales using this account. It
enables the system to generate tax entries automatically when entering data in a journal
manually.
The tree structure of the accounts can be altered as often and as much as you wish without
recalculating any of the individual entries. So you can easily restructure your account during
the year to reflect the reality of the company better.

13.1.2 Using virtual charts of accounts

The structure of a chart of accounts is imposed by the legislation in effect in the country of
concern. Unfortunately that structure doesnt always correspond to the view that a
companys CEO needs.
In Open ERP you can use the concept of virtual charts of accounts to manage several
different representations of the same accounts simultaneously. These representations can be
shown in real time with no additional data entry.
So your general chart of accounts can be the one imposed by the statutes of your country,
and your CEO can then have other virtual charts as necessary, based on the accounts in the
general chart. For example the CEO can create a view per department, a cash-flow and
liquidity view, or consolidated accounts for different companies.

13.1. Chart of Accounts

The most interesting thing about virtual charts of accounts is that they can be used in the
same way as the default chart of accounts for the whole organization. For example you can
establish budgets from your consolidated accounts or from the accounts from one of your
companies.
Tip: Virtual accounts
Virtual accounts enable you to provide different representations of one or several existing
charts of accounts. Creating and restructuring virtual accounts has no impact on the
accounting entries. You can then use the virtual charts with no risk of altering the general
chart of accounts or future accounting entries.
Because theyre used only to get different representation of the same entries theyre very
useful for:

consolidating several companies in real time,

depreciation calculations,

cash-flow views,

getting more useful views than those imposed by statute,

presenting summary charts to other users that are appropriate to their general system
rights.

So there are good reasons for viewing the execution of financial transactions through virtual
charts, such as budgets and financial indicators based on special views of the company.

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To create a new chart of accounts you should create a root account using the menu Financial
Management Configuration Financial Accounting Financial Accounts List of Accounts.
Your top level account should have Code 0 and Type View . Then you can choose your
structure by creating other accounts of Type View as necessary. Check your virtual structure
using the menu Financial Management Charts Charts of Accounts.
Finally, when youve got your structure, you must make the general accounts and virtual
accounts match. For that search the general accounts and ensure that each non-View account
there also has a virtual account in the field Parents.
You can then check through your general chart of accounts as well as your virtual charts
which give you another representation of the company. All the actions and states in your
general account are also available in the virtual accounts.
Finally you can also make virtual charts of accounts from other virtual charts. That can give
an additional dimension for financial analysis.

13.2 Journals
All your accounting entries must appear in an accounting journal. So you must, at a
minimum, create a Sales Journal for customer invoices, a Purchase Journal for supplier
invoices and a Cash Journal for cash and bank transactions.

13.2.1 Configuring a Journal

To view, edit or create new journals use the menu Financial Management Configuration
Financial Accounting Financial Journals.
Just like General accounts, the journals can be deactivated to make them invisible: uncheck
the Active checkbox for
that.

Figure 13.2: Definition of an accounting journal

You have to associate a view with each journal. The journal view indicates the fields that must
be visible and required to enter accounting data in that journal. The view determines both the
order of the fields and the properties of each field. For example the field Account Number
must appear when entering data in the bank journal but not in the other journals.
Before creating a new view for a journal check that theres nothing similar already defined for
another journal. You should only create a new view for new types of journal.
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Note: Customizing views
Youll often have to edit a journal view. For example, for a journal in a foreign currency you
add a field for the currency and this currency must be in the journal view.
Conversely, to simplify data entry the journal view for the bank is quite different from one of
the invoicing journals.
You can create a sequence for each journal. This sequence gives the automatic numbering for
accounting entries. Or several journals can use the same sequence if you want to define one
for them all.
The credit and debit account by default permit the automatic generation of counterpart
entries when youre entering data in the journal quickly. For example, in a bank journal you
should put an associated bank account for default matching credits and debits, so that you
dont have to create counterparts for each transaction manually.
A journal can be marked as being centralized. When you do this, the counterpart entries
wont be owned by each entry but globally for the given journal and period. Youll then have a
credit line and a debit line centralized for each entry in one of these journals, meaning that
both credit and debit appear on the same line.

13.2.2 Controls and aids for data entry

You can carry out two types of control on Journals in Open ERP controls over the financial
accounts and access controls for groups of users. In addition to these controls you can also
apply all of the rights management detailed in Configuration & Administration.
To avoid mistakes while entering accounts data, you can place conditions in the general
accounts about who can use a given account. To do this, you must list all the accounts or
valid account types in the second tab, Entry Controls. If you havent added any accounts
there, Open ERP applies no restriction on data entry in the accounts or journals. If you list
accounts and the types of account that can be used in a journal, Open ERP prevents you from
using any account not in that list. This verification step starts from the moment you save the
entry.
This functionality is useful for limiting possible data entry errors. Also, in a bank journal its
possible to restrict the accounts that can be linked to a bank to classes 1 to 5. Using this
youd help prevent the user from making any false entries in the journal.

13.2. Journals
Tip: Control of data entry
In accounting its not a good idea to allow a data entry directly from bank account A to bank
account B. If you enter a transaction from bank A to bank B the transaction will be accounted
for twice.
To prevent this problem, pass the transaction through intermediate account C. At the time of
data entry the system checks the type of account thats accepted in the bank journal: only
accounts that arent of type Bank are accepted. If your accountant defines this control

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properly, non-accounting users are prevented from transferring payment from one bank to
another, reducing your risks.

13.3 Periods and fiscal years

Note: Periods and fiscal years
A fiscal year corresponds to twelve months for a company. In many countries, the fiscal year
corresponds to a calendar year. Thats not the case in others.
The fiscal year is divided into monthly or three-monthly accounting periods.
Open ERPs management of the fiscal year is flexible enough to enable you to work on
several years at the same time. This gives you several advantages, such as creating threeyear budgets, and statements straddling several calendar years.

13.3.1 Defining a period or a fiscal year

To define your fiscal year use the menu Financial Management Configuration Financial
Accounting Periods Fiscal Year. You can create several years in advance to
define long-term budgets.

Figure 13.3: Defining a financial year and periods

First enter the date of the first day of your fiscal year and the last day. Then to create the
periods click one of the two buttons at the bottom depending on whether you want to create
twelve 1-month or four 3-month periods:

Create monthly periods ,

Create 3-monthly periods .

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13.3.2 Closing the end of the year

To close the end the year, use the menu Financial Management End of year processing
Close a Fiscal Year. A form opens asking you for the essential information it needs to create
entries to start the following year.
When the year is closed you can no longer create or modify any financial transactions in
that year. So you should always make a backup of the database before closing the fiscal
year. Closing a year isnt obligatory and you could easily do that sometime in the following
year when your accounts are finally sent to the statutory authorities, and no further
modifications are permitted.

Figure 13.4: Closing a financial year

Its also possible to close an accounting period. You could for example close a monthly period
when a tax declaration has been made. When a period is closed you cant modify any of the
entries in that period. To close an accounting period use the menu Financial Management
Configuration Periodical Processing End of Year Treatments Close a Period.

13.4 Payment Terms

You can define whatever payment terms you need in Open ERP. Payment terms determine the
due dates for paying an invoice.
To define new payment terms, use the menu Financial Management Configuration
Payment Terms and then click New.
The figure below represents the following payment term: 35% on delivery, the balance 15
days after the end of the month.

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13.4. Payment Terms

Figure 13.5: Configuring payment terms

To configure new conditions start by giving a name to the Payment Term field. Text that you
put in the field Description is used on invoices, so enter a clear description of the payment
terms there.
Then create individual lines for calculating the terms in the section Payment Term. You must
give each line a name (Line Name). These give an informative title and dont affect the actual
calculation of terms. The Sequence field lets you define the order in which the rules are
evaluated.
The Value field enables you to calculate the amount to pay for each line:
Percent : the line corresponds to a percentage of the total amount, the factor being given in
Amount. The number indicated in the Amount must take a value between 0 and 1.
Fixed amount : this is a fixed value given by the Amount box.
Balance : indicates the balance remaining after accounting for the other lines.
Think carefully about setting the last line of the calculation to Balance to avoid rounding
errors. The highest sequence number is evaluated last.
The two last fields, Number of Days and Condition, enable the calculation of the delay in
payment for each line, The delay Condition can be set to Net Daysor End of Month . For
example if you set it to 15 days from the end of the month Open ERP adds 15 days to todays
date and then sets the payment date to be the end of the month that the new date is in. So
the payment date for 15 days from month end will be:
31 January if today is 5 January,
28 February if today is 20 January.
You can then add payment terms to a Partner through the Properties on the partner form.

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13.5 Entries at the start of a year

To upgrade your various accounts, create a Journal of type Situation in Centralized
counterpart mode to avoid a counterpart on each line.
For each account that needs upgrading, enter account data in the journal. For this operation
use the menu Financial Management Entries Encoding Entries Encoding by Line.
You can also use Open ERPs generic import tool if you load the balance of each of your
accounts from other accounting software.

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Part V

Effective Management of
Operations

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Release 1.0
Your company is a closely interlinked jumble of people and processes that form the
whole system. If you want it to be efficient, and to be able manage it effectively,
you have to organize it, make it systematic, and optimize its major operations.
Isolated spots of poor management can disturb the whole added value chain.
This part presents an approach to greater efficiency, showing concrete solutions
by applying Open ERP to different problems in a services company. For each
enterprise function, Open ERP enables you to automate the recurring tasks,
systematize complex processes, simplify the transmission of information, and
control all your operations.

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FOURTEEN

ANALYTIC ACCOUNTS
Sitting at the heart of your companys processes, analytic accounts (or
cost accounts) are indispensable tools for managing your operations well.
Unlike your financial accounts theyre for more than accountants - theyre
for general managers and project managers, too.
You need a common way of referring to each user, service, or document to integrate
all your companys processes effectively. Such a common basis is provided by
analytic accounts (or management accounts, or cost accounts, as theyre also
called) in Open ERP.

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decisions. But because of all the information they pull together, Open ERPs analytic
accounts can be a useful management tool, at the center of most system processes
There are several reasons for this:
they reflect your entire management activity,
unlike the general accounts, the structure of the analytic accounts isnt regulated by
legal obligations, so each company can adapt it to its needs.
Note: Independence from general accounts
In some software packages, analytic accounts are managed as an extension of
general accounts for example, by using the two last digits of the account code to
represent analytic accounts.
In Open ERP, analytic accounts are linked to general accounts but are treated totally
independently. So you can enter various different analytic operations that have no
counterpart in the general financial accounts.
While the structure of the general chart of accounts is imposed by law, the analytic
chart of accounts is built to fit a companys needs closely.
Just as in the general accounts, youll find accounting entries in the different analytic
accounts. Each analytic entry can be linked to a general account, or not, as you

wish. Conversely, an entry in a general account can be linked to one, several, or no

corresponding analytic accounts.
Youll discover many advantages of this independent representation below. For the
more impatient, here are some of those advantages:
you can manage many different analytic operations,
you can modify an analytic plan on the fly, during the course of an activity, because
of its independence,
you can avoid an explosion in the number of general accounts,
even those companies that dont use Open ERPs general accounts can use the
analytic accounts for management.
Tip: Who benefits from analytic accounts?
Unlike general accounts, analytic accounts in Open ERP arent so much an
accounting tool for Accounts as a management tool for everyone in the company.
(Thats why theyre also called management accounts.)
The main users of analytic accounts should be the directors, general managers and
project managers.
Analytic accounts make up a powerful tool that can be used in different ways. The
trick is to create your own analytic structure for a chart of accounts that closely
matches your companys needs.

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sale and its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.

14.1 To each enterprise [his] own analytic chart

To illustrate analytic accounts clearly, youll follow three use cases, each in one of
three different types of company:
1. An industrial manufacturing enterprise.
2. A law firm.
3. An IT services company.

14.1.1 Case 1: an industrial manufacturing enterprise

In industry, youll often find analytic charts of accounts structured into the
departments and products that the company itself is built on.
So the objective is to examine the costs, sales and margins by department and by
product. The first level of the structure comprises the different departments and the
lower levels represent the product ranges that the company makes and sells.

Note: Analytic chart of accounts for an industrial manufacturing company

1. Marketing Department
2. Commercial Department
3. Administration Department
4. Production

Product Range 1

Sub-groups

Product Range 2
In daily use its useful to mark the analytic account on each purchase invoice. The
analytic account is the one to which the costs of that purchase should be allocated.
When the invoice is approved it will automatically generate the entries for both the
general and the corresponding analytic accounts. So, for each entry on the general
accounts theres at least one analytic entry that allocates costs to the department
that incurred them.
Heres a possible breakdown of some general accounting entries for the example
above, allocated to various analytic accounts:

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Table 14.1: Breakdown of general and analytic accounting entries (Case 1)
General accounts
Title
Purchase of Raw Material

Accou
nt
600

Debi
t
150
0
450

Subcontractors

602

Credit Note for defective

materials
Transport charges

600
613

450

Staff costs

6201

100
00

Cred
it

200

Analytic
accounts
Account
Production
Range 1
Production
Range 2
Production
Range 1
Production
Range 1
Marketing

Valu
e
1
500
-450

200

-450

-2
000
Commercial
-3
000
Administrative
-1
000
Production /
-2
Range 1
000
Production /
2
Range 2
000
PR
614
450
Marketing
450
The analytic representation by department enables you to investigate the costs allocated to
each department in the company.
So the analytic chart of accounts shows the distribution of the companys costs using the
example above:
Table 14.2: Analytic chart of accounts
(Case 1)
Account
Marketing
Department
Commercial
Department
Administration
Department
Production

Total
-2
450
-3
000
-1
000
-6
200
Product Range 1
-3
750
Product Range 2
-2
450
In this example of a hierarchical structure in Open ERP you can analyze not only the costs of
each product range but also the costs of the whole of production. The balance of a summary
account ( Production ) is the sum of the balances of the child accounts.
A report that relates both general accounts and analytic accounts enables you to get a
breakdown of costs within a given department. An analysis of the Production / Product Range
1 department is shown in this table:
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Table 14.3: Report merging both general
and analytic accounts for a department
(Case 1)
Production / Product
Range 1
General Account

Amou
nt
600 Raw Materials
1 300
613 Transport charges
- 450
6201 Staff costs
-2 000
Total
-3 750
The examples above are based on a breakdown of the costs of the company. Analytic
allocations can be just as effective for sales. That gives you the profitability (sales - costs) of
different departments.
Note: Representation by unique product range
This analytic representation by department and by product range is usually used by trading
companies and industries. A variant of this is not to break it down by sales and marketing
departments but to assign each cost to its corresponding product range. This will give you an
analysis of the profitability of each product range.
Choosing one over the other depends on how you look at your marketing effort. Is it a global
cost allocated in some general way or does each product range have responsibility for its
own marketing costs?

14.1. To each enterprise [his] own analytic chart

14.1.2 Case 2: a law firm

Law firms generally adopt management by case where each case represents a current client
file. All of the expenses and products are then attached to a given file.
A principal preoccupation of law firms is the invoicing of hours worked and the profitability by
case and by employee.
Mechanisms used for encoding the hours worked will be covered in detail in the following
chapter, Organization of Human Resources. Like most system processes, hours worked are
integrated into the analytic accounting. Every time an employee enters a timesheet for a
number of hours, that automatically generates analytic accounts corresponding to the cost of
those hours in the case concerned. The hourly charge is a function of the employees salary.
So a law firm will opt for an analytic representation which reflects the management of the
time that employees work on the different client cases.
Note: Example Representation of an analytic chart of accounts for a law firm
1. Absences

Paid Absences

Unpaid Absences

2. Internal Projects

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Administrative

Others

3. Client cases

Client 1

Case 1.1

Case 1.2

Client 2

Case 2.1
All expenses and sales are then attached to a case. This gives the profitability of each case
and, at a consolidated level, of each client.
Billing for the different cases is a bit unusual. The cases dont match any entry on the general
account and nor do they come from purchase or sale invoices. Theyre represented by the
various analytic operations and dont have exact counterparts in the general accounts.
Theyre calculated on the basis of the hourly cost per employee. These entries are
automatically created on billing worksheets.
At the end of the month when you pay salaries and benefits, you integrate them into the
general accounts but not in the analytic accounts, because theyve already been accounted
for in billing each account. A report that relates data from the analytic and general accounts
then lets you compare the totals, so you can readjust your estimates of hourly cost per
employee depending on the time actually worked.
The following table gives an example of different analytic entries that you can find for your
analytic account:
Table 14.4: Analytic entries for the account chart (Case 2)
Title

Account

Study the file (1 h)

Search for information
(3 h)
Consultation (4 h)
Service charges

Case 1.1
Case 1.1

Amoun
t
-15
-45

Case 2.1
Case 1.1

-60
280

General Account

Debi
t

Credi
t

705 Billing
280
services
Stationery purchase
Administrat -42
601 Furniture
42
ive
purchase
Fuel Cost -Client trip
Case 1.1
-35
613 Transports
35
Staff salaries
6201 Salaries
3 000
Youll see that it allows you to make a detailed study of the profitability of different
transactions. In this example the cost of Case 1.1 is 95.00 (the sum of the analytic costs of
studying the files, searching for information and service charges), but has been invoiced for
280.00, which gives you a gross profit of 185.00.
But an interest in analytical accounts isnt limited to a simple analysis of the profitability of
different cases.
This same data can be used for automatic recharging of the services to the client at the end
of the month. To invoice clients just take the analytic costs in that month and apply a selling
price factor to generate the invoice. Invoicing mechanisms for this are explained in greater

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detail in Services Management. If the client requires details of the services used on the case,
you can then print the service entries in the analytic account for this case.
Tip: Invoicing analytic costs
Most software that manages billing enables you to recharge for hours worked. In Open ERP
these services are automatically represented by analytic costs. But many other Open ERP
documents can also generate analytic costs, such as credit notes and purchases of goods.
So when you invoice the client at the end of the month its possible for you to include all the
analytic costs, not just the hours worked. So, for example you can easily recharge the whole
cost of your journeys to the client.

14.1.3 Case 3 : An IT Services Company

Most IT services companies face the following problems:
project planning,
invoicing, profitability and financial follow-up of projects,
managing support contracts.
To deal with these problems youd use an analytic chart of accounts structured by project and
by contract. A representation of that is given in the following example.

14.1. To each enterprise [his] own analytic chart

Note: Example Analytic representation of a chart of accounts for an IT Services company
1. Internal Projects

Administrative and Commercial

Research and Development

2. Client Projects

Client 1

Project 1.1

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Project 1.2

Client 2

Project 2.1

Project 2.2

3. Support Contracts 20 h

Customer X

Customer Y
The management of services, expenditures and sales is similar to that presented above for
lawyers. Invoicing and the study of profitability are also similar.
But now look at support contracts. These contracts are usually limited to a prepaid number of
hours. Each service posted in the analytic accounts shows the remaining available hours of
support. For the management of support contracts youd use the quantities and not the
amounts in the analytic entries.
In Open ERP each analytic line lists the number of units sold or used, as well as what youd
usually find there the amount in currency units (USD or GBP, or whatever other choice you
make). So you can sum the quantities sold and used on each analytic account to determine
whether any hours of the support contract remain. To differentiate services from other costs
in the analytic account you use the concept of the analytic journal. Analytic entries are then
allocated into the different journals:
service journal,
expense journal,
sales journal,
purchase journal.
So to obtain the detailed breakdown of a support contract you only have to look at the
service journal for the analytic account corresponding to the contract in question.
Finally, the analytic account can be used to forecast future needs. For example, monthly
planning of staff on different projects can be seen as an analytic budget limited to the service
journal. Accounting entries are expressed in quantities (such as number of hours, and
numbers of products) and in amounts in units of currency (USD or GBP perhaps).
So you can set up planning on the basis just of quantities. Analyzing the analytic budget
enables you to compare the budget (that is, your plan) to the services actually carried out by
month end.
Tip: Cash Budgets
Problems of cash management are amongst the main difficulties encountered by small
growing businesses. Its really difficult to predict the amount of cash that will be available
when a company is young and rapidly growing. If the company adopts management by case,
then staff planning can be represented on the analytic accounts report, as you have seen.
But since you know your selling price for each of the different projects, you can see that its
easy to use the plan in the analytic accounts to more precisely forecast the amounts that
youll invoice in the coming months.

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14.2 Putting analytic accounts in place

For the initial setup of good analytic accounts you should:
set up the chart of accounts,
create the different journals.

14.2.1 Setting up the chart of accounts

Start by choosing the most suitable analytic representation for your company before
entering it into Open ERP. To create the different analytic accounts, use the menu Financial
Management Configuration Analytic Accounting Analytic Accounts New Analytic
Account.

Figure 14.1: Setting up an analytic account

To create an analytic account you have to complete the main fields:
the Account Name,
the Account Code : used as a shortcut for selecting the account,
the Account type : just like general accounts the View type is used for virtual accounts which
are used only to create a hierarchical structure and for subtotals, and not to store accounting
entries,
the Parent analytic account : defines the hierarchy between the accounts.
If the project is for a limited time you can define a start and end date here. The State field is
used to indicate whether the project is running (Open ), waiting for information from the
client (Pending), Draft or Closed .
Finally, if the analytic account is a client project you can complete the fields about the
partner, which youd need so that you can invoice the partner:

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the Associated partner,
a Sale Pricelist, which shows how services linked to the project should be charged,
a Max. Invoice Price, showing the maximum invoice price regardless of actual overspend,
a Max. Quantity, for contracts with a fixed limit of hours to use,
an Invoicing field, which defines an invoicing rate and whether the project should be invoiced
automatically from the services represented by the costs in the analytic account.
Tip: Invoicing
You have several methods available to you in Open ERP for automated invoicing:

Service companies usually use invoicing from purchase orders, analytic accounts or,
more rarely, project management tasks.

Manufacturing and trading companies more often use invoicing from deliveries or
customer purchase orders.

Figure 14.2: Example of an analytic chart for projects

Once youve defined the different analytic accounts you can view your chart through the
menu Financial Management Charts Analytic Chart of Accounts.
Tip: Setting up an analytic account
The setup screen for an analytic account can vary greatly depending on the modules
installed in your database. For example, youll only see information about recharging
services if you have the module hr_timesheet_invoice installed.
Some of these modules add helpful management statistics to the analytic account. The most
useful is probably the module account_analytic_analysis, which adds such information as
indicators about your margins, invoicing amounts, and latest service dates and invoice dates.

14.2.2 Creating Journals

Once the analytic chart has been created for your company you have to create the different
journals. These enable you to categorize the different accounting entries by their type:
services,
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expense reimbursements,
purchases of materials,
miscellaneous expenditure,
sales,
situation entries (special situations, such as installation of the software).
Note: Minimal journals
At a minimum you have to create one analytic journal for Sales and one for Purchases. If you
dont create these two, Open ERP wont validate invoices linked to an analytic account
because it wouldnt be able to create an analytic accounting entry automatically.

Figure 14.3: Creating an analytic journal

To define your analytic journals, use the menu Financial Management Configuration
Analytic Accounting Analytic Journal Definition then click New..
Its easy to create an analytic journal. Just give it a Name, a Code and a Type. The types
available are:
Sales , for sales to customers and for credit notes,
Purchases , for purchases and miscellaneous expenses,
Cash , for financial entries,
Situation , to adjust accounts when starting an activity, or at the end of the financial year,
General , for all other entries.
The type of journal enables the software to automatically select the analytic journal based on
the nature of the operation. For example if you enter an invoice for a customer, Open ERP will
automatically search for an analytic journal of type Sales .

14.3 Analytic records

Just as in general accounting, analytic entries must belong to an account and an analytic
journal.
Analytic records can be distinguished from general records by the following characteristics:
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theyre not necessarily legal accounting documents,
they dont necessarily belong to an existing accounting period,
theyre managed according to their date and not an accounting period,
they dont generate both a debit and a credit entry, but a positive amount (income) or a
negative amount ( cost ).

14.3. Analytic records

Figure 14.4: Analytic account records for a customer project

The figure Analytic account records for a customer project represents the entries on an
analytic account for a customer project.
You can see there:
the service costs for staff working on the project,
the costs for reimbursing the expenses of a return journey to the customer,
purchases of goods that have been delivered to the customer,
sales for recharging these costs.

14.3.1 Automated entries

Analytic accounting is totally integrated with the other Open ERP modules, so you never have
to re- enter the records. Theyre automatically generated by the following operations:
confirmation of an invoice generates analytic entries for sales or purchases connected to the
account shown in the invoice line,
the entry of a service generates an analytic entry for the cost of this service to the given
project,
the manufacture of a product generates an entry for the manufacturing cost of each
operation in the product range.

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Other documents linked to one of these three operations produce analytic records indirectly.
For example, when youre entering a customer sales order you can link it to the customers
analytic account. When youre managing by case or project, mark the project with that order.
This order will then generate a customer invoice, which will be linked to the analytic account.
When the invoice is validated it will automatically create general and analytic accounting
records for the corresponding project.
Expense receipts from an employee can be linked to an analytic account for reimbursement.
When a receipt is approved by the company, a purchase invoice is created. This invoice
represents a debit on the company in favor of the employee. Each line of the purchase
invoice is then linked to an analytic account which automatically allocates the costs for that
receipt to the corresponding project.
To visualize the general entries following these different actions you can use one of the
following menus:
1. To see all of the entries, Financial Management Entries Encoding Analytic Entries
Entries Encoding by Line and then click Open Entries,

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2. To see the entries per account, click the Analytic Account field of any of the lines of Analytic
Entries to see the details of that entry, then use the analytic Account name to start a search
of all entries with that name (just click the Date hyperlink on a line in the web client, or
double-click the line in the GTK client).
3. To see all of the entries by Journal, Financial Management Entries Encoding Analytic
Entries Analytic Entries by Journal and then click on one of the journal names.

14.3.2 Manual record entry

Even though most analytic entries are produced automatically by the other Open ERP
documents its sometimes necessary to make manual record entries. Its usually needed for
certain analytic operations that have no counterpart in the general accounts.
To make manual record entries, use the menu Financial Management Entries Encoding Analytic
Entries Entries Encoding by Line.
Note: Analytic entries
To make an analytic entry, Open ERP asks you to specify a general account. This is given only for
information in the different cross-reports. It wont create any new entries in the general accounts.
Select a journal and complete the different fields. Write an expense as a negative amount and income
as a positive
Tip: Entering a date
To enter a date in the editable list you can use the calendar widget in the web client or, in the
GTK client, if you enter just the day of the month Open ERP automatically completes the
month and year when you press the tab key ( Tab ).
Note: Example Cost redistribution
amount. One of the uses of manual data entry for analytic operations is reallocation of costs. For
example, if a development has been done for a given project but can be used again for
another project you can reallocate part of the cost to the other project.
In this case, make a positive entry on the first account and a negative entry for the same
amount on the account of the second project.

14.4 Financial Analysis

Various reports designed for financial analysis are based on the analytic accounts. Most of those
are available directly from the tree of accounts or from the form view of the account.

14.4.1 Analysis per account

From an analytic form, click on one of the REPORTS buttons to select a report. Open ERP provides
the following financial analyses from the analytic accounts (and maybe more, depending on the
additional installed modules):

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Cost Ledger (quantities only).

Inverted Analytic Balance,

Analytic Balance,
The cost ledger
The cost ledger provides all of the detailed entries for the selected accounts. It enables you to
make a detailed analysis of each operation carried out on one or several projects.

Figure 14.5: The analytic cost ledger gives a detailed history of the entries in an analytic account
The cost ledger (quantities only)
This report gives the detail of entries for an analytic account and a list of selected journals. Only
quantities are reported for this analysis, not costs and revenues.

Figure 14.6: The cost ledger (quantities only) gives a history of an analytic account
The report is often used to print the number of hours worked on a project, without exposing the costs
and revenues. So you can show it to a client as a record of the hours worked on a particular project.

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To restrict the report to hours worked, without including sales and purchases, select only the services
journal for printing.
Tip: Multiple printing
To print several analytic accounts at once you can make a multiple selection on the different accounts
in the tree of accounts. Then click on the appropriate Report in the toolbar (in the web client), or
select one of the Print reports ( in the GTK client), to export the whole selection into a single PDF
document.
Inverted Analytic Balance
The inverted analytic balance provides a summary report relating general accounts and analytic
accounts. This report shows the balances of the general accounts broken down by the selected
analytic accounts for a selected period.

Figure 14.7: The inverted analytic balance shows a breakdown of operations by analytic account
( project )
This enables you to analyze your costs by general account. For example, if you examine your general
account for staff salaries you can obtain all your salary costs broken down by the different analytic (or
project) accounts.
Analytic Balance

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Figure 14.8: The analytic balance shows a breakdown of each project by operation in the financial
accounts
The analytic balance is a summary report that relates the analytic accounts to the general accounts. It
shows the balances of the analytic accounts broken down by general account for a selected period.
This report is useful for analyzing the profitability of projects, giving you the profitability of a project
for the different operations that you used to carry out the project.
Tip: Multi-company
In a multi-company environment each company can have its own general chart of accounts on the
same database. The two general charts of accounts are independent but can be linked in a third chart
using a view account to do the consolidation.
If the different companies collaborate on joint projects they may all share the same analytic chart of
accounts. In this environment, the cross-related reports like the balance and inverted balance are
extremely useful because they enable you to make an analysis per company by linking up to the
general accounts.

14.4.2 Key indicators

If you use analytic accounts with a structure of accounts by project client you should install the
account_analytic_analysis module. This module adds three new tabs to the analytic account form:
management indicators in the Analysis summary tab,
monthly statistics in the Stats by month tab,
statistics on each user in the Stats by user tab.

Figure 14.9: Management indicators for an analytic account The

figure Management indicators for an analytic account shows all of the management
indicators.
These indicators enable you to quickly see such important information as:
project profitability,

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whether you can still invoice any services to the client, or not,
the amount of services to invoice,
the different margin figures.

Figure 14.10: Breakdown of monthly costs for an analytic account

The real revenue is given by the amount invoiced to the client. The theoretical revenue is given by the
sale price of different project costs which could be invoiced to the client. These give different margin
figures.
For example, in the case of a fixed price project contract, the real sale price at the end of the project
will be equal to the contract negotiated with the client. The theoretical price gives the amount that
would have been invoiced if you had charged for all the time worked.
To give project managers a direct view of their different projects, the account_analytic_analysis
module creates new menus in the Project management module in Project Management Financial
Project Management Analytic Accounts.

Figure 14.11: Analytic accounts in Project Management

These different menus give quick views that are useful for live projects. For each project you can
check if there are uninvoiced services, see the last invoice date and the last uninvoiced service date,
and get reports on the amounts received and those planned. So project managers have all the
information necessary to manage their project, shown in a single page.

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In the following chapters youll see how project managers can use this information to carry out the
various operations needed to manage the project, such as automatic invoicing, project planning,
keeping customers up to date, and budgeting for resources.
Note: Analytic Budgets
Analytic budgets can be budgeted in the account_budget module, which was developed
starting at version 5 of Open ERP. They offer:

forecasting projects in the medium term,

controlling project costs,

comparisons with general accounts.

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CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

ORGANIZATION OF HUMAN
RESOURCES
This chapter describes Open ERPs core human resources and employee services features.
Most of the solutions discussed after this chapter concern management by business or by
project and depend mostly on analytic accounting, with each business or project
represented by an analytic account.
A companys effectiveness depends on its employees good work. Open ERPs human resource
modules enable you to manage important aspects of staff work efficiently, such as their skills,
contracts, and working time.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with hr_timesheet
and all of its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.

15.1 Managing Human Resources

To establish a system thats integrated into a companys management you need to start with a current
list of collaborators.
Note: Dont confuse employees and users
For Open ERP, employee represents all of the physical people who have an work contract with the
company. This includes all types of contract: contracts with both fixed and indeterminate time
periods, and also independent and freelance service contracts. A user is a physical person whos
given access to the companys systems. Most employees are users but some users arent employees:
external partners can have access to parts of the system. You can manage them through the portal_
modules.
Here are some examples of functions which depend on the accuracy of the employee list:
the cost of a service, which depends on the employees working contract,
project planning, which depends on the work pattern of the project contributors,
the client billing rate, which probably depends on the employees job function,

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the chain of command, or responsibilities, which is related to the hierarchical structure of the
company.

15.1.1 Management of staff

To define a new employee in Open ERP, use the menu Human Resources Employees New
Employee.

Figure 15.1: Form describing an employee

Start by entering the employees name in Employee and the company that this employee works for in
Company. You can then create a new user of the Open ERP system linked to this employee by filling in
a new User form through the Related User field.
Even if the employee isnt a user, its best if you create a system access for most of your staff just so
that you can control their access rights from the outset (and you can do that through this field if you
need to).
Tip: Employee and User link.
If the employee has a user account on the system you always link his or her user account to the
employee form. Creating this link enables automatic completion to be done on the Employee field in
the relevant forms, such as services and expense records.
Then enter the employees address. This appears in the partner contact form in Open ERP. Since
employees are people that have contacts with your company, its logical that they have entries like
any other partner in your database. So enter the name of the employee as a new partner Name and
the address in the Contact form. Then all of the functions that apply to a partner can also be applied
to an employee. This is particularly useful for tracking debits and credits in the accounts so you can
track salary payments, for example.
You can then set both an analytic journal and a linked product to this employee in the Timesheets tab.
If you do it that way, then this information can be used to track services. For now, just complete the
form with the following information:
Analytic Journal : usually a Timesheet Journal,
Product : a service product that describes how this employee would be charged out, for example as
Senior Consultant.

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15.1.2 Management of employment contracts

If you install the hr_contract module you can link contract details to the employee record.

Figure 15.2: Definition of a working contract for a given employee

You can enter information about the employment contract for the employee, such as:

Contract Name

Function

Working hours per day

Start Date

End Date

Wage Type either Monthly Gross or Weekly Net

15.1.3 Sign in and out

In some companies, staff have to sign in when they arrive at work and sign out again at the end of the
day. If each employee has been linked to a system user, then they can sign in on Open ERP by using
the menu Human Resources Attendances Sign in / Sign out.
If an employee has forgotten to sign out on leaving, the system proposes that they sign out manually
and type in the time that they left when they come in again the next day. This gives you a simple way
of managing forgotten sign-outs.
Find employee attendance details from their forms in Human Resources Employees All
Employees.
To get the detail of attendances from an employees form in Open ERP you can use the three available
reports:

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Print Timesheet by week

Print Timesheet by month

The first report highlights errors in attendance data entry. It shows you whether an employee has
entered the time of entry or exit manually and the differences between the actual and expected sign
out time and the time.
The others are reports using the data recorded.

15.1. Managing Human Resources

15.2 Timesheets
In most service companies where Open ERP has been integrated, service sheets, or timesheets, have
revolutionized management practices. These service sheets are produced by each employee as they
work on the different cases or projects that are running. Each of these is represented by an analytic
account in the system.
Throughout the day, when employees work on one project or another, they add a line to the
timesheets with details of the time used on each project. At the end of the day, each employee must
mark all the time worked on client or internal projects to make up the full number of hours worked in
the day. If an account isnt in the system then the time is added to the hours that havent been
assigned for the day.

Figure 15.3: Timesheet for a working day

The

figure Timesheet
timesheet
for

for
an

a
working
employee.

day

gives an

example

of

Note: Dont confuse timesheets and attendence compliance

The timesheet system isnt intended to be a disguised attendance form. Theres no control over the
service times and the employee is free to encode 8 or 9 hours or more of services each day if they
want.

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If you decide to put such a system into place, its important to clarify this point with your staff. The
objective here isnt to control hours, because the employees decide for themselves what theyll be
entering but to track the tasks running and the allocation of costs between them.
Amongst the many uses of such a timesheet system for a company, here are some of the most
important:
enabling tracking of the true costs of a project by accounting for the time used on it,
tracking the services provided by different employees,
comparing the hours really used on a project with the initial planning estimates,
automatically invoicing based on the service hours provided,
obtaining a list of the service hours for a given client,
knowing the costs needed to run the company, such as the marketing costs, the training costs for a
new employee, and the invoicing rates for a client.

15.2.1 Timesheet categories

The different timesheet categories (working time sessions) can be defined in the menu Human
Resources Configuration Working Time Categories and select one of the groups there such as
38 Hours/Week.

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Figure 15.4: Timesheet category for full time 38 hours per week

15.2.2 Employee configuration

To be able to use the timesheets at all, you must first define those employees who are system users. The
employee definition forms contain the information necessary to use that sheet, such as the job title, and
hourly costs.
Two fields will be of particular interest to you for managing timesheets: the Analytic Journal and the
Product.
In the analytic journal will be stored all the analytic entries about the costs of service times. These enable
you to isolate the cost of service from other company costs such as the purchase of raw materials,
expenses receipts and subcontracting. You can use different journals for each employee to separate costs
by department or by function.
The employee is also associated with a product in your database in Open ERP. An employee is linked with
a product so they can be bought (subcontracting) or invoiced (project management). You have to create
a product for each job type in your company.
The following information is important in the product form:

Name : SecretarySalespersonProject Manager

Product Type : Service

Unit of Measure : HourDay

List Price

Standard Price

Tip: Price Indexation

The module product_index lets you generate indexes connected to the change of purchase or sale price
for individual products.
In human resources, this module can be used to change your prices or costs in step with a national index.

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In summary, each company employee corresponds, in most cases, to:

Partner an Employee form,

System User.
Note: Time charge rates
t di And each company
job position
corresponds to a Product. By default the hourly cost of an employee is given by the
exam
standard
cost
of
you
install
the
hr_contract
module
its
t
possible to manage contracts is then automatically
calculated from their employment contract when they To
do this, the software uses a factor defined in the contract
type (for per day). Ideally this factor should take into timesheet data
15.2.3 Entering
account the salary costs, and associated with pay.
To be able to use timesheets fully, install the module hr_timesheet_sheet. Once this module
has been installed and the employees configured, the different system users can enter their
timesheet data in the menu Human Resources Working Hours My Working Hours My
Working Hours of The Day, the click New.
Tip: Shortcut to timesheets
Its a good idea if all employees who use timesheets place this menu in their shortcuts. Thats
because theyll need to return to them several times each day.
For a new entry:
1. The User : proposed by default, but you can change it if youre encoding the first timesheet for another
company employee.
2. The Date : automatically proposed as todays date, but its possible to change it if youre encoding the
timesheet for a prior day.
3. Analytic Account : for the project youve been working on - obviously it should be predefined.
4. Description : a free text description of the work done in the time.
5. Quantity : number of units of time (the units are defined as part of the product).
The other fields are automatically completed but can be modified: the Product which is the
service product such as consultancy, the Unit of Measure (predefined, and could perhaps
be minutes, hours or days), the Cost of the service (which is calculated by default), and the
associated General Account.
The hours are then encoded throughout the day by each employee. It helps to revisit the
list at the end of the day to verify that the number of hours of attendance in the company
has been properly accounted for. The total entered is shown at the bottom right of the list
of service hours.
The accuracy of the services entered is crucial for calculating the profitability of the
different jobs and the recharging of services. Different reports are therefore available for
verifying employees data entry. Employees can verify their own timesheet using the
following reports:

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Printing the timesheets per month, using the menu Human Resources Reporting
Timesheet Print my timesheet.

Reviewing all service entries using the menu Human Resources Timesheets My
Timesheets My timesheets to confirm. You can then use the filters to analyze your services
by project, by period or by product.

Tip: Hiding service costs

By default, Open ERP is configured to show the cost of each service when an employee encodes
the number of hours per project. You can modify this field by adding the attribute invisible=True
in the timesheet view.
The value in this field shows employees the cost of their time used in the company, so masking
this field might not always be the best option.
Managers can draw on different reports for managing timesheets quite easily. You can print a summary in
the form of a table per user and per day in the menu Human Resources Reporting Timesheet
Employees timesheet. This helps you spot when an employee has forgotten to enter her timesheet details
on a certain day.

Figure 15.5: Employees monthly summary timesheet

If you install the module report_timesheet youll have many more reports available. Some new graphs
become available through the menus Human Resources Reporting This Month and Human Resources
Reporting All Months, for example:

Timesheet by User

Timesheet by Invoice

Daily Timesheet by Account Timesheet by Account

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Figure 15.6: Chart of timesheet by account

The data making up these graphs can be varied using the filters available in the upper part of the screen.
If you want to see more detail, switch to the list view.
Note: Project dashboard when signing in
The dashboard for managing projects has a graphical view that summarizes the current users timesheet
for the last seven days.
you can assign a dashboard to users so that it appears when they sign into Open ERP. Then each
employee will be able to see if they forgot to complete their timesheet next time they sign into the
system. To use this dashboard, install the module board_project.

15.2.4 Evaluation of service costs

You already know that timesheets are closely linked with analytic accounts. The different projects reported
on the timesheets correspond to analytic accounts. The timesheet entries themselves are analytic entries.
These entries comprise various analytic operations that dont correspond to any of the general accounts.
Therefore all operations that modify and create timesheet lines automatically impact the corresponding
analytic line and, conversely are automatically modified by changes in that line.
Note: Timesheets and analytical data
The implementation of timesheets in Open ERP relating to analytic entries is managed by an inheritance
mechanism: the timesheet object inherits the analytic entry object.
The information is therefore not encoded into the database as two separate events, which avoids many
synchronization problems. They are stored in two different tables, however, because a service is an
analytical entry, but an analytical entry isnt necessarily a service.
This isnt a classical approach but its logical and pragmatic. Employee timesheets are a good indication of
how the costs of a service enterprise are spread across different cases as reported in the analytic
accounts. An analytic account should be reflected in the general accounts, but theres no direct
counterpart of these analytic accounts in the general accounts. Instead, if the hourly costs of the
employees are correctly accounted for, the months timesheet entries should be balanced by the salary +
benefits package paid out to all the employees at the end of the month.
Despite all this its quite difficult to work out the average hourly cost of an employee precisely because it
depends on:

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the extra hours that theyve worked,
holidays and sickness,
salary variations and all the linked costs, such as social insurance charges.
The reports that enable you to relate general accounts to analytic accounts are valuable tools for
improving your evaluation of different hourly costs of employees. The difference between product
balances in the analytic account and in the general accounts, divided by the total number of hours
worked, can then be applied to the cost of the product. Some companies adjust for that difference by
carrying out another analytic operation at the end of the month in an account created for that purpose.
This analytic account should have a balance that tends towards zero.
Because youve got a system with integrated timesheets you can then:
track the profitability of projects in the analytic accounts,
look at the history of timesheet entries by project and by employee,
regularly adjust hourly costs by comparing your rates with reality,
Important: Project Cost Control
Controlling the costs and the profitability of projects precisely is very important.
It enables you to make good estimates and to track budgets allocated to different services and their
projects, such as sales and, R&D costs. You can also refine your arguments on the basis of clear facts
rather than guesses if you have to renegotiate a contract with a customer following a project slippage.
The analyses of profitability by project and by employee are available from the analytic accounts. They
take all of the invoices into account, and also take into account the cost of the time spent on each project.

15.2.5 Managing by department

When theyre used properly, timesheets can be a good control tool for project managers and can provide
awareness of costs and times.
When employee teams are important, a control system must be implemented. All employees should
complete their timesheets correctly because this forms the basis of planning control, and the financial
management and invoicing of projects
Youll see in Services Management that you can automatically invoice services at the end of the month
based on the
timesheet. But at the same time some contracts are limited to prepaid hours. These hours and their
deduction from the original limit are also managed by these timesheets. In such a situation, hours that
arent coded into the
timesheets represent lost money for the company. So its important to establish effective follow-up of the
services timesheets and their encoding. To set up a structure for control using timesheets you should
install the module hr_timesheet_sheet.

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Figure 15.7: Process of approving a timesheet

This module supplies a new screen enabling you to manage timesheets by period. Timesheet entries are
made by employees each day. At the end of the week, employees validate their weeks sheet and its then
passed to the services manager, who must approve his teams entries. Periods are defined in the
company forms, and you can set them to run monthly or weekly.
To enter timesheet data each employee uses the menu Human Resources Timesheets My
Timesheets My Current Timesheet.

Figure 15.8: Form for entering timesheet data

In the upper part of the screen the user starts with the sign-in and sign-out times. The system enables the
control of attendance day by day. The two buttons Sign in and Sign out enable the automatic completion
of hours in the area to the left. These hours can be modified by employee, so its not a true management
control system.

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The area to the bottom of the screen represents a sheet of the employees time entries for the selected
day. In total, this should comprise the number of hours worked in the company each day. This provides a
simple verification that the whole days attendance time has been coded in properly.
The second tab of the timesheet By day gives the number of hours worked on the different projects.
When theres a gap between the attendance and the timesheet entries, you can use the second tab to
detect the days or the entries that havent been correctly coded in.

Figure 15.9: Detail of hours worked by day for an employee

The third tab By account shows the time worked on all the different projects. That enables you to step
back to see an overview of the time an employee has worked spread over different projects.
At the end of the week or the month, the employee confirms his timesheet. If the attendance time in the
company corresponds to the encoded entries, the whole timesheet is then confirmed and sent to his
department manager, who is then responsible for approving it or asking for corrections.

Each manager can then look at a list of his departments timesheets waiting for approval using the menu
Human Resource Timesheets My Departments Timesheets Timesheets to validate. He then has to
approve them or return them to their initial state.

To define the departmental structure, use the menu Administration Users Departments
Departments.
Tip: Timesheet approval
At first sight, the approval of timesheets by a department manager can seem a bureaucratic hindrance.
This operation is crucial for effective management, however. We have too frequently seen companies in
the situation where managers are so overworked that they dont know what their employees are doing.
So this approval process supplies the manager with an outline of each employees work at least once a
week. And this is carried out for the hours worked on all the different projects.
Once the timesheets have been approved you can then use them for cost control and for invoicing hours
to clients.
Contracts and their rates, planning, and methods of invoicing are the object of the following chapter,
Services Management.

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CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

SERVICES MANAGEMENT
This chapter focuses on the management of contracts, and the services associated with that.
The complete process of managing services is studied here: from defining prices and contracts
to automatically invoicing the services, through planning and the treatment of additional costs
such as expense receipts.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with sale, project and all
of their dependencies installed, and no particular chart of accounts configured.

16.1 Managing Service Contracts

Contracts can take different forms within Open ERP, depending on their nature. So you can have several
distinct types of services contract, such as:
fixed-price contracts,
cost-reimbursement contracts, invoiced when services are completed,
fixed-price contracts, invoiced monthly as services are carried out.
Tip: Contract quotations
Some companies commit to contracts on the basis of a requested volume at a certain price for a defined
period. In such a case the contract is represented by a pricelist for that specific customer.
The pricelist is linked in the Properties tab of the customers Partner form, so that it is brought up
whenever anything is bought from or sold to this partner (depending on whether its a purchase or sales
agreement). Open ERP automatically selects the price based on this agreed pricelist.

16.1.1 Fixed Price contracts

Fixed price contracts for the sale of services are represented in Open ERP by a Sales Order. In this case,
the supply of services is managed just like all other stockable or consumable products.
You can add new orders using the menu Sales Management Sales Orders New Quotation.

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The new Sales Order document starts in the Quotation state, so the estimate has no accounting impact
on the system until its confirmed. When you approve the document, your estimate moves into the state
In Progress .

Figure 16.1: Process for handling a Sales Order

Once the order has been approved, Open ERP will automatically generate an invoice and/or a delivery
document proposal based on the parameters you set in the order.
The invoice will be managed by the system depending on the setting of the field Shipping Policy on the
orders second tab Other data :
Payment before delivery : Open ERP creates an invoice in the Draft state. Once this is confirmed and paid
the delivery is activated.
Invoice on Order After Delivery : the delivery order is produced when the order is validated. A draft invoice
is then created when the delivery has been completed.
Shipping & Manual Invoice : Open ERP starts the delivery from the confirmation of the order, and adds a
button which you manually click when youre ready to create an invoice.
Invoice from the Packing : invoices are created from the packing stage.
Note: Delivery of an order
The term delivery should be taken in the broadest sense in Open ERP. The effect of a delivery depends
on the configuration of the sold product.
If its type is either Stockable Product or Consumable, Open ERP will make a request for it to be sent for
packing. If the products type is Service Open ERPs scheduler will create a task in the project
management system, or create a subcontract purchase order if the products Procure Method is Make to
Order.
Invoicing after delivery does as it says: invoicing for the services when the tasks have been closed.
When you sign a new contract you can just enter the order into the system and Open ERP will track the
order.
This works well for small orders. But for larger value services orders you might want to invoice several
times through the contract, for example:
30% on order,
40% on completion,
30% one month after the system has gone into production.

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In this case you should create several invoices for the one Sales Order. Youve two options for this:
Dont handle invoicing automatically from the Sales Order but carry out manual invoicing instead,
Create draft invoices and then link to them in the third tab History of the Sales Order, in the Related
Invoices section. When you create an invoice from the order, Open ERP deducts the amounts of the
invoices already linked to the order to calculate the proposed invoice value.

16.1.2 Cost-reimbursement contracts

Some contracts arent invoiced from a price fixed on the order but from the cost of the services carried
out. Thats usually what happens in the building sector or in large projects. The approach you use for this
is totally different because instead of using the sales order as the basis of the invoice you use the analytic
accounts. For this you have to install the module hr_timesheet_invoice.
An analytic account is created for each new contract. The following fields must be completed in this
analytic account:

Partner : partner associated with the contract,

Sale Pricelist,

Invoicing.

The selection of an invoicing rate is an indirect way of specifying that the project will be invoiced on the
basis of analytic costs. This can take different forms, such as delivery of services, purchase of raw
materials, and expense reimbursements.
Note: Pricelists and billing rates
You can select a pricelist on the analytic account without having to use it to specify billing rates.
An example of this is a client project that is to be invoiced only indirectly from the analytic costs. Putting
the price list on the analytic account makes it possible to compare the actual sales with a best case
situation where all the services would be invoiced. To get this comparison you have to print the analytic
balance from the analytic account.
Services are then entered onto timesheets by the various people who work on the project. Periodically the
project manager or account manager uses the following menu to prepare an invoice Financial
Management Periodical Processing Entries to Invoice Uninvoiced Entries.
Open ERP then displays all of the costs that havent yet been invoiced. You can filter the proposed list
and click the appropriate action button to generate the corresponding invoices. You can select the level
of detail which is reported on the invoice, such as the date and details of the services.

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Figure 16.2: Screen for invoicing services

Note: Project Management and analytic accounts
The menu Project Management Financial Project Management Analytic Accounts is only available
once you have installed the module account_analytic_analysis. It provides various global financial and
operational views of a project managers projects.
Select a project and open its analytic entries using the Costs to invoice button. Youll find a list of costs
that can be invoiced to the client:
time worked,

16.1. Managing Service Contracts

expenses reimbursement,
purchase of raw materials.
You can then invoice the selected lines using the action Invoice costs.

16.1.3 Fixed-price contracts invoiced as services are worked

For larger-value projects, fixed-price invoicing based on the sales order isnt always appropriate. In the
case of a services project planned to run for about six months. invoicing could be based on the following:
30% on order,
30% at the project mid-point,
40% at delivery.
Such an approach is often used in a company but there are other options. This method of invoicing can
pose many problems for the organization and invoicing of the project:
Its extremely difficult to determine if the project is on track or not. The endpoint is fuzzy, which can result
in a tricky discussion with the client at the moment of final invoicing.

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If the project takes more or less time than forecast, it will effectively result in under- or over-invoicing
during the project.
Whether you get a proper return can depend on the client. For example if the client takes a long time to
sign off on project acceptance you cant invoice the remaining 40% even though you might have supplied
the agreed service properly.

The account manager and the project manager are often different people (see the section Assigning roles:
account manager and project manager in the chapter Internal Organization and Project Management).
The project manager has to alert the account manager the moment that the client can be invoiced, but
that moment easily can be forgotten or mistaken.
The project can be fixed for service costs but have agreed extras, such as reimbursement for travel
expenses. Invoicing from the order doesnt adapt well to such an approach.
Open ERP provides a third method for invoicing services that can be useful on long projects. This consists
of invoicing the project periodically on the basis of time worked up to a fixed amount that cant be
exceeded. At the end of the project a final invoice or a credit note is generated to meet the total amount
of value fixed for the project.
To configure such a project you must set an invoicing rate, a pricelist and a maximum amount on the
analytic account for the project. The services are then invoiced throughout the project by the different
project or account managers, just like projects that are invoiced by time used. The managers can apply a
refund on the final invoice if the project takes more time to complete than permitted under the contract.

When the project is finished you can generate the closing invoice using the Final Invoice button on the
analytic account. This automatically calculates the final balance of the bill, taking the amounts already
charged into account. If the amount already invoiced is greater than the maximum agreed amount then
Open ERP generates a draft credit note.
This approach offers many advantages compared with the traditional methods of invoicing in phases for
fixed-price contracts:
Fixed-price contracts and cost-reimbursable contracts are invoiced in the same way, which makes the
companys invoicing process quite simple and systematic even when the projects are mixed.
Everything is invoiced on the basis of worked time, making it easy to forecast invoicing from plans linked
to the different analytical accounts.
This method of proceeding educates project managers just as much as the client because refunds have to
be given for work done if the project slips.
Invoicing follows the course of the project and avoids a suppliers dependence on the goodwill of the client
in approving certain phases.
Invoicing of expenses follows the same workflow and is therefore very simple.
Note: Negotiating contracts
In contract negotiation, invoicing conditions are often neglected by the client. So it can often be
straightforward to apply this method of invoicing.

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16.1.4 Contracts limited to a quantity

Finally certain contracts are expressed in terms of a quantity rather than a fixed amount. Support
contracts comprising a number of prepaid hours are a case in point. To generate such contracts in Open
ERP you should start by installing the module account_analytic_analysis.
Then you can set a maximum number of hours for each analytic account. When employees enter their
time worked on the support contract in the timesheets, the hours are automatically deducted from the
maximum set on each analytic account.
You must also name someone in the company responsible for renewing expired contracts. They become
responsible for searching through the list of accounts showing negative remaining hours.
The client contract can be limited to a certain quantity of hours, and it can also be limited in time. For
that, you set an end date for the corresponding analytic account.

16.2 Planning that improves leadership

Planning in a company often takes the form of a regular meeting between the different teams. Each team
has a certain number of projects and objectives that they must organize and establish priorities for.
Ideally these planning meetings should be short but regular and systematic. They can be weekly or
monthly depending on the type of activity. A planning meeting often runs in three phases:
1. Minutes of the preceding period, and analysis of the work done compared with the planned work.
2. Introduction of new projects.
3. Planning the next period.
The planning function covers several objectives which will be described in this section:
planning live projects against the commitments that have been made to clients,
determining staffing (HR) requirements in the coming month,
setting work for each employee or team for the periods to come,
analyzing the work done in the preceding periods,
passing the high-level objectives to lower levels in the companys hierarchy.

16.2. Planning that improves leadership

Tip: The social role of planning
Some project managers think that they can manage planning on their own. Theyre
commonly overworked and think that meetings are a waste of time.
Even if staff really can manage their work for themselves, you should recognize that this
regular meeting is also aimed at reassurance. Without it you can get into unduly stressful
situations from:

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feelings of overwork because they have lost sight of their priorities,

lack of feedback and tracking of the work actually completed,

an impression of poor organization if that hasnt been made explicit.

So the social role of planning shouldnt be neglected. We have often experienced a

background of stress in a company stemming from a lack of communication and planning.

16.2.1 Planning by time or by tasks?

There are two major approaches to enterprise planning: planning by task and planning by time. You can
manage both with Open ERP.
In planning by task, the project manager assigns tasks from the different projects to each employee over a
given period. Employees then carry out precisely the work theyve been assigned by the project manager.
Planning by time consists of allocating, for each employee, some time on each of the different projects for
the period concerned. The
tasks for each project are ordered by priority and can be directly assigned to a user or left unassigned.
Each employee then chooses the task that he or she will do next, based on the plans and the relative
priorities of the tasks.

Figure 16.3: Monthly planning for work time of each employee

The figure Monthly planning for work time of each employee shows a monthly planning session where
plans are being made for each employee to spend a number of days work on various different projects.
In this time-focused planning approach, clients priorities dont feature in the planning any more, but are
explicit in the task list instead. So this approach helps you separate the planning of human resources on
projects from the task prioritization within a project.
Note: Comparing the two planning methods
To illustrate the difference between planning by time and planning by task, take the case of
an IT project thats estimated to be around six months of work. This project is managed by
iterative cycles of development of around a month and a presentation is made to the client
at the end of each cycle to track the progress of the project. At this meeting you plan what
must be carried out for the following month. At the end of the month the account manager
for the project invoices the client for the work done on the project.
Suppose that the project encounters a delay because it is more complex than expected.

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There are two ways of resolving the delay if you have no further resources: you can be
late in your delivery of the planned functions, or
on time, but with fewer functions than planned.
If your planning is based on phases and tasks youll report at the client meeting that it will
take several weeks to complete everything that was planned for the current phase.
Conversely, if youre planning by time youll keep the meeting with the client to close the
present development phase and plan the new one, but only be able to present part of the
planned functionality.
If the client is sensitive to delay, the first approach will cause acute unhappiness. Youll have
to re-plan the project and all of its future phases to take account of that delay. Some
problems are also likely to occur later with invoicing, because it will be difficult for you to
invoice any work that has been completed late but hasnt yet been shown to the client.
The second approach will require you to report on the functions that havent been
completed, and on how they would fit into a future planning phase. That wont involve a
break in the working time allocated to the project, however. Youd then generate two
different lists: a staffing plan for the different projects, and the list of tasks prioritized for the
clients project. This approach offers a number of advantages over the first one:

The client will have the choice of delaying the end of the project by planning an extra
phase, or letting go of some minor functions to be able to deliver a final system more
rapidly,

The client may re-plan the functions taking the new delay into account.

Youll be able to make the client gradually aware of the fact that project progress has
come under pressure and that work is perhaps more complex than had been estimated
at the outset.

A delay in the delivery of several of the functions wont necessarily affect either
monthly invoicing or project planning.

Being able to separate human resource planning from task prioritization simplifies your
management of complex issues, such as adjusting for employee holidays or handling the
constantly changing priorities within projects.

16.2.2 Creating plans

Install the module report_analytic_planning to get additional functions that help with both planning and
reporting on projects. Start a plan by using the menu Human Resources Planning New Planning. On
each planning line you should enter the user, the analytic account concerned, and the quantity of time
allocated. The quantity will be expressed in hours or in days depending on the unit of measure used. For
each line you can add a brief note about the work to be done.
Once the plan has been saved, use the other tabs of the planning form to check that the amount of time
allocated to the employees or to the projects is right. The time allocated should match the employees
employment contracts, for example 37.5 hours per week. The forecast time for the project should also
match the commitments that youve made with client.
You should ideally complete all the planning for the current period. You can also complete some lines in
the planning of future months reserving resources on different project in response to your client
commitments, for example. This enables you to manage your available human resources for the months
ahead.

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16.2. Planning that improves leadership

16.2.3 Good planning

Plans can be printed and/or sent to employees by email. If you install the module board_project, each
employee can be given access to a dashboard that graphically shows the time allocated to him or her on a
project and the time thats been worked so far. So each employee can decide which projects should be
prioritized.
The employee then selects a task in the highest priority project. She ideally chooses either a task that has
been directly assigned to her, or one which is high on the priority list that shes capable of completing, but
is not yet directly assigned to anybody.
At the end of the period you can compare the duration of effective work on the different project to that of
the initial estimate. Print the plan to obtain a comparison of the planned working time and the real
time worked.

Figure 16.4: Comparison of planned hours, worked hours and the productivity of employees by project

You can also study several of your projects figures from the menus in Human Resources Reporting
Planning.

16.2.4 Planning at all levels of the hierarchy

To put planning in place across the whole company you can use a system of planning delegation. For this,
install the module report_analytic_planning_delegate from the addons-extra directory.
When youve installed this module, the planning entry form changes to reflect the hierarchical structure of
the company. To enter data into a plan line you can:
assign time on a project to an employee,
assign time on a project to a department manager for his whole team.
You can now allocate the working time on projects for the whole of a department, without having to detail
each employees tasks. Then when a department manager creates his own plan he will find whats

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required of his group by his management at the bottom of the form. At the top of the form theres the
place for assigning project work in detail to each member of department.
If you dont have to plan time to work on a final draft you can do it on an analytic account that relies on
child accounts. This means that you can create plans to meet top-level objectives of the senior
management team and then cascade them down through the different departments to establish a time
budget for each employee. Each manager then uses his own plans for managing his level in the hierarchy.

16.3 Treatment of expenses

Employee expenses are charges incurred on behalf of the company. The company then reimburses these
expenses to the employee. The receipts encountered most frequently are:
car travel, reimbursed per unit of distance (mile or kilometer),
subsistence expenses, reimbursed based on the bill,
other purchases, such as stationery and books, destined for the company but carried out by the employee.

16.3.1 An integrated process

Figure 16.5: Process for dealing with expense reimbursements

Expenses generated by employees are grouped into periods of a week or a month. At the end of the
period the employee confirms all of her expenses and a summary sheet is sent to the department
manager. The manager is responsible for approving all the expense requests generated by his team. The
expenses sheet must be signed by the employee, who also attaches her receipts there.

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Once the sheet has been approved by the head of department it is sent to accounts, who register the
companys liability to the employee. Accounting can then pay this invoice and reimburse the employee
who originally advanced the money.
Some receipts are for project expenses, so these can then be attached to an analytic account. The costs
incurred are then added to the supplementary cost of the analytic account when the invoice is approved.
You often need to invoice expenses to a client, depending on the precise contract thats been negotiated.
Travelling and subsistence expenses are generally handled this way. These can be recharged to the client
at the the end of the month if the contract price has been negotiated plus expenses.

16.3. Treatment of expenses

If you have to go through many steps to reclaim expenses, it can all quickly become too cumbersome,
especially for those employees who claim large numbers of different expense lines. If youve got a good
system that integrates the management of these claims, such as the one described, you can avoid many
problems and subtly increase staff productivity.
If your systems handle expenses well then you can avoid significant losses by setting your terms of sale
effectively. In fixed-price contracts, expense reimbursements are usually invoiced according to the actual
expense. Its in your interests to systematize their treatment, and automate the process to the maximum,
to recharge as much as you are contractually able.

16.3.2 Claiming expenses

Install the module hr_expense to automate the management of expense claims. Users can then enter their
expenses using the menu Human Resources Expenses New Expenses Sheet and review them using
menus in Human Resources Expenses My Expenses.
Templates for the various expenses accepted by the company must previously have been created using
Open ERPs product form. You could, for example, create a product with the following parameters for the
reimbursement of travel expenses by car at 0.25 per kilometer:

Product : Car travel ,

Unit of measure : km ,

Standard Cost : 0.25 ,

Sale price : 0.30 ,

Type of product : Service .

The employee keeps her expenses sheet in the Draft state while completing it throughout the period. At
the end of the period (week or month) she can confirm her expense form using the Confirm button on the
form. This puts it into the state Waiting for validation .
At the end of the period the department manager can access the list of expense forms waiting for
approval using the menu Human Resources Expenses All expenses Expenses waiting validation.
Tip: Role Management

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You must assign the role Human Resources Expenses to a user to enable that user to approve these
expenses. Youd generally assign this role only to those people responsible for projects or departments.
You can also assign the role Human Resources Invoicing Expenses to users responsible for creating
invoices. These roles may overlap (so the same person who approves your accounting groups expenses
may also be responsible for creating invoices).
To find out more about the management of roles look at Configuration & Administration.
The department manager can then approve the expenses, which automatically creates a supplier invoice
in the employees name so that the employee can be reimbursed. An analytic account is coded onto each
line of the invoice. When the invoice is confirmed, general and analytic accounting entries are
automatically generated as they would be with any other invoice.
If you establish your invoicing on the basis of service time or analytic costs, the expense will automatically
be recharged to the client when the client invoice is generated for services associated with the project.
Invoicing from timesheets lets you prepare your invoices all within the one integrated system - all the
expenses and timesheets for a projects client.

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

INTERNAL ORGANIZATION AND

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
If you have good systems for managing tasks, then your whole company will benefit. Open
ERPs project management modules enable you to manage and track tasks efficiently, work on
them effectively, delegate them quickly, and track the delegated tasks closely. Open ERP also
helps people in the company to organize their personal time, and this chapter proposes a
methodology aimed at improving the productivity of managers.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with sale, project and all
of their dependencies installed, and no particular chart of accounts configured.

17.1 Project management

In the previous chapter you dealt with the financial management of projects, which was based on Open
ERPs analytic accounts, structured into cases. This way of working enables you to analyze time plans and
budgets, to control invoicing, and to manage your different contracts.

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In this chapter you can use operational project management to organize tasks and plan the work you need
to get the tasks completed. All of the necessary operations are carried out through the menu Project
Management.
Note: Project
In Open ERP a project is represented by a set of tasks for completion. Projects have a tree structure that
can be divided into phases and sub-phases. This structure is very useful for work organization.
Whereas analytic accounts look at the past activities of the company, project managements role is to
plan the future. Even when theres a close link between the two (such as where a project has been
planned and then completed through Open ERP) they are still two different concepts, each making its
own contribution to a flexible workflow.
Most client projects are represented by:
one or several analytic accounts in the accounts system for tracking the contract and its different phases,
one or several projects in project management for tracking the project and the different tasks to be
completed.

17.1.1 Defining a project and its tasks

To define a new project, go to the menu Project Management Projects New Project. Give your new
project a Project Name.
You can put this project into a hierarchy, as a child of a Parent Project, and give it a Project Manager. You
can also give it a general duration by completing Starting Date and Expected End.
By checking the box Warn manager, you configure the system to send the project manager an Open ERP
request every time that a task is closed. You can also link to a Working Time category, and an Analytic
Account. And you add Project Members as you need.
Note: Warn Customer setup
If you check Warn customer, you should define a page header and footer in the Partner Info tab for use in
an email. Open ERP prepares an email that the user can send to the client each time that a task is
completed. The contents of this email are based on details of the project task, and can be modified by the
user before the email is sent.
The status of a project can take the following values:
Open : while the project is being carried out,
Pending : while the project is paused,
Canceled : if the project has been canceled and therefore aborted,
Done : the project has been successfully completed.
Note: Study of client satisfaction
Some companies run a system where emails are automatically sent at the end of a task requesting the
client to complete an online survey. This survey enables them to ask different questions about the work
carried out, to gauge client satisfaction as the project progresses.
This function can be used by companies certified to ISO 9001, to rate client satisfaction.

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Once a project has been defined you can code in the tasks to be done. Youve two possibilities for this:
from the ACTION link button Create a task to the right of the project form,
from the menu Project Management All Tasks, create a new task and assign it to an existing project.

17.1.2 Managing tasks

Each task must adopt one of the following states:

Draft : the task has been entered but hasnt yet been validated by the person who will have to do it,

Open

Closed

Cancelled

Pending

A task can be assigned to a user, who then becomes responsible for closing it. But you could also leave it
unassigned so that nobody specific will be responsible: various team members instead are made jointly
responsible for taking on tasks that they have the skills for.

Figure 17.1: Tasks in project management

Each user then manages his or her own task using the different available menus. To open the list of
unclosed tasks that you have been assigned specifically use the menu Project Management Tasks My
Tasks. Or to open the unassigned tasks, go to Project Management Tasks All Tasks Unassigned
Tasks and then select Draftand Open tasks from that list.
Tip: Shortcuts
Every user should create a link in their own shortcuts to the My Tasks menu because theyll have to
consult this menu several times a day.

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17.1.3 Assigning roles: account manager and project manager

In some companies two distinct responsibilities are defined for each important project:
someone responsible for the client,
someone responsible for managing the project technically.
The person responsible for the client, the client account manager, approves client requests, writes sales
proposals, and assures that these activities and the invoicing progress properly. He is responsible for the
functional definition of the clients needs. The account manager would have a sales, technical sales or
financial profile.
The person responsible for the technical tracking of the project is called the project manager. She makes
the project happen, organizing and sub-contracting the different project tasks. The project manager would
often be responsible for a development team to carry the project out, and generally has a technical
profile.
If you dont make any such distinction in the roles then put the same person in both fields.

17.1.4 Invoicing tasks

Several methods of invoicing have already been described:
invoicing from a sales order,
invoicing on the basis of analytic costs (service times, expenses),
invoicing on the basis of deliveries,
manual invoicing.

17.1. Project management

Although invoicing tasks might appear useful, in certain situations its best to invoice from the service or
purchase orders instead. These methods of invoicing are more flexible, with various pricing levels set out
in the pricelist, and different products that can be invoiced. And its helpful to limit the number of
invoicing methods in your company by extending the use of an invoicing method that you already have.
If you want to connect your Sales Order with Project Management tasks you should create such products
as Consultant , and Senior Developer . These products should be configured with Product Type Service, a
Procure Method of Make to Order , and a Supply Method of Produce . Once youve set this up, Open ERP
automatically creates a task in project management when the order is approved.
You can also change some of the order parameters, which affects the invoice:
Shipping Policy : Payment before deliveryor Invoice on Order After Delivery( when the task is closed),
Invoice On : Ordered Quantities or Shipped Quantities (actual hours in the task).

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17.1.5 Planning and managing priorities

Several methods can be used for ordering tasks by their respective priorities. Open ERP orders tasks
based on a function of the following fields: Sequence, Priority, and Deadline.
Use the Sequence field on the second tab, Other Information, to plan a project made up of several tasks.
In the case of an IT project, for example, where development tasks are done in a given order, the first task
to do will be sequence number 1, then numbers 2, 3, 4 and so on. When you first open the list of project
tasks, theyre listed in their sequence order.
You can use one of these three ordering methods, or combine several of them, depending on the project.
Note: Agile methods
Open ERP implements the agile methodology Scrum for IT development projects in the scrum module.
Scrum supplements the task system with the following concepts: long-term planning, sprints, iterative
development, progress meetings, burndown chart, and product backlog.
Look at the site: http://controlchaos.com for more information on the Scrum methodology.

Figure 17.2: Gantt plan, calculated for earliest delivery

You can set an attendance grid (or the timesheets) in the project file. If you dont specify anything, Open
ERP assumes by default that you work 8 hours a day from Monday to Sunday. Once a grid is specified you
can call up a project Gantt chart from right-hand toolbar. The system then calculates a project plan for
earliest delivery using task ordering and the attendance grid.

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Tip: Calendar
view
OpenERPcangiveyouacalendar
viewofthedifferent
tasksinboththewebclient
andtheGTKclient.
Thisisallbased
onthedeadline
dataanddisplays
onlytasks
thathaveadeadline.
Youcanthen
delete,
create
ormodify
tasks
using
simple
draganddrop.

Calendar
viewofthesystem
tasks

17.1.6 Task delegation

To delegate a task to another user you can just change the person responsible for that task. However
the system doesnt help you track tasks that youve delegated, such as monitoring of work done, if
you do it this way.

Figure 17.3: Form for delegating a task to another user

Instead, you can use the button Delegate on a task.
The system enables you to modify tasks at all levels in the chain of delegation, to add additional
information. A task can therefore start as a global objective and become more detailed as it is delegated
down in the hierarchy.

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The second tab on the task form gives you a complete history of the chain of delegation for each task. You
can find a link to the parent task there, and the different tasks that have been delegated.

17.1. Project management

17.2 The art of productivity without stress

Now you can take a slight detour away from pure enterprise management by looking at some tools
offered by Open ERP to improve your own personal time management. Its not much of a detour
because good organization is the key to better productivity in your daily work. Open ERPs
project_gtd module was inspired by the work of two books focusing on efficient time management:

Getting Things Done The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen (2001), most often
referred to by its initials GTD (trademark registered since 2005). This book is built around the
principle that people should clearly write down all their outstanding tasks and store the details
about these tasks in a trustworthy system.
They then dont have to worry about holding all of this stuff in their head. Since they can be quite
sure that its recorded safely, they can allow themselves to relax and so have the energy and time
to concentrate on handling the tasks themselves systematically.
Note: Managing time efficiently
David Allen, Getting Things Done, Penguin Books, New York, 2001, 267 pages. (ISBN : 9780142000281). Also see the site: http://davidco.com
Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Free Press, 1989, 15th
Anniversary Edition : 2004, 384 pages. (ISBN : 978-0743269513).
Tip: De-stress yourself !
Clear the tasks that clutter your thoughts by registering them in an organized system. This
immediately helps you to de-stress yourself and organize your work in the best possible way.
If you feel stressed by too much work, do the following exercise to convince yourself about the
benefits. Take some sheets of blank paper and write down everything that passes through your head
about the things you need to do. For each task, note the next action to do on an adjacent line, and
rank it by the date that youll commit yourself to doing it. At the end of the exercise youll feel better
organized, considerably de-stressed and remarkably free of worries !

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey (1989) : the author advises
organizations on the use of these practices, and reports on the productivity improvements in
the organization that result.

The objective in this detour is not to detail the whole methodology but to describe the supporting tools
provided by Open ERPs project_gtd module.

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17.2.1 Not everything that is urgent is necessarily important

The first modification brought by the module to the basic Open ERP system is a separation of the
concepts of urgency and importance. Tasks are no longer classified by a single criterion but by the
product of the two criteria, enabling you to prioritize matters that are both urgent and important in a
single list
Many managers with a heavy workload use urgency as their sole method of prioritization. The
difficulty is then in working out how to plan for substantive tasks (like medium term objectives).
These arent urgent but are nevertheless very important.
Note: Example Distinction between urgency and importance
If youre very well organized, urgent tasks can (and should often) be given lower precedence than
important tasks. Take an example from daily life as an illustration: the case of having some time with
your children.
For most people this task is important. But if you have a busy professional life, the days and weeks
flow on with endless urgent tasks to be resolved. Even if you manage your time well, you could let
several months pass without spending time with your children because the task of seeing them is
never as urgent as your other work, despite its importance.
In Open ERP urgency is given by the Deadline of the task and importance by the Priority. The classification
of the tasks then results from the product of the two factors. The most important tasks and the most
urgent both appear at the top of the list.

17.2.2 Organizing your life systematically

A methodology of organizing yourself using the concepts of context and timebox is presented in this
section.
Context
The context is determined by the work environment you must be in to deal with certain tasks. For example
you could define the following contexts:
Office : for tasks which have to be dealt with at your workplace (such as telephone a customer, or write a
document),
Car : for tasks that you need to do on the move (such as going shopping, or going to the post office),
Travel : for tasks that you can handle on the plane or in the train while youre doing travelling on business
( tasks such as writing an article, or analyzing a new product),
Home : for tasks which have to happen at your private address (such as finding a cleaning contractor, or
mowing the lawn).

An employee / system user can create his or her own contexts using the menu Project Management
Configuration Time Management Contexts.
Timebox

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You then have to define the timeboxes. You have to complete the tasks in the time interval specified by a
timebox. You usually define timeboxes with the following periods:
Daily : for tasks which must be handled today,
Weekly : for tasks that have to be dealt with this week,
Monthly : for tasks which have to be completed within the month,
Long term : for tasks that can be dealt with in more than one month.
A task can be put in one and only one timebox at a time.
You should distinguish between a timebox and the deadline for completing a task because the deadline is
usually fixed by the requirements of the project manager. A timebox, by contrast, is selected with
reference to what an individual can do.
To define timeboxes for your company, use the menu Project Management Configuration Time
Management Timeboxes My timeboxes.
Methodology and iterative process
To organize your tasks efficiently, Open ERP uses a method based on the following systematic and
iterative process:
1. Identify all the tasks that you have to deal with, including everything that keeps you awake at night,
and enter them in your Inbox, which youll find in the menu Project Management Time
Management My Inbox.

17.2. The art of productivity without stress

2. Classify the tasks in your Inbox periodically, assigning them a context and a timebox. This indicates both
when and where the task should be handled. If a task takes less than 10 minutes then maybe it could be
handled immediately.
3. Every day, carry out the following process:

First thing in the morning, select those tasks contained in the current weeks timebox that you
want to deal with today. These are presented in order of importance and urgency, so you should
select the tasks closest to the top of the list.

Carry out each task, thats to say either work on the task yourself or delegate it to another user,

Last thing at the end of the days work, empty that days timebox and return all unclosed tasks
into the weeks timebox.

4. Repeat the same process each week and each month for the respective timeboxes.
Tip: Dont confuse Agenda and Timebox
The idea of timebox is independent from that of an agenda. Certain tasks, such as meetings, must be
done on a precise date. So they cant be managed by the timebox system but by an agenda.
The ideal is to put the minimum of things on the agenda and to put there only tasks that have a fixed
date. The timebox system is more flexible and more efficient for dealing with multiple tasks.

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So start by entering all the tasks required by project management. These could have been entered
by another user and assigned to you. Its important to code in all of the tasks that are buzzing around
in your head, just to get them off your mind. A task could be:
work to be done,
a short objective, medium or long term,
a complex project that hasnt yet been broken into tasks.
A project or an objective over several days can be summarized in a single task. You dont have to
detail each operation if the actions to be done are sufficiently clear to you.
You have to empty your Inbox periodically. To do that, use the menu Project Management Time
Management
My Inbox. Assign a timebox and a context to each task. This operation shouldnt take more than a few
minutes because you arent dealing with the tasks themselves, just classifying them.

Figure 17.4: Timebox for tasks to be done today

Then click on the button at the top right Plan the timebox. This procedure lets you select the tasks for the
day from those in the timebox for the week. This operation gives you an overview of the medium term
tasks and objectives and makes you review them there at least once a day. Its then that youd decide to
allocate a part of your time that day to certain tasks based on your priorities.
Since the tasks are sorted by priority, its sufficient to take the first from the list, up to the number of
hours in your day. Thatll only take a minute, because the selection isnt taken from every task you know
about in the future, but just from those selected for the current week.
Once the timebox has been completed you can start your daily work on the tasks. For each task you can
start work on it, delegate it, close it, or cancel it.
At the end of the day you empty the timebox using the button at the top right. All the tasks that havent
been done are sent back to the weekly timebox to sit in amongst the tasks that will be planned next
morning.
Do the same each week and each month using the same principles, but just using the appropriate
timeboxes for those periods.
Shortcuts to the right of the timebox help you use the system efficiently with:

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a direct link to the Inbox,
the list of all of your open tasks,
the list of your waiting tasks,
your deadlines,
a link to all of the tasks in the timebox.
Some convincing results
After a few days of carefully practising this method, users have reported the following improvements:
a reduction in the number of tasks and objectives that were forgotten,
a reduction in stress because people felt more in control of their situation,
a change of the priorities in the types of tasks carried out daily,
more notice taken of the urgency and importance of tasks and objectives in the long-term organization of
time,
better management of task delegation and the selection of which tasks were better to delegate,
Finally, its important to note this system is totally integrated with Open ERPs project management
function. Staff can use the system or not depending on their own needs. The system is complementary to
the project management function that handles team organization and company-wide planning.

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Part VI

Stock and

Manufacturing

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Release 1.0
This part of the book concentrates on physical materials - the handling of stock and
the transformation of materials by assembly and manufacture.
Stocks are the physical embodiment of their product specification, things rather
than datasheets. So they need to be stored and moved between locations, and
tracked in sets and individually. They have a size, a weight, and a cost. Open ERP
manages all of this in some rather useful and unique ways.
Manufacture is the transformation of materials and components, perhaps using
measurable resources, into other products and services, adding value to your
company on the way.

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CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

LOGISTICS AND STOCK

MANAGEMENT
Open ERPs stock management is at once very simple, flexible and complete.
Its based on the concept of double entry that revolutionized accounting. The
system can be described by Lavoisiers maxim nothing lost, everything
changed or, better, everything moved. In Open ERP you dont talk of
disappearance, consumption or loss of products: instead you speak only of
stock moves from one place to another.

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Just as in accounting, the Open ERP system manages counterparts to each of its
main operations such as receipts from suppliers, deliveries to customers, profits and
losses from inventory, and consumption of raw materials. Stock movements are
always made from one location to another. To satisfy the need for a counterpart to
each stock movement, the software supports different types of stock location:
Physical stock locations,
Partner locations,
Virtual counterparts such as production and inventory.
Physical locations represent warehouses and their hierarchical structure. These are
generally the locations that are managed by traditional stock management systems.
Partner locations represent your customers and suppliers stocks. To reconcile them
with your accounts, these stores play the role of third-party accounts. Reception
from a supplier can be shown by the movement of goods from a partner location to
a physical location in your own company. As you see, supplier locations usually show
negative stocks and customer locations usually show positive stocks.
Virtual counterparts for production are used in manufacturing operations.
Manufacturing is characterized by the consumption of raw materials and the
production of finished products. Virtual locations are used for the counterparts of
these two operations.

Inventory locations are counterparts of the stock operations that represent your
companys profits and losses in terms of your stocks.
The figure Stores location structure when Open ERP has just been installed shows
the initial configuration of the stores locations when the
software is installed.

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Figure 18.1: Stores location structure when Open ERP has just been installed
Note: Hierarchical stock locations
In Open ERP locations are structured hierarchically. You can structure your locations
as a tree, dependent on a parentchild relationship. This gives you more detailed
levels of analysis of your stock operations and the organization of your warehouses.

Tip: Locations and Warehouses

In Open ERP warehouses represent your places of physical stock. A warehouse can
be structured into several locations at multiple levels. Locations are used to manage
all types of storage place, such as at the customer and production counterparts.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with
stock and its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.

18.1 Understanding double-entry stock

management
To illustrate this concept of stock management, see how stock moves are generated
by the following operations:
Receiving products from a supplier,
Delivery to a customer,
Inventory operation for lost materials,
Manufacturing.

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The structure of stock locations is shown by the figure Stores location structure
when Open ERP has just been installed. Stocks are assumed to be totally empty and
no operation is in progress nor planned.
If you order 30 bicycles from a supplier, Open ERP will then do the following
operations after the receipt of the products:
Table 18.1: Stock Move operation from Suppliers to Stock
Location
Products
Partner Locations > Suppliers >
-30
Suppliers
bicycles
Physical Locations > Tiny SPRL > +30
Stock
bicycles
If you deliver 2 bicycles to a European customer you will get the following
transactions for the delivery:
Table 18.2: Stock Move operation from Stock to European Customers
Location
Physical Locations > Tiny SPRL > Stock

Products
-2
bicycles
Partner Locations > Customers > European +2
Customers
bicycles
When the two operations are complete youll then get the following stock in each
location:

Table 18.3: Resulting stock situation

Location
Partner Locations > Suppliers > Suppliers

Products
-30
bicycles
Physical Locations > Tiny SPRL > Stock
+28
bicycles
Partner Locations > Customers > European +2
Customers
bicycles
So you can see that the sum of the stocks of a product in all the locations in Open
ERP is always zero. In accounting youd say that the sum of the debits is equal to the
sum of the credits.
Partner locations (customers and suppliers) arent located under your company in
the hierarchical structure, so their contents are not considered as part of your own
stock. So if you look just at the physical locations inside your own company those
two bicycles are no longer in your company. Theyre not in your own physical stock
but its still very useful to see them in your customers stock because that helps
when you carry out detailed stock management analysis.
Note: Accounts
In managing stock, a gap between the data in the software and real quantities in
stock is difficult to avoid. Doubleentry stock management gives twice as many
opportunities to find an error. If you forget two items of stock this error will
automatically be reflected in the counterparts location.

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You can make a comparison with accounting, where youll easily find an error
because you can look for an anomaly in an account or in the counterparts: if theres
not enough in a bank account then thats probably because someones forgotten to
enter a customers invoice payment. You always know that the sum of debits must
equal the sum of the credits in both accounting and Open ERPs stock management.
In accounting, all documents lead to accounting entries that form the basis of
management accounting. If you create invoices or code in statements of account,
for example, the results of the operations are accounting entries on accounts. And
its the same for stock management in Open ERP. All stock operations are carried out
as simple stock moves. Whether you pack items, or manufacture them, or carry out
a stock inventory operation, stock moves are carried out every time.

18.1. Understanding double-entry stock management

Youve seen a fairly simple example of goods receipt and product delivery, but some
operations are less obvious a stock inventory operation, for example. An inventory
operation is carried out when you compare the stock shown in software with real
stock numbers counted in the stores. In Open ERP, with its double-entry stock
management, youd use stock moves for this inventory operation. That helps you
manage your stock traceability. If there are 26 Bicycles in real stock but Open ERP
shows 28 in the system. You then have to reduce the number in Open ERP to 26.
This reduction of 2 units is considered as a loss or destruction of products and the
correction is carried out as in the following operation:

Table 18.4: Inventory operation to adjust stock

Location
Products
Physical Locations > Tiny SPRL
-2
> Stock
bicycles
Virtual Locations > Inventory
+2
Loss
bicycles
The product stock under consideration then becomes:
Table 18.5: Real and counterpart stocks when operations are completed
Location
Partner Locations > Suppliers > Suppliers

Products
-30
bicycles
Physical Locations > Tiny SPRL > Stock
+26
bicycles
Partner Locations > Customers > European +2
Customers
bicycles
Virtual Locations > Inventory Loss
+2
bicycles
This example shows one of the great advantages of this approach in terms of
performance analysis. After a few months, you can just make a stock valuation of
the location Virtual Locations > Inventory Loss to give you the value of the
companys stock losses in the given period.

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Now see how the following manufacturing operation is structured in Open ERP. To
make a bicycle you need two wheels and a frame. This means that there should be a
reduction of two wheels and a frame from real stock and the addition of a bicycle
there. The consumption / production is formalized by moving products out of and
into physical stock. The stock operations for this are as follows:
Table 18.6: Stock situation resulting from manufacture
Location

Product
Step
s
Virtual Locations > Default
+2
Consumption of raw
Production
Wheels
materials
Physical Locations > Tiny SPRL
-2
Consumption of raw
> Stock
Wheels
materials
Virtual Locations > Default
+1
Consumption of raw
Production
Frame
materials
Physical Locations > Tiny SPRL
-1
Consumption of raw
> Stock
Frame
materials
Virtual Locations > Default
-1
Manufacture of finished
Production
Bicycle
products
Physical Locations > Tiny SPRL
+1
Manufacture of finished
> Stock
Bicycle
products
So youve now got the outcome you need from the consumption of raw materials
and the manufacture of finished products.

Note: Assessing created value

You might already have noticed a useful effect of this approach: if you do a stock
valuation in the Default Production location you get a statement of value created by
your company (as a negative amount). Stock valuation in any given location is
calculated by multiplying quantities of products in stock by their cost. In this case
the raw material value is deducted from the finished product value.

18.2 Complete workflow from supplier to customer

Now youll follow a practical example by adapting stock management operations. In
order youll see:
defining a new product,
initial setting of inventory,
receiving products from a supplier,
delivering to a customer,
analysis of the state of stock.

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18.2.1 Defining a new product

To start, define the following product:
Table 18.7: Product Definition
Field
Name
Code
Product
Type
Supply
Method

Value
Central Heating
Type 1
CCT1
Stockable Product
Buy
Use the menu Products Products, then click New to define a new product.

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Figure 18.2: Definition of a new product Three

fields are important for stock management when youre configuring a new
product:

Product Type,

Procure Method,

Supply Method.

18.2.2 Product Types

The product type indicates if the product is handled in stock management and if
Open ERP manages its procurement. The three distinct product types are:
Stockable Product : this product is used in stock management and its replenishment
is more or less automated as defined by the rules established in the system.
Examples, a bicycle, a computer or a central heating system.
Consumable : handled in stock management, you can receive it, deliver it and make
it. But its stock level isnt managed by the system. Open ERP assumes that youve
got sufficient levels in stock at all time, so it doesnt restock it automatically.
Example, nails.

 Service : doesnt appear in the various stock operations. Example, a consulting

service.

18.2.3 Procure Methods Make to Stock and Make to Order

The procure method determines how the product will be replenished:
Make to Stock : your customers are supplied from available stock. You procure a set
quantity of each product when its stock is too low. Example, a classic distributor.
Make to Order : when a customer order is confirmed, you then procure or
manufacture the products for this order. A customer order Make to Order wont
modify stock in the medium term because you restock with the exact amount that
was ordered. Example, computers from a large supplier assembled on demand.
You find a mix of these two modes used for the different final and intermediate
products in most industries. The procurement method shown on the product form is
a default value for the order, enabling the salesperson to choose the best mode for
fulfilling a particular order by varying the sales order parameters as needed.
The figures Change in stock for a product managed as Make to Stock and Change in
stock for a product managed as

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Make to Order show the change of stock levels for one product managed Make to
Order and another managed Make to Stock. The two figures are taken from Open
ERPs Future Stock Forecast report, available from the product form.

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Figure 18.3: Change in stock for a product managed as Make to Stock

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Figure 18.4: Change in stock for a product managed as Make to Order

Note: Logistical Methods
The Make to Stock logistical approach is usually used for high volumes and when
the demand is seasonal or otherwise easy to forecast. The Make to Order approach
is used for products that are measured, or very costly to stock or have a short restocking time.

18.2.4 Supply Methods

Open ERP supports two supply methods:
Produce: when the product or service is supplied from internal resources,
Buy: when the product is bought from a supplier.
These are just the default settings used by the system during automated
replenishment. The same product can be either manufactured internally or bought
from a supplier.
These three fields (Supply Method, Procurem Method, Product Type) determine the
systems behaviour when a product is required. The system will generate different

documents depending on the configuration of these three fields when satisfying an

order, a price quotation to a supplier or a manufacturing order.
Open ERP manages both stockable products and services. A service bought from a
supplier in Make to Order mode, will generate a subcontract order from the supplier
in question.
Figure Workflow for automatic procurement, dependent on the configuration of the
product illustrates different cases for automatic
procurement.

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Figure 18.5: Workflow for automatic procurement, dependent on the configuration of

the product
The table below shows all possible cases for the figure Workflow for automatic
procurement, dependent on the configuration of the product.
Table 18.8: Consequences of Procurement Methods
Make to Stock and Make To Order
Procurement
Method
MTS

Produce

Procurement
Method
MTS
MTO

Produce

Buy

Wait for
Wait for
availability
availability
MTO
Production
Supplier Order
Order
Table
18.9:
Consequences
of
Procurement
Methods
when
using
Services
Buy

/
/
Create
Subcontr
task
act
Youll see the automated management processes for procurement in detail further
on in this chapter.

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18.2.5 Units of Measure

Open ERP supports several units of measure. Quantities of the same product can be
expressed in several units of measure at once. For example you can buy grain by
the tonne and resell it by kg. You just have to make sure that all the units of
measure used for a product are in the same units of measure category.
Note: Categories of units of measure
All units of measure in the same category are convertible from one unit to another.
The table below shows some examples of units of measure and their category. The
factor is used to convert from one unit of measure to another as long as they are in
the same category.
Table 18.10: Example Units of Measure
UoM

Category

Kg
Gram
Tonne
Hour

Weight
Weight
Weight
Working
time
Working

Day

Facto
r
1
1000
0.01
8
1

time
HalfWorking
2
day
time
Item
Unit
1
100
Unit
0.01
Items
Depending on the table above you have 1Kg = 1000g = 0.001 Tonnes. A product in
the Weight category could be expressed in Kg, Tonnes or Grammes. You cant
express them in hours or pieces.
Use the menu Products Configuration Units of Measure Units of Measure to
define a new unit of measure.
In the definition of a Unit of Measure, you have a Rounding precision factor which
shows how amounts are rounded after the conversion. A value of 1 gives rounding to
the level of one unit. 0.01 gives rounding to one hundredth.
Note: Secondary Units
Open ERP supports double units of measure. When you use this, the whole of the
stock management system is encoded in two units that dont have a real link
between them.
This is very useful in the agro-food industry, for example: you sell ham by the piece
but invoice by the Kg. A weighing operation is needed before invoicing the
customer.

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To activate the management options for double units of measure, assign the group
Useability / Product UoS View to your user.
In this case the same product can be expressed in two units of measure belonging to
different categories. You can then distinguish between the unit of stock
management (the piece) and the unit of invoicing or sale ( kg ).
In the product form you can then set one unit of measure for sales and stock
management, and one unit of measure for purchases.
These units are given suggested titles. For each operation on a product you can use
another unit of measure, as long as it can be found in the same category as the two
units already defined. If you use another unit of measure, Open ERP automatically
handles the conversion of prices and quantities.
So if you have 430 Kg of carrots at 5.30 EUR/Kg, Open ERP will automatically make
the conversion if you want to sell in tonnes 0.43 tonnes at 5300 EUR / tonne. If you
had set a rounding factor of 0.1 for the tonne unit of measure then Open ERP will tell
you that you have only 0.4 tonnes available.

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18.3 Stocks
In the product form you can find a report that will give you the stock levels of the various
different products in any selected location. If you havent selected any location, Open ERP
calculates stocks for all of the physical locations.
Note: Availability of stock
Depending on whether you look at the product from a customer order or from the menu of a
product form you can get different values for stock availability. If you use the product menu
you get the stock in all of the physical stock locations. Looking at the product from the order
you will only see the report of the warehouse selected in the order.
The two fields are:
Real Stock : quantity physical present in your warehouse,
Virtual Stock : calculated this way: real stock outgoing + incoming.
Note: Virtual Stock
Virtual stock is very useful because it shows what the salespeople can sell. If its more than
real stock its because products will be coming in and if its smaller than real stock then its
because certain products are reserved for other sales orders or works orders.

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Tip: Detail
offuture
stock
Togetmoredetail
about
future
stock,
youcanclickFutureStockForecast
totherightoftheproduct
formtogetthe
Printout
offorecast
stock
levels
report
below.
OpenERPshows
a graph
ofthechange
ofstockinthedaystocome,
varying
asafunction
ofpurchase
orders,
confirmed
production
andsales
orders.

offorecast
stock
levels
Figure
18.6:Printout

18.3.1 Lead times and locations

The tab Procurement & Locations contains information about different lead times and
locations. Three lead time figures are available:
Customer Lead Time : lead time promised to the customer, expressed in number of days
between the order and the deliver to the customer,
Manufacturing Lead Time : lead time, in days, between a production order and the end of
production of the finished product,

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Warranty (months) : length of time in months for the warranty for the delivered products.
Note: Warranty
The warranty period is used in the management of repairs and after-sales service. You can
find more information on this subject in Manufacturing.
Fields in the section Storage Localisation are given for information they dont have any
impact on the management of stock.
Counterpart locations are automatically proposed by the system but the different values can
be modified. Youll find counterpart locations for:
Procurement,
Production,
Inventory.
A procurement location is a temporary location for stock moves that havent yet been
finalized by the scheduler. When the system doesnt yet know if procurement is to be done
by a purchase or production, Open ERP uses the counterpart location Procurement. Youll find
there everything that hasnt yet been planned by the system. The quantities of product in
this location cancel each other out.

18.3.2 Initial Inventory

Once a product has been defined, use an initial inventory operation to put actual current
quantities into the system by location for the products in stock. Use the menu Stock
Management Periodical Inventory New Periodical Inventory for this.

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Figure 18.7: Defining a new inventory operation

Give a name (for example Initial Inventory or Lost Product XYZ ) and a date for each
inventory operation. You can then enter data about the quantities available for each product
by location. Start by showing the location, for example Stock , and then select the product.
Open ERP automatically completes the actual quantity actually available for that product in
the location shown. You can then change that value to correct the value in stock.
Enter data for a single line in your inventory:

Location : Stock,
Product

PC1

Computers,

Quantity : 23 Units.

Tip: Periodical Inventory

You are usually legally required to do a stock check of all your products at least once a year.
As well as doing a complete annual stock check, Open ERP also supports the method of
periodical inventory.
That means you can check the stock levels of a proportion of your products every so often.
This system is accepted in France as long as you can guarantee that all of your products

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have been counted at least once per year. To do this, use the report Stock Management
Reporting Dates of Inventories.
This gives you the last inventory date by product.
You can do this the same way for all products and all locations, so you only carry out small
inventory operations through the year rather than a single large stock check at one point in
the year (which usually turns out to be at an inconvenient time).
When your inventory operation is finished you can confirm it using the button to the bottom
right of the form. Open ERP will then automatically create the stock moves to close the gaps,
as mentioned at the start of this chapter. You can verify the moves generated using the
second tab of the inventory operation form.
The correct levels of your product are now in your stock locations. A simple way of verifying
this is to reopen the product form to see the quantities available in stock.

18.3.3 Receipt of a supplier order

Supplier goods receipt forms are automatically prepared by Open ERP by the purchase
management process. Youll find a list of all the awaited receipts in the menu Stock
Management Incoming Goods Packing to Process. Use the order number or the supplier
name to find the right goods receipt form for confirmation of a goods in. This approach
enables you to control quantities received by referring to the quantities ordered.

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Figure 18.8: List of items waiting
You can also do goods-in data entry manually if theres no order, using the same menu Stock
Management Incoming Goods New Reception Packing.
A new goods-in data entry form then opens. Enter the supplier data in the Partner field and
you can type in the reference number from your supplier in the field Origin. You should then
enter data about the products received in the lines.
The source location is already completed by default because of your supplier selection. You
should then give the destination location where you will place the products. For example,
enter Stock. At this stage you can set a lot number for traceability (this function will be
described later in this chapter, so leave this field empty for the moment).
Once the form has been completed you can confirm the receipt of all the products at the
same time using the Process Now button. If you want to enter data for a goods receipt that
youre still waiting for click the button Process Later.

Figure 18.9: Form for entering goods received from a supplier order
The products then arrive in stock and should reflect the quantities shown on the product
form.
In the goods receipt form, the field Invoicing Control lets you influence the way you send
invoices to suppliers. If this is set to To be invoiced a supplier invoice will now be generated

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automatically in the draft state, based on the goods received. Your accountant then has to
confirm this pre-invoicing once the suppliers invoice is received. This enables you to verify
that the invoiced quantities correspond to the quantities received.

18.3.4 Customer delivery

Everything about goods receipt can also be done manually for a customer delivery. But this
time, use the automated product delivery processes based on customer orders. Install the
sale module so that you can proceed further in this section of the chapter.
Now create a new customer order from the menu Sales Management Sales Orders New
Quotation. Enter the following data in this order:

Shop : Tiny SPRL

Customer :
Agrolait

Order Line :

Product : PC1 Computer,

Quantity : 3 PCE

Procurement Method : from stock.

Youve seen already that Open ERP shows you the available product stock when youve
selected list mode. The real stock is equal to the virtual stock because youve nothing to
deliver to customers and youre not waiting for any of these products to be received into
stock. The salesperson then has all the information needed to take orders
efficiently.

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Figure 18.10: Entering an order for three computers

Then confirm the quotation to convert it to an order. If you return to the product form youll
see the virtual stock is now smaller than the real stock. That happens because three
products have been reserved by the order that you created, so they cant be sold to another
customer.
Start the scheduler through the menu Manufacturing Compute All Schedulers. Its
functionality will be detailed in Manufacturing. This manages the reservation of products and
places orders based on the dates promised to customers, and the various internal lead times
and priorities.
Tip: Just in Time
Install the module mrp_jit to schedule each order in real time after its been confirmed. This
means that you dont have to start the scheduler or wait for its periodical start time.
You can now look at the the list of deliveries waiting to be carried out using the menu Stock
Management
Outgoing Products Available Packings. You find a line there for your order representing
the items to be sent. Double-click the line to see the detail of the items
proposed by Open ERP.

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Figure 18.11: Items on a customer order

Tip: States
Open ERP distinguishes between the states Confirmed and Assigned.
You say that an item is Confirmed when its needed but the available stock is insufficient.
You say that an item is Assigned when its available in stock and the storesperson reserves
it: the necessary products have been reserved for this specific operation.
You can confirm a customer delivery using the Confirm button. A window then opens where
you can enter the quantities actually delivered. If you enter a value less than the forecast
one, Open ERP automatically generates a partial delivery notes and a new order for the
remaining items. For this exercise, just confirm all the products.
If you return to the list of current orders you will see that your order has now been marked
as delivered (done). A progress indicator from 0% to 100% is shown by each order so that
the salesperson can follow the progress of their orders at a glance.

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Figure 18.12: List of orders with their delivery state

Note: Negative Stock
Stock Management is very flexible so that it can be more effective. For example if you forget
to enter products at goods in, this wont prevent you from sending them to customers. In
Open ERP you can force all operations manually using the button Force assignment. In this
case your stocks risk falling negative. You should monitor all stocks for negative levels and
carry out an inventory correction when that happens.

18.3.5 Analysing stock

Now look at the effect of these operations on stock management. There are several ways of
viewing stocks:
from the product form,
from the locations,
from the orders.
Start by opening the product form from the menu Products Products and looking at the list
of items. Youll immediately see the following information about the products:

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Real Stock,
Virtual Stock.
If you want more information you can use the actions to the right of the form. If you click the
report Future Stock Forecast, Open ERP opens a graphical view of the stock levels for the
selected products changing with time over the days and weeks to come. The value at the left
of the graph is the real stock (today) and the value at the right is the virtual stock (stock in
the short term future).
To get the stock levels by location use the button Stock by Location. Open ERP then gives
you the stock of this product split out over all the possible locations. If you only want to see
the physical locations in your company just filter this list using the Location Type Internal
Locations. By default, physical locations are already colored red to distinguish them better.
Consolidate locations (the sum of several locations, following the hierarchical structure) are
colored blue.

Figure 18.13: Stock quantities by location for a given product

You can get more detail about all the stock moves from the product form. Youll then see
each move from a source location to a destination location. Everything that influences stock
levels corresponds to a stock move.

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You could also look at the stocks available in a location using the menu Stock Management
Stock Locations Structure. You can then use the structure shortcuts at the and the location
tree in the main window. Click a location to look at the stocks by product. A location
containing child locations shows the consolidated contents for all of its child locations.
You should now check the product quantities for various locations to familiarize yourself with
this double-entry stock management system. You should look at:
supplier locations to see how goods receipts are linked,

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customer locations to see how packing notes are linked,
inventory locations to see the accumulated losses and profits,
production locations to see the value created for the company.
Also look at how the real and virtual stocks depend on the location selected. If you enter a
supplier location:
the real stock shows all of the product receipts coming from this type of supplier,
the virtual stock takes into account the quantities expected from these suppliers (+ real
stock + quantities expected from these suppliers). Its the same scheme for customer
locations and production locations.

18.4 Logistics Configuration

In this section youll see how to configure stock management to match your companys
needs. Open ERP can handle many different situations by configuring it to behave as
required.

18.4.1 Stock locations

Youve seen in the preceding sections that the whole of stock management is built on a
concept of stock locations. Locations are structured hierarchically to account for the
subdivision of a warehouse into sections, aisles, and/or cupboards. The hierarchical view also
enables you to structure virtual locations such as production counterparts. That gives you a
finer level of analysis.
Use the menu Stock Management Configuration Locations then click New to define
new locations.

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Figure 18.14: Definition of a stock location

You should then give a name to your stock location. Now look at location types and
localization.

18.4.2 Location types

The location must have one of the following types:
View: shows that the location is only an organizational node for the hierarchical structure,
and cant be involved in stock moves itself. The view type is not usually made into a leaf
node in a structure it usually has children.
Customer: destination for products sent to customers,
Supplier: source of products received from suppliers,
Internal: locations for your own stock,
Inventory: the counterpart for inventory operations used to correct stock levels,
Production: the counterpart for production operations; receipt of raw material and sending
finished products,

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Procurement: the counterpart for procurement operations when you dont yet know the
source (supplier or production). Products in this location should be zero after the scheduler
run completes.
You can have several locations of the same type. In that case your product, supplier and
warehouse configurations determine the location thats to be used for any given operation.
The counterparts for procurement, inventory and production operations are given by the
locations shown on the product form. The counterparts of reception and delivery operations
are given by the locations shown on the partner form. The choice of stock location is given
by the configuration of the warehouse, linked to a Shop.

Figure 18.15: Definition of stock locations on the product form

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Figure 18.16: Definition of stock locations on the partner form

18.4.3 Localization
Each location can be given an address. That enables you to create a location for a customer
or a supplier, for example. You can then give it the address of that customer or supplier. You
should indicate to Open ERP on the partner form that it should use this location rather than
the default location given to partner deliveries.
Tip: Subcontracting production
Youll see in the chapter, Manufacturing, that it is possible to assign a location to a
manufacturing workcenter. If this location is at a suppliers you must give it an address so
that Open ERP can prepare a delivery order for the supplier and a receive operation for the
manufactured goods.
Creating a location specifically for a partner is also a simple solution for handled consigned
stocks in Open ERP.
Note: Consigned Stock
Consigned stock is stock that is owned by you (valued in your accounts) but is physically
stocked by your supplier. Or, conversely, it could be stock owned by your customer (not
valued by you) but stocked in your company.

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To enable you to consolidate easily at a higher level, the location definition is hierarchical.
This structure is given by the field Parent location. That also enables you to manage complex
cases of product localization. For example, you could imagine the following scenario.
Example Structure for two warehouses
A company has a warehouse in Paris and in Bordeaux. For some orders you must deliver the
products from Paris, and for others from Bordeaux. But you should also specify a fictitious
warehouse that Open ERP uses to calculate if it should deliver products from Paris or from
Bordeaux.
To do this in Open ERP, youd create a third warehouse France which consolidates the
warehouses in Paris and Bordeaux. You create the following physical locations:
Company
Output
* Warehouses France
Warehouse Paris
Warehouse Bordeaux
Open ERP will then deliver the goods from the warehouse that has the ordered product in
stock. When products are available in several warehouses, Open ERP will select the nearest
warehouse. To formalize the notion of distance between warehouses you should use the
geographic co-ordinates (X, Y, Z) of the different stores to enable Open ERP to search for the
nearest goods.
The same co-ordinates could also be used to structure the shelves, aisles and interior rooms
in a warehouse.

18.4.4 Accounting valuation in real time

If you have experience of managing with traditional software youll know the problem of
getting useful indicators. If you ask your accountant for a stock valuation or the value added
by production hell give you a figure. If you ask for the same figure from your stores manager
youll get an entirely different amount. You have no idea whos right!
In Open ERP the management of stock is completely integrated with the accounts, to give
strong coherence between the two systems. The double-entry structure of locations enables
a very precise correspondence between stocks and accounts.
Each stock movement also generates a corresponding accounting entry in an accounting
journal to ensure that the two systems can stay in permanent synchronization.
To do that, set up a general account for each location that should be valued in your accounts.
If a product goes to one location or another and the accounts are different in the two
locations, Open ERP automatically generates the corresponding accounting entries in the
accounts, in the stock journal.
If a stock move will go from a location without an account to a location where an account has
been assigned ( for example goods receipt from a supplier order), Open ERP generates an
accounting entry using the properties defined in the product form for the counterpart. You

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can use different accounts per location or link several location to the same account,
depending on the level of analysis needed.
You use this system for managing consigned stocks:
a supplier location that is valued in your own accounts or,
a location in your own company that isnt valued in your accounts.

18.4.5 Linked locations

Locations in Open ERP can be linked between each other to define paths followed by
products. So you can then define rules such as: all products that enter the warehouse must
automatically be sent to quality control. The warehouse and quality control are represented
by two different locations.
Then when a product arrives in a location, Open ERP can automatically suggest that you
send the product to another linked location. Three link modes are available:
Manual,
Automatic,
Automatic without steps.
The manual mode will create an internal move order to the linked location once products
arrive in the source locations. This order will wait for a confirmation of the move by a user.
This enables you to have a list of moves to do, proposed by the system and confirmed by the
storesperson.
Tip: Product Logistics
The module stock_location lets you generate paths to follow, not just at the level of locations
but also at the level of products. It then enables you to manage default locations for a given
product or to refer to the products as a function of operations such as quality control,
supplier receipt, and after-sales service.
A more detailed explanation of this module, with examples, is given at the end of this
chapter.
The automatic mode will do the same but wont wait for a confirmation from the user.
Products will automatically be sent to the linked location without any intervening manual
operation to do. This corresponds to the case where, for simplicity, you delete a step in the
process so the end user can set off the process automatically.
The automatic without steps mode wont include the additional stock move but will change
the destination move transparently to assign the linked the location. You could then assign a
destination location to which you send all the products that arrive in your warehouse. The
storesperson will modify the goods receipt note.
If there is a linkage to do, the field Type of linked location lets the destination location be
determined. If the field is set to customer, the location is given by the properties of the
partner form. If the field is set to fixed , the destination location is given by the field Location
if link is fixed.

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Some operations take a certain time between order and execution. To account for this lead
time, you can set a value in days in the field Link lead time. Then the extra move (automatic
or not) will be carried out several days after the original move. If you use the mode
automatic without steps, the lead time is inserted directly into the initial order. In this way
you can add security lead times at certain control points in the warehouse.

18.4.6 Case of structuring locations

Youll see in the next part that linking locations lets you manage a whole series of complex
cases in managing production efficiently:
handling multiple operations for a customer order,
tracking import and export by sea transport,
managing a production chain in detail,
managing rented products,
managing consigned products.
To show these concepts, five cases of structuring and configuring these locations are given
below. Many other configurations are possible depending on needs.

18.4.7 Handling customer orders

Customer orders are usually handled in one of two ways:
item note (or preparation order), confirmed when the item is ready to send,
delivery order (or freight note), confirmed when the transporter has delivered the item to a
customer.
You use the following stock move in Open ERP to simulate these operations:
Packing Note: Stock > Output,
Delivery Order: Output > Customer.
The first operation is automatically generated by the customer order. The second is then
generated by the stock management by showing that the Output location is linked to the
Customer location. That then gives the two operations waiting. If the Output location isnt
situated beneath the stock location you then have to move the item from stock to the place
that the item is prepared.
Some companies dont want to work in two steps, because it just seems like extra work to
have to confirm a delivery note in the system. You can then set the link mode to Automatic
to make Open ERP automatically confirm the second step. Its then assumed the all the items
have automatically been delivered to the customer.

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18.4.8 Linked Production

The stock_location module enables you to manage the linkages by product in addition to
doing that by location.
You can then create a location structure that represents your production chain by product.
The location structure looks like this:
Stock
Level 1
Level 2
* Link 1
Operation 1
Operation 2
Operation 3
Operation 4
You can then set the locations a product or a routing must go through on the relevant form.
All products that enter the production chain will automatically follow the
predetermined path.

Figure 18.17: Logistics for a given product

To improve your logistics, youll see further on in this chapter how you can put minimum
stock rules onto different locations to guarantee security stocks for assembly operators.
Reports on the state of stocks in different locations will rapidly show you the bottlenecks in
your production chain.

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18.5 Import / Export

Managing import / export with foreign companies can sometimes be very complex. Between
a departure port and destination company, products can get stopped for several weeks at
sea or somewhere in the numerous transportation stages and customs. To manage such
deliveries efficiently its important to:
know where your products are,
know when theyre likely to arrive at their destination,
know your value in transit,
follow the development of the different steps.
Linked locations in Open ERP enable this all to be managed rather elegantly. You can use a
structure like this:
Suppliers
European Suppliers
Chinese Suppliers
In transit
Shanghai Port
Pacific Ocean
San Francisco Port
San Francisco Customs

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18.5.1 Stock
The transit location are linked between themselves with a manual confirmation step. The
internal stock move is validated at each port and customs arrival. Open ERP prepares all the
linked moves automatically.
Note: Intrastat
Companies that do import / export should install the module report_intrastat. This enables
them to prepare the reports needed to declare product exports.
You can use the lead times between different locations to account for real delays. Your lead
times and stock forecasts are calculated by Open ERP to estimate the arrival of incoming
products so that you can respond to a customers needs as precisely as possible.
You can also value the products in transit in your account depending on the chosen stock
location configuration.

18.5.2 Rental locations

You can manage rental locations in Open ERP very simply using the same system of linked
locations. Using the module stock_location you can set a return date for rental items sent to
customer location after a certain rental period.
Then the set of real and virtual stocks is maintained daily in real time. The different
operations such as delivery and receipt after a few days are automatically suggested by
Open ERP which simplifies the work of data entry.
You then have the product list found in the customer locations and your own stock in your
stock location. The list of goods receipts waiting is automatically generated by Open ERP
using the location links.
The same principle is used for internal stock to generate the quality control for certain
products.

18.5.3 Consigned Products

The principle of linked locations is used to manage consigned products. You can specify that
certain products should be returned to you a certain number of days after they have been
delivered to customers.
When the products have been delivered Open ERP automatically creates goods receipts for
the consigned product. The specified date is obviously approximate but enables you to
forecast returns.

18.6 Warehouses
Warehouses are designed for physical locations from which you can deliver to the customer
and to which you receive raw materials. Then when you buy products from a supplier you

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should take account of which Warehouse you use for this purchase. This also enables the end
user to not have to choose from a list of locations but simply a real warehouses.
Use the menu Stock Management Configuration Warehouses then click New to configure
a new warehouse.
A warehouse is defined by a link between three locations:
The Location Stock field shows the place of products available for delivery to a customer
direct from this warehouse. Availability is given by all the products in that location and any
child locations.
The Location Input field shows where ordered products are received from a supplier to that
warehouse. It can be the same as the stock location if, for example, you want to do a quality
control operation on your incoming raw materials.
The Location Output field (called Output in the demonstration database) is designed as a
buffer zone in which you store all the items that have been picked but not yet delivered to a
customer. Youre strongly advised

18.6. Warehouses
not to put this location within the stock hierarchy but instead at a level higher or the
same.

Figure 18.18: Warehouse parameters

You can also set an address for the warehouse. This address should ideally be an address for
your company. Once the warehouse has been defined it can be used in:
Minimum stock rules,
Supplier orders,
Customer orders (using the definition of a point of sale, which is linked to a warehouse).

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18.6.1 Automatic procurement

Several methods of automatically procuring products can be carried out by Open ERP:
the workflow used by products that have the procurement mode Make to Order,
using minimum stock rules for Make to Stock products,
using the master production schedule for Make to Stock products.
The two last methods are described below.

18.6.2 Minimum stock rules

To automatically make stock replenishment proposals, you can use minimum stock rules. To
do this use the menu Stock Management Automatic Procurements Minimum Stock Rules.
The rule is the following: if the virtual stock for the given location is lower than the minimum
stock indicated in the rule, the system will automatically propose a procurement to increase
the level of virtual stock to the maximum level given in the rule.

Figure 18.19: List of minimum stock rules

Tip: Conflict resolution

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You may find that draft production or procurement orders dont happen correctly. That can
happen if the system is badly configured (for example if youve forgotten to set the supplier
on a product).
To check this, look at the list of procurements in the exception state in the menu Stock
Management Automatic Procurements Exceptions Procurements. More detail on handling
these exceptions is given in Manufacturing.
Its important to underline that the rule is based on virtual quantities and not just on real
quantities. It then takes account of the calculation of orders and receipts to come.
Take the following example:
Products in stock: 15
Products ordered but not delivered: 5
Products in manfacture: 2
The rules defined are:
Minimum stock: 13
Maximum stock: 25.
Once the rules have been properly configured the purchasing manager only needs to look at
the list of orders for confirmation with the supplier using the menu Purchase Management
Purchase Orders Requests for Quotation.
Note that the procurement doesnt require that you buy from a supplier. If the product has a
Supply method of Produce the scheduler will generate a production order and not a supplier
order.

18.6. Warehouses
You can also set multiple quantities in the minimum stock rules. If you set a multiple quantity
of 3 the system will propose procurement of 15 pieces not the 13 it really needs. In this case
it automatically rounds the quantity upwards.
In a minimum stock rule, when you indicate a warehouse it suggests a stock location by
default in that warehouse. You can change that location by default when the scheduler
completes, by location and not by warehouse.

18.7 Scheduling
The master production plan, sometimes called the MPS (Master Production Schedule), enables
you to generate forecasts for incoming and outgoing material. Its based on forecasts of
inputs and outputs by the logistics manager.
Note: MPS, Procurement and Production
Open ERP distinguishes between Production, Purchase and Production.

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Production is manufacture, Purchase is the acquisition of goods from another party, and
Procurement is either or both of those. So it would be better to call the MPS the Master
Procurement Schedule. Which Open ERP does!
Tip: Product trading
Also called the Production Plan, this tool is also very useful for traded products which arent
manufactured. You can then use it for stock management with purchased and manufactured
products.
To be able to use the production plan, you must install the stock_planning module. This can
be found amongst Open ERPs addons-extra rather in the main set of addons. (Beware! One
reason it is not in the core of Open ERP at the time of writing could be because some screens
have no navigation controls, so you cant always easily get back to the main Open ERP
system).

18.7.1 Sales Forecasts

The first thing to do to work with a production plan is to define the periods for stock
management. Some companies plan daily, others weekly or monthly.
Tip: Stock Management interval
The interval chosen for managing stock in the production plan will depend on the length of
your production cycle. You generally work daily, weekly or monthly.
If your products take several days to assemble its preferable to have a weekly plan. If your
manufacturing cycles are several months you can work with a monthly plan.
To do this use the menu Sales Management Configuration Create Sales Periods. A
window appears enabling you to automatically define the next periods that will be
provided for stock management.

Figure 18.20: Defining periods for stock management

Salespeople can then enter their sales forecasts by product and by period using the menu
Sales Management Sales Forecasts My Sales Forecasts. The forecasts can be made by
quantity or by value. For a forecast by amount Open ERP automatically calculates for you the
quantity equivalent to the estimated amount. This can be modified manually as needed
before completion.

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Figure 18.21: Sales Forecast to help create a master production plan

18.7.2 Production Plan

The manager responsible for logistics then plans receipts (manufacturing or purchases) and
outgoings ( consumption or customer deliveries) by period. To do this use the menu Stock
Management Planning Master Procurement Schedule.
For each period and product Open ERP gives you the following information:
stock estimated at the end of the period, calculated as stock in the following period less total
estimated outgoings plus total estimated inputs,
closed entries, coming from production or confirmed purchases,
forecast inputs for the period, calculated using the incoming entries less the closing amounts,
planned inputs entered manually by the logistics manager,
closed outgoings which are the consumption of manufacturing waiting and deliveries to be
made to customers,
forecast outgoings, calculated from the planned outgoings, less the closing amounts,
planned outgoings, manually entered by the logistics manager,
sales forecasts, which represent the sum of forecasts made by the salespeople.

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18.7. Scheduling

Figure 18.22: The master production schedule ( MPS )

The production plan then enables the logistics manager to play with the forecast income and
outgoings and test the impact on the future stock for the product under consideration. It
enables you for example to check that the stock doesnt fall below a certain level for the
product under consideration.
You can also open the production plan for past periods. In this case Open ERP shows you the
real stock moves, by period for forecast reports.
If you dont have automated procurement rules for a product you can start procurement at
any time based on the estimates of the production plan. To do this press the button Procure
Incoming Left (i.e. remaining) on the Master Procurement Schedule. Open ERP plans
procurement for an amount equal to the entries forecast.

18.8 Management of lots and traceability

The double-entry management in Open ERP enables you to run very advanced traceability. All
operations are formalized in terms of stock moves, so its very simple to search for the cause
of any gaps in stock moves.
Note: Upstream and downstream traceability
Upstream traceability runs from the raw materials received from the supplier and follows the
chain to the finished products delivered to customers. (Note that the name is confusing - this
would often be considered a downstream direction. Think of it as Where Used.)
Downstream traceability follows the product in the other direction, from customer to the
different suppliers of raw material. (Note that the name is confusing - this would often be
considered an upstream direction. Think of it as Where Supplied.)

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18.8.1 Stock Moves

Use the menu Stock Management Traceability Low Level Stock Moves to track past
stock transactions for a product or a given location. All the operations are available. You can
filter on the various fields to retrieve the

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operations about an order, or a production activity, or a source location, or any given
destination.

Figure 18.23: History of stock movements

Each stock move is in a given state. The different possible states are:
Draft : the move has so far had no effect in the system. The transaction hasnt yet been
confirmed,
Confirmed : the move will be done, so it will be counted in the calculations of virtual stock.
But you dont know whether it will be done without problem because the products have been
reserved for the move,
Validated : the move will be done and the necessary raw material have been reserved for the
transaction,
Done : the stock move has been done, and entered into the calculations of real stock,
Waiting : in the case of transactions From Order , this state shows that the stock move is
blocked waiting for the end of another move,
Cancelled : the stock move wasnt carried out, so theres no accounting for it in either real
stock or virtual stock.
Delivery orders, goods receipts and internal picking lists are just documents that group a set
of stock moves. You can also consult the history of these documents using the menu Stock
Management Traceability Low level Packing.

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18.8.2 Lots
Open ERP can also manage product lots. Two lot types are defined:

18.8. of lots and traceability

Production lots (batch numbers) are represented by a unique product or an assembly of
identical products leaving the same production area. They are usually identified by bar codes
stuck on the products. The batch can be marked with a supplier number or your own
company numbers.
Tracking numbers are logistical lots for identifying the container for a set of products. This
corresponds, for example, to the pallet numbers on which several different products are
stocked.
These lots can be encoded onto all stock moves and, specifically, on goods-in lines, internal
moves and product deliveries.

Figure 18.24: Entering a line for production receipt

To enter the lot number in an operation you can use an existing lot number or create a new
lot. A production lot ( batch number) is used for a single product. A tracking number can be
used several times for different products, so you can mix different products on a pallet or in a
box.
Note: Simplified View
In the Simplified View the tracking numbers cant be seen: the field is hidden. To get to
Extended View mode, assign the group Usability Extended View to the current user.

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You can also specify on the product form the operations in which a lot number is required. You
can then compel the user to set a lot number for manufacturing operations, goods receipt, or
customer packing.
You dont have to encode the lot number one by one to assign a unique lot number to a set of
several items. You only need to take a stock move for several products line and click the
button Split in Production Lots. You can then give a lot number prefix (if you want) and Open
ERP will complete the prefix in the wizard with a continuing sequence number. This sequence
number might correspond to a set of pre-printed barcodes that you stick on each product.

Figure 18.25: Splitting a lot into uniquely identified parts

18.8.3 Traceability
If you code in the lot numbers for stock moves as described above you can then investigate
the traceability of any given lot number. To do this use the menu Stock Management
Traceability Production Lots, or Stock Management Traceability Tracking Lots.
Tip: Product Shortcuts
From the product form, the toolbar to the right offers useful information:

Minimum stock rules,

Stocks by location,

Sales detail,

Stocks by lot,

Bills of Materials.
Search for a particular lot using the filters for the lot number, the date or the product. Once
you can see the form about this lot several actions are possible:

Traceability upstream : from supplier through to

customers, Traceability downstream : from
customer back to suppliers,

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Stock in all the physical and virtual locations.

18.8. of lots and traceability

Figure 18.26: Tracing upstream in Make to Order

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Figure 18.27: Tracing downstream in Make to Stock

Finally, on a lot, you can enter data on all the operations that have been done on the product.
That forms a useful history of the pre-sales operations.

18.9 Management by Journal

You can manage stock through journals in the same way as you can manage your accounts
through journals. This approach has the great advantage of being able to define journals in
various ways as you need them to meet your companys needs.
For example, a large company may want to organize deliveries by department or warehouse.
You can then create a journal and a manager for each department. The different users can
then work in a journal as a function of their position in the company. That enables you to
structure your information better.
A company that does a lot of transport can organize its journals by delivery vehicle. The
different delivery orders will then be assigned to a journal representing a particular vehicle.
Then if the vehicle has left the company you can confirm all the orders that are found in the
journal all at the same time.

18.9.1 The different journals

Install the module sale_journal to work with journals. This adds three new concepts to Open
ERP:
Invoicing journals,
Order journals,
Delivery journals.

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Invoicing journals are used to assign purchase orders and/or delivery order to a given
invoicing journal. Everything in the journal can be invoiced in one go, and you can control the
amounts by journal. For example you can create the following journals: daily invoicing, endof-week invoicing, and end-of-month invoicing. Its also possible to show the invoicing journal
by default in the partner form.
Order journals look like orders and are automatically transferred to orders for the
corresponding items. These enable you to classify the orders in various ways, such as by
department, by salesperson, or by type. Then if a salesperson looks at her own journals after
an order she can easily see the work on current items compared with her own orders.
Tip: Default Values
To enter all the orders in their own order journal, a salesperson can use the default values
that are entered in the fields when creating orders.
Finally the delivery journals are used to post each item into a delivery journal. For example
you can create journals dated according to customer delivery dates (such as Mondays
deliveries, or afternoon deliveries) or these journals could represent the days work for
delivery vehicles (such as truck1, truck2).

18.9.2 Using the journals

Youll now see how to use the journals to organize your stock management in practice. After
installing the module sale_journal look at the list of partners. In the tab Sales and Purchases
on any of them youll now see the field Invoicing Method.

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Figure 18.28: Partner form in invoicing mode

You can create a new Invoicing Journal on a partner on the fly. You can show if the invoices
should be grouped or not after you have generated them in the journal. Create a second
invoicing journal End-of-Month Invoicing which you can assign to another partner.

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Figure 18.29: Defining an invoicing journal

Then enter the data for some orders for these two partners. After entering this order data, the
field Invoicing Mode is completed automatically from the partner settings. Put these orders
into the Invoicing Mode based on items in the second tab.
Look at the assembly notes about these orders in the field Invoicing Mode is automatically
shown there. Then confirm the different orders in the list.
At the end of the day, the invoicing supervisor can put the list by journal. To do this, use the
menu Stock Management Sorted List List to invoice. Choose the invoicing journal and all
the lists of orders to invoice then open in list view. Its then possible to automatically carry
out invoicing by clicking the action Invoice (the gears symbol in the application client).
Tip: Confirming invoices
By default, invoices are generated in the draft state which enables you to modify them
before sending them to the customer. But you can confirm all the invoices in one go by
selecting them all from the list and doing the action Confirm draft invoices.
At the end of the month the invoicing management does the same work but in the journal
month-end invoicing.
You can also enter a journal to confirm / cancel all the orders in one go. Then you can do
several quotations and assign them in a journal and confirm or cancel them
en masse at once.

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18.9. by Journal

Figure 18.30: View of an order journal

18.10 Advanced elements of stock management

In this section youll enter the details of management and control of stocks.

18.10.1 Requirements Calculation / Scheduling

Requirements calculation is the calculation engine that plans, prioritizes and starts the
automated procurement as a function of rules defined in the products.
Note: Requirements Calculation
Requirements Calculation is often called Scheduling.
By default, it automatically starts once per day. You can also start it manually using the menu
Manufacturing Start All Schedulers. It then uses the parameters defined in the products,
the suppliers, and the company to determine the priorities between the different product
orders, deliveries and purchases from suppliers.

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18.10.2 Just in Time

By default, scheduling starts automatically once a day. You should make this run happen
overnight to ensure that the system doesnt slow down under a heavy load of scheduling
when youre also trying to use it interactively yourselves.
To set the time it starts use the menu Administration Configuration Scheduler
Scheduled Actions. Select the rule called Run MRP Scheduler and modify the date and time
of the next execution. Some companies want to plan orders progressively as they are entered
so they dont wait until procurement orders are planned the next day.

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Install the module mrp_jit to handle this. Once its installed, each requirement (that could
result in a Production or Purchase Order) will be planned in real time as soon as its been
confirmed.
Then if you make a customer order with a product thats Make To Order the quotation
request to a supplier will be generated. ..tip :: Delivery from the supplier or to the customer
The sale_supplier_direct_delivery module enables you to deliver the product
directly from the supplier to the customer. At the time of writing this module is in
addons-extra . The logic that the product follows is configured individually for each
product and affects only those products marked
Make to Order.
This mode is not always sensible. Each order is processed immediately its been confirmed.
So if an order is to be delivered in three months the scheduler will reserve goods in stock for
each order once its been confirmed. It would have been more sensible to leave these
products available for other orders.
If a Purchase Orders Invoicing Control is configured From Order, the scheduler will
immediately create the corresponding supplier quotation request. It would have been
preferable to delay for several weeks if you could have used the lead time to group the
purchase with other future orders.
So the negative effects of working with the Just in Time module are:
Poor priority management between orders,
Additional stocked products.

18.10.3 Planning
Youve seen that most Open ERP documents can be changed in a planning view. Its the
same for deliveries and goods receipts. You can put them into a calendar view at any
time to plan your deliveries or goods receipts.

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Figure 18.31: Planning the deliveries of customer products

Planned dates on a packing order are put on each stock move line. Then if you have a
packing order containing several products you dont have to have all of the lines on the
order delivered on the same day. The minimum and maximum dates on a packing order
show the earliest and latest dates on the stock move lines for the packing.
If you move a packing order in the calendar view, the planned date on the stock move lines
will automatically be moved as a result.

18.10.4 Management of partial deliveries

Partial deliveries, sometimes called Back Orders, are generated automatically by Open ERP.
When you confirm a customer delivery or the receipt of products from suppliers, Open ERP
asks you to confirm the quantity delivered or received.
If you leave the quantities alone, Open ERP confirms and then closes the order for delivery
or receipt. If you modify a quantity, Open ERP will automatically generate a second
delivery or goods receipt document for the remaining quantities. The first will be confirmed
and the second will remain on the list of waiting deliveries (or receipts).

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Figure 18.32: Confirmation screen for delivered quantities

When you open the list of current deliveries, you find the field Partial delivery which shows
the reference number of the first delivery sent to the customer. That enables you to quickly
find the deliveries for partial orders each day so that you can treat them as a priority.

18.10.5 Receiving supplier products

Open ERP supports three approaches to controlling data entry on products ordered from
suppliers:
Manual data entry,
Using the goods receipt documents pre-generated by the system,
Selecting from all the products waiting from the supplier, independently from goods receipt
documents.
You can see how the configuration of the supplier order affects receipts in detail in
Purchasing Management.

18.10.6 Manual data entry of goods receipt

To enter data about goods receipt manually you must use the menu Stock Management
Goods Receipt New items received. Then enter the necessary data manually
in the goods receipt form.

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Figure 18.33: Manual data entry for product receipt

18.10.7 Confirming pre-generated goods receipt documents

If you use Supplier Orders in Open ERP, product receipts are automatically generated by the
system when the purchase order is confirmed. You dont have to enter any date, just confirm
that the quantities ordered match the quantities received.
In this case Open ERP generates a list of all products waiting to be received from the menu
Stock Management Incoming Products Packing to Process.

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Figure 18.34: List of items waiting for receipt

Then you just look for the corresponding entry using the supplier name or order reference.
Click it and confirm the quantities. If it shows you quantities that differ from the control
form, Open ERP will automatically generate another receipt document that will be set open,
waiting for the remaining deliveries. You can leave it open or cancel it if you know that
products missed by your supplier will never be delivered.

18.10.8 Confirmation by selecting products waiting

The approach shown above is very useful if goods receipts correspond to the original orders.
If your suppliers deliver items that dont necessarily coincide with the orders, however, it is
easier to work by products received rather than by orders.
In this case you can manually create a new goods receipt using the menu Stock
Management Incoming Products New Reception Packing. Instead of entering all the
product lines manually you can click the button at the lower right Products not received.
Open ERP then opens a list of all the goods waiting from that supplier and you can then
automatically add some or all of them on your form. This method of data entry is very useful
when youre entering goods received at one time from several orders.

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18.10.9 Product routing

You should install the stock_location module if routing products to customers, from
suppliers or in your warehouse is determined by the identity of the
product itself.

Figure 18.35: Managing the paths from one location to another in a product form
This will let you configure logistics rules individually for each product. For example, when a
specific product arrives in stores it can automatically be sent to quality control. In this case
it must be configured with rules on the product form. The fields that make up those rules
are:
Source location : the rule only applies if a product comes from this location,
Destination location : the rule only applies if a product ends up in this location,
Type of move: automatic, manual, automatic with no steps,
Lead time for move,
Name of operations : a free text field which will be included in the automatic stock move
proposed by Open ERP.
Youll now see some examples of using these locations and logistics by product:

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A rentable product,
A product bought in China, following its freight by ship from port to port,
A product that you want to send to quality control before putting it in stocks.
Example 1: A rentable product
A rentable product is just a product delivered to a customer that is expected to be returned
in a few days time. When it has been delivered to the customer, Open ERP will generate a
new goods receipt note with a forecast date at the end of the rental period. So you generate
a list of goods pending receipt that you confirm when they are returned to your stores. To do
this you should configure a product with the following rules:
Table 18.11: Example
Rental
Field
Source location
Destination
location
Type of
Movement
Lead time
Operation

Product

For

Value
Customer
Stock
Manual

15 days
Product
return
Then when the product is delivered to the customer, Open ERP automatically generates a
goods receipt form in the draft state ready for returning it to Stock. This is due in 15 days
time. With such a system your forecasts and stock graphs can always be correct in real time.

Example 2: Management of imports by sea

To manage products that follow a complex logistical import path by sea and then into
customs, create as many Supplier locations as there are steps, then create rules to move
the product from one place to the other during the purchase.
Take a product that has been bought in China and delivered to you stores in Brussels,
Belgium. Import by sea take around 7 weeks and must go through the following steps:
Delivery from the supplier to the port of Shanghai: 2 days,
Sea transport from Shanghai to the port of Anvers: 1 month,
Customer at the port of Anvers: 2 weeks,
Delivery by truck from the port of Anvers to your stores: 3 days.
You should track the movement of your goods and enter all the documents as each move is
made so that you know where your goods are at any moment, and can estimate when they
are likely to arrive in your stores. To do this, create all the locations for the intermediate
steps:

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Shanghai Port,
Anvers Port,
Anvers Customs.
Finally, on the product form, create the following rule to show that when purchased, the
goods dont arrive at your stores directly, but instead at the port of Shanghai. In this
example the stores are configured to enter all the products in a location called Input.
Table 18.12: Rule to move products automatically to
Shanghai Port
Field
Source location
Destination
location
Type of
Movement
Lead time
Operation

Value
Input
Shanghai Port

Automatic without
steps
2 days
Sending to
Shanghai Port
Open ERP will then change the usual product receipt (which has them arriving in the Input
location) to a delivery from this supplier to the external port. The move is automatically
carried out because operations at this level are too labour-intensive to be done manually.
You then have to create a rule on the product form to move it from one location to another:
Table 18.13: Rule to move products manually from
Shanghai Port to Anvers Port

Field
Source location
Destination
location
Type of
Movement
Lead time
Operation

Value
Shanghai Port
Anvers Port

Field
Source location
Destination
location
Type of
Movement
Lead time
Operation

Value
Anvers Port
Anvers
Customs
Manual

Manual

30 days
Sending to Anvers Port
by ship
Table 18.14: Rule to move products
manually from Anvers Port to Anvers
Customs

15 days
Customs at
Anvers
Table 18.15: Rule to move products manually from

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Anvers Customs to Stock
Field
Source location
Destination
location
Type of
Movement
Lead time
Operation

Value
Anvers Customs
Stock
Manual

3 days
Truck transport into
stock
Once the rules have been configured, Open ERP will automatically prepare all the
documents needed for the internal stock movements of products from one location to
another. These documents will be assigned one after another depending on the order
defined in the rules definition.
When the company received notification of the arrival at a port or at customers, the
corresponding move can be confirmed. You can then follow, using each location:

where a given goods item can be found,

quantities of goods awaiting customs,
lead times for goods to get to stores,
the value of stock in different locations.
Example 3: Quality Control
You can configure the system to put a given product in the Quality Control bay automatically
when it arrives in your company. To do that you just configure a rule for the product to be
placed in the Quality Control location rather than the Input location when the product is
received from the supplier.
Table 18.16: Rule to move products
manually from Input to Quality
Control
Field
Source location
Destination
location
Type of
Movement
Lead time
Operation

Value
Input
Quality
Control
Manual

0 days
Quality
Control
Once this product has been received, Open ERP will then automatically manage the request
for an internal movement to send it to the Quality Control location.

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CHAPTER

NINETEEN

MANUFACTURING
The management of manufacturing described in this chapter covers planning,
ordering, stocks and the manufacturing or assembly of products from raw
materials and components. It also discusses consumption and production of
products, as well as the necessary operations on machinery, tools or human
resources.
The management of manufacturing in Open ERP is based on its stock management and, like
it, is very flexible in both its operations and its financial control. It benefits particularly from
the use of double-entry stock management for production orders. Manufacturing
management is implemented by the mrp module. It is used for transforming all types of
products:
Assemblies of parts: composite products, soldered or welded products, assemblies, packs,
Machined parts: machining, cutting, planing,
Foundries: clamping, heating,
Mixtures: mixing, chemical processes, distillation.
Youll work in two areas: on products in the first part of this chapter, and on operations in the
second part. The management of products depends on the concept of classifications while
the management of operations depends on routing and workcenters.
Note: Bills of Materials
Bills of Materials, or manufacturing specifications, go by different names depending on their
application area, for example:

Food: Recipes,

Chemicals: Equations,

Building: Plans.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with mrp
and its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.

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19.1 Management of production

Production Orders describe the operations that need to be carried out and the raw materials
usage for each stage of production, You use specifications (bills of materials) to work out the
raw material requirements and the manufacturing orders needed for the finished products.
Manufacturing has the following results:
Stock reduction: consumption of raw materials,
Stock increase: production of finished goods,
Analytic costs: manufacturing operations,
Added accounting value of stock: by the creation of value following the transformation of
products.

19.2 Bills of Materials

19.2.1 Use of Bills of Materials
Bills of Materials are documents that describe the list of raw materials used to make a
finished product. To illustrate the concept of specification youre going to work on a cabinet
where the manufacturing plan is given by the figure Plan of construction of a cabinet.

Figure 19.1: Plan of construction of a cabinet

The cabinet is assembled from raw materials and intermediate assemblies:
Table 19.1: Product Definitions before
defining Bills of Materials

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Product
Code
ARM100
PANLAT

Description

Cabinet
Wooden Side
Panel
PANA100
Rear Panel
PROFIL
Metal Strut
ETA100
Shelf
PLET100
Shelf Panel
BOIS002
Wood Panel
BOIS010
Wood Panel
TAQ000
Panel Pins
LIN040
Lintel
To describe how to assemble this cabinet, you define a bill of materials for each intermediate
product and for the final cabinet assembly. These are given by the table below.
Table 19.2: Bill of Materials for 1 ARM100 Unit
Product
Code
PANLAT
PANA100
PROFIL
ETA100
Table 19.3:

Quantit
Unit of
y
Measure
2
Unit
1
Unit
4
Unit
3
Unit
Bill of Materials for 1 ETA100 Unit

Product
Quantit
Unit of
Code
y
Measure
PLET100
1
Unit
TAQ000
4
Unit
Table 19.4: Bill of Materials for 1 PLET100 Unit
Product
Quantit
Unit of
Code
y
Measure
BOIS010
0.083
m2
Table 19.5: Bill of Materials for 1 PROFIL Unit
Product
Quantit
Unit of
Code
y
Measure
LIN40
0.25
m
Table 19.6: Bill of Materials for 1 PANA100 Unit
Product
Quantit
Unit of
Code
y
Measure
BOIS002
0.25
m2
Table 19.7: Bill of Materials for 1 PANLAT Unit
Product
Quantit
Unit of
Code
y
Measure
BOIS002
0.083
m2
The bills of materials are then used by the software to calculate the raw material needs
based on the requirements of the finished products. Then if you want to manufacture 10
cabinets, the system can calculate what will be consumed: Table 19.8: Total Quantities
Product
Code

Quantity

Unit of
Measure

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BOIS002

2 * 0.083 +
m2
0.25
LIN040
1
m
BOIS002
0.083 * 3
m2
TAQ000
12
Unit
Tip: Bill of Materials
To see the bill of materials in tree view, use the menu Manufacturing Configuration Bill
of Materials Bill of Materials Structure.

19.2. Bills of Materials

Figure 19.2: Bill of Materials structure

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Use the menu Manufacturing Configuration Bill of Materials New Bill of Materials to
define a new bill of materials.

Figure 19.3: Screen defining a Bill of Materials

In the area below the bill of materials you should set the finished product, which will be
manufactured or assembled. Once the product has been selected, Open ERP automatically
completes the name of the bill of materials and the default Unit of Measure for this product.
The type of BoM (BoM Type : Phantom or Normal) and the Routing field will be described in
more detail later in the chapter.
After this you can select the raw materials that are used in the manufacture of the finished
product. The quantities are set out in a report based on the quantities of finished product
and the quantities needed to produce them from the bill of materials. The second tab,
Revisions, is used to set down all the changes made to the bill of materials. After each
change you can specify a revision number and some notes on the modifications you carried
out.
Note: Simplified View
The Revisions tab is only visible if the user works in the Extended View mode (which means
that the user must belong to the group Usability / Extended View .

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19.2. Bills of Materials

Figure 19.4: Revisions of a Bill of Materials

In the third tab, Properties, you can put a free text reference to a plan, a sequence number
that is used to determine the priorities between bills of materials, dates between which a bill
of materials is valid, and values for rounding and product efficiency.
Rounding is used to set the smallest Unit of Measure for expressing the quantities of the
selected product. So if you set the rounding to 1.00 youll not be able to manufacture half a
piece. The Efficiency of the product lets you indicate the percentage you lose during
manufacture. This loss can be set for the finished product or for each raw materials line. The
impact of this efficiency figure is to reserve more raw materials for manufacture than youd
otherwise use just from the Bill of Materials calculations.
The final part of the third tab lets you set some properties for the products manufacturing
processes. These will be detailed further on in the chapter in the section on configurable
products.

19.3 Multi-level Bills of Materials

In Open ERP each line of a bill of materials may itself be a bill of materials. So you can define
BoMs with several levels. Instead of defining several BoMs for the cabinet in the figure Plan
of construction of a cabinet you could define the single bill of materials below:

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Table 19.9: Single Bill of Materials for 1 ARM100
Unit
Product
Quantit
Unit of
Code
y
Measure
ARM100
1
Unit
PANLAT
2
Unit
BOIS002
0.166
m2
PANA100
1
Unit
BOIS002
0.25
m2
PROFIL
4
Unit
LIN040
1
m
ETA100
3
Unit
PLET100
3
Unit
BOIS010
0.249
m2
TAQ000
12
Unit
Open ERP behaves differently depending on whether the bill of materials is defined in
several small BoMs each on a single level or in one BoM tree-structured on several levels.
So if you select a BoM using intermediate products that automatically generates production
orders based on calculated requirements, Open ERP will propose manufacturing an
intermediate product. To manufacture a cabinet, youd create 6 production orders:
Table 19.10: Production Order
Product
Code
PLET100
BOIS010

Quantit
Unit of
y
Measure
3
Unit
0.25
m2
Table 19.11: Production Order

Product
Code
ETA100
PLET100
TAQ000

Quantit
Unit of
y
Measure
3
Unit
3
Unit
12
Unit
Table 19.12: Production Order

Product
Code
PROFIL
LIN040

Quantit
Unit of
y
Measure
4
Unit
1
m
Table 19.13: Production Order

Product
Code
PANA100
BOIS002

Quantit
Unit of
y
Measure
1
Unit
0.25
m2
Table 19.14: Production Order

Product
Quantit
Unit of
Code
y
Measure
PANA100
2
Unit
BOIS002
0.17
m2
19.3. Multi-level Bills of Materials
Table 19.15: Production Order

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Product
Quantit
Unit of
Code
y
Measure
ARM100
1
Unit
PANLAT
2
Unit
PANA100
1
Unit
PROFIL
4
Unit
ETA100
3
Unit
In the case where a single bill of materials is defined in multiple levels, a single
manufacturing order will be generated for each cabinet, including all of the sub-BoMs. Youd
then get the following production order:
Table 19.16: Single
treestructured BoM

manufacture

Product
Code
ARM100
BOIS002
BOIS002
LIN040
BOIS010
TAQ000

Unit of
Measure
Unit
m2
m2
m
m2
Unit

Quantit
y
1
0.17
0.25
1
0.25
12

from

19.3.1 Phantom Bills of Materials

If a finished product is defined using intermediate products that are themselves defined
using other BoMs, Open ERP will then propose the manufacture of each intermediate
product. This will give several production orders. If you only want a single production order
you can define a single BoM with several levels.
Sometimes, however, it is useful to define the intermediate product separately and not as
part of a multi-level assembly even if you dont want separate production orders for
intermediate products.
In the example, the intermediate product ETA100 is used in the manufacture of several
different cabinets. So youd want to define a unique BoM for it even if you didnt want any
instances of this product to be built, nor wanted to re-write these elements in a series of
different multi-level BoMs.
If you only want a single production order for the complete cabinet, and not one for the BoM
itself, you can define the BoM line corresponding to product ETA100 in the cabinets BoM as
type Phantom. Then it will automatically put ETA100s BoM contents into the cabinets
production order even though its been defined as multi-level.
This way of representing the assembly is very useful because it allows you to define
reusable elements of the assembly and keep them isolated.
If you define the BoM for the ARM100 cabinet in the way shown by the table below, youll
get two production orders when the order is confirmed, as shown in the tables below that.
Table 19.17: Definition and use of phantom BoMs
Product
Code

390

Quantit
y

Unit of
Measure

Type of
BoM

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ARM100
PANLAT
PANA100
PROFIL
ETA100
Table 19.18:

1
2
1
4
3
Production

Product
Code
ARM100
PANLAT
BOIS002
LIN040
BOIS010
TAQ000
Table 19.19:
Product
Code
PANLAT
BOIS002

Unit
normal
Unit
normal
Unit
phantom
Unit
phantom
Unit
phantom
Order from phantom BoMs

Quantit
y
1
2
0.25
1
0.25
12
Production
Quantit
y
2
0.17

Unit of
Measure
Unit
Unit
m2
m
m2
Unit
Order from normal BoM
Unit of
Measure
Unit
m2

19.3.2 Assembly Bills of Materials

Note: Sales Bills of Materials
In some software this is named a Sales Bill of Materials. In Open ERP the term assembly is
used because the effect of the bill of materials is visible not only in sales but also
elsewhere, for example in the intermediate manufactured products.
Assembly bills of materials enable you to define assemblies that will be sold directly. These
could also be used in deliveries and stock management rather than just sold in isolation. For
example if you deliver the cabinet in pieces for self-assembly, set the ARM100 BoM to type
Assembly .
When a salesperson creates an order for an ARM100 product, Open ERP automatically
changes the ARM100 from a set of components into an identifiable package for sending to a
customer. Then it asks the storesperson to pack 2 PANLAT, 1 PANA100, 4 PROFIL, 3 ETA100.
This is described as an ARM100 not just the individual delivered products.
Example: Large distributor
As an example of using these assemblies, take the case of a supermarket. In a supermarket,
you can buy bottles of cola individually or in a pack of 6 bottles. The pack and the bottles
are two different products and the barcodes used are also different.
But customers have the right to open a pack and extract some bottles to take them
individually to the checkout. The supermarket cant track its stock in packs and bottles any
more, but only individually in bottles.
So you can define a bill of materials for sale which defines a pack as an assembly of 6
bottles. Then when youve sold a pack, you can find a pack on the invoice or bill of sale but
the associated stock operation will still be 6 bottles.

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In the case of this assembly, this isnt a production order to transform the product. The
transformation is done directly between the order and the set.
Note: Assemblies and Purchases
The use of assemblies for selling to customers has been described here, but this
functionality works just as well for purchases from suppliers.
So in the example of a supermarket, you can buy cola in packs and the storesperson will
see a number of bottles at goods in reception.

19.3. Multi-level Bills of Materials

19.3.3 Configurable Bills of Materials

In Open ERP you can define several bills of materials for the same product. In fact you can
have several manufacturing methods or several approved raw materials for a given product.
Youll see in the following section that the manufacturing procedure (the routing) is attached
to the Bill of Materials, so the choice of bill of materials implicitly includes the operations to
make it.
Once several bills of materials have been defined for a particular product you need to have a
system to enable Open ERP to select one of them for use. By default the bill of materials
with the lowest sequence number is selected by the system.
To gain more control over the process during the sale or procurement, you can use
properties. The menu Production Management Configuration Properties enables you to
define properties, which can be defined arbitrarily to help you select a bill of materials when
you have a choice of BoMs.
Note: Properties
Properties is a concept that enables the selection of a method for manufacturing a product.
Properties define a common language between salespeople and technical people, letting
the salespeople to have an influence on the manufacture of the products using nontechnical language and the choices decided on by the technicians who define Bills of
Materials.
For example you can define the properties and the following groups:
Table 19.20: Properties
Property Group
Warranty
Warranty
Method of
Manufacture
Method of
Manufacture

392

Propert
y
3 years
1 year
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Once the bills of materials have been defined you could associate the corresponding
properties to them. Then when the salesperson goes to encode a product line he can attach
the properties there. If the product must be manufactured, Open ERP will automatically
choose the bill of materials that matches the defined properties in the order most closely.
Note the properties are only visible in the Bills of Materials and Sales Management if youre
working in the Extended View mode. If you cant see it on your screen add the group
Useability / Extended View to your user.

Figure 19.5: Properties on a customer order line

Example: Manufacturing in a batch or on a production line
As an example, take the manufacture of the cabinet presented above. You can imagine that
the company has two methods of manufacturing this cabinet:
Manually: staff assemble the cabinets one by one and cut the wood plank by plank. This
approach is usually used to assembly prototypes. It gets you very rapid production, but at a
high cost and only in small quantities.
On a production line: staff use machines that are capable of cutting wood by bandsaw. This
method is used for production runs of at least 50 items because the lead times using this
method are quite lengthy. The delay to the start of production is much longer, yet the cost
per unit is much lower in this volume.
You define two bills of materials for the same cabinet. To distinguish between them, you will
define to properties in the same group: manual assembly and production line assembly . On
the quotation, the salesperson can set the method of manufacture he wants on each order
line, depending on the quantities and the lead time requested by the customer.
Note: bills of materials and substitute products

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In some software, you use the term substitute for this principle of configurable properties in
a bill of materials.
By putting a bill of materials on its own line, you can also implement substitute products.
You set the bill of materials to type Assembly to make the substitution transparent and to
prevent Open ERP from proposing an intermediate production order.

19.4 Manufacturing
Once the bills of materials have been defined, Open ERP becomes capable of automatically
deciding on the manufacturing route depending on the needs of the company.

19.4. Manufacturing
Production orders can be proposed automatically by the system depending on several
criteria described in the preceding chapter:

Using the Make to Order

rules,

Using

the

Order

Point

rules,

Using

the

Production plan.

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Figure 19.6: Automatically proposing production orders
Clearly its also possible to start production manually. To do this you can use the menu
Manufacturing Production Orders New Production Order. If you havent installed the
Just-In-Time planning module mrp_jit, you should start using Open ERP to schedule the
Production Orders automatically using the various system rules. To do this use the menu
Manufacturing Compute All Schedulers.

19.5 Workflow for complete production

To understand the usefulness and the functioning of the system you should test a complete
workflow on the new database installed with the demonstration data. In the order you can
see:
The creation of a customer order,
The manufacturing workflow for an intermediate product,
The manufacture of an ordered product,
The delivery of products to a customer,
Invoicing at the end of the month,

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Traceability for after-sales service.
Tip: Demonstration data
To follow the workflow shown below exactly, you should keep the same quantities as in the
example and start from a new database. Then you wont run into exceptions that would
result from a lack of stock.
This more advanced case of handling problems in procurement, will be sorted out later in the
chapter.

19.5.1 The customer order

Begin by encoding a customer order. To do this, use the menu Sales Management Sales
Orders -> New Quotation. Enter the following information:
Customer : Agrolait,
Shipping Policy : Invoice from picklist (second tab),
Order Line :

Product : PC2 Basic PC (assemble on demand),

Quantity (UoM) : 1 ,

Product UoM : PCE,

Procure method : Make To Order.

Once the quotation has been entered you can confirm it immediately by clicking the button
Confirm Order at the bottom to the right. Keep note of the order reference because this
follows all through the process. Usually, in a new database, this will be SO007 . At this stage
you can look at the process linked to your order using the Process button above and to the
right of the form.

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Figure 19.7: Process for handling Sales Order

SO007 Start the requirements calculation using the menu Manufacturing
Compute All Schedulers.

19.5.2 Producing an Intermediate Product

To understand the implications of requirements calculation, you must know the configuration
of the sold product. To do this, go to the form for product PC2 and click on the link Bill of
Materials to the right. You get the scheme shown in Composition of product PC2 in the
demonstration data which is the composition of the selected product.

19.5. Workflow for complete production

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Figure 19.8: Composition of product PC2 in the demonstration data

Manufacturing the PC2 computer must be done in two steps:
1: Manufacture of the intermediate product: CPU_GEN
2: Manufacture of the finished product using that intermediate product: PC2
The manufacturing supervisor can then consult the product orders using the menu
Manufacturing Production
Orders Production Orders To Start. You then get a list of orders to start and the estimated
start date to meet the ordered customer delivery date.

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Figure 19.9: List of production orders

Youll see the production order for CPU_GEN but not that for PC2 because that one depends
on an intermediate product. Return to the production order for CPU_GEN and click below it. If
there are several of them, select the one corresponding to your order using the reference
that contains your order number (in this example SO007 ).

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Figure 19.10: The detail of a production order

The system shows you that you must manufacture product CPU_GEN using the components:
MB1, CPU1, FAN, RAM. You can then confirm the production twice:
Start of production: consumption of raw materials,
End of production: manufacture of finished product.
At this stage, you should click to edit the line for the product MB1 to enter a lot number for it.
The lot number is usually shown the parent chart, so you should just copy that over. To do
that put the cursor in the field Production Lot and press <F1> to create a new lot. Set a lot
reference, for example: MB1345678 . The system may then show you a warning because this
lot is not in stock, but you can ignore this message.
The production order must be in the closed state as shown in the figure Production order
after the different stages.

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Figure 19.11: Production order after the different stages

19.5.3 Manufacture of finished product

Having manufactured the intermediate product CPU_GEN, Open ERP then automatically
proposes the manufacture of the computer PC2 using the order created earlier. So return to
the menu for production orders to start Manufacturing Production Orders Production
Orders to start.
Youll find computer PC2 which has been sold to the customer, as shown in the figure List of
production orders.

19.5. Workflow for complete production

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Figure 19.12: List of production orders

Just as for product CPU_GEN, confirm the production order between two dates: start of
production and end of production. The product sold to the customer has now been
manufactured and the raw materials have been consumed and taken out of stock.
Tip: Automatic Actions
As well as managing the use of materials and the production of stocks, manufacturing can
have the following automatic effects which are detailed further on in the chapter:

adding value to stock,

generating operations for assembly staff,

automatically creating analytical accounting entries.

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19.5.4 Delivery of product to the customer

When the products have been manufactured, the storesperson automatically finds the order
in his list of items to do. To see the items waiting for delivery, use the menu Stock
Management Outgoing Products Available Packing. Youll find lists of packing to be
done, there, as shown in the figure List of packing operations to be done.

Figure 19.13: List of packing operations to be done

The packing orders are presented in priority order of despatch so the storesperson must
begin with the orders at the top of the list. Confirm that your packing list has been created
by looking for the customer name ( Agrolait ) or by its reference ( SO007 ). Click on it and
then click the button Approve.
Tip: Packing and Delivery
Depending on whether you work in the simplified or extended mode you may need a further
step to make a delivery to your customer, so youd have to carry out the two steps:

picking list,

delivery order.

19.5.5 Invoicing at delivery

Periodically the administrator or an accountant can send invoices based on the deliveries
that have been carried out. To do that, you can use the menu Stock Management Outgoing
Products Packing to Invoice Packing by Invoice Method. You then get a list of all the
deliveries that have been made but havent yet been invoiced.

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So select some or all of the deliveries. Click on the action Create Invoice. Open ERP asks if
you want to group the deliveries from the same partner into a single invoice or if youd
prefer to invoice for each delivery individually.

Figure 19.14: Invoicing of deliveries

Invoices are generated automatically in the Draft state by Open ERP. You can modify invoices
before approving them finally.

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Figure 19.15: List of invoices generated by the system based on deliveries

Once you have reviewed the different invoices that were generated, you can confirm them
one by one or all at once by using the available actions. Then print the invoices using the
multiple print option and send them to your customers by post.

19.5.6 Traceability
Now suppose that the customer phones you to tell you about a production fault in a delivered
product. You can consult the traceability through the whole manufacturing chain using the
serial number indicated on the product MB1. To look through the detailed history, use the
menu Stock Management Traceability Production Lots.
Find the product corresponding to the product or lot number. Once its been found you can
use traceability as described in the section Management of lots and traceability in the
Logistics and Stock Management chapter.

19.6 Production order in detail

To open a Production Order, use the menu Manufacturing Production Orders New
Production Order. You get a blank form for entering a new production order as shown
in the figure New production order.

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19.6. Production order in detail

Figure 19.16: New production order

The production order follows the process given by the figure Process for handling a
production order.

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Figure 19.17: Process for handling a production order

The date fields, priority and reference, are automatically completed when the form is first
opened. Enter the product that you want to produce, and the quantity required. The Product
UOM by default is completed automatically by Open ERP when the product is first created.
You then have to set two locations:
The location from which the required raw materials should be found, and
The location for depositing the finished products.
For simplicity, put the Stock location in both places. The field Bill of Materials will
automatically be completed by Open ERP when you click the button Compute Data. You can
then overwrite it with another BoM to specify something else to use for this specific
manufacture.
The tabs Planned Products and Work Orders are also completed automatically when you click
Compute Data. Youll find the raw materials there that are required for the production and the
operations needed by the assembly staff.
If you want to start production, click the button Confirm Production, and Open ERP then
automatically completes the Moves fields in the Consumed Products and Finished Products
fields. The information in the Consumed Products tab can be changed if:
you want to enter a serial number for raw materials,

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you want to change the quantities consumed (lost during production).
For traceability you can set lot numbers on the raw materials used, or on the finished
products. To do this click on one

19.6. Production order in detail

of the lines of the first or the third tab. Note the Production lot and Tracking lot numbers.
Once the order is confirmed, you should force the reservation of materials using the Force
Reservation button. This means that you dont have to wait for the scheduler to assign and
reserve the raw materials from your stock for this production run. This shortcuts the
procurement process.
If you dont want to change the priorities, just leave the production order in this state and the
scheduler will create a plan based on the priority and your planned date. To start the
production of products, click Start Production. The raw materials are then consumed
automatically from stock, which means that the draft ( Waiting ) movements become Done .
Once the production is complete, click Production Finished. The finished products are then
moved into stock.

19.7 Scheduling
The requirements scheduler is the calculation engine which plans and prioritises production
and purchasing automatically from the rules defined on these products. Its started once per
day. You can also start it manually using the menu Manufacturing Compute All Schedulers.
This uses all the relevant parameters defined in the products, the suppliers and the company
to determine the priorities between the different production orders, deliveries and supplier
purchases.
You can set the starting time by modifying the corresponding action in the menu
Administration Configuration Scheduler Scheduled Actions. Modify the Run MRP
Scheduler configuration document.

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Figure 19.18: Configuring the start time for calculating requirements

Tip: Calculating requirements / scheduling
Scheduling only validates procurement confirmed but not started. These procurement
reservations will themselves start production, tasks or purchases depending on the
configuration of the requested product.
You take account of the priority of operations in starting reservations and procurement. The
urgent requests, or those with a date in the past, or those with a date earlier than the others
will be started first so that if there are not enough products in stock to satisfy all the requests,
the most urgent will be produced first.

19.8 Calculation of lead times

All procurement operations (that is, the requirement for both production orders and purchase
orders) are automatically calculated by the scheduler. But more than just creating each order,
Open ERP plans the timing of each step. A planned date calculated by the system can be
found on each order document.
To organize the whole chain of manufacturing and procurement, Open ERP bases everything
on the delivery date promised to the customer. This is given by the date of the confirmation
in the order and the lead times shown in each product line of the order. This lead time is itself
proposed automatically in the field Customer Lead Time shown in the product form. This is
the difference between the time on an order and that of the delivery.

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To see a calculation of the lead times, take the example of the cabinet above. Suppose that
the cabinet is assembled in two steps, using the two following bills of materials.
Table 19.21: Bill of Materials for 1 ARM100 Unit
Product
Code
PANLAT
BOIS002
LIN040
BOIS010
TAQ000
Table 19.22:

Quantit
Unit of
y
Measure
2
Unit
0.25
m2
1
m
0.25
m2
12
Unit
Bill of Materials for 2 PANLAT Units

Product
Quantit
Unit of
Code
y
Measure
BOIS002
0.17
m2
The PANLAT is made from an order using the workflow shown. The BOIS02 is purchased on
order and the other products are all found in stock. An order for the product ARM100 will then
generate two production orders ( ARM 100 and PANLAT) then produce two purchase orders for
the product BOIS02. Product BOIS02 is used in the production of both ARM100 and PANLAT.
Set the lead times on the product forms to the following:
Table 19.23: Lead Times
Product
Customer Lead
Production Lead
Supplier Lead
Code
Time
Time
Time
ARM100
30 days
5 days
PANLAT
10 days
BOIS02
5 days
A customer order placed on the 1st January will set up the following operations and lead
times:
Delivery ARM100: 31 January (=1st January + 30 days),
Manufacture ARM100: 26 January (=31 January 5 days),
Manufacture PANLAT: 16 January (=26 January 10 days), Purchase BOIS02 (for ARM100):
21 January (=26 January 5 days),
Purchase BOIS02 (for PANLAT): 11 January (=16 January 5 days).

19.8. Calculation of lead times

In this example, Open ERP will propose placing two orders with the supplier of product
BOIS002. Each of these orders can be for a different planned date. Before confirming these
orders the purchasing manager could group these orders into single order.

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19.8.1 Security days

The scheduler will plan all operations as a function of the time configured on the products.
But it is also possible to configure these factors in the company. These factors are then global
to the company, whatever the product concerned. In the description of the company, on the
Configuration tab, you find the following parameters:
Security days: number of days to deduct from a system order to cope with any problems of
procurement,
Purchase lead time: additional days to include for all purchase orders with this supplier,
Production lead time: number of additional days needed for manufacturing.
Period for calculating requirements: all the requests which are for procuring for a later date to
the number of days which arent calculated in the scheduler.
Note: Purchasing lead time
The security delay for purchases is the average time between the order generated by Open
ERP and the real purchase time from the supplier by your purchasing department. This delay
takes account of the order process in your company, including order negotiation time.
Take for example the following configuration:
Security days: 2 ,
Purchase Lead time: 3 ,
Production Lead Time: 1.
The example above will then be given the following lead times:
Delivery ARM100: 29 January (=1st January + 30 days 2 days),
Manufacture ARM100: 23 January (=29 January 5 days 1 day),
Manufacture PANLAT: 12 January (=26 January 10 days 1 day),
Purchase BOIS02 (for ARM100): 15 January (=26 January 5 days 3 days),
Purchase BOIS02 (for PANLAT): 4 January (=12 January 5 days 3 days).

19.9 Operations
In the first part of this chapter, manufacturing management was handled in terms of products
and materials. This section focuses on manufacturing operations. To manufacture or
assemble products, as well as using raw materials and finished product you must also handle
operations such as assembly, drilling wood, and cutting timber.
The different operations will have different impacts on the costs of manufacture and planning
depending on the available workload.

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19.9.1 Definition of concepts

To manage operations you should understand the following concepts
Workcenters,
Routing,
Operations.

19.9.2 Workcenters
Workcenters represent units of product, capable of doing material transformation operations.
You can distinguish three types of workcenter: machines, tools and human resources.
Note: Workcenter
Workcenters are units of manufacture consisting of one or several people and/or machines
that can be considered as a unit for the purposes of forecasting capacity and planning.
Use the menu Manufacturing Configuration Workcenters to define a new workcenter. You
get a form as shown in the figure Definition of a workcenter.

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Figure 19.19: Definition of a workcenter

A workcenter must have a name and a code. You then assign a type: machine, human
resource, tool, and a
description of operating hours or functionality. The figure Working hours for a workcenter
represents the hours from Monday to Friday, from 09:00 to 17:00 with a break
of an hour from 12:00.

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Figure 19.20: Working hours for a workcenter

You should show a description of the workcenter and its operations.
Once the database is encoded you should enter data about the production capacity of the
workcenter. Depending on whether you have a machine or a person, a workcenter will be
defined in cycles or hours. If it represents a set of machines and people you can use both
cycles and hours at the same time.
Note: A Cycle
A cycle corresponds to the time required to carry out an assembly operation. The user is free
to determine which is the reference operation for a given workcenter. It must be represented
by the cost and elapsed time of manufacture. For example, for a printing workcenter, a cycle
will be the printing of 1 page or of 1000 pages depending on the printer.
To define the capacity properly it is necessary know, for each workcenter, what will be the
reference operation which determines the cycle. You can then define the data relative to the
capacity.
Capacity per cycle (CA): determine the number of operations that can be done in parallel
during a cycle. Generally the number defines the number of identical machines or people
defined by the workcenter.
Time for a cycle (TC): give the duration in hour for that or the operations defined by a cycle.

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Time before production (TS): give the wait in hours to initialise production operations.
Generally this represents the machine setup time.
Time after production (TN): give the delay in hours after the end of a production operation.
Generally this represents the cleaning time necessary after an operation.
Effective time (ET): is a factor that is applied to the three times above to determine the real
production time. This factor enables you to readjust the different times progressively and as
a measure of machine utilization. You cant readjust the other times because generally
theyre taken from the machines data sheet.
The total time for carrying out X operations is then given by the following formula: ((C / CA) *
TC + TS + TN_ * ET. In this formula the result of the division is rounded upwards. Then if the
capacity per cycle is 6 it takes 3 cycles to realize 15 operations.
Tip: Multi-level routing
It is possible to define routing on several levels to support multi-level bills of materials. You
can select the routing on each level of a bill of materials. The levels are then linked to
hierarchies of bills of materials.
The second tab of the production order lets you define the links to analytical account to
report the costs of the workcenter operations. If you leave the different fields empty Open
ERP wont have any effect on the analytic accounts.

Figure 19.21: Data about analytic accounts for a workcenter

19.9.3 Routing
Routings define the assembly operations to be done in workcenters for manufacturing a
certain product. They are usually attached to bills of materials which will define the assembly
of products required for manufacture or for finished products.

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A routing can be defined directly in a bill of materials or through the menu Manufacturing
Configuration
Routings. A routing has a name, a code and a description. Later in this chapter youll see
that a routing can also be associated with a stock location. That enable you to
indicate where assembly takes place.

Figure 19.22: Definition of a routing with three operations

Note: Subcontracting assembly
Youll see further on in this chapter that it is possible to link a routing and a stock location for
the customer or the supplier. You do this after youve subcontracted the assembly of a
product to a supplier, for example.
In the routing you must show the list of operations that must be done. Each operation must
be done at a workcenter and possess a number of hours and/or cycles be done.

19.9.4 Impact on the production order

The routings are then attached to the bills of materials which are then also used to
generate product order. On a production order youll find assembly operations for
manufacture on the Operations tab.

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Figure 19.23: Operations on a production order

The times and the cycles shown in the production order are, in the same way as the
materials, theoretical data. The user can change the values to reflect reality for manufacture.
So if you use routings, Open ERP automatically calculates the operations required for the
production order. If the workcenters are linked to analytic accounts, at the end of production,
Open Erp will generate the analytic accounts representing the costs of manufacture. This will
allow you to work out profitability per workcenter or manufacturing unit through analytic
accounting.
But the routings also enable you to manage your production capacity. You will be able to
leave the demand charts for the days / weeks / months ahead to validate that you dont
forecast more than you are capable of producing.
To see a demand chart, list the workcenters using the menu Manufacturing Configuration
Workcenters. Then select one or several workcenters and click on the action Workcenter
load. Open ERP then asks you if you work in cycles or in hours and your interval is calculated
(by day, week or month).

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Figure 19.24: Charge by workcenter

Tip: Theoretical times
Once the routings have been clearly defined, you determine the effective working time per
assembly worker. This is the time actually taken by the assembly worker for each operation.
That enables you to compare the real working time in your company and work out the
productivity per person.

19.9.5 Work operations

A production order defines the use of the products defined in the Bills of Materials, and the
operations defined in the routing. Youve seen how to handle manufacturing production as a
top-level process, but some companies prefer to have finer-grained control of operations
where instead of specifying just the production process itself, they enter data on each
constituent production operation.

19.9.6 Management of operations

Note: Operations
Operations are often called work orders.
To work using work orders you must install the optional module mrp_operations. Once the
module is installed youll find a new menu called Manufacturing Operations Operations
to be carried out. The assembly workers must then encode each step operation by operation
and, for each step, the real working time for it.

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Figure 19.25: List of operations to be carried out.

Operations must then be carried out one by one. On each operation the operator can click on
Start operation and then Close Operation. The time is then worked out automatically on the
operation between the two changes of status. The operator can also put the operation on
hold and start again later.
The following process is attached to each operation.

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Figure 19.26: Process for handling an operation

Thanks to this use by operation, the real working time is recorded on the production order.
The production order is automatically put into the state Running once the first operation has
been started. That consumes some raw materials. Similarly the production order is closed
automatically once the last operation is completed. The finished products are then made.

19.10 Events and barcodes

If the company wants to work with barcodes in manufacturing you can work on each
operation using events. Here are some examples of events for an operations:
Starting an operation,
Pausing an operation,
Restarting an operation,
Closing an operation,
Cancelling an operation.
You place barcodes on the production orders on the machines or operators and a form of
barcodes representing the events. To print barcodes select the events using the menu
Manufacturing Configuration Codes from start to finish. Then click for printing the

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barcodes for the selected events. You can do the same for printing barcodes for the
workcenters using the menu Manufacturing Configuration Workcenters.
Using the system these operations dont need data to be entered on the keyboard. To use
these barcodes, open the menu Manufacturing Barcode events. You must then scan, in
order:

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1. The barcode of the
production order,
2. The

workcenter

used, 3. The event

code.

Figure 19.27: Capturing events for work orders

Open ERP then applies the events to the relevant operation.

19.10.1 Subcontracting manufacture

In Open ERP it is possible to subcontract production operations (for example painting and
item assembly) at a suppliers. To do this you must indicate on the relevant routing document
a supplier location for stock management.
You must then configure a location dedicated to this supplier with the following data:

Type of location : Supplier,

Address of Location : Select an address of the subcontractor partner,

Type of linkage : Fixed,

Location of linkage : your Stock,

Lead time for linkage : number of days before receipt of the finished product.

Then once the manufacture has been planned for the product in question, Open ERP will
generate the following steps:
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Delivery of raw materials to the stores for the supplier,
Production order for the products at the suppliers and receipt of the finished products in the
stores.
Once the production order has been confirmed, Open ERP automatically generates a delivery
order to send to the raw materials supplier. The storesperson can access this delivery order
using the menu Stock Management Incoming Products. The raw materials will then be
placed in stock at the suppliers stores.

19.10. Events and barcodes

Once the delivery of raw materials has been confirmed, Open ERP activates the production
order. The supplier uses the raw materials sent to produce the finished goods which will
automatically be put in your own stores. The confirmation of this manufacture is made when
you receive the products from your supplier. Its then that you indicate the quantities
consumed by your supplier
Tip: Subcontract without routing
If you dont use routing you can always subcontract work orders by creating an empty
routing in the subcontract bill of materials.
Production orders are found in the menu Manufacture Production Orders Production
Orders to start. A production order is always carried out in two stages:
1. Consumption of raw materials.
2. Production of finished products.
Depending on the companys needs, you can specify that the first step is confirmed at the
acknowledgment of manufacturing supplier and the second at the receipt of finished goods in
the warehouse.

19.11 Treatment of exceptions

The set of stock requirements is generated by procurement orders. Then for each customer
order line or raw materials in a manufacturing order, you will find a procurement form. To
review all the procurement orders use the menu Manufacturing Procurement orders.
In normal system use, you dont need to worry about procurement orders because theyre
automatically generated by Open ERP and the user will usually work on the results of a
procurement: a production order, a task or a supplier order.
But if there are configuration problems, the system can remain blocked by a procurement
without generating a corresponding document. For example, suppose that you configure a
product Procure Method as Make to Order but you havent defined the bill of materials. In that
case procurement of the product will stay blocked in an exception state No Bill of Materials
defined for this product. You must then create a bill of materials to unblock the problem.
Possible problems include:

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No bill of materials defined for production: in this case youve got to create one or indicate
that the product can be purchased instead.
No supplier available for a purchase: its then necessary to define a supplier in the second tab
of the product form.
No address defined on the supplier partner: you must complete an address for the supplier by
default for the product in consideration.
No quantity available in stock: you must create a rule for automatically procuring (for
example a minimum stock rule) and put it in the order, or manually procure it.
Some problems are just those of timing and can be automatically corrected by the system.
Thats why Open ERP has the two following menus:
Manufacturing Automatic Procurement Procurement Exceptions Exceptions to correct,
Manufacturing Automatic Procurement Procurement Exceptions Temporary exceptions.
If a product must be in stock but is not available in your stores, Open ERP will make the
exception in temporary or to be corrected. The exception is temporary if the system
can procure it automatically, for example if a procurement rule is defined for minimum
stock.

Figure 19.28: Example of a procurement in exception

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If no procurement rule is defined the exception must be corrected manually by the user. Once
the exception is corrected you can restart by clicking on Retry. If you dont do that then Open
ERP will automatically recalculate on the next automated requirements calculation.

19.12 Manual procurement

To procure internally, you can create a procurement order manually. Use the menu
Manufacturing Procurement Orders New Procurement to
do this.

19.12. Manual procurement

Figure 19.29: Encoding for a new procurement order

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The procurement order will then be responsible for calculating a proposal for automatic
procurement for the product concerned. This procurement wll start a task, a purchase order
form the supplier or a production depending on the product configuration.

Figure 19.30: Workflow for handling a procurement, a function of the product configuration
It is better to encode a procurement order rather than direct purchasing or production, That
method has the following advantages:
The form is simpler because Open ERP calculates the different values from other values and
defined rules: purchase date calculated from order date, default supplier, raw materials
needs, selection of the most suitable bill of materials, etc
The calculation of requirements prioritises the procurements. If you encode a purchase
directly you short-circuit the planning of different procurements.
Tip: Shortcuts
On the product form you have an ACTIONS shortcut button Create Procurements that lets
you quickly create a new procurement order.

19.13 Management of waste products and secondary

products
For the management of waste you must install the module mrp_subproduct. The normal
behaviour of manufacture in Open ERP enables you to manufacture several units of the same
finished product from raw materials (A + B > C). With waste management, the result of a
manufacture can be to have both finished products and secondary products ( A
+ B > C + D).

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Note: Waste material
In Open ERP waste material corresponds to secondary products that are a by-product of the
main manufacturing process. For example, cutting planks of timber will produce other planks
but these bits of timber are too small (or the offcuts may have value for the company if they
can be used elsewhere).
If the module mrp_subproduct has been installed you get a new field in the Bill of Material
that lets you set secondary products resulting from the manufacture of the
finished product.

19.13. waste products and secondary products

Figure 19.31: Definition of waste products in a bill of materials

When Open ERP generates a production order based on a bill of materials that uses
secondary product you pick up the list of all products in the the third tab of the
production order Finished Products.

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Figure 19.32: A production order producing several finished products

Secondary products enable you to generate several types of products from the same raw
materials and manufacturing methods only these arent used in the calculation of
requirements. Then if you need the secondary products Open ERP wont ask you to
manufacture another product to use the waste products and secondary products of this
manufacture. In this case you should enter another production order for the secondary
product.
Note: Services in Manufacturing
Unlike most software for production management, Open ERP manages services as well as
stockable products. So its possible to put products of type Service in a bill of materials.
These dont appear in the production order but their requirements will be taken into account.
If theyre defined as Make to Order Open ERP will generate a task for the manufacture or a
subcontract order for the operations. The behaviour will depend on the supply method
configured on the product form Buy or Produce.

19.14 Management of repairs

The management of repairs is carried out using the module mrp_repair. Once its installed this
module adds new Manufacturing Repairs menus under the Manufacturing menu for
creating repair jobs and reviewing repairs in progress.
In Open ERP a repair will have the following effects:

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Use of materials: items for replacement,
Production of products: items replaced from reserved stock,
Quality control: tracking the reasons for repair,
Accounting entries: following stock moves,
Receipt and delivery of product from and to the end user, Adding operations that can be
seen in the products traceability,
Invoicing items used and/or free for repairs.

19.14.1 Entering data for a new repair

Use the menu Manufacturing Repairs New Repair to enter a new repair into the system.
Youll see a blank form for the repair data, as shown in the figure Entering data
for a new repair below.

Figure 19.33: Entering data for a new repair

Start by identifying the product that will be repaired using the product lot number. Open ERP
then automatically completes fields from the selected lot the partner fields, address,
delivery location, and stock move.

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If a warranty period has been defined in the product description, in months, Open ERP then
completes the field Warranty limit with the correct warranty date.
You must then specify the components that youll be adding, replacing or removing in the
operations part. On each line you must specify the following:
Add or remove a component of the finished product:
Product Component,
Quantity,
Unit of Measure
Price of Component,
Possible lot number,
Location where the component was found,
To invoice or not.
Once the component has been selected, Open ERP automatically completes most of the
fields:
Quantity : 1 ,
Unit of Measure : unit for managing stock defined in the product form,
Component Price : calculated from the customer list price,
Source location : given by the stock management,
To invoice or not : depends on the actual date and the quarantee period.
This information is automatically proposed by the system but you can modify it all yourself.
You can also encode additional charges in the second tab of the repair - applicable list price,
address and type of invoice, as well as additional line items that need to be
added to the repair bill.

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Figure 19.34: Repair form, second tab

The third tab, Quality, is for encoding information about the quality: internal notes, notes for
the quotation, corrective actions and preventative actions for example.

19.14.2 Repair workflow

A defined process handles a repair order both the repair itself and invoicing the client.
The figure Process for handling a repair shows this repair process.

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Figure 19.35: Process for handling a repair

Once a repair has been entered onto the system, it is in the draft state. In this state it has
no impact on the rest of the system. You can print a quotation from it using the action Print
Quotation. The repair quotation can then be sent to the customer.
Once the customer approves the repair, use the menu Manufacturing Repairs Repairs in
quotation to find the draft repair. Click to confirm the draft repair and put it into the running
state. You can specify the invoicing mode in the second tab:

no

invoicing,

invoicing

before

repair,

invoicing
repair.

after

You can confirm the repair operation or create an invoice for the customer depending on this
state.

19.14.3 Invoicing the repair

When the repair is to be invoiced, an invoice is generated in the draft state by the system.
This invoice contains the raw materials used (replaced components) and any other costs such
as the time used for the repair. These other costs are entered on the second tab of the repair
form.

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If the product to be repaired is still under guarantee, Open ERP automatically suggests that
the components themselves are not invoiced, but will still use any other defined costs. You
can override any of these default values when youre entering the data.
The link to the generated invoice is shown on the second tab of the repair document.

19.14.4 Stock movements and repair

When the repair has been carried out, Open ERP automatically carries out stock movements
for components that have been removed, added or replaced on the finished product.
The move operations are carried out using the locations shown on the first tab of the repair
document. If a destination location has been specified, Open ERP automatically handles the
final customer delivery order when the repair has been completed. This also lets you manage
the delivery of the repaired products.
For example, take the case of the cabinet that was produced at the start of this chapter. If
you have to replace the shelf PANLAT, you must enter data for the repair as shown in
figure Repair of a shelf in a cabinet.

Figure 19.36: Repair of a shelf in a cabinet

In this example, youd carry out the following operations:
Removal of a PANLAT shelf in the cabinet and put the faulty shelf in the location Defective
Products,
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Placement of a new PANLAT shelf that has been taken from stock.
When the repair is ready to be confirmed, Open ERP will generate the following stock moves:
Put faulty PANLAT into suitable stock location Default Production > Defective Products,
Consume PANLAT: Stock > Default production.
If you analyze the traceability of this lot number youll see all the repair operations in the
upstream and downstream traceability lists of the products concerned.

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Sales and Purchasing

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These two chapters are about selling and purchasing products and services.

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CHAPTER

TWENTY

MANAGEMENT OF SALES
This chapter describes Open ERPs sales management, following the
complete sales order process from quotation to customer order, including
the management of deliveries and of invoicing. It doesnt look at customer
relations and pre-sales, which are handled by the CRM (Customer
Relationship Management) modules described in an earlier part of the
book.
It also describes the management of carriers, margin control and reporting,
and price management and the handling of various types of sales discount
campaign.

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For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demonstration
data, with sale and its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts
configured.

20.1 Sales Quotations

In Open ERP a quotation and an order are handled by the same underlying object,
but in different states. You can consider an order to be a quotation that has evolved
because it has been confirmed by the customer. Or, conversely, that a quotation is
an order that hasnt yet been validated or cancelled. All of the orders and quotations
in the system can be reached using the menu Sales Management Orders.

20.1.1 Entering Quotation details

To enter details of a new quotations you can use the menu Sales Management
Orders New Quotation. Open ERP then opens a new window so that you
can enter data into new blank quotation form.

Figure 20.1: Data entry for a new quotation

Some information is automatically completed by the system:

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 an internal reference for the quotation or order, the sale point that the order will be
delivered from,
the order date.
You can modify any of that information before validating the quotation. The
customer reference is shown in the header of the order. This optional field if for the
customers own reference number if the customer doesnt supply one then just
leave it empty.
You then enter all the data about the order in the Sale Order tab. Start by entering
the customer name, selecting the correct customer from the list of customers in the
system. You can create a new customer on the fly at this stage if necessary press
<F1> in the empty Customer field to do that.
Once the customer name has been selected, different fields of the order become
completed automatically, based on the configuration of the partner form for that
customer:
Order Address : person handling the order at the customer. By default, Open ERP
proposes the Contact Address at the selected partner.
Delivery Address : address used on the delivery order. By default, Open ERP
proposes the Delivery address from the partner form. If nothing is defined in that
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Invoice Address : address used to send the invoice to the customer. By default, Open ERP
proposes the address labelled Invoice from the partner form. If nothing is defined there, it
uses the default address instead.
Price List : will determine both the currency of the quotation and the price that will be used
for each product.
Payment Conditions : shows the payment method that the customer will follow, for example
50% on order, 50% on delivery .
Delivery Method : for example Post - Express Mail .
You can modify any of these fields on the order as you go.
You can also set an analytic account for your order. This account will be used during invoicing
to generate accounting entries corresponding to the invoice automatically. This is extremely
useful for assigning revenues to the project or case specified by this order.
Tip: Analytic Accounts
If youre managing by task, the analytic account to be selected is the one that corresponds
to the project for the order. The sale carried out by the order can be allocated to the project
so that profitability calculations can be made.
Once the information has been entered, you can enter data for the order lines. To do that,
create a new order line as shown in the figure Entering a new
customer order line:

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Figure 20.2: Entering a new customer order line

First of all select the product that is to be sold to the customer. Open ERP shows some useful
information in the list of products to help you during your sale:

20.1. Sales Quotations

Real stock : physically present in your warehouses. This value depends on the sale point
selected in the order header. Different sale points can be linked to different warehouses,
giving different stock levels, or can use the same warehouse.
Virtual stock : shows a salesperson the quantity that can be sold, taking into account both
stock reserved for other orders and amounts that could arrive in the short term.
Customer Price : (May not be shown, depending on the installed modules). depends on the
conditions attached to the customer, calculated on the list price. This is the price thats
proposed by default in the customer quotation, unless its been modified by the salesperson.
List Price : the base sale price for the given product. It provides a base for the salesperson to
be able to judge whether to offer a discount to the customer, and how much any discount
should be.
Cost Price : shows the cost price of the product. If the salesperson sells at less than this
amount, then the company loses money.

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Figure 20.3: Selecting a product in a Sales Order

When the product thats to be sold to the customer has been selected, Open ERP
automatically completes all the other required fields: price, unit of measure, description,
discount, lead times, applicable taxes, default packaging and the product description. All of
this information comes from the product form.
Tip: Visible Discount
If a discounted price is taken from a price list then by default that figure is shown as the sale
price to the customer. Hell see a discount of 0% along with unit price that is different from
the list price. If you install the module product_visible_discount from addons-extra you can
configure whether you want to make the discount explicitly visible on an order form as a
percentage difference from the list price, or just show a reduced unit price as it does by
default.
In the form, the selected product is presented in the language of the user so that he can
see what hes selling. The description of the product sold can also be expressed in the
customers language. The translation to the customers language is used on the quotation or
order when its printed.

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Figure 20.4: Sale of a product in a partner language that differs from the user language
Note: One-off Sales
If a products only sold to a customer once, you dont have to enter data into a complete new
product form just for that sale. You can manually complete all the information in the order
without putting it into a product: description, price, quantity, lead time, taxes. In this case
Open ERP wont generate a delivery note because the product isnt held in stock.
When all of the products are entered, you can print the quotation and send it to the
customer. To do this, click on the report Quotation / Order in the REPORTS links to the right.
Open ERP opens the quotation in PDF to enable to you to see it before printing.

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20.1. Sales Quotations

Figure 20.5: Printing a customer quotation

You can then confirm the quotation to move it on to an order if the order is confirmed by the
customer, or just cancel the window without confirming the order to leave it in quotation
state. To find all of the current quotations, you can use the menu Sales Management
Orders My Orders My Quotations.
To follow the process for your order, you can click on the process view from the order form.
Open ERP shows you an interactive process view of that order. For more information
about its use, look at Process.

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Figure 20.6: Process view from following a customer order

20.2 Management of Packaging

Products can be managed in several different packaged forms. For example if you sell batteries
you can define the following packages for a given battery product:
by Piece: a battery
Blister pack: a pack of 4 batteries
Pack of 100 blisters: 400 batteries
Palette, containing 40 packs for a total of 16,000 batteries.
Open ERPs packaging management enables you to sell the same product in several different
forms. The salesperson could sell, separately, one battery or a palette of batteries. In the order,
you can select the default packaging type as a function of the quantities ordered.
For example, if the customer wants to buy 30,000 batteries, the salesperson can select the
package palette . Open ERP will then propose the sale of 32,000 batteries, which corresponds to
two palettes. Or the salesperson can select 75 packs.
The available packages are defined in the product form, in the Packaging tab. The first item on the
list is the one that will be used by default.
Once a package has been defined on the order, Open ERP will throw up an alert if the ordered
quantities dont correspond to the proposed packages. The quantity must be a multiple of the
field Quantity by Package defined on the packaging form.

Figure 20.7: Alert on the quantities sold compared with the packaging
Dont confuse the management of packaging with the management of multiple units of measure.
The Units of Measure are used to manage the stock differently in its different units. With packages,
the stock is always managed by individual item but information about the package to use is
supplied to the storesperson along with that item.
Even if the effects are the same, the printed documents will be different. The two following
operations have the same effect on stock movement levels but will be printed differently on the
sales order and the packing order:
32,000 batteries, delivered on two palettes,
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2 palettes of batteries, with no information about packaging.
If the customer wants to order a palette and 10 packs, the salesperson can put two order lines on
the sales order using the same product but different units of measure.

20.2. Packaging

20.2.1 Example Packing and different products

Its sometimes more useful to define different products than to define several possible packages
for the same product. A case of beer in a supermarket is a good example. A case holds 24 bottles,
plus the empty case itself. The customer can buy bottles by the piece or a case of 24 bottles at
one go.
You could define two packages for the product Bottle of beer : PCE and case . But this
representation doesnt let you manage the stock and price of empty cases. So you might instead
prefer a Bill of Materials for the sale, defining and using three different products:
the empty case for the beer,
the bottle of beer,
the case of 24 bottles of beer.
You also define the bill of materials below which determines the make-up of the case of 24 beers:
Case of 24 bottles of beer: 1 unit,
Bottle of beer: 24 units,
Empty case of beer: 1 unit.
Each of these three products has a different price. The products Bottle of beer and Empty case of
beer have a stock level that needs to be managed. The Case of 24 bottles of beer has no stock
because, if you sell the product, Open ERP automatically moves the stock in two lines, one for the
empty case and the other for the 24 individual bottles of beer. For more information on bills of
material for sale, see chapter Manufacturing.

20.3 Management of Alerts

To manage alerts on products or partners, you can install the warning module. Once that is
installed, you will be able to configure a series of alerts on the partners or products by setting
parameters in the new Warnings tab on each of the forms.

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Figure 20.8: Management of alerts on partners

Figure 20.9: Management of alerts on products

You can activate alerts for a series of events. For each alert you should enter a message that will
be attached to the person setting off the event. The different available events on the partner form
are:

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Entering a customer order for the partner,

20.3. Alerts
Entering a supplier order for the partner,
Sending a delivery to the partner (or receiving an item),
Invoicing a partner.
The alerts that can be configured on a product form are:
The sale of that product,
The purchase of that product.
For example, if you enter an alert for the invoicing of a customer, for an accountant entering an
invoice for that customer, the alert message will be attached as shown in the figure Alert
from invoicing a customer:

Figure 20.10: Alert from invoicing a customer

20.4 Control of deliveries and invoicing

20.4.1 Configuration of orders
Depending on the configuration of the order, several different possible consequences can follow.
Three fields determine the future behaviour of an order:
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Packing Policy : Partial Delivery or Complete Delivery,

Shipping Policy : Shipping & Manual Invoice, Payment Before Delivery, Invoice on Order After
Delivery, and Invoice from the Packing,

Invoice on : Ordered Quantities or Delivered Quantities.

Tip: Simplified view
If you work in the Simplified View mode, only the Shipping Policy field is visible in the second
tab on the order. To get to the Extended View mode, assign the group Usability Extended
View to the current user.

20.4.2 Packing mode

The packing mode determines the way that the storesperson will do the packing. If the order
is put into Partial Delivery mode, the packing order will appear in the list of things for the
storesperson to do as soon as any of the products on the order is available. To get the list of
items to be done you can use the menu Stock Management Outgoing Products Available
Packing.
The storesperson will then be able to make a partial delivery of the quantities actually available
and do a second packing operation later when the remaining products are available in stock.
If the packing mode is Complete Delivery, the packing list wont appear in the list of packings to
do until all of the products are available in stock. This way there will only be a single delivery for
any given order.
If the storesperson wants, the delivery mode can be modified on each packing list even after the
order has been confirmed.
In the case of invoicing on the basis of packing, the cost of delivering the products will be
calculated on the basis of multiple deliveries. This risks incurring a higher cost because of
each delivery. If invoicing is on the basis of the orders, the customer will only be invoiced
once for the whole delivery, even if the delivery of several items has already been made.

20.5 Management of Carriers

To

manage
deliveries
in
Open ERP, install the delivery module. (If
you
have installed
the profile_manufacturing profile this is installed by default
during configuration of the database.) This module enables you to manage:
the different carriers with whom you work,
the different possible modes of transport,
cost calculation and invoicing of each delivery,
the modes of transport and their tariffs.
Once the delivery module has been installed, the first thing to do is to configure the different
modes of delivery accepted by your company. To do that use the menu Stock Management
Configuration Delivery Delivery Method.

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For each delivery mode, you should define the following elements:
Name of the delivery mode,
The partner associated with the transport (which can be yourselves),
The associated product.
For example you can create the following modes:

20.5. Carriers
Table 20.1: Example Delivery Modes
Delivery
Mode
Express
Track
Priority
Courier
EFG
Standard
EFG Express

Partner

Associated Product

Mail
Office
Mail
Office
EFG Inc

Express Track
Delivery
Courier Express
Delivery
Delivery EFG

EFG Inc

Delivery EFG
Express
Information about the invoicing of transport (such as accounts, applicable taxes) are entered in
the product linked to the delivery mode. Ideally the product should be configured as Product Type
Service and Procure Method Make to Stock.
You can use the same product for several delivery modes. This simplifies the configuration but you
wont be able to separate out your sales figures by delivery mode.

20.5.1 Tariff grids

Unlike ordinary products, delivery prices arent given by pricelists but by delivery grids, designed
specifically for this purpose. For each delivery mode, you enter one or several tariff grids. Each
grid is used for a given region/destination.
For example, for the postal tariffs for Priority Courier, you generally define the three tariff grids for
Mail Office:
Courier National,
Courier Europe,
Courier Outside Europe.
To define a new delivery grid, use the menu Stock Management Configuration Deliveries
Delivery Pricelist. You then give a name to your delivery grid and define the region for which the
tariffs in the grid will be applicable. To do this, use the second tab Destination. There you can set:

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A list of countries (for UK or Europe, for example),
A list of states,
A range of post codes (for Paris you might have 75000 75900).
You must then set the rules for calculating the price of transport in the first tab Grid definition. A
rule must first of all have a name. Then set the condition for which this rule is applicable, for
example Weight < 0.5kg.
Note: Weights
Weights are expressed in kilograms. You can define a number with a decimal point or comma, so
that to set 500g youd put 0.5 in the weight rule.
Then set the sale price and the cost price. The price can be expressed in different ways:
a fixed price,
a variable price, as a function of weight, or volume, or weight x volume or price.
For example, mailing within France using 2008 tariffs would be defined as shown in the table.
Table 20.2: Example Tariff Rules
Rule
Title
S

Condition

Price

Type of
Price
Fixed

Weight < 3 6.9

kg
M
Weight < 5 7.82
Fixed
kg
L
Weight < 6 8.53
Fixed
kg
XL
Weight < 7 9.87
Fixed
kg
You can also define rules that depend on the total amount on the order. For example to offer fixed
price delivery if the order is more than 150 USD, add the following rule:
Table 20.3: Additional Tariff Rule
Rule Title

Condition

Price

Franked > 150

USD

Price > 150

USD

10

Type of
Price
Fixed

20.5.2 Using delivery modes

Once the delivery modes and their tariffs have been defined you can use them in a Sales Order.
There are two methods for doing that in Open ERP.
Delivery based on order quantities,
Delivery based on deliverd quantities.

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20.5.3 Delivery based on order quantities

To add the delivery charges on the quotation, use the action Delivery Costs available to the
right of the form. A dialog box opens, asking you to select a delivery mode from one of the
preconfigured available ones.

Figure 20.11: Adding a delivery charge to an order

Once the delivery mode has been selected, Open ERP automatically adds a line on the draft order
with the amount calculated by the delivery function. This technique enables you to calculate the
delivery charge based on the order and then, separately, how the products will really be delivered
to the customer.
If you want to calculate the exact delivery charges depending on the actual deliveries you must
use invoicing based on deliveries.

20.5. Carriers

20.5.4 Delivery based on the packed items

To invoice the delivery on the basis of items packed you set the delivery mode in the Delivery
method field on the second tab of the order, Other data. Dont add delivery lines to the Sales
Order but to the Invoices after they have been generated for the delivered items.
For this to work properly, your order must be set to the state Invoice from the Packing. You can
then confirm the order and validate the delivery.
When the manager has generated the invoices corresponding to the deliveries carried out, Open
ERP automatically adds a line on each invoice corresponding to the delivery charge, calculated on
the basis of the items actually sent.

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20.6 Margin Control

Its important to keep good control of margins in every company. Even if you have a good level of
sales it wont guarantee company profitability if margins arent high enough. Open ERP provides a
number of systems for monitoring margins. The main ones are:
Margins on a sales order,
Margins by product,
Margins by project,
Using price lists.

20.6.1 Margins on sales orders

If you want to check your margins on sales orders you can install the sale_margin module
from addons-extra. This will add margins calculated on each order line and on the order
total.

Figure 20.12: An order with the module sale_margin

The margin on each line is defined as the quantity sold multiplied by the sale price for the
customer less the cost price of the products. By default, products are managed using standard
price in Open ERP (cost price fixed manually and reviewed once per year). You can change that to
Average Weighted Price, meaning that the product cost fluctuates with purchases from suppliers.
After product receipt you can add fixed costs, such as delivery costs, in the cost of each product.
Open ERP supports a third method of updating the cost price of products using the module
product_extended, also in addons-extra at the time of writing. This adds a button to the product
form which lets you automatically recalculate the cost price for the selected products. The cost

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price is calculated from the raw materials and the operations carried out (if the products have
been manufactured internally so that you have set their costs).

20.6.2 Margins by product

To track margins by product, install the module product_margin. Once the module is installed you
can see the margins by product by using the menu Products Reporting Margins by Product.
When youve clicked on the menu, Open ERP asks for an analysis period and the state of invoices.
If no period is given, Open ERP will calculate margins on all of the operations without restriction.
By default, however, Open ERP proposes a period of the last 12 months for analysis.
You can also filter the analysis on certain types of invoice:
All invoices, including draft invoices not yet validated,
All open and/or paid invoices, Paid invoices only.

Figure 20.13: Screen showing product margins

You then get a margin analysis table. The following fields are given by product for sales:

20.6. Margin Control

Avg. Unit Price : the average unit sale price,
Catalog Price : the list price based on this product,
# Invoiced : the number of sold products that have been invoiced,
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Sales Gap : the difference between the revenue calculated from list price and volume, and the
actual sales,
Turnover : the actual sales revenue for the product selected,
Expected Sales : the number of products sold multiplied by the list price.

Figure 20.14: Detail of margins for a given product

The following fields are given by product for purchases:
Avg. Unit price : the average unit purchase price,
Standard price : the standard cost price of the product for the company,
# Invoiced : the number of purchased products,
Purchase gap : the difference between the total actual cost and the standard cost multiplied by the
number of units purchased,
Total cost : the total cost of purchases for the product under consideration,
Normal cost : the number of products sold multiplied by the standard cost price.
The following fields are given by product for margins:
Total Margin,
Expected Margin, Total
Margin in percent,

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Expected Margin in percent.

20.6.3 Margins by Project

To manage margins by project you must install the analytical accounts with management by
task. Use of these accounts is described in Analytic Accounts. Install the module
account_analytic_analysis and all of its dependencies. This module adds a tab on the analytic
account form to handle the different margins in an analytic account representing a project or a
case, and several new reports on those accounts.

Figure 20.15: Detail of margins for a case

Start by opening a projects analytic account through the Project Management Financial Project
Management Analytic Accounts All Analytic Accounts and selecting one of them. In the new
analytic account Analysis summary tab youll find the following information:
The total costs for the analytic account,
The total amount of invoiced sales,
The number of hours worked,
The number of hours remaining to be worked,
The remaining income,
The theoretical income (hours worked multipled by their sale price),
The number of hours invoiced,
The real income per hour,
The real margin,

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20.6. Margin Control
The theoretical margin taking into account everything yet to be invoiced,
The real margin rate in percent,
The last invoicing date,
The last worked hours,
The number of hours remaining to be invoiced,
The amount remaining to be invoiced.
For detailed information on the analytic account you can use any of the several reports available in
the toolbar to the right.

20.7 Price management policies

Some companies are notorious for their complicated pricelists. Many forms of price variation are
used, such as end-ofyear refunds, discounts, changes of terms and conditions with time, various
prepayments, cascaded rebates, seasonal promotions, and progressive price reductions.
Note: Rebate, Refund, Reduction
In some accounting jurisdictions you have to differentiate between the three following
terms:

Rebate: reimbursement to the client, usually at the end of the year, that depends on
the quantity of goods purchased over a period.

Refund: reduction on the order line or invoice line if a certain quantity of goods is
purchased at one time or is sold in a framework of a promotional activity.

Reduction: A one-off reduction resulting from a quality defect or a variation in a

products conformance to a specification.
Intelligent price management is difficult, because it requires you to integrate several conditions
from clients and suppliers to create estimates quickly or to invoice automatically. But if you have
an efficient price management mechanism you can often keep margins raised and respond quickly
to changes in market conditions. A good price management system gives you scope for varying
any and all of the relevant factors when youre negotiating a contract.
To help you work most effectively, Open ERPs pricelist principles are extremely powerful yet are
based on simple and generic rules. You can develop both sales pricelists and purchase pricelists
for products capable of accommodating conditions such as the date period, the quantity requested
and the type of product.
Tip: Dont confuse the different price specifications
Dont confuse the sale price with the base price of the product. In Open ERPs basic configuration
the sale price is the list price set on the product form but a customer can be given a different sale
price depending on the conditions.
Its the same for purchase price and standard cost. Purchase price is your suppliers selling price,
which changes in response to different criteria such as quantities, dates, and supplier. This is
automatically set by the accounting system. Youll find that the two prices have been set by

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default to the same for all products with the demonstration data, which can be a source of
confusion. Youre free to set the standard cost to something different.
Each pricelist is calculated from defined policies, so youll have as many sales pricelists as active
sales policies in the company. For example a company that sells products through three sales
channels could create the following price lists:
1. Main distribution:

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pricelist for Walbury,
pricelist for TesMart,
2. Postal Sales.
3. Walk-in customers.
A single pricelist can exist in several versions, only one of which is permitted to be active at a
given time. These versions let you set different prices at different points in time. So the pricelist
for walk-in customers could have five different versions, for example: Autumn, Summer, Summer
Sales, Winter, Spring. Direct customers will see prices that change with the seasons.
Each pricelist is expressed in a single currency. If your company sells products in several
currencies youll have to create as many pricelists as you have currencies.
The prices on a pricelist can depend on another list, which means that you dont have to repeat
the definition of all conditions for each product. So a pricelist in USD can be based on a pricelist in
EUR. If the currency conversion rates between EUR and USD change, or the EUR prices change,
the USD rates can be automatically adjusted.

20.7.1 Creating pricelists

To define a pricelist use the menu Products Pricelists Pricelists .
For each list you should define:
a Name for the list,
a Type of list: Sale for customers or Purchase for suppliers,
the Currency in which the prices are expressed.
Tip: Customer Price
If you install the module edi (in addons-extra at the time of writing) a third type of list appears
the Customer Price - which defines the price displayed for the end user. This doesnt have to be
the same as your selling price to an intermediary or distributor.

Pricelist versions
Once the list is defined you must provide it with at least one version. To do that use the menu
Products Pricelists Pricelist Versions. The version contains all of the rules that enable you to
calculate a price for a product and a given quantity.
So set the Name of this associated version. If the list only has a single version you can use the
same name for the pricelist and the version. In the Pricelist field select the pricelist you created.
Then set the Start date and End date of this version. The fields are both optional: if you dont set
any dates the version will be permanently active. Only one version may be active at any one
point, so bear this in mind when creating them. Use the Active field in the versions to activate or
disable a pricelist version.

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Note: Automatically updating the sale pricelist
You can make any sale pricelist depend on one of the other pricelists. So you could make your
sale pricelist depend on your suppliers purchase pricelist, to which you add a margin. The prices
are automatically calculated as a function of the purchase price and need no further manual
adjustment.
Rules for calculating price
A pricelist version is made up of a set of rules that apply to the product base prices.

Figure 20.16: Detail of a rule in a pricelist version

You define the conditions for a rule in the first part of the definition screen labeled Rules Test
Match. The rule applies to the Product or Product Template and/or the named Product Category. If
a rule is applied to a category then it is automatically applied to all of its subcategories too (using
the tree structure for product categories).
If you set a minimum quantity in Min. Quantity the rule will only apply to a quantity the same as
or larger than that set. This lets you set reduced rates in steps that depend on the quantities
ordered.
Several rules can be applied to an order. Open ERP evaluates these rules in sequence to select
which to apply to the specified price calculation. If several rules are valid only the first in
sequence is used for the calculation. The Sequence field determines the order, starting with the
lowest number and working up.
Once a rule has been selected, the system has to determine how to calculate the price from the
rule. This operation is based on the criteria set out in the lower part of the form, labeled Price
Computation.
The first field you have to complete is labeled Based on. Set the mode for partner price
calculation, choosing between:
the List Price set in the product file,
the Standard Cost set in the product file,

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an Other Pricelist given in the field If Other Pricelist,
the price that varies as a function of a supplier defined in the Partner section of the product form.
Several other criteria can be considered and added to the list, as youll see in the following
section.
Next, various operations can be applied to the base price to calculate the sales or purchase price
for the partner at the specified quantities. To calculate it you apply the formula shown on the
form: Price = Base Price x (1 Field1) + Field2 .
The first field, Field1, defines a discount. Set it to 0.20 for a discount of 20% from the base price.
If your price is based on standard cost, you can set -0.15 to get a 15% price uplift compared with
the standard costs.
Field2 sets a fixed supplement to the price, expressed in the currency of the pricelist. This amount
is just added ( or subtracted, if negative) to the amount calculated with the Field1 discount.
Then you can specify a rounding method. The rounding calculation is carried out to the nearest
number. For example if you set 0.05 in this example, a price of 45.66 will be rounded to 45.65,
and 14,567 rounded to 100 will give a price of 14,600.
Note: Swiss special situation
In Switzerland, the smallest monetary unit is 5 cents. There arent any 1 or 2 cent coins. So you
set Open ERPs rounding to 0.05 to round everything in a Swiss franc pricelist.
The supplement from Field2 is applied before the rounding calculation, which enables some
interesting effects. For example if you want all your prices to end in 9.99, set your rounding to 10
and your supplement to -0.01 in Field2.
Minimum and Maximum margins enable you to guarantee a given margin over the base price. A
margin of 10 USD enables you to stop the discount from returning less than that margin. If you
put 0 into this field, no effect is taken into account.
Once the pricelist is defined you can assign it to a partner. To do this, find a Partner and select its
Properties tab. You can then change the Purchase Pricelist and the Sale Pricelist thats loaded by
default for the partner.

20.7.2 Case of using pricelists

Take the case of an IT systems trading company, for which the following product categories have
been configured:
All products
1. Accessories
Printers
Scanners
Keyboards and Mice
2. Computers
Portables

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Large-screen portables
Computers
Office Computers
Professional Computers
In addition, the products presented in the table below are defined in the currency of the installed
chart of accounts.
TABLE
Table 20.4: Examples of products with their different prices
Product

List
Price
1,200
1,340

Acclo Portable
Toshibishi
Portable
Berrel
100
Keyboard
Office
1,400
Computer
Default pricelists

Standard
Price
887
920

Default supplier
price
893
920

50

50

1,000

1,000

Figure 20.17: Default pricelist after installing Open ERP

When you install the software two pricelists are created by default: one for sales and one for
purchases. These each contain only one pricelist version and only one line in that version.
The price for sales defined in the Default Public Pricelist is set by default to the Public Price of the
product in the product file, which is the Sale Price in the Product file.

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The price for purchases defined in the Default Purchase Pricelist is set by default in the same way
to the Standard Cost of the product in the product file.
Example of a trading company
Take the case of a trading company, where the sale price for resellers can be defined like this:
For portable computers, the sale price is calculated from the list price of the supplier Acclo, with a
supplement of 23% on the cost of purchase.
For all other products the sale price is given by the standard cost in the product file, on which
31% is added. The price must end in .99 .
The sale price of Berrel keyboards is fixed at 60 for a minimum quantity of 5 keyboards
purchased. Otherwise it uses the rule above.
Assume that the Acclo pricelist is defined in Open ERP. The pricelist for resellers and the pricelist
version then contains three lines:
1. Acclo line:

Product Category : Portables ,

Based on : Other pricelist ,

Pricelist if other : Acclo pricelist ,

Field1 : -0.23 , Priority : 1 .

2. Berrel Keyboard line:

Product Template : Berrel Keyboard ,

Min. Quantity : 5 ,

Field1 : 1.0 ,

Field2 : 60 ,

Priority : 2 .

3. Other products line:

Based on: Standard Price , Field1 : -0.31 ,

Field2 : -0.01 , Rounding : 1.0 .

Priority : 3.

Its important that the priority of the second rule is set below the priority of the third in this
example. If it were the other way round the third rule would always be applied because a quantity
of 5 is always greater than a quantity of 1 for all products.
Also note that to fix a price of 60 for the 5 Berrel Keyboards, the formula Price = Base Price x (1 1.0) + 60 has been used.
Establishing customer contract conditions
The trading company can now set specific conditions to a customer, such as the company
TinAtwo, who might have signed a valid contract with the following conditions:

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For Toshibishi portables, TinAtwo benefits from a discount of 5% of resale price.
For all other products, the resale conditions are unchanged.
The list price for TinAtwo, called TinAtwo contract , contains two rules:
1. Toshibishi portable :

Product : Toshibishi Portable ,

Based on : Other pricelist ,

Pricelist if other : Reseller pricelist ,

Field1 : 0.05 ,

Priority : 1 .

2. Other Products:

Product :

Based on : Other pricelist , Pricelist if other : Reseller pricelist ,

Priority : 2 .

Once this list has been entered you should look for the partner form for TinAtwo again. Click the
Properties tab to set the Sale List Price field to TinAtwo Contract. If the contract is only valid for
one year, dont forget to set the Start Date and End Date fields in the Price List Version.
Then when salespeople prepare an estimate for TinAtwo the prices proposed will automatically be
calculated from the contract conditions.

20.7.3 Different bases for price calculation

Open ERPs flexibility enables you to make prices that depend not only on prices on the product
form, but in addition to the two predefined ones Cost Price and Public Price.
To do this use the menu Products Definitions Price Types. Create a new entry for the new
price type. Enter the field name, the field on the product form that this type of price corresponds
to and the currency that will be expressed in this field. The operation works just as well on new
fields added to the product form to meet specific developments.
Once this operation has been carried out you can make pricelists depend on this new price type.
Then, adding the weight and/or volume field, the price of a product by piece can vary by its
weight and/or volume. This is different from defining a price by weight in that case the default
unit of measure is weight and not piece.

20.7.4 Pricelists and managing currencies

If your trading company wants to start a product catalog in a new currency you can handle this
several ways:

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Enter the prices in a new independent pricelist and maintain the lists in the two currencies
separately,
Create a field in the product form for this new currency and make the new pricelist depend on this
field: prices are then maintained separately but in the product file,
Create a new pricelist for the second currency and make it depend on another pricelist or on the
product price: the conversion between the currencies will then be done automatically at the
prevailing currency conversion rate.

20.8 Rebates at the end of a campaign

If you want to provide discounts on an order, use the pricelist system in Open ERP. But its better
to work with endof-campaign rebates or year-end rebates. In this case the customer pays a
certain price for the whole of the campaign or the year and a rebate is returned to him at the end
of the campaign that depends on the sales hes made throughout the year.

20.8.1 Example: Using returns for the end of a campaign

Take the case of a contract negotiations with a wholesaler. To get the best selling price, the
wholesaler will ask you for a good deal and will sign up to a certain volume of orders over the
year.
You can then propose a price based on the volume that the wholesaler agrees to sell. But then
you dont have any control over his orders. If at the end of the year the wholesaler hasnt taken
the agreed volumes then you cant do anything. At most you can review his terms for the
following year.
Rebates at the end of a campaign can help you avoid this sort of problem. You can propose a
contract where the price is dependent on the usual wholesalers terms. You can propose a rebate
grid which will be assigned at the end of the year as a function of the actual sales made. Install
the discount_campaign module (in addons-extra at the time of writing) to generate rebates at the
end of the campaign. Once the modules have been installed you can configure your campaign
using the menu Sales Management Configuration Discount campaign.
Note: Year-end rebate
Most companies use the term year-end rebate, where rebates are applied at the end of the year.
But if youre using rebates at the end of a campaign, this would only actually be the case if the
campaign lasts exactly one year.

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Figure 20.18: Configuring a year-end rebate

A campaign must have a name, a start date, and an end date. After entering this information,
you should describe the lines of the campaign. Each line can be applied to a product or a
category of products. Then set the quantity of products sold from which the discount is
applied, and the amount of the rebate as a percentage of the actual sales volume.
When youve defined the campaign you can active it by clicking the Open button. The figure
Configuring a discount campaign for computers shows a campaign with a rebate on
computers which is between 10% and 20% depending on the sales volume.

Figure 20.19: Configuring a discount campaign for computers

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Once the campaign has been defined you can assign a given campaign to various partners.
To do that set a Discount

20.8. Rebates at the end of a campaign

Campaign in the second tab Sales and Purchases of the partner form.
Finally at the end of the campaign you should close it and Open ERP will automatically
generate invoices or credit notes for your partner associated with this campaign. Open ERP
opens credit notes in the Draft state that you can modify before validating them. To calculate
the amount on the credit note, Open ERP uses all of the invoices sent out during the period of
the campaign as its basis.
You can also reach all of the draft credit notes using the menu Financial Management
Invoices Customer Refunds.

20.9 Open orders

In some industries, customers commonly place orders for a certain volume of product and ask
for regular deliveries from an order up to the total amount on it. This principle, called open
orders, is managed by the sale_delivery module in Open ERP.
Open ERP handles open orders easily. An open order is an order for a certain quantity of
products but whose deliveries are planned for various dates over a period of time.
To do that you must install the sale_delivery module (in addons-extra at the time of writing).
A Sales Order is entered as a normal order but you also set the total quantity that will be
delivered on each order line.
Then you can use the new tab Deliveries on the order to plan the quantities sold and enter
your delivery planning there.

Figure 20.20: Managing open orders, planning forecasts

In the order lines, Open ERP shows you the quantity planned in addition to the quantity sold
so you can verify that the quantities sold equal the quantities to be delivered. When you
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confirm the order, Open ERP no longer generates a single delivery order but plans scheduled
despatches.
Tip: Invoicing Mode
If you work with Open Orders, you should set the order into the mode Invoice from the
Packing. Then the storesperson will be able to replan and change the quantities of the
forecast deliveries in the system.

20.10 Layout templates

The sale_layout module enables you to have a more elaborate template than the standard
order forms.
For example you could put the following in the order lines:
a horizontal separator line,
titles and subtitles,
subtotals at the end of the section,
comments,
a page break.
This enables you to lay out a more elaborate professional-looking quotation page. Theres
also the module account_invoice_layout which gives you the same functionality for invoice
templates.
The two figures Template for an invoice in Open ERP using the account_invoice_layout
module and The resulting printed invoice show an invoice template in Open ERP
and the resulting printed invoice.

Figure 20.21: Template for an invoice in Open ERP using the account_invoice_layout module

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20.10. Layout templates

Figure 20.22: The resulting printed invoice

CHAPTER

TWENTYONE

PURCHASING MANAGEMENT
In the preceding chapters you saw how to use customer invoices and delivery notes
in Open ERP. This chapter is about the management of purchases, the process
ahead of these two operations. Youll now see how Open ERP handles and simplifies
this and the control of purchases from suppliers.

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For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demonstration data, with
sale and its dependencies installed (which indirectly depends on, and installs, the purchase
module) and no particular chart of accounts configured.

21.1 All the elements of a complete workflow

The supplier order is the document that lets you manage price negotiations, control supplier
invoices, handle goods receipts and synchronize all of these documents.
Start by looking at the following order workflow:
1. Price request
supplier,

to

the

2. Confirmation of purchase,
3. Receipt and control of
products,
4. Control of invoicing.

21.1.1 Setting up your database

To set a system up for these examples, create a new database with demonstration data in it,
and select the Minimal Profile when you log in as the admin user. You can enter your own
company details when asked, or just select the default of Tiny SPRL if you want. Then install
the purchase module, which installs several other modules as dependencies. Continue the
remainder of this chapter logged in as the admin user.

21.1.2 Price request from the supplier

To enter data for a new supplier price request, use the menu Purchase Management New
Purchase Order. Open ERP opens a blank purchase form that you use for requesting prices
from a supplier. This is shown in the figure Data entry for a supplier order. If the price request
came from an automatic procurement created by Open ERP youll find a reference to the
document that generated the request in the Origin field.

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Figure 21.1: Data entry for a supplier order

Note: Managing Alerts
If you install the warning module you will be able to define alerts that appear when the
purchaser enters a price request or order. You can set alerts on the product and on the
supplier.
The internal reference, the date, and the warehouse that the products should be delivered to
are completed automatically by Open ERP but you can change these values if you need.
Select a supplier. Once a supplier has been selected, Open ERP automatically completes the
contact address for the supplier. The pricelist is also completed when you select the supplier.
This should bring in all of the conditions that youve negotiated with the supplier for a given
period.
Tip: Supplier Selection
Searching for a supplier is limited to all of the partners in the system that have the Supplier
checkbox checked. If you dont find your supplier it might be worth checking the whole list of
all partners to make sure that the supplier hasnt been partially entered into the system.
Once the main body of the purchase order has been completed you can enter the
product lines.

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Figure 21.2: Order line on a supplier order

When youve completed the product, Open ERP automatically completes the other fields on
the form:
Unit of Measure, taken from the Purchase UoM field on the product form,
The Description of the product in the suppliers language,
Scheduled date, calculated from the order date and the lead time
Unit price, provided by the supplier pricelist,
Taxes, taken from the information on the product form and partner form, depending on the
rules seen in Financial Analysis.
Tip: Product wording and code
When you enter supplier names on the product form, you can set a name and a product code
for each individual supplier. If you do that, Open ERP will then use those details in place of
your own internal product names for that selected supplier.
If you work with management by case you can also set the analytic account that should be
used to report all the purchase costs. The costs will then be reported at the receipt of the
supplier invoice.
Tip: Management by case
Analytic accounts can be very useful for all companies that manage costs by case, by site, by
project or by folder. To work with several analytic axes you should install the module
purchase_analytic_plans.
For that the analytic account is automatically selected as a function of the partner, the date,
the products or the user, you can install the module account_analytic_default (which is
installed automatically as a dependency of purchase_analytic_plans, since the latter depends
on it).
In the second tab of the product line you can enter a note that will be attached when the
order confirmation or price quotation is printed. This note can be predefined on the product

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form to automatically appear on each order for that product. For example you can put Dont
forget to send by express delivery as specified in our contract reference
1234 .
Once the document has been completed, you can print it as a price estimate to send to the
supplier. You can set a note for the attention of the supplier in the
forms third tab.

Figure 21.3: Printing the supplier price quotation

Then leave the document in the Draft state. When you receive a response from the supplier,
use the menu Purchase Management Purchase Orders Requests for Quotation. Select the
order and complete its details.
When you want to approve the order, use the button Confirm Purchase Order. The price
request then passes into the Confirmed state. No further changes are possible. To approve it
for purchase click the button Approved by Supplier.
Tip: Approval Receipt
You can confirm the order but not approve it straightaway. Do this when you want to approve
the order after youve received an order acknowledgement from the supplier. This gives you
an intermediate state for all orders waiting validation from the supplier using the menu
Purchase Management Purchase Orders Purchase Orders Awaiting Approval.

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Figure 21.4: Supplier order process

Note: Supplier Approval
If you want to automate the data entry stage at goods receipt, install the module
purchase_approve. This will automatically approve all the orders that have been confirmed.

21.1.3 Goods receipt

Once the order has been approved, Open ERP automatically prepares the goods receipt order
in the draft state for you. To get a list of the products youre waiting for from your suppliers,
use the menu Stock Management Incoming Products Packings to process.
Tip: Purchasing Services
If you buy services from your supplier, Open ERP doesnt generate a goods receipt note.
Theres no service receipt equivalent to a goods receipt.
Select the document that corresponds to the item that youre receiving. Usually the goods
receipt note is found by making a search on the order reference or the supplier name. You
can then confirm the receipt of the products.
As you saw in Logistics and Stock Management, if you receive only part of the order, Open
ERP manages the remainder of that order. A second receipt note is then automatically
created for the goods not received. You can cancel it if you think that you will never receive
the remaining products.
After receiving the goods, Open ERP will show you which orders are open and the state of
their receipt and invoicing if you return to the list of orders.

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Figure 21.5: List of open orders, and their receipt and invoice status

21.1.4 Control of invoicing

To control supplier invoicing, Open ERP provides three systems as standard, which can differ
order by order:

Invoicing
ordered,

based

on

Invoicing

quantities
based

on

quantities received,

Manual Invoicing.
The mode of invoicing control is set in the second tab of the purchase order in the field
Invoicing Control.

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Figure 21.6: Supplier order, invoice control

Tip: Default value
A company generally uses a single invoicing control method for all of its invoices. So youre
advised to go and set a default value in the Invoicing Control field after installation.

21.1.5 Control based on orders

If you selected your invoicing control based on orders, Open ERP will automatically generate
a supplier invoice in the draft state when the order is confirmed. You can obtain a list of
invoices waiting using the menu Financial Management Invoices Supplier Invoices
Draft Supplier Invoices.
When you receive a paper invoice from your supplier, all you need to do is validate the
invoice pre- generated by the system. Dont forget to check the price and the quantities.
When the invoice is confirmed the accounting entries represent the cost of purchase and are
automatically entered into the system.
The supplier order is then automatically set as Paid when you pay the supplier invoice.
This method of controlling invoices is often used in service companies, because the invoiced
amounts correspond to the ordered amounts. In logistics by contrast you most often work
with invoicing controlled by goods receipt.

21.1.6 Control based on goods receipt

To control your supplier invoices based on goods receipt, set the field Invoicing Control on the
second tab of the order to From Picking.
In this case no invoice, draft state or any other, is generated by the order. On the goods
receipt note, the field Invoicing Control is set to To be Invoiced.
The storesperson can then receive different orders. If he wants to generate the draft invoice
for a goods receipt, he can click the action Create Invoice. Open ERP asks you then for the
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journal for this invoice. It then opens that or the generated invoices (in the case of creating
invoices for several receipts at one time) which enables you to modify it before confirming it.
This approach is useful when you receive the invoice at the same time as the item from the
supplier. Usually invoices are sent by post some days later. In this case, the storesperson
leaves the item unchanged without generating an invoice. Then once per day or once per
week the accountant will create the draft invoices based on all the receipts for the day. To do
that he uses the menu Stock Management Incoming Products Generate Draft Invoices on
Receptions. He clicks on the action to generate all draft invoices from the list of receipts that
havent yet been invoiced. At that point, the accountant can decide if he wants to generate
an invoice per item or group all items for the same partner into the same invoice.
Invoices are then handled just like those controlled from On Order . Once the invoice arrives
at the accounting service he just compares it with the invoices waiting to control what the
supplier invoices you.
Tip: Delivery Charges
To manage delivery charges, install the module purchase_delivery (which was in addonsextra at the time of writing). This will automatically add delivery changes to the creation of
the draft invoice as a function of the products delivered or ordered.

21.1.7 Tenders
To manage tenders, you should use the module purchase_tender (which was in addons-extra
at the time of writing). This lets you create several supplier price reqests for a single supply
requirement. Once the module is installed, Open ERP adds a new Purchase Tenders menu in
Purchase management. You can then define the new
tenders.

Figure 21.7: Defining a tender

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To enter data for a new tender, use the menu Purchase Management Purchase Tenders
New Purchase Tenders. Open ERP then opens a new blank tender form. The reference number
is set by default and you can enter information about your tender in the other fields.
If you want to enter a suppliers response to your tender request, add a new draft purchase
order into the list on the Quotation tab of your tender document. If you want to revise a
supplier price in response to negotiations, edit any appropriate Purchase Order that youve
left in the draft state and link that to the tender.
In the general list of purchase orders, Open ERP shows, in the new second column Purchase
Tender, if the order has a tender reference.
When one of the orders about a tender is confirmed, all of the other orders are automatically
cancelled by Open ERP. That enables you to accept just one order for a particular tender.

21.1.8 Price revisions

Open ERP supports several methods of calculating and automatically updating product costs:
Standard price: manually fixed, and
Standard price: revalued automatically and periodically,
Weighted average: updated at each receipt to the warehouse.
This cost is used to value your stock and represents your product costs. Included in that cost
is everything directly related to the received cost. You could include such elements as:
supplier price,
delivery charges,
manufacturing costs,
storage charges.

21.1.9 Standard Price

The mode of price management for the product is shown in the third tab Prices & Suppliers on
the product form. On each individual product you can select if you want to work in Standard
Price or on weighted Average Price.
Tip: Simplified view
If you work in the Simplified View mode you wont see the field that lets you manage the
price calculation mode for a product. In that case the default value is standard price.
The Standard Price setting means that the product cost is fixed manually for each product in
the field Cost Price. This is usually revalued once a year based on the average of purchase
costs or manufacturing costs.
You usually use standard costs to manage products where the price hardly changes over the
course of the year. For example the standard cost could be used to manage books, or the
cost of bread.

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Those costs that can be fixed for the whole year bring certain advantages:

you can base the sale price on the product cost and then work with margins rather than
a fixed price per product,

accounting is simplified because theres a direct relationship between the value of stock
and the number of items received.

To get and automated periodic revaluation of the standard price you can use the module
product_extended ( from addons-extra at the time of writing). This adds an action on the
product form enabling you to set a date on all the selected products. Open ERP then
recalculates the price of the products as a function of the cost of raw materials and the
manufacturing operations given in the routing.

21.1.10 Weighted average

Working with Standard Prices does not lend itself well to the management of the cost price of
products when the prices change a lot with the state of the market. This is case for many
commodities and energy.
In this case youd want Open ERP to automatically set the price in response to each goods
receipt movement into the warehouse. The deliveries (exit from stock) have no impact on the
product price.
Tip: Calculating the price
At each goods receipt the product price is recalculated using the following accounting
formula: NP = (OP * QS + PP * QR) / (QS + QR), where the following notation is used:

NP: New Price,

OP: Old Price,

QS: Quantity actually in stock,

PP: Price Paid for the quantity received,

QR: Quantity received.

If the products are managed as a weighted average, Open ERP will open a window that lets
you specify the price of the product received at each goods receipt. The purchase price is by
default set from the purchase order, but you can change the price to add the cost of delivery
to the various received products, for example.

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Figure 21.8: Goods receipt of products managed in weighted average
Once the receipt has been confirmed, the price is automatically recalculated and entered on
the product form.

21.2 Analyis of purchases

21.2.1 Elementary statistics
To get statistics about your purchases you can install the modules report_purchase and
product_margin.
The first, report_purchase, will add two new reports in your purchase menu, analysis of
purchases by month and by product, and analysing product by month and by product
category. To use these reports use the menu Purchase Management Reporting This
month Purchases by product.

Figure 21.9: Analysis of purchases over the month by product

This analysis is carried out on supplier orders and not on invoices or the quantities actually
received. To get an analysis by product, use the module product_margin. The function of this
module is described in detail in the chapter Management of Sales.
To analyze the received quantities, you can use the statistical modules in Stock Management.

21.3 Supplier relationship management

To manage supplier relations, you should install the crm_configuration module. You will then
be able to manage supplier complaints and integrate them with your emails and document
management.

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Once youve installed the crm module, check the checkbox by the Complaints option during
configuration. Open ERP will then create a menu in your working database for
managing supplier complaints.

Figure 21.10: Selection of the management of complaints in the CRM installation

Once the module is installed you can use the menu CRM & SRM After Sales Service
Complaints New Supplier Complaint.

Figure 21.11: Data entry screen for a supplier complaint

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The CRM module has many reports predefined. You can analyse:
the number and the severity of the complaints by supplier or user,
the response time of your suppliers to your requests,
the supplier problems by type.

21.4 Analytic accounts

To manage purchases by project you should use the analytic accounts. You can set an analytic
account on each line of a supplier order. The analytic costs linked to this purchase will be
managed by Open ERP from the goods receipt and confirmation of the supplier invoice. The
hr_timesheet_invoice module lets you reinvoice the analytic costs automatically using
parameters in the analytic accounts such as sale pricelist, associated partner company, and
maximum amount.
So you can put an invoice order with a defined invoice workflow in place based on the
analytic accounts. If youre working Make to Order, the workflow will be:
1. Customer Order,
2. Procurement order on Supplier,
3. Receive invoice and goods from the supplier,
4. Delivery and invoicing to the customer.
When re-invoicing based on costs youd get the following workflow:
1. Enter the customer contract conditions from the analytic accounts,
2. Purchase raw materials and write the services performed into the timesheets,
3. Receive the supplier invoice and the products,
4. Invoice these costs to the customer.
Tip: Analytic multiplans
If you want several analysis plans you should install the module purchase_analytic_plans.
These let you split a line on a supplier purchase order into several accounts and analytic
plans. Look back at Analytic Accounts for more information on the use of analytic accounts.

Part VIII

Process and Document Management

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CHAPTER

TWENTYTWO

PROCESS
If you have reached this far in the book, your mind may well be reeling with the number
of new documents (based on business objects) and processes that you need to
encounter to model and manage your business.
Open ERPs process module, which is installed automatically when a process-aware
module is installed, shows you cross-functional processes and technical workflows
for those nodes in the process that have them. This visualization is invaluable for
documentation - but it also goes a step further. You can modify processes and
workflows and even generate entirely new processes and workflows for your
various document types.
If your starting point is a specific document, such as an invoice or order, then you will
also be shown the exact position of that document on its process and workflow
diagrams.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demonstration data, with
sale and its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured. process is
one of those dependencies. Also install some of the hr modules for the second example in
this chapter, such as hr_attendance, hr_contract, hr_holidays, and hr_holidays_request.

22.1 The integration of processes into the management

system
Processes are at the heart of a company: they form a structure for all activities that enable
the company to function effectively. A companys human dimension is often disconnected
from its processes at the moment, preventing individual employees aspirations from being
directed towards a collective objective.
From a mapping process, integrating management and the changing needs of each employee
becomes very useful for the fulfillment of each. Based on that, each employee becomes
aware of his own personal contribution to the companys value chain. This representation
also helps an employees own personal management because it shows his place and his role
in the overall process, very often over several departments.
The system of Corporate Intelligence will also be highly useful to system implementers who,
after studying the requirements, have to formalize a companys processes to put them into
operation in Open ERP.
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22.1.1 Examples of process

To understand the aims of the system of Corporate Intelligence (process) better, youll now
see an overview of the functions available to you in a the study of two processes:
A customer order quotation,
The engagement of a new employee.

22.1.2 Following a customer sales order

The example Example of a process handling a customer order quotation shows the process
for handling a customer sales order. Use the menu Sales Management Sales Orders to list
all orders, then choose Order SO001 you can either check the checkbox to its left, or you
can open the order itself by clicking the order date to the left of its name in the list.
To view the process for that specific order, click the Process button at the top right of the list
or form. The process for this order is shown in the window, and the current state of this
document can be seen by looking for the node whose left edge is colored maroon rather
than grey.

Figure 22.1: Example of a process handling a customer order quotation

This order is in the Quotation state. The whole of some nodes is greyed out because the
selected document will never enter into that state, such as invoicing based on deliveries (the
order is in an invoicing mode thats based on orders, not deliveries).
The process is completely dynamic and based on that specific sale order document. You can
click each of the process nodes (Quotation, Sale Order, Procurement, Draft Invoice, Outgoing
Products) using one of the links or icons on it:
Obtaining the documentation and the corresponding process in the quality manual, using the
Help (or Information) icon,
Opening the corresponding Open ERP document, using the Open icon,
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Printing the document, using the Print icon,
Printing the technical workflow by using the Gears (or Print Workflow) icon.
Obtaining the documents that an employee needs to carry out the process by clicking the
green arrow icon,
Seeing the menu that Open ERP uses to get the document by hovering over the green arrow
icon.
Returning to the process diagram, note that you can also get more information about the
transitions between nodes by hovering the mouse cursor over a transition:
A description of the transition,

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A list of the roles that can carry out the transition, The actions available to you from the
state.

Figure 22.2: Detail of a transition in the process

Confirm quotation SO001 by clicking on the icon of a person beside the maroon-colored
transition that takes the document from quotation to order. Then click the Confirm button.
The process automatically moves on to the next state and updates its references to some
new delivery reservations that youve just created (see the third tab History for a reference
to the Packing List PACK13).
This dynamic response is extremely useful for learning about the software. It gives you a
high-level view of the different actions carried out and their
results.

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22.1. The integration of processes into the management system

Figure 22.3: The process after confirming a process into an order

During order processing, the salesperson can quickly:
Print the corresponding delivery note,
Zoom into the invoice to see payment details,
Get examples of the necessary documents (such as quotation types, export documents, and
fax to confirm the order with the customer).
Create a draft invoice by starting the next step on your own.
It should be clear that this system of user processes gives you great visibility of the
companys overall functions. Each process individually reflects the specific situation of the
company and its documents.

22.1.3 New employee induction

Open the employee form for Fabien Pinckaers from the menu Human Resources
Employees All Employees. Click the Process button to open the detailed
process of engagement.

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Figure 22.4: Example of a process engaging a new employee

You can immediately see things that might interest the HR manager. On a single screen she
has all of the documents about the selected employee. She can then zoom into each
document to look at employee holidays, associated documents, or the user account in the
system.
Its also a great help for day-to-day management. When a new employee is engaged, an HR
manager - or anyone else with a suitable role - can complete each node in the corresponding
process, such as:
Entering his address,
Creating his user account in the system,
Sending any mandatory employment documents to the relevant government departments,
Declaring the required insurance documents,
Setting meal preferences, perhaps,

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Entering statutory public holidays into the system.

22.1. The integration of processes into the management system

You can click on each node to open the corresponding form in Open ERP. Some actions arent
owned by Open ERP, such as contacts with government offices and insurance companies. In
this case click on the document icon to get the documents to be completed and posted or
faxed to the institutions:
Fax for insurance declarations,
Statutary forms for government departments.

Figure 22.5: Example of a process required for the declarations for a new employee

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The system of Corporate Intelligence gives you a complete overview of all the companys
processes. So if you click on the node to the left it will start the recruitment process of
selecting and interviewing new employees if the necessary modules have been installed.

22.2 Workflows and User Processes

Workflows are used to define the behaviour of a given document. They are used by
developers and system implementers to determine which object should execute which
actions and at which moments. These are principally

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technical processes defined in a vertical way on the lifecycle of a complete object
(represented by a document).
Changing a workflow will have a direct impact on the behaviour of the software in
response to user actions. You handle all possible exceptions there so that
the software is robust.

Figure 22.6: Example of a workflow handling a customer order

Unlike workflows, user processes represent workflows across all of a company and its
documents. They are used by end users to locate an action for more complete handling. A
change of user process wont have any effect on the software but will show the user
another way of working on a given problem.

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Figure 22.7: Example of a process handling a customer order
Processes are used by end users to help them understand the problems which havent been
handled in Open ERP. You can find actions that have no influence on the software, such as
Telephone customer to thank him, and Send a fax to reassure him. As well as providing
user help, processes provide functions such as:
integration with Open ERP help and the companys
quality manual, showing the user menu for finding a
specific document.

Figure 22.8: Relationship between workflow and user process

User processes are thus connected to technical workflows. If you modify the softwares
behaviour with a workflow, the changes will be directly visible in the user processes that are
based on the modified document. So if you add new required roles for certain transitions on
a workflow they will automatically be shown in the process corresponding to the modified
document.
To get maximum benefit from the power of user processes and the workflow engine, Open
ERP provides an integrated workflow editor and user process editor. This enable you to
modify them through the client interface.
Youll only work with the process editor in this chapter. If you want to test the workflow
editor click on the link to the bottom left of a document and select the menu Customize
Manage Workflows. Open ERP opens a graphical editor to modify the workflow for the
selected document type.

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Figure 22.9: Workflow editor modifying the behaviour of invoices

The workflow editor is only available in Open ERPs web client at the time of writing. If you
have the GTK client you can use the menus in Administration Low Level Objects
Workflow Items. These are text-based not graphical.

22.2.1 Using processes effectively

Regardless of which Open ERP screen youre in you can call up a process on the current
document by clicking the Process icon. Depending on the document you can have several
processes defined using it, Open ERP then asks you to choose which one of them you want.
For example if you are in a meeting form, Open ERP will ask you to choose from the
processes it knows about that involve such forms:
processes for selecting and inducting new employees,
tracing customer orders in pre-sales,
processes for visiting customers and handling expenses.

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Figure 22.10: Button for entering a user process from a form

The element colored red shows the active process for the selected document. Elements in
grey are the states that the selected document wont go through because of its
configuration. You can use the different icons to open the document, print it, or get its
documentation.
Some states have an image inside of arrows formed into a circle. These show that the state
refers to another process.
To go to this other process you can click on the title of the state. For example you can click
on the invoice in the customer order management workflow to see in detail how
that invoice is handled.

Figure 22.11: A state that refers to another workflow

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Finally, you can place your mouse for a second over a transition (hover over a transition) to
get a help balloon appearing about this transition. Open ERP then shows you:
A description of the transition,
The actions you can take at this step,
The roles you need to make anything happen from this step.

Figure 22.12: Detail of a transition in a workflow

If you click on the transition, Open ERP opens a dialog box with buttons that enable you to
change the document state. These are the same buttons that you see on the active
document form. They enable you to confirm an order directly from the process and then see
the consequences in real time at a macro level.

22.2.2 Defining your own user processes

Use the menus under Administration Customization Enterprise Processes to define new
processes or modify existing processes. When entering a process, Open ERP shows you
the list of states available for that process.

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Figure 22.13: Form for defining a process

You can add a new state or modify an existing state. A state can be associated with an
object (whose instances are represented by documents). If that is the case, choose it in the
case object. You can set an expression that shows if the object can be found in that state or
not. Expressions are in Python format. For example for the quotation state choose the object
sale.order and set the following expression object.state == draft .
You can also link to a menu so that users can learn which menu to use to access objects in a
state. You can set the conditions in which this object is in a greyed-out state in the second
tab Conditions. These expressions, too, are encoded in Python format.
Once the node has been defined you should set the transitions leaving this object. For each
transition you can:
Give the leaving and destination states,
Set up a list of buttons that start various transitions in the process, Map between workflow
transitions and the document thats selected,
Put an explanatory notice in different languages.

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Figure 22.14: Screen for defining a process transition

The organization and quality of a company is typically related to its maturity. A mature
company is one where processes are well established, and where staff dont waste much
time searching for documents or trying to find out how to do their different tasks.
From this need for effective organization and explicit quality improvement, have appeared
numerous tools:
The ISO9001 quality standard,
Business Process Management (BPM) tools,
Use Case workflows, and formalized standards such as UML,
The company Quality Manual.
The problem is that these tools are usually quite separate from your management system
and often reserved for the use of just a few specific people in your company. Theyre treated
separately rather than put at the heart of your management system. When you ask
company staff about ISO9001 they usually see it as a constraint rather than a helpful daily
management tool.
To help the company meet its quality requirements and to form these processes into
assistance integrated with everyday work, Open ERP supplies a Corporate Intelligence ( r )
tool that enables you to put company processes at the heart of your management system.

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The system enables:
new employees to learn how to use the software by graphically and dynamically discovering
how each document and action works,
easy access to the all the links to a document and everything thats attached to it,
people to see both a high-level map and the detail of all a companys processes,
access to a graphical model and integrated quality manual for rapid access that depends on
the work context,
use of a knowledge base and capitalization of that knowledge for all of the companys
actions in the form of interactive processes,
an employee to become more aware of his role in the whole environment.

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CHAPTER

TWENTYTHREE

INTEGRATED DOCUMENT
MANAGEMENT
Information management has become a major strategic factor in companies
development. Its important to get the right information circulated to the right
people as efficiently as possible yet still keep it secure. Documentation
management provides a way for companies to organize their information, in all its
forms, in one place.
The objectives of document management include easier archiving, access, and reference,
intelligent classification, and distribution of documents and the information they contain. It
concerns sets of all sorts of company documents such as work procedures, meeting reports,
documents received from customers and suppliers, documents sent to customers, faxes,
sales presentations, and product datasheets.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with sale,
document and their dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.

23.1 The importance of good document management

Globalization means that workplaces are ever more geographically dispersed. This means
that documents are also used more than ever by people in several countries and continents
for communicating and collaborating.
Youll see communication problems even between employees in the same office because
they dont have easy access to the documents that they need. You find some documents
kept by someone in the accounts office, shared directories that serve everybody, some
documents in paper form, others in electronic form quite a free-for-all.
An explosion in the number of documents that a company needs doesnt help. If their
storage and indexation are badly organized, these documents become useless because
theyre almost impossible to find.
The results of poor document management can lead to a significant loss of time. Ask
yourself how often you find yourself looking for:

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A supplier catalogue thats been send to a purchasing manager,
A customer contract signed several months ago,
The final set of Terms and Conditions offered to a specific customer,
The documents required for employing a new member of staff,
An order confirmation sent by a customer to one of your salespeople or, perhaps even more
common when the relevant salesperson has gone on vacation, if you ever received such an
order confirmation,
A procedure from your quality manual if theres been a process fault,
An email which was sent to one of your colleagues,
A document that you need to be a template for a specific type of contract,
A complete history of communications between yourselves and a supplier about a given
contract.
Even worse than the loss of time, perhaps, the lack of good document management is bad
for the quality of your organization and the service provided by your company. In such a
company its likely that:
sets of documents dont follow a standard layout,
all the salespeople prepare quotations in their own way and gradually change the way they
do it for themselves but not for the group,
a correction to a type of contract stays with a small group of people and doesnt percolate
back into the rest of the company to benefit other users,
version management is chaotic or even non-existent.
So a good integrated document management system can be a powerful tool to help in dayto-day company management. With it you could also easily:
Continue the work started by a colleague if shes gone on vacation, and respond to her
customers if needed,
Get hold of examples of all document types with just a few clicks, so that you can follow
company standards in such areas as order confirmation, price requests, meeting minutes,
customer deliverables, contract examples, and models for faxes and letters,
Retrieve procedures and other associated documents if you dont know how to do a certain
task such as things you should do when hiring a new employee, organizing a conference,
or how to structure meeting minutes,
Very easily reuse work done by a colleague to meet similar needs and build on all the
individual work done in your own company,
Find all the orders for a customer or from a supplier in just a few seconds to answer
questions or two continue a discussion when the initial contact point in your company is not
available,

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Build on your working methods and enable your colleagues to benefit from each
improvement in a document type or a procedure.
From these examples you can see the importance of a good document management system,
and what it might contribute to the improvement of productivity and the quality of the
output from each employee.

23.2 Classic document management solutions

Faced with the need to organize documents, companies have looked at a number of
document management solutions that are promoted today, from simple email archiving to
complete electronic management systems dedicated to arbitrary documents.
Unfortunately these solutions havent always been very useful because theyre too little
integrated in companies management systems. Most solutions that weve come across are
underused by the employees often used by some of them but not by all.
The primary reason for this is that a document management system thats not integrated
imposes extra work on an employee. For example a salesperson should ideally save each
customer confirmation in the document management system. Only that means quite a
heavy additional workload just for an order confirmation:

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1. Receive and read the email from the customer,
2. Save the email and its attachments on the desktop,
3. Connect to the ERP and confirm the order,
4. Connect to the document management system,
5. Look for the best place to store the document,
6. Create a directory for the customer and the order if it doesnt yet exist,
7. Copy the files from the desktop to the right place in the document management system.
This is obviously a lot of operations just to handle a simple order confirmation. You can
understand why many companies hardly use their document management system even if
theyve gone to the cost and effort of purchasing and installing one.
Tip: Free document management systems
A number of free document management applications exist. The most well known are:

Alfresco: http://www.alfresco.com

Quotero: http://www.quotero.com
Its very difficult to keep the information in the companys management system synchronized
with that in the document management system. For example when a customer changes his
address, users will modify the details in the management software but usually not in the
document management system.
Furthermore, since users should create the same storage structure in both systems, you
quickly find after only a few months that the information in the document management
system is quite disconnected from that in the companys management system if the two are
separate. For example, how do you know where to store your least-frequently used
documents such as (perhaps) employee car-leasing documents? Also, document
management systems are typically very complex because they must manage user access
rights in just the same way as those that are available in the company management system.
This means that you have to enter the same sort of data about access rights twice for the
system administrators.
Youll see that the total integration of Open ERPs document management system with the
main company management system, and plugins to Outlook and Thunderbird email clients,
offers an elegant solution that addresses these problems.

23.3 The Open ERP solution

Open ERPs management of documents is unique and totally innovative in its integrated
approach. Its complete integration with the companys management system solves most of
the problems that are encountered when you use independent document management
systems:
Login and the management of access rights is integrated with that of Open ERP for controlling
access to different document types,

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Ultra-rapid access to documents, which are directly accessible through your email client or
through the company management software,
Automatic assignment of meta-information comes directly from information contained in your
Open ERP login registration,
Document workflow which automatically follow Open ERPs documentation process provide
complete synchronization between the systems,

23.3. The Open ERP solution

Document classification is determined by Open ERP itself so that the structure that is
created is always synchronized between the systems,
Automatic indexation and classification of all documents produced by Open ERP for maximum
efficiency.

23.3.1 Getting Started

This section is about how to get started with the document management system from its
installation to advanced use with FTP access.
Installation
To install Open ERPs document management system you just need is to install the document
and board_document modules through Administration Modules Management Modules
Uninstalled modules. After installing the module the system automatically proposes that you
configure the document management system.

Figure 23.1: Screen for configuring document management

Once the module has been installed youll see a new entry in the main menu called
Document Management.

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Figure 23.2: The document management menu

23.4 Internal and external access using FTP

The first configuration step is to create a directory structure that will be used to classify your
document set. You can use the structure automatically proposed by Open ERP from the menu
Document Management Directory
Structure.

Figure 23.3: Structure of directories when the document module has been installed
In addition to the usual access to documents through Open ERP, you will be able to connect
to them directly through the file system using the FTP protocol. To connect to the FTP server,
use the following address:
Paramete
r
Server
Port
Path
User

Value
Your Open ERP server, for example
127.0.0.1
8021
The / character, for the root
Your user account in Open ERP
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Password
Your Open ERP password
Note: FTP server
These comments about an FTP server may appear a bit technical, but its just a general
standard for getting hold of files without worrying too much about the platform standards
(Windows, Mac, Linux, or other Unix-like system). So FTP is just a way of getting access to
files without needing to use an Open ERP client. There could have been other ways, but FTP
proved itself to the developers to be the one that performed best at lowest cost.
Once youre connected using FTP you get to the root of a directory for the document
management system. Once you enter that directory you find a structure that
matches the structure defined in Open ERP.

23.4. Internal and external access using FTP

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Figure 23.4: Root of the database directory seen through FTP

Figure 23.5: Structure of the directories in the document management system

23.5 Mapping between Open ERP resources and

directories
Each directory can either have the type Static or be linked to another resource. A static
directory, as with Operating Systems, is the classic directory that can contain a set of files.
The directories linked to systems resources automatically possess sub-directories for each of
resource types defined in the parent directory.
Tip: Directories in English
To keep them synchronized to the working language, directory names are not translatable.
But Open ERPs demonstration data automatically creates directories in English. You can
rename them through the menu Document Management Configuration Directories.

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For example you can look at the directory shown in Main Repository Sales Orders All
Sales Orders. Youll see the directory for all the orders present in Open ERP that was
created automatically by the system.

Figure 23.6: Orders in Open ERP

Figure 23.7: Directories representing all the orders in the document management system
Directories can follow a tree like the tree of resources in Open ERP. For example if you go to
the directory Main Repository Projects youll see the structure of the analytic accounts.
To define a directory containing a specific type of resource you have to define parameters
when you define the directory itself:
Type : Other Resources
Child Models : Choose one of the system objects
Domain : an event filtered so that it sees only a subset of the resources
Tree structure : to show the resources hierarchically

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23.5. Mapping between Open ERP resources and directories

Figure 23.8: Configuration of the directory containing quotations (draft orders)

This is a very flexible approach because any modification of the resource in Open ERP is
automatically reflected in the document management system. So when the quotation gets
confirmed in Open ERP the directory no longer appears as a quotation through FTP access.
Here are some examples of directories linked to Open ERP resources that could be helpful
when configured in the document management system:
Quotations and Order: storing documents that relate to orders,
Products: for storing products technical datasheets,
Users: to automatically define a directory owned by each user of the system,
Employees: to store documents about employees, such as their CVs, your interview notes,
contract details, and their annual assessments,
Support Requests: storing items about requests or about technical support responses,
Analytic accounts or project: to store project management and tracking documents.

23.6 Managing Attachments

As you see, you can connect any directory in the document management system to an Open
ERP resource. The system then manages its creation and keeps the directory synchronized
with the reports generated by Open ERP from its own data. You dont have to create or
rename these directories because Open ERP does all this automatically as it resychronizes
with its own database.
You can then copy the files in the directories that correspond to any of the resources. The
files are automatically attached to Open ERPs documents through attachment management.
Conversely, if you attach a document to one of Open ERPs resources then that document
will automatically become visible over FTP in the document management system.
Note: File storage
If you dont install the document management system then the files that are attached to an
Open ERP resource are stored directly in the database. Once the document management
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system has been installed, the contents of the files are no longer stored in the database but
are stored instead on the Open ERP server filesystem in a directory named
filestore.
You can then read and add attachments to Open ERP resources quite independently of the
Open ERP interface or the FTP server using simple drag and drop.

23.7 Virtual Files

The most well-organized companies keep track of all the documents theyve sent to
customers in their document management system. Its very useful to be able to retrieve
every document about a customer or a project. But the work of storing these documents can
itself often take up quite a bit of time for staff. Each report must be saved in the document
management system as well as simply being sent by email to the customer.
Thats not the case in Open ERP. To automatically make Open ERP reports available in the FTP
server, Open ERP automatically uses virtual files. You can put virtual files into directories that
have the special type of linked resource and link the virtual files to Open ERPs reports.
Note: Virtual Files
Virtual files dont actually exist in Open ERP but are made visible with a size of 0 in the FTP
server. Once these files have been read by the client software, Open ERP prints the
document related to this file and returns a PDF document linked to the resource.
When you copy or open a virtual file you print the selected resource. You dont then have to
go and print a document through Open ERP you just open the file containing that
document in the document management system. The PDF file is then created in real time by
Open ERP by reading the relevant data.
The screen Virtual files for Sales Orders in Open ERP shows the parameters of the virtual files
in Orders. You define the virtual files using the name ORDERNUM_print.pdf, where
ORDERNUM represents the reference to the order.
To do this you must complete the section Descriptive Contents of the file for a directory. You
can then find a virtual file for each report associated with an
order.

Figure 23.9: Virtual files for Sales Orders in Open ERP

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To see the effect of this configuration, connect to the FTP server and go into a directory for an
order such as Main
Repository Sales Orders All Sales Orders SO003. You can then just double-click the
file SO003_print.pdf to get a printout of Order SO003. You can attach it to an email
or put it on your desktop.

23.7. Virtual Files

Figure 23.10: Virtual files for Sales Orders through FTP

This system of virtual files is very useful in a lot of situations. For example if you must quickly
re-send a quotation to a customer you dont have to open Open ERP, you can just attach the
relevant virtual file to your email.
Importantly, once files have been read or copied they become real files, taking up real space,
rather than just virtual. This means that you can keep a legal record of all documents that
have been created and sent to customers and suppliers.

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23.8 Standardizing Structures

You now have a configuration that enables you to automatically get a directory structure
linke to Open ERP for each resource, such as for projects and orders. The ideal situation
would now be to automatically structure the documents about projects, say. For example,
you could classify them depending on their type:
Quotations,
Meeting Minutes,
Delivery Documents,
Documentation.
Open ERP provides you with a system that lets you create a structure type for each type of a
given document. It then provides that classification for all documents in the directories
structured in that type.
So create the structure above for your project management system. To do that, create the
four directories above and give them the following data:
Type : Static Directory,
Linked Model : Analytic Account.
Then in each project (represented by analytic accounts) youll get this substructure for
organizating your documents efficiently.

Figure 23.11: Substructure common to all projects

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Tip: Mapping
In practice, Open ERP doesnt create directories or files for every resource. It actually
manages this by mapping between Open ERP resources and the FTP interface
This approach gives a lot of flexibility because theres no synchronizing to do, nor any
redundancy. Changes in either the document management system or in Open ERP will
automatically be reflected over in the other side. And system resources are obviously not
used up by storing things twice.
Once a new project has been defined in Open ERP, the system automatically creates a
directory corresponding to the project in the right place in the document management
system, and creates a structure type there for classifying documents.

23.9 Searching for documents

Youve seen several methods of accessing documents quickly:
From attachments to an Open ERP resource,
Through FTP access to Open ERP,
Using the menu Document Management Structure of Directories.
But if you dont know where a specific document can be found, Open ERP also has a search
tool integrated into its document management. To search for a file use the menu Document
Management Search for a file. You get to a document search screen that lets you search
amongst all the attachments and all the documents in the FTP server.

23.9. Searching for documents

You can search for a file using various different criteria:
The filename,
The owner of a file,
The title of the resource that the file is attached to,
The partner that the document is about,
The directory that its found in,
Its creation and modification dates.
Notice here an important advantage for an integrated document management system.
Information such as which partner is associated with a document is automatically detected
by Open ERP when the document has been stored in a directory. This information is never
input by the user its detected automatically using the information about the resource
when its being saved as a file.
But your search isnt limited to these few fields. You can also search on the content in the
files. Each file is automatically indexed by the system to give you a search engine rather like
Googles on the whole set of company documents.

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Note: Supported file formats
The Open ERP document management system can index the following file formats:

TXT : text files,

PDF : PDF files,

SXW : Open Office V1 files,

ODT : Open Office V2 files,

DOC : Microsoft Word files.

The other file formats are properly handled in the document management system but their
content is not indexed automatically.
This functionality is very significant. All you need to do is search for a partner name or an
order number to automatically get all the documents that are referenced there. And you can
use a fragment of text to find the document you need from within that subset.

23.10 Integration with emails

23.10.1 Using Outlook and Thunderbird

Figure 23.12: Sending an attachment thats in the document management system from
Outlook

23.11 Working with users changes

To make the document management systems use as unobtrusive as possible the systems
users should easily be able to store all the documents that they produce or receive from their
customers and suppliers. So Open ERP supplies dashboards to help system users approve
their acceptance of such documents.

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So youll find two dashboards in the menu Dashboards Document Management. One
dashboard is for the document management system manager and one dashboard is for
tracking use by different users.
The first lets you track the change of documents by month, by customer and by type of
resource. You could also quickly assess the use thats made of the system
by the various users.

23.10. Integration with emails

Figure 23.13: Dashboard for the document management system manager

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The second dashboard shows you how different employees use the system. You can see the
number of files sent by each user and who uses the document management system the
least. That tells you something about your user training and whether you need to do
something about changing work methods.

Figure 23.14: Dashboard for the document management system analyzed by user

23.12 Version Management

Theres usually a need to keep track of all the important documents that you have printed.
For example, when you send an invoice to a customer its a good idea to store a copy of that
invoice internally in paper or electronic form. Then you can reprint it exactly in the same
format as when you sent it, even if the companys details have changed in the meantime.
To do this, Open ERP can automatically store as attachments the different reports printed by
users. By default, only invoices are saved as attachments, and theyre saved when they are
printed. Thats because they are commonly legally required.
But you can configure the system so that it doesnt matter which type of report is printed they can all be stored automatically. To activate that functionality on another type of
report, modify this in the menu Administration Configuration Low Level Actions
XML Reports.

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Figure 23.15: Modifying the definition of a report

Select the report that you want to change and complete the field Prefix for saving as an
attachment. Once youve done that each document print action will automatically be saved
as an attachment to the document.

23.13 Documents used for company processes

Finally, the document management system is also completely linked to the main system that
manages company processes. Then on each node of your management process you could
store a procedure. Once the user sees a process view of the relevant document he would be
able to click on the directory to get all the documents that might be useful for this phase of
the process.
So you could also efficiently store the documents required for each phase of a process.

23.12. Version Management

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Figure 23.16: Example of a document linked to process management

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System Administration and

Implementation

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After youve tested and evaluated Open ERP, youll need to configure it to match the
software to your companys needs. Its flexibility enables you to configure the different
modules, adapting them to your industry or sector of activity.
Designed for ERP project managers, this section deals with the administration and
configuration of the system, giving you powerful tools for integrating the software in a
company and driving and tracking the project, taking account of different problems, a
range of supplier types, implementation risks, and the options available to you.

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TWENTYFOUR

CONFIGURATION &
ADMINISTRATION
This chapter is for the administrators of an Open ERP system. Youll learn to configure
Open ERP to match it to your companys needs and those of each individual user of the
system.
Open ERP gives you great flexibility in configuring and using it, letting you modify its
appearance, the general way it functions and the different analysis tools chosen to match

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your companys needs most closely. These configuration changes are carried out through
the user interface.
Users can each arrange their own welcome page and their own menu, and you can also
personalize Open ERP by assigning each user their own dashboard on their welcome page
to provide them with the most up to date information. Then they can immediately see the
information most relevant to them each time they sign in.
And Open ERPs main menu can be entirely reorganized. The management of access rights
lets you assign certain functions to specific system users. You can also assign roles, which
define the part that each system user plays in the workflows that move system documents
from state to state (such as the ability to approve employee expense requests).
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demonstration data,
with sale and its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.
Note: Configuration, Parameterization, Personalization, Customization
The word personalization is sometimes used in this book where you might expect to find
configuration or customization. Customization generally refers to something that requires a
bit of technical effort (such as creating specialized code modules) and creates a nonstandard system.
Configuration is less radical its the general process of setting all the parameters of the
software to fit the needs of your system (often called parameterization or setup).
Configuration is also, by convention, the name of the sub-menu below each of Open ERPs
top-level menus that is accessible only to the administrative user for that section.
Personalization is just that subset of configuration options that shapes the system to the
particular operational and/or stylistic wishes of a person or company.

Using the OpenOffice.org Report Designer module you can change any part of any of the
reports produced by the system. The system administrator can configure each report to
modify its layout and style, or even the data thats provided there.
Note: The OpenOffice.org Report Editor
The OpenOffice.org plug-in enables you not only to configure the reports of the basic
products in Open ERP but also to create entirely new report templates. When the user uses
Open ERPs client interface, OpenOffice can create a report template that has access to all
the data available to any Open ERP document type.
You can easily create fax documents, quotations, or any other commercial document. This
functionality enables you to considerably extend the productivity of your salespeople who
have to send many proposals to customers.
Finally, youll see how to import your data into Open ERP automatically, to migrate all of
your data in one single go.
For this chapter you should start with a fresh database that includes demo data, with sale
and its dependencies installed and no particular chart of accounts configured.

24.1 Creating a Configuration Module

Its very helpful to be able to backup your specific configuration settings in an Open ERP
module dedicated just to that. That enables you to:

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database,
reinstall a clean database with your own configuration in case you have problems with the
initial configuration,
publish your specific configuration to benefit other companies in the same industrial sector,
simplify migrations, if you have modified some elements of the basic configuration, theres a
risk in returning them to their original state after the migration, unless youve saved the
modifications in a module.
Start by installing the module base_module_record in the usual way. Then start recording
your actions using the menu Administration Modules Management Modules Recording
Start Recording. Manually make all your configuration changes through the user interface
as you would normally (such as menu management, dashboard assignments, screen
configuration, new reports, and access rights management details of some of these
possibilities are described later in this chapter).

Once

Note: Contributing to the development of Open ERP

Once your personal configuration has been saved into a module, install the module
base_module_publish. T gives you a new possible action Publish Module in the menu
youve Administration Modules Manage Modules. Use this function to publish your module
on the official Open ERP site. It could then be reused by other companies have the same
needs as yours. You could then yourselves benefit from improvements made by these
same compan in future.
done all Dont forget to create a user account beforehand on http://openerp.com.

this, go to the menu Administration Modules Management Modules Recording Save

Recorded Module.

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Open ERP then creates a ZIP file for you containing all of the modifications you made while
you were carrying out your configuration work. You could reinstall this module on other
databases and/or publish it online to help other companies. This could turn out to be useful
if you want to install a test server for your companys users and give them the same
configuration as the production server.
To install a new module saved in ZIP file form, use the menu Administration Modules
Management Import a new module.

24.2 Configuring the menu

Open ERPs menu organization isnt subject to any restriction, so you can modify the whole
structure, the terminology and all access rights to it to meet your specific needs in the best
possible way. However, before you do all that and just as you would for any other
customizable software, you should balance both the benefits you see in such changes and
the costs, such as the need to train users, to maintain new documentation and to continue
the alterations through subsequent versions of the software.
This section describes how to proceed to change the structure of the menu and the
welcome page, to configure the terminology of the menus and forms in the user interface
and for managing users access rights to the menus and the various underlying business
objects.

24.2.1 Changing the menu

As administrator, and using the web client, select a menu item (but dont click it). Click on
the line containing Administration Translations Import/Export Export a Translation
File (but not on the string Export a

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Translation File itself) and click the Switch button to bring up the menu item as an editable
form (you can do the same using the GTK client there you select the line and click the View
button instead).
You could now edit this form (but dont do that, read the next paragraph first!) change its
Parent Menu, which moves the entry to a different part of the menu system; edit its Menu
name to change how it appears in the menu tree, or give it a new Icon. Or you could give it a
new Action entirely (but this would lose the point of this particular exercise).
Instead of editing this form, which is the original menu entry, duplicate it. With the web client
you must first make the form read-only by clicking the Cancel button, then you click the
Duplicate button that appears (in the GTK client, click Form Duplicate from the top menu).
The form that remains is now the duplicate entry, not the original.
To move this duplicate entry, change the Parent Menu field by deleting whats there and
replacing it with another menu that everyone can see, such as Tools or Human Resources, and
make sure that the entry moves to the end of the menu list by replacing the Sequence with
99 . You can experiment with icons if you like. Save the form and then click Main Menu to see
the results.
Tip: Duplicating the menu
If youre planning to modify a menu you should duplicate it first. In this way youll always
keep a link to the original menu that works if you need it to.

24.2.2 Personalizing the welcome page for each user

When you sign into Open ERP for the first time, a welcome page appears. In a minimal
system, such as that created in the original openerp_ch02 database before it was expanded in
Guided Tour, and in the openerp_ch03 database, you only get the main menu the same as
you get by default when you click the Main Menu button. As you add functionality to your
database you get more choices for the welcome page, with different dashboards
automatically assigned to various company roles as theyre created in the demonstration
data.
The administrator can change both the welcome page and the main menu page individually
for each user of the system, and can adapt Open ERP to each role in the company to best fit
the needs of everyone.
To make modifications for a particular user, edit the user configuration again in
Administration Users Users.
Open the form for a particular user, and select different menu entries for the two fields
Home Action and Menu Action.

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24.2. Configuring the menu

Figure 24.1: Selecting a new welcome page

The Home Action is the menu item that is automatically opened when you first sign on, and is
also reached when you click the Home link in the top right toolbar of the web client. There
you can choose any page that youd reach through any menu one of the dashboards could
be most useful. The Menu Action is the one you reach through the Main Menu button in the
web client (the Menu button in the GTK client). You can choose the main menu and the
dashboards there.
Tip: Actions on the administrators menu
Its very easy to change the welcome page and the menu of the different users. However, you
shouldnt change the main administrators menu because you could make certain menus
completely inaccessible by mistake.

24.2.3 Assigning default values to fields

You can quite easily configure the system to put default values in various fields as you open
new forms. This enables you to pre-complete the fields with default data to simplify your
users work in entering new documents.
If youre using the web client hold Ctrl down and Right-Click at the same time (thats a mouse
right-click while the mouse pointer is in the field and the Control key is held down on the
keyboard).
If youre using the GTK client, you just need to right-click the mouse while the pointer is in the
field.

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An administrator has the choice of making the default work just for that user, or for all
users of the database.

Figure 24.2: Inserting a new default value

To check this new configuration, open a new partner form: the field Country should now
contain the entry New Zealand .
This is a very powerful feature! An administrator can use this functionality to redefine the
behavior of your whole system. You can test that in database openerp_ch13 by opening up a
new Purchase Order form, clicking the second tab Purchase Shippings, selecting From Picking
in the Invoicing Control field and then making that the default.
From that moment on, youd automatically create draft purchase invoices only when goods
are received, so you could very easily restrict your accountants from paying any invoices that
turn up until you were sure you had received the goods. It wouldnt stop anyone from
selecting another method of invoice control, but theyd start with the default definition.

24.2.4 Changing the terminology

You can use Open ERPs language translation functionality to substitute its standard
terminology with terminology that fits your company better. Its quite straightforward to adapt
the software with different terms specific to your industry. Moreover, this can strengthen
acceptance of your new Open ERP system, because everybody will be able to retain their
usual vocabulary.
You can do this one of two ways:

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translate them in a CSV file, which gives you a global overview of all of the system terms so
that you can search and replace specific occurrences everywhere,
translate the phrases directly in the client, which means that you can change them in their
context, and that can be helpful to you while youre translating.

24.2. Configuring the menu

The same approach is used to translate terms that havent been created yet. This can be
useful, for example, with modules that havent yet been translated into English or any other
language that you want.
Translation through a CSV file
To translate or modify all of the systems phrases you first have to export a translation file in
CSV form. And to do that, you have to install a language into Open ERP. To load a translation
that already exists in Open ERP use Administration Translations Load an Official
Translation choose a language and then click Start Installation.
Then export it using Administration Translations Import/Export Export a Translation file.
Select the language, then the :guilabel:CSV File format, then one or more (or all) modules.
Click Get File to start the download process, then click the small Save icon to save the file
somewhere. A French translation would be named fr_FR.csv by default, but you can name it
whatever you like.
Note: UTF-8 format
The CSV file is encoded in the UTF-8 format. Make sure that you retain this format when you
open the file in a spreadsheet program because if you dont retain it you risk seeing strange
character strings in place of accented characters.

Figure 24.3: CSV translation file with a translation in view

The file contains six columns: module , type , name, res_id, src, and value. You have to ensure
that the first line, which specifies these column names, remains untouched.
The src field contains the base text in English, and the value field contains a translation into
another conventional language or into a specialist technical phrase. If theres nothing at all in
the value field then the English translation will automatically be used on the the form you see.
Tip: Where should you modify the text?
Most of the time, you will find the text that you want to modify in several lines of the CSV file.
Which line should you modify? Refer to the two columns type (in column B) and name (in
column C). Some lines have the name ir.ui.menu in the name column which shows that this is
a menu entry. Others have selection in the type column, which indicates that youd see this
entry in a drop-down menu.
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You should then load the new file into your Open ERP system using the menu Administration
Translations Import/Export Import a Translation file. Youve then got two ways forward:
you can overwrite the previous translation by using the same name as before (so you could
have a special
standard French translation by reusing the Name Franais and Code fr_FR ) ,
you could create a new translation file which users can select in their Preferences.
If youre not connected to the translated language, click Preferences, select the language in
Language and finally click OK to load the new language with its new terminology.
Tip: Partial translations
You can load a selection of the lines in a translation file by deleting most of the lines in the
file and then loading back only the changed ones. Open ERP then changes only the uploaded
lines and leaves the original ones alone.
Changes through the client interface
You can also change labels and other screen items on screen in the web client. To do that,
open the form that you want to translate, then click the Translate this resource. icon to its top
right. You then have the choice of translating:
the data in the system (contained in the Fields) ,
the field titles (the Labels) ,
all of the Action buttons to the right of the form (the Relates option),
the terms used in the form View.
You can modify any of these.
The procedure is slightly different using the GTK client. In this you just right-click on a label or
button with the mouse. You can choose to translate the item itself or the whole view.
This method is simple and quick when you only have a few entries to modify, but it can
become tiresome and you can lose a lot of time if youve got to change some terms across
the whole system.
In that case it would be better to use the translation method that employs a CSV file.
Tip: Tacking account of translations
In the GTK client the modified terms arent updated immediately. To see the effects of the
modifications you must close the current window and then reopen the form.

24.3 User Login

Tip: Managing Passwords
If you let users change their passwords for themselves youll have no direct control over the
password they choose. You should have a written policy about password strength to try to
maintain a level of security in your system.

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Tip: Managing users through LDAP
With the users_ldap module, user accounts can be managed through an LDAP directory that
can be made common to various different company resources.
Connection parameters for the LDAP directory are then registered with the company
definition. You can provide a user profile template there from which new users are
automatically created during their first connection to Open ERP.
Note: LDAP
The LDAP protocol (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) enables you to manage common
directories for various different resources through your standard TCP/IP network.
This enables users in the company to have the same username and password to access all
their applications (such as email and intranet).

24.4 Managing access rights

One of the most important areas in configuring Open ERP is how to manage access rights to
the information in it.
Youre planning to put everything significant to your business into the system, but most of
your staff need see only part of it, and may need to change even less of it. Who should have
rights to what, and how do you manage that?
Open ERPs approach to rights management is highly flexible. Each user can belong to one or
more groups, and the group(s) you belong to determine(s):

24.3. User Login

the visibility of each menu item and
the accessibility of each table in the database.
For example, the group Stockmay only be given access to some of the menus in Stock
Management, and may have no access to any of the accounting information. Each system
user who works in Stores is given membership of the Stock group. If some users also work
elsewhere, theyd also be given membership of other groups.
Open ERP users can also belong to various roles. Just as group gives a user access rights,
each role determines the users duties. This is managed at the level of workflows, which form
the companys business processes.

24.5 Groups and Users

To configure access rights youd start by defining the groups. Its important for the groups to
be representative of your companys job functions rather than of its individual employees.
So if your finance director is also your sales director, you should create both a Finance
Director group and a Sales Director group, even though theyre both the same person, and
would both be assigned to this user in practice. This gives you flexibility for the future.

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You should also create groups within a departmental areas that have different levels of access
rights. For example, if you create a Sales Directorgroup and a Sales group avoid assigning
exactly the same rights to each group. The first could see all the of reports, while the second
could be restricted to seeing quotations. You could either make the Sales Directora member of
both groups, and give the Sales Director group a limited set of extra rights, or give the Sales
Directorgroup all the rights it needs for a Sales Director to belong only to this one group. You
should choose the scheme that gives you most flexibility and then stick with it to maintain
consistency.
Tip: Flexibility in managing access
To give yourself flexibility, you can ensure that a trusted staff member (perhaps a director or
someone in accounts, or even the system administrator) is given wide rights to use the
system, and is authorized by the management to carry out specific tasks for people.

24.5.1 Access rights for menus

To get a feel for rights management in Open ERP youll create a new Stock1 group, with
access to the Stock Management menu items. Youll then create a stores person user whos a
member of the Stock1 group.
To create a new group, use the menu Administration Users Groups. Enter the group name
Stock1.
Then to create a new user linked to this, use Administration Users Users to enter the
following:

Name : Stores Person ,

Username : stores ,

Password : stores ,

Company : <your company> ,

Action : Menu ,

Menu Action : Menu .

In the second tab of the user form, Security , add the Stock1 group that you just
created.

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Figure 24.4: Groups that have access to the Stock Management menu
Save the user, then go into the menu Administration Security Grant Access to Menus to
get a list of menus. Filter this list using the search field Menu to get the Stock Management
menu item. In the form describing the menu, add Stock1into the Groups field. While youre at
it, also add the admin group there. From now on, only members of the Stock1 group and the
admin group will be able to see this menu item in their main menu list.
Tip: Menu hierarchy
Since menus are hierarchical there is no need to hide access to lower menus: once youve
configured Stock Management this way, all lower-level menus become invisible to members
of other groups.
Tip: Security
This method of managing access to menus doesnt guarantee that users are prevented from
reaching hidden business objects in the system in other ways. For example, hiding the
Invoices menu wont prevent people reaching invoices through purchase and sales orders, or
by guessing the URL.
For effective security management you must use the methods for managing access rights to
objects presented in the following section.
Note: Initial access configuration
In the initial configuration, Open ERPs admin user, a member of the admin group, is given
access to the Configuration menu in each section of the main menu. This is a general
convention. For example, Partners Configuration is visible in the administrators menu
amongst the other Partner menu items, but only those other menu entries are visible to other
users. Similarly, the main menu entry Administration is, by convention, visible only to users
who are members of the admin group.

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24.5.2 Access Rights to Objects

The menu access rights determine who can access which menu, but doesnt define what you
can do once youre in the menu.
Access controls on the objects give you the possibility of defining what your users have the
right to do with your data when they get access to it. Access control of objects is structured
the same way as access to menus.

24.5. Groups and Users

Note: Object
An object represents a document in the system. Objects are linked to database tables and
also have additional concepts, such as the functions of fields, inheritance from other objects,
and class methods that give them behavior.
If no group is assigned to an object, all users can access it without any restriction of any sort.
Conversely, when an access control is defined for an object, a user must be a member of a
group owning appropriate access rights to have any sort of access to that object.
You must always ensure that you dont lock the admingroup out of any objects that control
administration and configuration options, such as the ir.model.access model.
You can manage four access modes on objects independently:

Read access : members of the group can read the data in the object,

Create access : members of the group can create a new record in the object, Write

access : members of the group can modify the contents of records in the object, Delete
access : members of the group can delete records from the object.

Figure 24.5: Access control to invoices for the Finance/Admin group

To configure access rights on a Open ERP objects, use the menu Administration Security
Access Controls Access Controls List and click New or choose one there and click Edit. You

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give a Name to the access control, select a Group, and the object (Model), then check the
checkbox corresponding to each of the four Access modes.
If you dont specify any group in the access rules, the rule is applied to all groups. So to
remove access to an object for all users you could create a rule:

which is defined for a specific object,

which is linked to no group,

for which none of the four access options is checked.

You can then create additional rules on the same object to give specific rights to certain
groups.

24.5.3 Modification history

Figure 24.6: Partner Record history

Each record in a Open ERP database carries a note of its history. You can find out who it was
created by and when that occurred, and who last modified it and when that occurred. Click
the View Log icon at the top right of any form in the web client (but only when its read- only,
not when its editable) to display a dialog box showing this information, as shown in the figure
Workflow for order SO005. It can help you identify who to contact if there are any problems
with the data in the records.
Tip: Audit Trail
Open ERP has an Audit Trail module audittrail which can be used to track any or all of the
changes to one or more objects. It should be used with care, because it can generate huge
amounts of data in the live database, but can be an invaluable tool.

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24.6 Configuring workflows and processes

Workflows represent the companys
configurable and define the path that any
follow depending on the conditions (for
approved by a sales director, otherwise
triggered).

different document flows. Theyre completely

individual Open ERP object (such as an order) must
example an order over a certain value must be
by any sales person, before the delivery can be

The figure Workflow for order SO005 shows the standard workflow for an order. You can show
it from the GTK client starting with Sales Management Sales Order All Sales Order. Select
an order, then go to the top menu Plugins Execute a plugin Print Workflow to show the
menu below.
In the web client you can reach a workflow from the associated cross-company process (the
process itself is reached by going to the sales document and then clicking the Process
button above it), Chapter Process provides all of the information needed to create and
modify technical workflows and cross-company processes.

24.6. Configuring workflows and processes

Figure 24.7: Workflow for order SO005

24.6.1 Assigning roles

Users can be linked to several roles specifying their duties in certain phases of different
workflows accompanying the various documents. For example, if a user has taken the role of
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services manager he takes on the task of approving holiday requests from his staff. So his role
will be integrated in the holiday request workflow.
Role definition is done in Administration Users Roles Structure Roles, the same way you
define groups, except that roles can be hierarchical: a parent role has the same influence as
all of its child roles (for example, the sales director would be able to do all of the things that
have been defined for a sales person, as well as anything defined specifically for the sales
director group, if the sales director has been made a parent of the sales group).
Once the roles have been defined, you can add them into the workflow transitions using the
Role field. This means that users who have the required role can make the transitions in the
workflow, which enable them to pass from one activity to another (for example confirming an
order or an invoice).

24.7 Configuring reports

Open ERP has two distinct report types:
Statistical reports: these are calculated data, often represented in the form of lists or graphs.
These reports are dynamic and you can navigate through the data that comprise the figures
through the client interface.
Report documents: theyre used to print system documents. The result is usually a PDF
generated by a selection made on the screen. Furthermore, Open ERP enables you to open
these reports in OpenOffice.org to edit in any changes you want before sending them to your
customer.
Because of the power of the Open ERP engine, these two types of report can be created or
modified without needing any development and this can be done directly in the client
interface of Open ERP or from OpenOffice.org.

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24.7.1 Managing statistical reports

Many reports are configured in advance in Open ERP. You can find them in the Reporting
submenus under each main menu entry.
You can also install more new reports using various different modules whose name usually
starts with report_ .
Modeling a new report
Open ERP gives you the possibility of developing your own analyses to meet your specific
needs. To define a new analysis of the systems data you should install the module
base_report_creator . This enables you to create complex queries on the database, in a
simple and visual way.
Once the module is installed, create a new report using the menu Dashboards
Configuration Custom Reports.
Give a Report Name to your new report and select the objects that youre going to analyze.
For example, select the three following objects: Partner, Sale Order, Sale Order line.
Then turn to the second tab View parameters to select the views that you want in your
report. Select Tree in the First View and Graph in the Second View. You can choose the type of
graph displayed using the Graph View fields. You could also select Calendar as a view if you
were going to add the Date field in your report.
Tip: The MS Excel plug-in
The Microsoft Excel plug-in enables you to connect to Open ERP and automatically extract
the selected data. You can then apply formulas and graphs to make your own dashboards of
measures directly in Excel. The .xls file can be saved and, when it is reopened, it reconnects
to Open ERP to refresh the different lists and graphs with live data.

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Figure 24.8: Fields selected for the analysis of sales by customer and by product
( plugin_excel.png )
In the third tab Fields to Display you can add filters on all the fields of the selected objects
(Filters on Fields). To do that, use the button Add Filter at the top of the form. For the
moment, dont add a filter.
In the fourth tab you must indicate which of the fields in the list you want to be shown in
your report (Fields to Display). Complete the screen along the lines of the figure below.
1. The Sequence field gives the order of the fields displayed.
2. Field the second column enables you to select a field from any of the three objects you
selected in the first tab.
3. Grouping Method the third column lets you to determine the grouping operation that is to be
applied to this field:
Grouped [enables you to group document entries with the same value in this] field.
Sum : gives the sum of values in this field.
Minimum : gives the minimum of all the values that appear in this field.
Maximum : gives the maximum of all the values that appear in this field.
Average : gives the arithmetic average of all the values in this field.
4. Graph Mode the fourth column, determines if the field will appear in the graph view and, if
so, on which axis (X or Y).
5. Calendar Mode the fifth column, enables you to specify if the field can be the basis of a
calendar view.
You can now Save the report you defined. Click on the Open Report button to the right of the
form to get the requested analysis.

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Figure 24.9: Analyzing sales by partner and by product in list view

Figure 24.10: Analyzing sales by partner and by product in graph view

Configuring the dashboards

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A dashboard is a selection of reports previously defined in Open ERP. You can choose from
hundreds of predefined reports and, for each report, indicate its position on the dashboard.
Just like fields on reports, the Sequence field determines the order in which views appear
in the dashboard.

Figure 24.11: Definition of a new dashboard

Once the dashboard has been defined through the menu Dashboards Configuration
Dashboard definition you can use the Create Menu button to create a menu entry for your
dashboard anywhere in the menu system.

24.7.2 Managing document templates with OpenOffice.org

To configure your printable documents in Open ERP, use the module base_report_designer.
Tip: The OpenOffice.org Writer plug-in
You can create your own reports in just a few minutes using the OpenOffice.org Writer plugin. This tool can give your team a big productivity improvement. Using it, you can create
templates for all of your companys documents, reducing the work of creating and laying out
data and customer documents.
The system is both simple and powerful, because it gives you the benefits of all of the layout
facilities offered by OpenOffice.org Writer as well as all of the data and calculation provided
by Open ERP. You could create or modify reports directly from OpenOffice.org and then use
them in Open ERP.
Note: Independence from OpenOffice.org

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OpenOffice.org is only used to generate new document templates. The system administrator
is the only person who has to install it.
Once the document templates have been defined the users dont need it to carry out their
normal work. They can use either Microsoft Office or OpenOffice.org as they choose.
The OpenOffice.org plug-in enables you to search for fields in Open ERP and integrate them
into your document templates. You can use data loops in tables or sections, enabling you to
attach several lines to an order, for example.
Once the new report has been defined it appears directly in the Open ERP client for the
system users.
There are two modes of using reports:
make the report produce a PDF document with data in it reflecting the selected record (for
example, an invoice).
make the report open a document for modification in OpenOffice.org, with data in it reflecting
the selected record. This enables you to modify the document in OpenOffice.org before
sending it to the customer (such as with a Quotation).
The personalized reports are stored in the Open ERP database and are accessible to
everyone who has rights to use your database without any need for the installation of
OpenOffice.org on their own computers. The document modifications are applied to a single
database.
Installing the OpenOffice.org module
You should install two components before using the report editor:
the module base_report_designer first in your Open ERP installation if its not already there,
and then in the Open ERP database, you want to use it in.
the OpenOffice.org Report Designer in the OpenOffice.org installation on your system
administrators computer.
You start by installing the module base_report_designer just like all the other Open ERP
modules.
To install the OpenOffice.org extension, look for the file openerpreport.zip supplied with the
Report Designer distribution. Check that OpenOffice.org is properly installed on your
computer and that you have administration rights for installation.

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Figure 24.12: Menu Open ERP Report in OpenOffice.org Writer

Start OpenOffice.org Writer, select Tools Package Management... to open the Package
Management dialog box and then search for the openerpreport.zip file to install it. Then close
the application and restart Writer: a new menu appears in the top menu bar Tiny Report or
Open ERP Report.
Connecting OpenOffice.org to Open ERP
Select OpenERP Report Server parameters in the top menu of OpenOffice.org Writer. You
can then enter your connection parameters to the Open ERP server. You must select a
database demo_min in which youve already installed the module sale. A message appears if
youve made a successful connection.
Modifying a report
The

report

editor

lets

you:

modify

existing
which

reports
will

then

replace the originals

in your Open ERP
database,
create new reports for the selected object.
To modify an existing report, select OpenERP Report Modify Existing Report. Choose the
report:menuselection:Request for Quotation in the Modify Existing Report dialog box and
then click Save to Temp Directory.

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Figure 24.13: Modifying a document template

OpenOffice.org then opens the report in edit mode for you. You can modify it using the
standard word processing functions of OpenOffice.org Writer.
The document is modified in its English version. It will be translated as usual by Open ERPs
translation system when you use it through the client interface, if youve configured your
own setup to translate to another language for you. So you only need to modify the template
once, even if your system uses other languages but youll need to add translations as
described earlier in this chapter if you add fields or change the content of the existing ones.
Tip: Older reports
The older reports may not all have been converted into the new form supported by Open
ERP. Data expressions in the old format are shown within double brackets and not in
OpenOffice.org fields.
You can transform an old report format to the new format from the OpenOffice.org menu
OpenERP Report Convert BracketFields.
From the Open ERP toolbar in OpenOffice.org its possible to:
connect to the Open ERP server: by supplying the connection parameters.
add a loop: select a related field amongst the available fields from the proposed object, for
example Order lines . When its printed this loop will be run for each line of the order. The
loop can be put into a table ( the lines will then be repeated) or into an OpenOffice.org
section.
add a field: you can then go through the whole Open ERP database from the selected object
and then a particular field.
add an expression: enter an expression in the Python language to calculate values from
any fields in the selected object.

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Tip: Python Expressions
Using the Expression button you can enter expressions in the Python language. These
expressions can use all of the objects fields for their calculations.
For example if you make a report on an order you can use the following expression:
%.2f % (amount_total * 0.9,)
In this example, amount_total is a field from the order object. The result will be 90% of the
total of the order, formatted to two decimal places.
You can check the result in Open ERP using the menu Sales Management Sales Orders
All Orders.
Creating a new report
The general template is made up of loops (such as the list of selected orders) and fields from
the object, which can also be looped. Format them to your requirements then save the
template.
The existing report templates make up a rich source of examples. You can start by adding the
loops and several fields to create a minimal template.
When the report has been created, send it to the server by clicking OpenERP Report Send
to server, which brings up the Send to server dialog box. Enter the Technical Name of
sale.order , to make it appear beside the other sales order reports. Rename the template as
Sale Order New in Report Name, check the checkbox Corporate Header and finally click Send
Report to Server.
To send it to the server, you can specify if you prefer Open ERP to produce a PDF when the
user prints the document, or if Open ERP should open the document for editing in
OpenOffice.org Writer before printing. To do that choose PDF or SXW (a format of
OpenOffice.org documents) in the field Select Report Type.

24.7.3 Creating common headers for reports

When saving new reports and reports that youve modified, youre given the option to select
a header. This header is a template that creates a standard page header and footer
containing data thats defined in each database.
The header is available to all users of the Open ERP server. Its template can be found on the
file system of the server in the directory addons/custom and is common to all the users of
the server. Although reports attach information about the company thats printing them you
can replace various names in the template with values from the database, but the layout of
the page will stay common to all databases on the server.
If your company has its own server, or a hosted server, you can customize this template. To
add the companys logo you must login to the Open ERP server as a user whos allowed to
edit server files. Then go to the addons/custom directory, copy your logo across (in a
standard graphical file format), then edit the file corporate_rml_header.rml in a text editor.
Text in the form <image file="corporate_logo.png" x="1cm" y="27.4cm" width="6cm"/>
should be put after the line <!-logo-> to pick up and display your logo on each page that
uses the corporate header.

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24.8 Importing and exporting data

Every form in Open ERP has a standard mechanism for importing data from a CSV file
through the client user interface. Thats the same format as used in the language
translations.

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Note: Forms and Lists
You have access to the Import and Export functions in the web client on a single form view in
read- only mode you cant reach Import or Export in any other view or when the form is
editable. If youre using the GTK client you can find the functions from the top menu Form
Import... and Form Export....
The CSV file format is a text format compatible with most spreadsheet programs (such as
OpenOffice Calc and Microsoft Excel) and is easily editable as a worksheet. The first line
contains the name of the field in the form. All the subsequent lines are data, aligned in their
respective columns.

24.8.1 Exporting Open ERP data to CSV

Start exploring Open ERPs use of the CSV format by exporting a modestly complex set of
data, the partners and partner addresses in the demonstration data.
Go to Partners Partners for the list of partners and then scroll to the bottom of the list to
click the Export link. This pops up the Export Data dialog box. Select the following fields:

Name,

Contact Name under the Contacts menu,

City under the Contacts menu.

You can either select and add them one at a time, or Ctrl-click them and add the multiple
selection - the order in which you select them is the order in which theyll be displayed.
Then click Export and save the resulting data.csv file somewhere accessible - perhaps your
Desktop. You can open that file in a spreadsheet program or a text editor.
Youll see that you have a list of partners, with the name and city of each partners contacts
alongside. In the couple of cases where there is more than one address, the partner name is
left out. So it is important to note that the order of entries is critical - do not sort that list!
Tip: List limits
There is a limit to the number of items you can export in the clients - its the number you
can actually see and that is limited to a maximum of 100 in the web client, but is arbitrary in
the GTK client.
So if you want to export everything, use the GTK client. Set the export limit to an arbitrarily
large figure (using the + button to expose the Parameters and Limit fields), then click Form
Export data..., set up the fields to export, and then prepare to wait.

24.8.2 Importing CSV data to Open ERP

Use this export file as a template for an import file by deleting all of the data and using new
data (here youll just import new data alongside the demonstration data, but the principle is
the same for a blank database).

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For example, to import partners with several contacts for which you specify a name and a
city, you would create the following CSV file from the export file:
Table 24.1: Example of importing partner address fields
Name
Whole Globe
Technologies

Contacts/Contact
Name
Graham Global

Contacts/Ci
ty
Athens

Wanda World
Emerson Earth

Rome
New York

Miles A Minute
From the list of partners, click the Import button and then in the Import Data window click
Open to search for and import the new data.csv file. The web client automatically matches
column names but the GTK client requires that you click the Auto detect button.
Youll get a dialog box showing that you have imported 2 objects, and you can see the new
partners and partner addresses when you refresh the list on screen.

24.8.3 The CSV format for complex database structures

When you import data you have to overcome the problem of representing a database
structure in .csv flat files. To do this, two solutions are possible in Open ERP:
importing a CSV file thats been structured in a particular way to enable you to load several
different database tables from a single file (such as partners and partner contacts in one CSV
file, as you have just done above),
importing several CSV files, each corresponding to a specific database table, that have
explicit links between the tables.
Note: Server-side importing
You can also import CSV data in through the server interface. The file format is the same,
but column headings differ slightly. When importing through the user interface it checks that
the column heading names match the names seen in the forms on the user interface itself.
In contrast, when importing through the server the column heading names must match the
internal names of the fields.
Start by building the header of the CSV file. Open the import tool on the object that youre
interested in and select the fields that you want to import into your Open ERP database. You
must include every field thats colored in blue because those fields are required (unless you
know that they get filled by default with an appropriate value), and also any other field
thats important to you.

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Figure 24.14: Selecting fields to import using a CSV file

Use the field names as the column names in the first line of your CSV file, adding one field
per column. If your CSV file has these names in the first line then when you import your CSV
file, Open ERP will automatically match the column name to the field name of the table.
When youve created your CSV file youll do that by clicking the Nothing button to clear the
Fields to Import, then select your CSV file by browsing for a File to import, and then clicking
the Auto Detect button.
To import CSV data that matches your database structure, you should distinguish between
the following types of field in the Open ERP interface: many-to-many fields (between multiple
sources and destinations), many-to-one fields ( from multiple sources to a single destination),
and one-to- many fields (from a single origin to multiple destinations).
Note: Foreground table
Each of these types is described in relation to a foreground table the table whose entry
form youre viewing and whose entries would be updated by a simple CSV file.
Just because one of these relation fields appears on the foreground table, does not mean
that there is an inverse field on the related table but there may be.
So there is no one-to-many field in the User form to reflect the many-to-one user_id
Salesman field in the Partner form, but there is a many-to-one partner_id Partner field in the
Partner contact form to reflect the one-to-many child_ids Partner contacts field in the
Partner form.
Have a look at the screenshots below to see the differences.

Figure 24.15: A many-to-one field: a salesperson linked to a partner

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Figure 24.16: A many-to-many field: partner categories

Figure 24.17: A one-to-many field: partner contacts

All of the other fields are coded in the CSV file as just one text string in each column.
Many-to-one fields
Many-to-one fields represent a relationship between the foreground table and another table
in the database where the foreground table has a single entry for the other table. Open ERP
tries to link the new record in the foreground table with the field in the other table by
matching the field values.
Tip: Field identifiers
If youre working on the server side you can use identifiers rather than the names of
resources to link tables. To do this you import the first file (for example, Products) with a
column named id in your CSV file that contains a unique identifier for each product. This
could be an incrementing number.
When you import other files which link to the first table, you can use the identifier in
preference to the names (so, for example, when youre saving inventory you can use
product:idinstead of the product name). You then dont need any complex conversion to
create links between the two tables.
This considerably simplifies the importation of another database into Open ERP. You just
create a linking id column for each table that youre importing that contains the identifier
used in the first table.

Many-to-many fields
Many-to-many fields are handled just like many-to-one fields in trying to recreate the
relationship between tables: either by searching for names or by using identifiers.
There are several possible values in a single many-to-many field. Therefore a partner can be
given several associated categories. You must separate the different values with a comma.

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One-to-many fields
One-to-many fields are a bit different. Take as an example the Partner Contacts field in the
Partner form, which contains all of the linked contacts.
To import such a field you dont have to link to an existing entry in another table, but can
instead create and link to several partner contacts using the same file. You can then specify
several values for different fields linked to that object by the one-to-many field. Each field
must be put in a column of the table, and the title of that column must be expressed in the
form field_one-to- many/field_linked-object . The partner data you imported earlier took that
form.
Note: Symmetry in relation fields
Depending on the structure of your data it can be easier to use the one-to-many form or the
many- to-one form in relating two tables, so long as the relevant fields exist on both ends of
the relationship. For example, you can:

import one partner with different contact in a single file ( one-to-many),

import the partners first, and then contacts with the field linking to the partner in a
many-to- one form).

24.8.4 Another example of a CSV import file

To illustrate data importing, you can see another example below. First import partner
categories, and then import some partners and their contacts along with links to the
categories just created. Although you can create new contacts at the same time as creating
partners (because you can do this for one-to-many relations), you cant create new
categories this way (because they use many-to-many relations). You must create new
categories in a separate step.
Partner categories
Start by creating partner categories in a CSV file:
1. Create the following table in your spreadsheet program:
Table 24.2: Partner categories file
Column A
Category
Name
Quality

Column B
Parent
Category

Line
1
Line
2
Line
Gold
Quality
3
Line
Silver
Quality
4
Line
Bronze
Quality
5
On the first line, Category Name and Parent Category are the column titles that
correspond to field names in the Partner category form.

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Column A is for the different partner categories and Column B indicates if that category
has a parent category. If Column B is blank then the category sits at the top level.
2. Save spreadsheet file in CSV format separated by commas and name the file
categories.csv.
3. In Open ERP, select Partners Configuration Categories Edit Categories.
4. Click Import (to the bottom left of the list) to bring up the Import Data dialog box, in which
youll find the ist of fields that can be imported.
5. Click Browse... on the File to import field and select the CSV file you just created,
categories.csv Then click Auto Detect to atch the column names in the CSV file with the field
names available in:guilabel:Partner Categories.
6. Click Import at the bottom-right of the dialog box to load your data. You should get the
message 4 objects imported in a new dialog box. Close both this and the Import Data dialog
box to return to the original page.
7. Click Partners Partners by category to view the tree of categories, including the new
Quality branch that you loaded.
New partners
Heres how to create new partners with more than one contact, as you did before, and how
to link them to these new categories:
1. Enter the table below into your spreadsheet program.
Table 24.3: Partner data file - partners.csv
Column A

Column
B
Categorie
s
Silver,Gol
d

Column C

Column D

Line
Name
Contacts/Contact
Dedicated
1
Name
Salesman
Line
Black
George Black
Administrator
2
Advertising
Line
Jean Green
3
Line
Tiny sprl
Fabien Pinckaers
Administrator
4
2. The second line corresponds to the creation of a new partner, with two existing categories,
that has two contacts and is linked to a salesman.
3. Save the file using the name partners.csv
4. In OpenERP, select Partners Partners then import the file that youve just saved. Youll get
a message confirming that youve imported and saved the data.
5. Verify that youve imported the data. A new partner should have appeared (NoirAdvertising),
with a salesman (Administrator), two contacts (George Black and Jean Green) and two
categories (Silver and Gold).

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24.8.5 Exporting data in other forms

Open ERPs generic export mechanism lets you easily export any of your data to any location
on your system. Youre not restricted to what you can export, although you can restrict who
can export that data using the rights management facilities discussed above.
You can use this to export your data into spreadsheets or into other systems such as
specialist accounts packages. The export format is usually in the CSV format but you can
also connect directly to Microsoft Excel using Microsofts COM mechanism.
Tip: Access to the database
Developers can also use other techniques to automatically access the Open ERP database.
The two most useful are:

using the XML-RPC web service,

accessing the PostgreSQL database directly.

Tip: Module Recorder
If you want to enter data into Open ERP manually, you should use the Module Recorder,
described in the first section of this chapter.
By doing that youll generate a module that can easily be reused in different databases.
Then if there are problems with a database youll be able to reinstall the data module you
generated with all of the entries and modifications you made for this system.

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CHAPTER

TWENTYFIVE

IMPLEMENTATION
METHODOLOGY
You may have mastered the technical aspects of administering and using your
enterprise management system, but you still have a great deal of work to do
integrating Open ERP into your company. This work is more business-related and
social in nature than technical.
The Open ERP implementation process encompasses several different phases:
evaluation, planning, configuration, data migration, deployment, and user training, and
affects both support and maintenance.
The management of ERP projects, and IT project management in general, are the subject of
very many other books that you might want to investigate for yourself. The elements of the
methodology presented here arent intended to be an exhaustive review, just a brief
overview of the different phases necessary to implement Open ERP in your company
Tip: Implementation
Implementation encompasses the whole process of integrating and deploying Open ERP,
including evaluating it, establishing specifications, planning the deployment, the
configuration of the software, loading data, installation and training the users. It doesnt
generally extend to software customization, nor support and maintenance.

25.1 Requirements Analysis and Planning

Requirements analysis and planning are the keys to the success of an implementation. At
this stage you should set up a management team to define the costs and benefits of the
project, select a project team, and set out the detailed stages that will have to be carried
out.
Open ERP is so easy to start using that its not always obvious, particularly to IT staff, that a
clear requirements plan is necessary for implementing the system successfully. The difficulty
isnt particularly in installing the software nor in configuring it, but rather more about:

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knowing what to configure,
deciding if you should adapt the software or perhaps change your method of working, for
some of your specialized processes,
forming teams that can specify and work on some of the changes,
ensuring that your users are committed to the change.
ERP system implementation is a project carried out using information technology but its a
business project rather than an IT project in itself. The challenge of this type of project is in
changing the behaviour of those involved at all levels of the enterprise.
People in the IT department will certainly be an integral part of the project but they should be
managed by someone in a senior position who both understands the business impact across
the organization and has experience of technical projects. Ideally the project manager should
know the company well, both its specific quirks and its different standard cross-company
processes.
If the enterprise doesnt have its own IT group, youre probably better off opting for an SaaS
offer. This means that you subcontract all the difficult technology, from the installation of the
server to its maintenance, all the while being assured of the installation of a robust
architecture with its redundancy, backed-up servers, and separation of authentication and
data.

25.1.1 Planning methods

Planning methods vary in their degree of complexity, formality and level of automation. Its
not the intention of this chapter to steer you towards one method or the other.
Open ERPs menus are organized to lead you through an implementation in a sensible order,
so that information that has to be entered first is encountered first in the menu system.
Forms are also organized so that if you enter data in the natural order youll get later fields
completed automatically by the earlier ones where possible. And demonstration data
illustrates how Open ERPs functional areas are linked from one to the other
The menus themselves hint at several helpful implementation suggestions, for example the
submenus of Administration Configuration are useful for the configuration of the software.
New functions such as the Module Recorder enable you to significantly accelerate the
configuration of data.

25.2 Deployment
As youve seen the complete architecture of Open ERP includes the following elements:
a database server,
an Open ERP application server,
an Open ERP client-web server,

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several clients that access the Open ERP server: they can either be web clients if the clientweb server is installed, or GTK clients.
Note: Deployment
Deployment is the process of putting a Open ERP database into a production-ready state,
where it can be used by everyone in your business for their daily work. Youd usually
configure Open ERP and load data into it on one development system, train staff on that or
another training system and deploy it onto a production system that has better protection
against failure, better security and more performance.

25.2.1 Deployment Options

To deploy Open ERP in your company, several options are available to you:
an SaaS (Software as a Service) or on Demand offer which includes the equipment, the
hosting, the maintenance and the support on a system configured to your needs in advance,
an internal installation, that you manage yourselves or have managed by an IT services
company such as an Open ERP partner,
hosting by a server supplier on which Open ERP is installed, which enables you to proceed to
add adaptations on your server.
The first two approaches are the most commonly used.
The SaaS (Software as a Service) offer
SaaS is a complete package hosted at a supplier, that includes the following services: server
hardware, hosting of the generic solution, installation and initial configuration, redundancy of
the architecture, backups, system maintenance and support. Its also known as On-Demand.
Its provided in the form of a monthly subscription with a fixed price per user. You can find
the detail of Tinys SaaS packages at http://ondemand.openerp.com/.
SaaS packages dont permit you to develop specific modules to your needs. On the contrary,
they offer a service at a set price based on standard software modules that contain few
migration risks. SaaS suppliers are limited generally to the modules certified and validated
by the original author and project manager, Tiny.
Here are the main advantages of an Open ERP SaaS solution:
an unbeatable return on investment (cost of implementation: 0, cost of licenses: 0) ,
costs that are controlled and without surprises (the offer includes maintenance, frequent
migrations and support),
a turnkey solution, installed in less than twenty-four hours,
packages adapted and preconfigured for different sectors of activity,
a very robust architecture guaranteed to have constant and permanent access, reachable
from anywhere.

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So this server is recommended for small companies with fewer than about fifteen employees.
Hosting by a supplier
At first sight a hosted Open ERP system appears similar to SaaS: it provides Open ERP from a
remote installation through a web browser. But in general the similarities stop there.
To compare it with an SaaS package you should check if the hosting offer properly includes
the following elements:
server hardware,
hosting,
maintenance,
future migrations,
backups,
server redundancy,
telephone and email support,
frequent updates to the modules.
Also get yourself up to speed on the following points:
the version of Open ERP proposed,
the costs of implementation (configuration, data loading, training),
the cost of configuration (if its proposed),
the technology and the procedure used for securing your database,

25.2. Deployment
the technology and the procedure for preventing system faults,
the technology and the procedure for restoring a faulty system,
limitations on the number of users, the number of simultaneous users, and the size of the
database,
the level of support and its costs,
the procedure used to update Open ERP (to fault-fixed versions)
the procedure adopted for Open ERP upgrades (to versions that have both fault fixes and
new functionality).

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Calling such suppliers can be a good solution if you are willing to entrust all the technical
specifications for the functioning of Open ERP to them, especially if you need to use
customized or extension modules that arent in the stable version released by Tiny.
Internal Installation
Large and medium-large companies typically install Open ERP using their own internal
company resources. They usually prefer to have their own IT service in charge of
maintenance.
Such companies can do the implementation work themselves internally, or turn to an Open
ERP partner who will do the ERP implementation work or assist them with it. Generally
companies prefer to adopt an intermediate solution which consists of:
1. Turn the initial implementation over to a partner to limit the risks and delays of integration.
That enables them to be managed by experts and to obtain a high quality configuration.
2. Take charge of the simple needs for themselves once the software has been implemented.
Its quite a lot more convenient for them to be able to modify the database tables, forms,
templates and workflows internally than routinely depend on a supplier.
An internal installation will probably prove more costly than an SaaS package or hosted
service. Even if you put yourself in charge of it all, youll take quite a bit of time learning how
to manage the implementation unless the team already has experience of Open ERP. This
represents a significant risk.
However, an internal implementation can be particularly interesting where:
you want to keep your data within your company,
you think you want to modify your software,
you want a specific package of modules,
youd like a very fast response time,
you want the software to be available even if your Internet connection goes down.
These factors, and access to the resources needed to handle an implementation and the
subsequent maintenance, are the reasons that large and medium-large companies usually
do it for themselves, at least partly.

25.2.2 Deployment Procedure

The deployment of a version of Open ERP is quite simple when your server has been
configured in your production environment. The security of the data will then be a key
element.
When youve installed the server you should create at least two databases:
a test or development database, in which the users can test the system and familiarize
themselves with it,

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a production database which will be the one used by the company in daily use.
Note: Version numbering
Open ERP uses a version numbering model that comprises 3 numbers A.B.C (for example
4.2.2 or 5.0.0) where changes in the number A signify a major functional change, changes to
number B signify an update that includes a batch of fault fixes and some new functionality,
and the number C generally refers to some limited updates or fixes to the existing
functionality.
The number B is special: if its an odd number, (for example 4.3.2 or 5.1.0) its for a
development version which isnt designed for a production environment. The even numbers
are for stable versions.
If you have prepared a data module for Open ERP (that is a module that consists just of data,
not altered functionality), you should test it in your development version and check that it
doesnt require any more manual adjustments. If the import runs correctly, it shows that
youre ready to load your data in the production database.
You can use the Open ERP database backup procedure at different stages of configuration
(see Installation and Initial Setup). Then if youve made a false step that you cant recover
from you can always return to a prior state.
Since your data describes much of your companys value, take particular care both when you
need to transfer it (in backups and across your network) and when youre managing the
super-administrator password. Make sure that the connection between a PC client and the
two servers is correctly secured. You can configure Open ERP to use the HTTPS protocol,
which provides security for data transfer
Note: HTTPS
The HTTPS protocol (Secured Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is the standard HTTP protocol
secured by using the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security) security
protocols. It allows a user to verify her identify to the site to which she wants access, using a
certificate of authentication. It also guarantees the integrity and confidentiality of the data
sent between the user and the server. It can, optionally, provide highly secure client
authentication by using a numbered certificate.
The default HTTPS port is 443.
You could also use the PostgreSQL database directly to backup and restore data on the
server, depending on access rights and the availability of passwords for the serve.

25.3 User training

Two types of training are provided by the Tiny company and its partners:
Technical training in Open ERP: the objective of this intensive training is to enable you to
develop your own modules by modifying and adapting the existing ones. It covers the
creation of new objects, menus, reports and workflows, and also of interfaces with external
software. It lasts for five days and is designed for IT people
User training: this enables you to be productive as rapidly as possible in the use of Open ERP.
All of the modules there are detailed with concrete examples and different exercises. For the
sake of realism the training uses data for a fictitious company. This training also lasts for five

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days. It is designed for those responsible for an ERP project, who will then be capable of
training employees internally.
Tinys training calendar is available on the official Open ERP site by clicking the menu
Services Training. The training is delivered in either French or English depending on the
course.
Both Tiny, the creators of Open ERP, and the Open ERP partners can also provide customized
training. This, although more expensive, is focused on your own needs.
Your training needs depend on the type of deployment youve chosen. If you have opted for
an SaaS development, technical training isnt very useful.

25.3. User training

In summary, you should arrange both user training and self-paced training (perhaps based
on this book series) if you can. Technical training is strongly advised if you see yourselves
developing your own modules. Although its not obligatory it gives you quite a time
advantage in any serious Open ERP engagement.

25.4 Support and maintenance

Its when you actually use your ERP that you will obtain value from your investment. For that
reason maintenance and support are critical for your long term success.
Support aims to ensure that end users get the maximum productivity from their use of Open
ERP by responding to their questions on the use of the system. Support can be technical or
functional.
Maintenance aims to ensure that the system itself continues to function as required. It
includes system upgrades, which give you access to the latest functionality available.
Some partners offer preventative maintenance. This makes sure that all the specific
developments for your system are revised and tested for each new version so that they
remain compatible with the base Open ERP.
Tiny themselves have changed their support strategy from time to time. At the time of
writing they propose a maintenance contract supplied either direct to the end user or
through partners that guarantees a quick fix to any faults discovered in the covered code.
Although you can expect these fixes to become available to all users of the code in time,
maintenance guarantees quick attention. And youre likely to get quicker migration support
to new upgrades.
If you havent anticipated your needs with a preventive maintenance contract, the costs of
migration after a few years can become significant. If special modules that you developed
have been allowed to become too old you may eventually need a new development to your
specifications.

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25.4.1 Updates and Upgrades

There are four sources of code change for Open ERP:
patches supplied by Tiny to correct faults: after validation these patches shouldnt cause any
secondary effects,
minor updates, which gather the fault corrections together in one package, and are generally
announced with a modification of the version number, such as from 5.0.0 to 5.0.1 ,
upgrades, which bundle both the fault corrections and the improvements to the functionality
in a major release such as from 5.0.3 to 5.2.0.
new functions generally released in the form of new modules.
You should establish a procedure with your supplier to define how to respond to changes in
the Open ERP code.
For simple updates your maintenance team will evaluate the patches to determine if they are
beneficial to the use of your Open ERP. These patches should be tested on an offline instance
of Open ERP before being installed in your live production version.
The maintenance team would also take charge of regular updates to the software.
Patches and updates can only be installed if you have the necessary access to the Open ERP
server. You must first install the patch or update and then restart the server using the
command line: -update=all .
Once Tiny has released a new upgraded version your response should be a cautious one. If
youre perfectly satisfied with the existing system it would be best to not touch the new
version. If you want to have access to the new functionality supplied by an upgraded version,
you have a delicate operation to carry out. Most upgrades require your data to be migrated
because the databases before and after the upgrade can be a little different.

25.4.2 Version Migration

Open ERP has a system to manage migrations semi-automatically. To update specific
modules, or the whole database, you only need to start the server with the argument:
update=NAME_OF_MODULE or -update=all(thats minor module changes).
New stable versions of Open ERP sometimes require operations that arent provided in the
automated migration. Tiny, the creator and maintainer of Open ERP, has a policy of
supporting migration from all official stable releases to the latest. Scripts are provided for
each new release of a stable version. These carry out the upgrade from the previous major
version to the new major version.
Managers responsible for the migration between two versions of Open ERP will find the
documentation and the necessary scripts in the directory doc/migrate of the Open ERP
server.
The changes between version 4 and 5 made the migration process more difficult than in the
past so there was a greater delay in the provision of migration assistance and more manual
work than usual.
The procedure for migrating runs like this:

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1. Make a backup of the database from the old version of Open ERP
2. Stop the server running the old version
3. Start the script called pre.py for the versions youre moving between.
4. Start the new version of the server using the option update=all
5. Stop the server running the new version.
6. Start the script called post.py for the versions youre moving between.
7. Start the new version of the server and test it.
A migration is never an easy process. It may be that your system doesnt function as it did
before or that something requires new developments in the functionality of the modules that
have already been installed. So you should only move to a new version if you have a real
need and should engage a competent partner to help if the version that you use differs
greatly from the basic version of Open ERP.
Similarly you should take care that this migration does not incorrectly change any setting
that has already been made. The main menu structure might have been modified in place
without proper recording of the changes. So you could find that youre making the wrong
assumptions about that structure when later loading data in that was recorded with the
Module Recorder.

25.4. Support and maintenance

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Conclusion

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Open ERP has become established as the main free market-changing alternative for
enterprise management systems in amongst software from giants such as SAP, Oracle and
Microsoft, and from the small software developers in their own niches.
Until now only two main alternatives existed for systems that manage a companys
information: install a proprietary ERP system, complete but usually overweight, inflexible,
and expensive; or develop a solution internally, adapted to current needs but often
expensive to develop, not integrated, and incomplete.
With its free business model, Open ERP combines the advantages of a complete ERP system
with the flexibility of an in-house solution. The open source code, the projects general
flexibility, and its hundreds of modules let you construct a solution from a selection of the
modules already available and you can then freely update it as your needs evolve.
The results will be at the top end of what you might expect from any ERP system, let alone
an Open Source system. The considerable gains in productivity, efficiency and visibility
become apparent only a few months after implementation. And you can gain from increased
operational quality even if you reduce your human resourcing intensity. Because there are
fewer repetitive tasks for your staff to do, they can concentrate on higher added-value work.
We frequently receive the gratitude of senior management who get better results from their
business because theyve adopted Open ERP.

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CHAPTER

TWENTYSIX

YOU ARENT ALONE

Many resources are at hand to accompany you on your Open ERP adventure.

26.1 Bypass the technical difficulties by using the SaaS

offer
For a quick low-cost start, you can make use of a months comprehensive free trial of Tinys
Open ERP SaaS package found at http://ondemand.openobject.com/. Using this you sidestep
any technical difficulties and get a comprehensive set of system administration services,
server hosting, configuration to your environment, maintenance, support and initial training.
An SaaS package is suited to the needs of small enterprises that dont have very specific
needs, and where the initial cost and the delay of implementation are critical factors.
To meet its objectives of minimal cost, the SaaS package aims for highly automated
standardized data migrations, minimal support load by training customers well, and a strict
limit to the number of modules offered. So you cant use your own modules, and are limited
to the standard modules that are included in various package levels.

26.2 Consult the available resources

Larger companies often prefer a more classic implementation path. Even though Open ERPs
simplicity makes this task easier than with other systems, you cant hide the fact that a
project implementation is complex and introduces big changes to a company.
So you can turn towards some of the different actors in this free software ecosystem to help
you out:
the community of users and developers,
Tinys Open ERP partner companies,
the main project developers, Tiny, themselves.

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26.2.1 The community of users and developers

The community, supported by Tiny, hosts a set of communication tools which can help you
in your Open ERP investigation.

The forum http://openobject.com/forum

The forum enables you to discuss issues with other Open ERP users. Its very active and you
have a good chance of receiving some form of response to your questions within twenty-four
hours or so.
The wiki http://openerp.org/wiki
The wiki contains a large amount of information about the software, some current and some
historical. Youll find the documentation necessary for installation there, as well as user
documentation, and a technical manual for developing your own modules.

Database of Open ERP modules

http://openerp.org/component/option,com_mtree/Itemid,111/

A database of all the modules available for use gives you free access to most of the known
Open ERP extensions.
Launchpad https://code.launchpad.net/~openerp/
The most recent communication tool is the launchpad system, which now hosts all of Open
ERPs source code ( using the bzr source code control system) and is used for reporting
faults. Its become the central location for Open ERP technology.

26.2.2 Open ERP partners

If you need contract-backed guarantees for implementing and maintaining Open ERP you
can contact an official Open ERP partner. Open ERP partners offer various services such as
user training, prototype installations, and change management services. The complete list
of partners by country and by type can be found on the official Open ERP site:
http://openerp.com/partners.html.

26.2.3 The main developer, Tiny

Finally you can call the main project developers, Tiny, who can help you in your Open ERP
project. Tiny offers various services such as free demonstration days for the software, user
training and technical training, support contracts, maintenance contracts and developments
as required. Depending on the demand, they can also put you in contact with partners most
aligned to your requirements.
The mailing list To keep up to date with all Open ERPs news you can subscribe to the
mailing list using http://tiny.be/mailman/listinfo/tinyerp-announce.
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To conclude, dont forget that Open ERP has more than two hundred modules available and
that many of them havent been covered in this book. So if you havent found a solution to
your problems here, look amongst those modules, talk to other Open ERP users on the
forum, and dont hesitate to contact a partner.
Wishing you the greatest of success in your
ERP project, Geoff Gardiner and Fabien
Pinckaers.

Chapter 26. You arent alone

INDEX

A
absences, 198
access, 39 LDAP,
38 menu, 430
objects, 431 user,
38, 405, 429
access rights,
429 account
chart, 80
type, 185
user, 38
account types, 72
accountant, 165, 271,
381 accounting, 164
analytical, 164
auxiliary, 164 bank
statement, 153
budgetary, 164
dashboard, 167 entry,
153 financial, 164
578

invoicing, 141 multicompany, 165

workflow, 141
Accounting and
Finance, 58 accounts
chart, 183
configuring, 72 due
date, 152 start of
year, 190
action
multiple,
152
adjustment, 155
limit, 158
Administration,
421
administration
system, 40
administrator, 28, 42, 46

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system, 40, 430
agenda, 240 agile (method), 236 alerts,
354 allocation cost, 196, 200, 205, 214
time, 228, 229 analytic accounts, 201
balance, 207 chart of accounts, 196 cost
ledger, 205 entries, 205 records, 203
Analytic Accounts, 193 architecture
Open ERP, 24
asset, 164 attachments, 410

B
back order, 290 backup database,
80
balance aged, 168 analytic, 207
balance sheet, 176 bank
statement, 153
barcode, 330 benefits, 218 bill of materials,
62, 297, 298
phantom, 304
BoM, 62, 298
multi-level, 302 revisions, 301 BoM,
substitute products, 307 budget revisions,
180 budgeting, 180 buttons reports,
actions, links, 57

C
calendars, 114 Campaigns, 91
carriers, 357 case
categories, 111 create and maintain,
122 menu, 111 rule, 117 sections, 110
transferability, 112
case (CRM), 110 cash
management, 155
category
partner, 76, 109 product,
78
chained location, 271 chart
of accounts, 80, 183
analytic, 196 virtual,
185
client
caching, 25
GTK, 32 web (thin) and GTK
(thick), 25
client-web
eTiny, 26

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Communications Tools, 125
Configuration, 421 configuration,
423
customization, 423
parameterization, 423
personalization, 423 setup,
21, 423
configuring dashboard, 437
module, 423 report, 434
Configuring Accounts, 182
consolidation (accounting), 185
Contact, 108 contact partner, 76
contract service, 223
control
delivery, 356 invoicing,
356
cost
allocation, 196, 200, 205, 214
cost ledger analytic,
205
credit note, 144 Credit
Notes, 152 creditor, 167
CRM, 61, 107
CSV export data, 442
CSV import data, 442
CSV structured data,
443
ctrl-right-click, 146
Customer Relationship Management, 61,
105

D
dashboard, 437 accounting, 167
Dashboards, 58 data
CSV export, 442
CSV import, 442 CSV structured,
443 export, 441 import, 441 import
example, 445
data, export in other forms, 446 database,
36 backup, 80 create, 36 duplicate, 39
manage, 39
debtor, 167 declarations, 151
DEEE tax, 148
delegation (task), 237 delivery, 224
control, 356
delivery grid, 357 department, 218
deployment, 450 directory, 407
document

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search, 413 Document Management,
402 due date accounts, 152

E
email gateway, 113 employee, 211
configuring, 215 sign in / sign out,
213
entry accounting, 153
eTiny client-web, 26
export
data, 441 stock management, 274

F
fetchmail, 122 field
default value, 426 properties, 145
relation, 444 filesystem
permissions, 40 Financial Analysis,
165 financial analysis, 178
Financial Management, 58 financial
reporting, 165 fiscal year, 188
follow-up, 170 forecasts, 278 FTP,
406

G
gateway, 121
email, 113 Getting Things
Done, 238 goods receipt, 290
group
user, 430
GTD, 237, 238 Guided Tour, 40

H
hosting, 451
HR, 60 management, 211
HTTPS, 453
Human Resources, 60, 210

I
Implementation, 447 import
data, 441 stock management,
274
indicators, 178 Initial Setup, 21
Installation, 21 installation
administrator, 27 eTiny web
server, 34 GTK client, 32

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language, 44 Linux (Ubuntu),
30
Open ERP client-web server, 34
Windows (all-in-one), 27
Windows (independent), 27 internal
installation, 452 inventory, 259
inventory control, 60 invoice layout, 147
Invoice to Payment, 139 invoices, 141
types, 143
invoicing, 141, 202 at delivery,
315 control, 356
repair, 340
tasks, 235

J
journal, 176
configuring,
186
minimal
journals,
203
journals
configuring,
75 Just in Time,
288

L
LDAP, 38, 429
Leads, 91 ledger,
169 liability, 164
linked
production, 273
location
chained, 271
location structure,
Logistics, 245

80

M
Main Company
configuring, 75
maintenance, 454
Manufacturing, 62, 296
manufacturing
routing, 325
manufacturing order, 317
Master Procurement
Schedule, 278 Master
Production Schedule, 278
menu

Index 583

Open ERP, a modern approach to

integrated business management,
Release 1.0
configuring, 424
duplicating, 424
Methodology, 447
methodology
GTD, 239
migration, 454
minimum stock
rule, 276
modification
history, 432
module
account, 70, 84, 164
account_analytic_analysis, 202, 208,
225, 227, 363 account_analytic_default,
377 account_budget, 209
account_followup, 170
account_invoice_layout, 147, 373
account_payment, 160 account_report,
178 account_report_history, 179
account_reporting, 176
account_simulation, 176
account_tax_include, 146, 175
audittrail, 433 base_contact, 93
base_module_publish, 424
base_module_record, 424
base_report_creator, 435
base_report_designer, 105, 438
base_synchro, 165 board_account, 167, 181
board_document, 406 board_project, 217,
230 configuring, 423 crm, 52, 107, 385
crm_configuration, 97, 385 crm_profiling,
105, 124 delivery, 357 dependencies, 53
discount_campaign, 370 document, 406,
407 edi, 365 hr, 60 hr_attendance, 389
hr_contract, 216, 389 hr_expense, 232
hr_holidays, 389 hr_holidays_request, 389
hr_timesheet, 216 hr_timesheet_invoice,
202, 225, 386 hr_timesheet_sheet, 219
import_export, 175 importing, 53 installing,
51 l10n_fr, 183 membership, 60 mrp, 297
mrp_jit, 85, 263, 288, 308 mrp_operations,
328 mrp_repair, 337 mrp_subproduct, 335
new functionality, 50 portal_service, 121
product, 40, 51, 70 product_electronic, 60
product_expiry, 60 product_extended, 60,
361, 383 product_index, 215
product_lot_foundry, 60 product_margin,
361, 384 product_variant_multi, 59
product_visible_discount, 350
profile_manfuacturing, 357 project_gtd, 238
purchase, 40, 70, 375
purchase_analytic_analysis, 377

584

Index

Open ERP, a modern approach to

integrated business management,
Release 1.0
purchase_analytic_plans, 377, 386
purchase_approve, 379 purchase_delivery,
381 purchase_journal, 176
purchase_tender, 381
report_analytic_planning_delegate, 230
report_crm, 116 report_instrastat, 172, 275
report_invoice_salesman, 124
report_purchase, 384 sale, 70, 262, 389
sale_delivery, 372 sale_journal, 176, 285
sale_layout, 373 sale_margin, 360
sale_supplier_direct_delivery, 289 scrum,
236 stock, 70, 249 stock_location, 272, 275,
292 stock_planning, 278 upgrading, 51
users_ldap, 38, 429 warning, 354, 376
modules
hr_, 60, 389 l10n_, 183
portal_, 211 profile_, 53
MPS, 278
multi-company, 207 accounting,
165
multi-level BoM, 302 multilingual, 184 multiple
action, 152 selection,
152

N
navigating relationships, 146 NET-RPC,
29

O
On-Demand, 450
Open ERP Book, 5
OpenOffice.org report,
439 Opportunities, 91
order
manufacturing, 317
production, 317 Outlook
(Microsoft), 127 overdue
payments, 171

P
packing, 315
Partner, 107 partner, 76 category, 48, 76,
109 contact, 76 managing, 47 search, 55
view form, 56 Partners, 55 password
super-administrator, 36 superadmin, 36
username, 38

Index 585

Open ERP, a modern approach to

integrated business management,
Release 1.0
payable, 167 payment terms, 189
payments, 160 performance analysis, 116
period, 188 permissions filesystem, 40
pgAdmin III, 35 phantom bill of materials,
304
picking, 315 plan
production, 279
planning, 227, 449 create plan, 229 stock
management, 289
port (network), 33 portal, 121
PostgreSQL, 26 Preferences, 43
price, 365 pricelist, 225
create, 365 default pricelist, 367
pricelists version, 365 Process, 389
process, 394, 433 customer order, 389
defining, 399 new employee, 392
process integration, 389 procurement, 276
Product
Consumable, 59 product, 78
category, 78
production
management, 296 Production
Management, 62 production order, 317
Products, 59
Profiling, 123 project, 233 Project
Management, 232 properties defining, 74
field, 145
prospect, 123 protocol
NET-RPC, 29
XML-RPC, 29
purchase
tender, 381
Purchase Management, 61
Purchasing, 374
Python, 32

Q
quotation, 309

R
Real Case, 65 receivable, 167
reconciliation, 142 automatic, 157
manual, 158
relation field, 444
reminder, 170 rent, 275 repair
invoicing, 340

586

Index

Open ERP, a modern approach to

integrated business management,
Release 1.0
repairs, 337 report, 434 modify, 439
new, 441
OpenOffice.org, 439 requests, 44
requirements analysis, 449 requirements
planning, 320 right-click, 146 routing, 325
logistics, 292 manufacturing, 325
rule case, 118

S
SaaS, 24, 450, 461 Sales Management, 63,
345 scheduler, 320 lead time, 321
search
document, 413
selection
multiple, 152
semi-finished product, 309
send SMS, 108
service
contract, 223
Services Management,
221 setup
configuration, 21
shortcut, 55 simple: The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People, 238 single report
common headers, 441
Software as a Service, 450
SRM, 61, 107
stable versions,
27 statement
bank, 153
stock
analysis, 265 doubleentry, 248 inventory
operation, 250
journal, 285
localization, 270
location, 79, 267
location type, 268
negative, 265
orderpoint, 276 real
time valutation, 271
stock check, 250
warehouse, 275
stock check, 259 Stock
Management, 60, 245 Supplier
Relationship Management, 61
support, 454 system

Index 587

Open ERP, a modern approach to

integrated business management,
Release 1.0
administration,
administrator, 40, 430

40

T
tasks, 228 tax, 172
taxation, 165 tender,
381 Thunderbird
(Mozilla), 130 time
allocation, 228, 229
timebox, 240
timesheet, 213
entering data, 216
timesheets
evaluation, 217
timezone, 43
Tiny ERP, 23
traceability
downstream, 280 upstream, 280
traceability (stock), 283 trading
company, 368 training, 453 translation,
428
TVA, 177
type account, 185

U
unit of measure, 255 UoM, 255 update,
454 upgrade, 454 user
access, 46 account, 38 configuration,
46 group, 46, 430 role, 46
username password, 38

V
VAT, 177
virtual chart of accounts, 185 file, 410
stock, 257

W
warning, 354 waste products, 335
welcome page, 425 Word (Microsoft), 132
Word adapter, 135 work operations, 328
work orders, 322 workcenter, 323
workcenter, cycle, 324 workflow, 389,
394, 433
role, 434

X
XML-RPC, 29

588

Index