Odoo ERP implementation and maintenance enable businesses to handle critical business functions smoothly. Here are a few compelling reasons to choose Fingent as your Odoo ERP partner.

How Fingent’s Odoo ERP services benefit your business

If there’s ever been a lesson that history has taught us, it is to be prepared. Every business has its ups and downs, but the coronavirus took “down” to a whole new level for many organizations. While companies that adopted digital migration were prepared for the impending crisis, others faced a huge blow. 

Amidst all this uncertainty, preparation is one constant. Odoo is an excellent tool in your arsenal to prepare you for today and times to come. Odoo ERP implementation has helped many businesses transform their operations effortlessly, and it can help you too. This article helps you see why Odoo ERP is proving invaluable for current businesses and how you can choose the right Odoo ERP partner for seamless implementation.

Read more: What makes Odoo the best ERP solution for your business? 

Odoo ERP: The need of the hour

In the current situation, no one can tell when the pandemic and its effects will end. When the world is suffering from the loss of lives and finances, it is important to understand that we can perform only when we know how to live with technology. Given that, some organizations have opted for permanent work from home. With the help of Odoo ERP, companies can centralize their operations and integrate various important modules such as marketing, sales, and e-commerce.

Read more: 5 Reasons to Integrate Your E-commerce Application with Odoo ERP 

In today’s crisis, which has been brought upon by the pandemic, businesses can leverage many benefits with the help of centralized cloud ERP:

• Accessibility: Odoo ERP allows all your data to be stored in a centralized cloud source. Authorized users can use the data according to their requirements.
• Affordable: Odoo ERP can integrate over 35 modules, and all significant modules can be interconnected. However, the charges are nominal.
• Times-saving: Odoo ERP allows businesses to access data easily without any hassle saving a lot of time. 

How can the right Odoo ERP partner provide seamless transition?

Having the right Odoo ERP partner means having support and training from those who best understand Odoo ERP and your business. Each business is unique with unique process needs, so it pays to ensure that the Odoo ERP partner you select has substantial experience implementing Odoo ERP for businesses in your particular sector. As an official partner of Odoo, Fingent is primed to provide the best service you can get, but you don’t have to take our word for it. 

Here are a few questions that you can ask yourself before you make your choice, and some details that will help you see if you should consider us for your needs:

Question #1: What do they know about my business?

Different industries have different requirements. Choosing a partner who is not aware of the many needs of your business is like going to an orthopedic for your cataract issue. Make sure your ERP implementation partner has a strong track record in your industry. Good knowledge about your business will help your ERP partner smoothly accommodate the new software. This will avoid the need to make extensive changes to your business that can be costly and time-consuming. 

Apart from this, the partner will recommend specific Odoo ERP software features that will assist your particular business needs. They can also teach you how to make optimal use of the software. When your partner is specialized in your industry, they will be able to quickly modify according to changing industry standards, as happened during the pandemic.

Read more: 6 Ways Odoo ERP Customization Can Benefit Your Business 

Fingent has worked with many clients in finance, healthcare, education, real estate, retail, and other sectors, so we have the expertise in handling your specific needs, irrespective of the industry to which you belong. The best of our minds specializing in your sector will be selected to work on your project. 

Question #2: What kind of market reputation have they developed?

The Odoo ERP service provider’s reputation can give you a fair idea of whether it is worth investing in them. Go through their case studies of successful implements and testimonials. Ask for referrals and speak to those referrals to confirm the partner’s reputation. Doing so might help you find tips and advice on how you can work with your partner. Ensure the partner you are about to choose is reliable.

Check out the reviews and ratings given to us by our customers. We have received excellent ratings and many awards and recognitions globally. You can have a look at them on our About Us page. 

Question #3: Are they well-equipped or under-equipped?

One of the things that make a company unique is its size and budget. Hence, it is important to find out if your partner has the resources to handle businesses that are of your size and scope. If the partner you have identified is a global company, they must have hands-on experience with global ERP implementation. 

Question #4: How good are they at communication?

Even when you meet for the first time, do they answer your questions quickly and clearly? If you send them a query, do they take several days to respond? Is their website well-maintained? These are some questions that provide insights into their communication skills. An experienced ERP implementation partner will show interest in your company and the issues you are facing. That would mean they take time to ask you questions and analyze your business needs before providing a solution.

At Fingent, we are committed to providing a great customer experience for our clients. Here are some excerpts of testimonials about this from our client on Clutch. You can follow this link to see their detailed reviews: 

“Fingent’s flexibility and great communication stand out. We didn’t have a tech background, but the team made it easy for us to understand and work through everything.” – Owner of a Concierge Services Company.

“Their team is completely committed to our success as a client, and they do that with their dynamic team.” – Kristen Betts, Principal, Substantive Solutions, Inc. 

“I’ve never wondered if somebody else could have done it better, faster, or cheaper.” – Albert Navarra, Partner at Sapra & Navarra, LLP.

Read more: A 3 day Odoo CRM implementation story! 

Question #5: Which project methodology do they use?

The project methodology is a set of rules and deliverables that are followed during the implementation process. A project methodology explains how you will be informed about the progress, what is the payment method and time, and when you can find out about potential problems. 

When you initiate your project with Fingent, you get a dedicated and skilled team at your service that will guide you through the process. We start with an in-depth analysis of your requirements and walk you through the implementation process right through to post-launch support and updates. 

Read more: How to Select the Right Engagement Model for Business Software Development 

Question #6: Do I understand my business requirements?

It is crucial to know what your business requires. That will help you understand what kind of partner you should select. Hence, make an effort to understand what techno-functional needs you aim to achieve with the Odoo ERP implementation. Know which hardware and software technology you are currently using that may need replacement. Knowing your requirements will help you communicate them to your partner and receive an apt solution that fits those needs.

Our business technology consulting experts will be happy to help you identify and validate your technology needs by analyzing your current state of technology and desired business outcomes.

Test us out!

We understand that making decisions related to implementing new technologies is crucial, and an ERP platform will be the nerve center of your business operations. We are happy to sit with you and answer all your questions and allay your concerns about this. Please give us a call, and let’s discuss your project and needs.

How does Odoo ERP Customization Help Businesses?

In the current age of empowered consumerism, businesses should never underestimate the importance of customization in their strategy. Each company has its specific requirements, so customization has become increasingly significant to business growth in the past few years. As businesses wade through unprecedented times, customization emerges highly relevant in 2021. Enterprise systems like custom Odoo ERP solutions, in particular, witness an increasing market adoption. 

Undeniably, customized ERP software can unlock tremendous opportunities for businesses to grow and expand. However, do you feel that committing to a software vendor could mean you are relinquishing control of your business or that it might not be financially viable? If yes, we invite you to read this article and put your fears to rest as you discover the importance of Odoo ERP, especially as we approach 2021.

Read more: How Odoo ERP Simplifies Sales Management in Your Organization 

Does Your Business Need Odoo ERP Customization?

Every business has its requirements, and just because one methodology worked for a particular company, it cannot be a yardstick for all enterprises. Hence, it’s crucial to customize your business software to address your specific needs. The foremost reason for having customized Odoo ERP software is that it can address your specific business requirements. It is essential for businesses to wisely use this capability and customize their Odoo ERP software for an organized workforce and a highly streamlined workflow. 

Read more: 5 Salient Features of Odoo that Make it a Reliable ERP for Enterprises 

Consider a few reasons:

1. Process Extension

The productivity of any business depends on its work process and business forms. Each association has an alternative work process that may require customization to be more effective. To that end, business leaders may have to stretch out procedures to build new functionalities. In such situations, customizing Odoo ERP can improve collaborations within the work process. 

2. Increase application lifespan 

Applications are building blocks of any business process because they provide vital features and functionality while simplifying the business process. Given that, businesses cannot afford to lose applications at a critical moment. Companies thus need customized ERP solutions to increase the lifespan of business applications. 

3. Establish Unique Identity

Every business has specific objectives to accomplish, which sets them apart in the market. Online marketing activities and data reports of a business mirror its unique identity. Customization of Odoo ERP software can empower businesses to establish their unique identity despite challenging situations.

4. Mobility

With the changes brought about by the pandemic, the need for mobile ERP solutions has taken precedence. Odoo ERP customization can help organizations achieve the desired mobility.

5. Additional features

COVID-19 has redefined the way businesses function that necessitates improvements and upgrades in the business process for 2021. However, it would help if you streamlined each upgrade with the existing process. You can achieve this by incorporating additional features to improve the performance of the whole organization. Odoo ERP customization will help you include other features tailored for your specific business needs.

Read more: Fingent’s new plugin facilitates the scheduling of Zoom meetings from Odoo! 

6. Increased adaptation 

The pandemic has made it evident that an unprecedented event can take you completely by surprise and change the face of your business. Quick adaptation is necessary for businesses if they are to survive and thrive. However, it can be challenging to find new ways that align with your existing business process. Business systems that are not flexible to adaption can collapse, bringing a thriving business to a grinding halt. Odoo ERP customization enables companies to achieve flexibility, empowering them to adapt quickly as the need arises.

Benefits of Odoo ERP Customization

Odoo ERP customization offers businesses increased flexibility and better control resulting in increased sales and improved customer relations. Here are four main benefits of customized Odoo ERP software:

1. Flexible

Flexibility and better control over mission-critical business functions are two of the main benefits of Odoo ERP customization. The extent of that flexibility depends on the type of customization done by the ERP development company. Since Fingent is an official partner of Odoo, our team is fully trained in Odoo ERP development. Our projects are tailored for easy adaptability. 

2. Comprehensive

Odoo ERP covers a wide range of business needs, such as financial management, warehouse management, CRM, and human resource management. It can integrate almost all aspects of a business to improve overall efficiency. 

Read more: 5 Reasons to Integrate Your E-commerce Application with Odoo ERP 

3. Offers support and allows upgrades

Customized ERP applications give you complete control over their features. It also allows you to upgrade the applications when required. At Fingent, we offer user-friendly applications that help businesses achieve their daily organization and management goals. 

4. Development time

Development time might concern enterprises that need to deploy a customized ERP solution within a given time frame. The development timeline varies from project to project, depending on the requirements and expectations of an organization. However, it is a profitable investment considering the long-term benefits.

5. Cost-effective 

There is a misunderstanding that customization of the Odoo ERP system costs a fortune or might complicate the software system’s entire delivery. This has held back some businesses from investing in it. While it is true that customized ERP solutions require to be developed from scratch and tend to be more expensive than off-the-shelf systems, you must consider that the benefits and long-term savings far outweigh the cost.  

The development cost of customization depends on various factors such as the type of application, the number of features, and the time required for the development. However, Odoo offers a basic ERP system with a low-cost license fee. Hence, developing a simple enterprise application with basic features can be cost-effective in the long run. Organizations can maximize the budget on the customization of the platform. 

6. Security 

Odoo ERP is known to be secure by design. Being an open-source platform, Odoo is under constant scrutiny by its users. This ensures that it continually improves on bugs as soon as users report them. 

Easy Adaptability with Complete Control – Grab It Now 

Customization of the Odoo ERP system provides you with the functionality that your business requires. It eliminates any unnecessary features that could confuse a customer and allows you to customize the source code to suit your business needs and features. Customization can also reduce entry duplication and removes redundant fields, which enhances the efficiency of your employees. It can address your current business requirements while providing you with the opportunity to continually improve and refine your business processes as 2021 approaches with new challenges.

If you are worried that the implementation might be difficult, we want to assure you that it isn’t. Fingent’s Odoo implementation projects are tailored for easy adaptability and user-friendliness while ensuring that you have complete control over your processes. Give us a call, and let’s get talking. 

Odoo ERP Implementation for Sales and Revenue Optimization

Pandemic or no pandemic, businesses are facing intense competition in the market. To stay competitive, your organization must think strategically before every move. This is especially true when it comes to sales and marketing. Ask yourselves these questions: Are your projections based on assumptions rather than figures derived from an analytical perspective? Does it take an awfully long time to reconcile your finances at the end of the month? Are you struggling to keep up with a surge in order volumes, which leads to disgruntled and dissatisfied customers? Is your inventory a royal mess? If your answer is yes to any of these questions, then your business needs an ERP system! With its vast suite comprising over 40 business productivity applications, Odoo ERP provides a smoother and simpler way to run your business.

The range of business apps offered by Odoo is highly comprehensive, fully-integrated, easy to use, and supports numerous different industries. Fingent, utilizing its partnership with Odoo ensures their clients are leveraging one or more apps from Odoo to boost their business efficiencies. 

This article will highlight the challenges you may be facing in sales and marketing, and help you see if Odoo ERP can be a solution. 

Challenges in Marketing and Sales

Sales and Marketing play a vital role in your business, whether you are a B2B or a B2C company. Here are some challenges that could be an indicator that something is amiss and that you need to take action asap. 

1. Different processes to handle different tasks

Is your company using different types of software to record, track, and process information? If so, it can result in inaccurate sales data. Not having the accurate and latest accounting information can have an impact on everything from market budgets to payrolls. 

The good news is that the Odoo ERP software can integrate these systems so that all business functions stay connected to a single database. This will ensure you get accurate, real-time data when required. This can also free up your staff so they can concentrate on helping the business grow even faster. 

2. Finance reconciliation is a laborious process

Perhaps your accounting team is spending hours cross-posting information, rekeying numbers, or reconciling data manually. Odoo ERP can make a big difference here. It can automate process transactions and generate audit trails and financial reports. This can greatly simplify period-end closings.

3. Reconciliation of data takes too long

Finding average sales margins or other metrics might be a daunting task for companies that have isolated systems or work on spreadsheets. Thankfully, the Odoo ERP solution can give a holistic view of your business operations so that your staff can get accurate information to accomplish their jobs more effectively. 

Read more: 5 signs which imply that your business needs Odoo ERP 

How Can Odoo ERP Assist Your Business Gain?

Odoo ERP provides more than 5000 modules. These can help you accomplish all your business tasks efficiently and successfully. Since it is an open-source ERP platform, it can fulfill all business requirements. Odoo is API-friendly. Hence, it is easy to implement and integrate with your other business applications and modules.

Odoo has a modular structure that allows for phased implementation. Implementing one module at a time helps your organization test the functionality of that module before implementing the rest. This saves a considerable amount of time and resources. Also, with Odoo development, you can avoid licensing costs. Understandably, this enables businesses to invest for future customizations. 

Fingent’s new plugin facilitates the scheduling of Zoom meetings from Odoo!

Check out our Odoo Zoom integration module launched in Odoo Apps Store. 

With Odoo you can:

• View complete details of sales order and sales management in real-time with the help of a single software application.
• Track the future profitability of your organization based on the analytics of current production and sales.
• Make quick and informed decisions with the help of sales reports. These reports help you forecast the product demand for the future.
• Decrease the time that takes to manage the sales process. 
• Manage the entire sales order lifecycle with the help of post-sales activities. 
• Minimize the delivery time.

Read more: 5 Salient Features of Odoo that Make it a Reliable ERP for Enterprises 

In What Ways Can Odoo ERP Help?

Odoo ERP is a customizable platform. It enhances sales and marketing and thus drives growth. It can help in:

1. Managing Sales 

Odoo makes it easy to manage and categorize sales orders into a well-structured and hierarchical system. It allows you to create fresh orders as well as review existing ones.

2. Point of Sale or PoS 

Odoo can optimize the Point of Sale management that includes various processes like invoicing, cash registration, and inventory. 

3. Customer Relationship Management

The customer relationship module (CRM) of Odoo helps you manage business activities, cash opportunities, solve bug-related issues, and focus on leads. With the help of this module, you can automate most activities like streamlining communication. It also allows you to prioritize your work.

4. Easy Warehouse Management 

Odoo can support the management of multiple warehouses and stock locations. You can easily and quickly define inbound, outbound, and stock locations for each of those warehouses. 

Read more: How your online store can benefit from Odoo ERP integration

5. Purchase Management

Odoo ERP makes it convenient to monitor the quotations from the suppliers. You can effortlessly convert those quotations into purchase orders.

6. Enhance Manufacturing Process

Odoo helps you to streamline the manufacturing process and its management. It can simplify the process of planning and speed up the process of manufacturing. 

7. Generate More Leads 

Odoo website builder provides a wide range of preferential options. Most importantly, it provides useful features for sales and marketing that include drag-and-drop and call-to-action buttons. Also, a client’s proposal for a project is directly stored into the Odoo sales app which can be retrieved anytime.

8. Project Management

Odoo ERP makes project management simple yet more efficient. You can track the status of the project in real-time. Additionally, it allows you to categorize the project into sub-tasks and assign it to different employees. No longer do you have to worry about missed deadlines because Odoo’s calendar helps you to keep a track of those stringent deadlines. 

9. Automation 

Tasks such as sales order and invoice generation of Odoo ERP system allows you to automate manual tasks with zero or minimal errors. Such automation lets your staff focus on more important aspects of business growth.

Read more: Top 5 Open-source ERP Systems for Medical Equipment Suppliers 

The Bottom-line 

Integrating systems and maintaining them with security updates could seem like a herculean task if your business is working on multiple orders. It can become a complicated and costly endeavor to maintain outdated versions of business software. Fortunately, Odoo is being updated continuously for higher performance and improved scalability. It allows you to match the market’s competitive scenario by implementing end-to-end ERP. 

In more ways than one, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed us to live and perform without any excuses. We can perform well when we learn to live with technology. Odoo ERP can help your company make profits now and in the future. Fingent has hands-on expertise in the consulting, implementation, and customization of Odoo for clients globally. Give us a call and we will be happy to help you understand and implement this solution for your business. 

Fingent launches Odoo Zoom integration module in Odoo Apps Store

Are you managing your crucial business functions like ERP and CRM via Odoo and scheduling your online meetings via Zoom? 

Very often, you’d have faced this difficulty of logging into Zoom separately to join the meetings. Some of you would’ve even missed the appointments or run late to join, just because you got too busy to track your Zoom calendar. 

Spending your whole day on Odoo and switching to Zoom in between is annoying. Being an Official Partner of Odoo, Fingent has always catered to the needs of various customers and streamlined their operations thus saving their costs, time, and resources. Now you can easily schedule your Zoom meetings from Odoo using Fingent’s new plugin that integrates Odoo with Zoom, inclusive of updating Odoo based calendars. Participants can join the meeting using the meeting link and ID. Both the organizer and the participants need not require individual Zoom accounts as the meeting can be scheduled from within Odoo. 

Click here to check out our Odoo Zoom integration module launched in Odoo Apps Store. 

Features

• Easy flow between Odoo and Zoom
• Automatically syncs meetings scheduled via Odoo with Zoom
• Sets passwords to join the meeting
• Manages time-zone considerations
• Support for Zoom’s advanced meeting settings
• Multi-user and multi-company support

Want to integrate this custom business logic to extend and amplify the functionalities of your Odoo CRM/ ERP suite? Get in touch with us. 

As a company grows and faces new challenges, a continuous evaluation must be done on the current work processes and IT solutions so as to analyze whether they can address these challenges. Performing a periodic gap analysis in ERP implementation helps assess the direction in which a company is headed. Moreover, it can also determine whether the company is equipped with the right kind of tools to get there.

Some of the common issues that companies normally need to look into are:

• Streamlining day to day operations so as to improve productivity and profitability
• Recognize the need for collaborating with business partners
• Generate more insights for decision making
• Meeting regulatory requirements
• Adapting and scaling the business

Most companies rely on a combination of manual and automated workflows, legacy applications, and databases to run their business. These systems may serve their purpose for quite some time, but will eventually run out of options for scalability leading to productivity gaps. In today’s highly competitive markets, inefficient systems can seriously affect the productivity, profitability, and growth of a business.

Dealing with separate systems can become a hindrance to growth and profitability. At the same time, companies can benefit from ERP systems to help define best practices, optimize workflows and achieve a better view over the various business processes.

By automating business processes, companies benefit from the increased accuracy, accelerated data flow and streamlining of day to day activities. This, in turn, gives the staff more time to focus on areas that require personalized attention.

The Need for GAP Analysis in ERP Implementation

Considering the rapidly evolving ERP market and ever-changing needs of companies, it is very essential that gap analysis is done on a frequent basis. This can assess the relevance of legacy systems and ascertain whether the organization’s demands have outrun the capabilities of these systems. GAP analysis helps in providing precise analytical data to compare the costs involved in an upgrade versus the value addition that the upgrade brings in.

Performing the GAP Analysis

GAP analysis is the technique of listing out the steps to be taken for a company to move from its current state of operations to a desired future state. The analysis begins with highlighting the company’s current situation, listing factors to achieve the objectives, and also planning out the key steps to put into effect for bridging the gap between the current situation and the desired future state.

Besides, undertaking an ERP implementation also imply conforming to common market forces and regulatory requirements. The following checklist will help analyze whether the existing system meets your unique business requirements. In addition, this will also guide you determine whether to enlist the services of a consulting organization to perform a detailed evaluation for accurately assessing the value that a state of the art ERP system would bring about.  

Does your organization need to comply with government regulations?

Many companies in various industries must comply with various regulations constituted by the government. Some of these regulations include:

• Sarbanes-Oxley Act for all public companies
• OSHA Hazard Communication Standard
• ANSI
• European Union REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals) legislation for chemical companies
• The Bioterrorism Act
• HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) for food and beverage producers

Most companies find that managing these government regulations are burdensome and costly. The higher costs are attributed to the fact that many of these are managed manually. Moreover, manual compliance processes not only increase the cost but also leads to inaccuracies and time delays.

Do you need to streamline your operations to improve productivity and profitability?

In today’s competitive world, organizations need to continuously improve their processes and streamline their operations to reduce costs and increase productivity. Manual systems can be time-consuming and slow down the business processes due to rekey of information into multiple systems. Furthermore, to add to the trouble, there are a lot of inaccuracies as well.

Do you need to enhance your decision-making capabilities?

With the increasingly competitive market, it is essential that your company has all the required info to guide you in making the right strategic decisions. When data is spread across various systems and spreadsheets, it becomes increasingly difficult and time-consuming to create reports that are needed to support key decisions.

Do you need to collaborate with partners?

As your company grows and the market conditions fluctuate, it may become unavoidable to not team with partners in various industries across different geographical locations. During such collaborations, effective and hassle-free communication becomes vital to meet customer expectations, maintain loyalty and remain profitable at the same time.

Does your processes and systems scale with your business?

Scalable systems are an absolute necessity considering the competitive markets that thrive today. You will need technology solutions that not only cover your present needs but also accommodate the growth of your business in the future.

Are you planning to grow your business globally?

If the answer is yes, then you will definitely need systems that address the following:

• Global currencies
• Multiple Languages
• Global regulatory specifications

The Output of GAP Analysis

• The GAP analysis will give a complete overview of the system
• It will inform the organization or business, how much value the ERP system will precisely bring into the various business processes
• At times, it may also lead to the conclusion that the implementation of an ERP isn’t needed for the organization when analyzing the value being added

Conclusion

Modern day companies face adverse competition due to rapid market shifts. In the midst of new technological innovations, the adoption of an ERP system is a big step for the growth of a company and its productivity as well. GAP analysis remains an indispensable part of this entire process and companies should focus on it more and give the importance that it deserves. The value adds by giving you a detailed retrospective of your business processes and the current systems are much more than the costs involved in the same.

HR plays an important role in all businesses nowadays. Traditionally, the department has played a supportive role and does not take part in any number-oriented departments like marketing and business development. Today’s organization have realized the further potential of the HR department to enhance and develop a business enterprise.

HR deals with the management of the most important and valuable asset to any organization viz, human capital. HR is being considered an employee’s sponsor or advocate. The department continuously monitors and finds out the talent needs of an organization and fills the gap that is being formed usually by hiring employees with a specific skill set to match the needs. In addition, HR act as strategists in the organization contributing to the development and accomplishment of the business plans and objectives.

The HR personnel is responsible for designing a working system in which people succeed and contribute. Establishing a favorable and safe work environment, culture and climate in the organization where the people feel competent, concerned and committed to serving the customers well.

The Payroll function of the HR Department is considered as very important. Payroll is the process of compensating employees, balancing the payroll data, wage deductions, reporting taxes, record keeping, verifying the payroll data, calculating reimbursements, bonuses, overtime, holiday pay, etc.

The HR section keeps all the records of the employees in the organization. Performance appraisal is a function of HR Department by which job performance of an employee is documented and evaluated. Decisions like transfer, salary hike, promotions, etc. are all taken by an HR person.

As the functions of HR is complex and important to the business organization, it needs to be done effectively and efficiently throughout the organization. The need for proper integration of the activities of every department in order to carry out the process led to the implementation of ERP software systems in organizations.

ERP- Meaning

ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning is software providing integrated management of core business processes mediated through software and technology. It allows the organization to use integrated applications in order to automate back office functions and minimize the replication of work. ERP is a single system where all the information is stored in a single database, which can be accessed by all the functional areas in an organization.

Nowadays, almost all the large business enterprises have ERP software or else it is close to impossible to handle the complexity of the data by the personnel alone. ERP has different modules that mimic the different functional areas of business. Microsoft Dynamics AX, Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning, Odoo, WebERP are some examples of ERP systems. Odoo is an open source ERP.

ERP- Functional Modules

ERP has different modules that mimic the different functional areas of a business. Common ERP modules that are found implemented are: Financial Module (FI), Human Resource Module (HR), Materials Management Module (MM), Production Planning Module (PP), Quality Management Module (QM), Sales and Distribution Module (SD), Controlling (CO), Supply Chain Management (SCM), General Logistics (LO), Project System (PS), Plant Maintenance (PM), Customer Relation Management (CRM), E-commerce (E-COM), Advance Planner Optimiser/Advance Planner Scheduler (AO/APS) etc. These modules comprise several submodules.

ERP Assisting Human Resource Planning

Companies use an HR module for creating and maintaining a complete list of employees, track their performance, streamlining compensation, etc. It helps to track the workforce of an organization real-time. Variable compensation plans can be prepared based on qualification, role and work experience in order to motivate the employees. Managing leaves is never been easier. More importantly, it streamlines the process of recruitment easily.

OPEN SOURCE ERP/ ODOO

Out of all ERP’s in the world, Odoo has its own place. Because of its free license to use, easy customization and quick implementation, Odoo is highly preferred by enterprises with less capacity to invest in ERP packages like SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle etc.

Leave Management

Using this module, it is easier to track the leaves taken by each employee. Employees can request for leaves and the manager can approve or reject them with a note of explanation. The agenda of each employee is updated accordingly. 

The manager can view the leaves of his/her own team and also forecast the distribution of future tasks accordingly. The module creates statistics, reports based on request type, employee, department or even for the whole enterprise. You can plan for the upcoming to make sure that the company runs at the highest level of productivity.

Recruitment

The recruitment process can be a bit of a headache for HR people in an enterprise. Odoo can handle this process easily right from the sourcing to contract. Just as we did previously, you need to install a specific app to use that feature.  By installing Recruitment Process App, you can create job positions and set objectives in terms of recruitment for that particular position, assign responsibility to an HR manager, create an email to generate applications automatically from emails received at this email address, add job descriptions and requirements and customize the process in order to fit your environment. Odoo can also help in the interview process by scheduling the first interview date, adding appreciation, expected salary and internal role. 

After the first interview, an HR manager can add department manager in the loop to schedule a second meeting with the applicants. After the next action, maybe briefing with the manager, the manager can look at the message received and open the application forms. After the meeting, a manager can add an internal note asking the HR manager to hire the applicant.

Indexation of resumes is another feature where you can search for certain keywords and you’ll get CV’s that contains that keywords. It helps in finding applicants having required qualification and skills from all the applications received.

Employee Directory

This is a core application of HR in Odoo. It keeps records of all the employees in one place. And it is very easy to manage and maintain these records. To use, first you need to install the Employee Directory App and then you can start creating new employees on the list. You can set up departments and assign managers to each while also creating job positions within each department. Keeping track of all the employee details is easy with Odoo.

Payroll

With the Payroll app of Odoo, it becomes easy to manage allowances and deductions, configure basic/gross/net salary, managing employee payslip, maintaining payroll register. Moreover, it comes integrated with holiday management.

Timesheets

With this module, you can implement a timesheet within your system. A Timesheet is a method of recording the amount of time a worker spent on each job. Each employee can encode and track their time spent on each project or assignments. It is completely integrated with the cost accounting module.

Attendances

This module manages the employee’s attendances based on actions performed by them like check in/check out.

Employee Appraisal

Employee performance appraisal or performance review or performance evaluation is a method of evaluating and documenting the employee’s performance. Through Odoo Employee Appraisals Application, you can manage employee evaluation, set up a periodic employee evaluation and appraisals. You can create surveys right from the app and collect employee’s answers. There are several templates to choose from or you can create one of your own. Employees can send these evaluations to subordinates, juniors as well as to their managers. You can create evaluation plans with a clear schedule to automatically generate interview requests. You can specify which employee or department or level in the hierarchy can answer the survey. Then allow managers to review the content and finalize the evaluation.

Expense Tracker

Odoo Expense Tracker provides online expense management, which allows you to manage your employee’s daily expenses, whether it is travel related or any other costs. You can access all your employees expense details such as the fee notes and validate or refuse them. Employees can add copies of the receipts and proofs directly to the expense records to avoid losing them. As a manager, you can follow the expenses recorded to keep an eye on the costs and make sure to keep the target and budget. The workload can be shared among employees, managers, and accountants as they are included here to save time.

Fleet Management

Fleet or vehicle management includes management of vehicles such as cars, vans or trucks, private vehicles, also known as the grey fleet, aviation machinery such as aircraft, ships, rail cars etc. Fleet management includes various functions like driver management, vehicle financing, speed management, fuel management, health and safety management, etc. It helps to minimize the risks associated with vehicle investment and reducing transportation and staff cost. 

Odoo Fleet Management helps the manager supervise the organization’s vehicle, contracts, costs, insurances etc easily. It provides a specialized tracking system for company vehicles such as Odoo’s Smart App which can keep track of fleets.

Other Third Party Apps

There are over 14,000 apps in the Odoo App store to choose from. There are many third-party applications available. Following is the top 10 in Odoo App Store:

Common Calendar: Synchronize different objects in one calendar such as meetings, tasks, holidays and other custom models.

Employee Workload Calculation: Employee calculation and notification for next given days based on project tasks.

Employee Overdue Task Reminder Mail: You can see the total on employee kanban and form also.

HR Payroll Dashboard: View, edit and compare all your company payslips in a page.

HR Config: Add HR configuration Company form.

Open HRMS Core: Bring all the Open HRMS modules.

HR Dashboard: Dashboards for HR managers and Officers.

Biometric Device Integration: Integrates Biometric Devices with HR Attendance (face + thumb)

Payroll Slip Reporting: Payslip Pivot view report.

HR- LinkedIn Integration: Integrates LinkedIn with HR Recruitment.

Some applications are free and some are paid. The main advantage of Odoo is that it can be easily integrated.

Why Odoo?

Odoo is indeed a comprehensive platform that efficiently manages different business applications. Being opensource, it is available in the enterprise version, online model and community version which is open source.

Odoo has many advantages like easy and simple navigation, keeping up the pace with business operations, availability of 1000 + modules, flexibility in the sense, implementation and addition of basic and new modules, easy integration, good user experience, up-to-date technology and most importantly, budget-friendly.

Summing Up

Odoo has about 700 partners and over 2 million users because of its error-free nature and proven quality. Small Business or Startups, which find themselves hard to manage their finances and operations can choose Odoo without any doubt. But if you have a higher capacity and budget for investment, you can go for more conventional and fully established ERP systems like the SAP. The decision comes down to your company’s requirements and needs.

Overview

What follows is an exemplary story of an Odoo implementation in just 3 days! Hard to believe right? We just did that for our internal sales team last month!  Odoo is well known in the ERP world for its really short implementation durations and flexibility to accommodate changes on the go. We wanted to share the experience of how we went about selecting Odoo from the gamut of ERP/CRM platforms available in the market today and managed to implement it within 3 business days.

Why we needed a CRM?

This implementation story started when our sales team experienced difficulties in managing leads for one of our products ‘ReachOut’, a custom field services management platform. When we started out with ReachOut, we had about 3 or 4 signups weekly and emails were sufficient for our Sales team to handle., However, as the number of leads grew rapidly, it became increasingly difficult for the sales team to manage with only emails. To tackle these challenges, we considered the need for a proper CRM software and saw a lot of potential in Odoo due to its flexibility and short implementation durations.

The Implementation

After the Sales team were previewed with a demo using default Odoo CRM features, they were instantly convinced that it will ease their workflow and improve productivity to a large extent.

Upon implementation, our convictions proved right as the managers were content with the way they were able to seamlessly track their team’s work.

The next step was an integration between Odoo and ReachOut, a couple of hours of development, followed by deployment, which was done on a server with specs as minimal as 2 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a one hour training for the sales team followed by UAT for a day, we were all set to start using the system!

And to add to the benefits, Odoo User documentation is available online for most of the major apps in the system which is really easy to follow and something that anyone from a non-technical background can understand.

Yes, three days is all it took to implement a CRM system for a sales team that was handling hundreds of leads per day. The fact that Odoo is very flexible and one of the most sustainable ERPs gives us more confidence about implementing other modules for various team in the organization. And as I’m writing this, we’re all set to roll out Odoo HRM in our company, but that’s another story which we will definitely touch upon another day.

Impact of Odoo CRM

The problem we had prior to implementing Odoo CRM was that the leads had to be picked and assigned manually from the emails that came in. The follow-up process was really difficult to manage since it was not so organized, and there was a lot of effort being wasted in maintaining excel sheets to track the leads.

Enter Odoo, and the assigning process is totally automated. Follow-ups became more organized, and the managers are getting really good insights into the activities of the team members. The status of every lead that each member is working on has become more transparent, and the management team feels that Odoo CRM will definitely improve the sales numbers as the processes are getting streamlined.

Why should you consider Odoo CRM for your organization?

The amount of consumer data generated for business owners is increasing on an hourly basis. Without the proper tools to handle all these customer information, decision making, forecasting, purchase and sales processes have become a great chaos in terms of efficiency.

The Odoo CRM deals with aspects of the business like:

1. Sales tracking
2. Prospecting
3. Recording customer interactions
4. Pipeline management
5. Evaluating marketing campaigns

Since satisfied customers are your most valuable asset, imagine what a unified system that includes major business apps and a VOIP system would do for your business.

A system like Odoo which has capabilities of adapting to the growth of your company is something that every organization that needs a CRM should consider. And people often make the mistake of choosing big names in the CRM arena, whereas something more flexible and integrated with other business apps that can be deployed as the company grows is a much better choice any day for an SME.

We can definitely go on and on about the advantages of Odoo CRM, but considering that your time is precious, all we can say is that this exercise showed us how even a small sales team can use Odoo for the benefit of their customers. We hope this story may help other growing SAAS companies save time, improve visibility and manage customer relationships using Odoo.