SAP Business One for service companies
SAP Business One Cloud is often used by management consultancies, IT service providers and engineering offices. Competitive and price pressure is constantly increasing, as are customer requirements for performance and speed. SAP Business One supports service companies – automated, centrally controlled and in real time. Especially in invoicing and within project controlling, SAP Business One Cloud offers tailor-made optimized processes for service companies.
Write and calculate quotations
SAP Business One Cloud for service companies includes various features that make the calculation and the creation of quotations much more professional and easier. In SAP Business One, the quotation can include services in the form of items, but also in the form of so-called service items (with descriptive text). The quotation calculation allows a gross profit to be determined, provided that the corresponding items or services are purchased from suppliers. SAP Business One includes framework agreements for contract management. In these blanked agreements, purchase quantities are recorded for specific business partners. Individual invoices can always refer to the agreed framework contract. The corresponding service calls are recorded in the background.
Record and invoice working hours
Service providers regularly invoice services rendered according to expenditure (“time and material”). For this reason, they usually need a working time record. Various providers for the topic of timekeeping have already established on the market. It is optimal if the data from the existing application for recording working hours is automatically transferred to SAP. There is a solution for this:
SAP Business One Cloud has a cloud adapter that can be easily connected to an existing timesheet. Working times can be transferred to SAP Business One time sheets via a cloud-to-cloud connection and invoices as drafts can even be generated in SAP. These interfaces reduce the time taken to take over working hours and invoicing, while at the same time increasing quality by avoiding manual transfer errors. The following solutions are already connected to the SAP Business One Cloud and can be used immediately: www.timebutler.de and www.clockodo.com.
The service provided is often documented by service providers in a service description. This description is usually attached to an invoice so that the customer can understand which expenses were incurred for which services. SAP Business One has templates for invoice printing and for service descriptions, which can be adapted to customer-specific requirements if necessary. If an application is used to record working hours, the service description can be taken directly from this solution and attached to the invoice.
Simplify invoicing and keep receivables transparent
Service companies usually do not issue invoices on the same day the service is rendered. In most cases, the services of the past service period are billed on a specific key date. With SAP Business One, invoices can be easily generated either by copying a new invoice from a previous document (e.g. sales order) or by referring to a blanked agreement. Invoices can also be easily generated from time sheets.
The SAP Business One Mailer generates PDFs from invoices and automatically attaches them to a corresponding email. A description of the services provided can also be easily included in the appendix. The invoice can be sent either manually or automatically,
In addition to intuitive billing, SAP Business One has bank statement processing that allows incoming and outgoing payments to be read automatically. In a system-side reconciliation process, previously issued outgoing invoices are assigned to the respective incoming payments or incoming invoices to the respective outgoing payments. After a successful assignment, paid invoices are closed and removed from the list of open items.
Outgoing invoices that are not paid remain in the open item list, so that there is always a high degree of transparency about the receivables. The dunning assistant evaluates this list and creates corresponding dunning suggestions for different dunning levels.
Controlling of projects and employees
Service providers are often commissioned by their customers for projects with a defined start and end date. SAP Business One has its own project module that determines the project controlling. Individual receipts, but also working times can be assigned to this project. In connection with a blanked agreement, planned hours can also be planned for different seniority levels. These instruments generate a solid data basis. As part of project controlling, projects can be evaluated specifically with regard to the following key figures:
- Planned vs. actual working hours
- Plan vs. actual sales
- Planned vs. actual costs
- Gross profit: sales vs. costs
For service companies with consultants, it makes sense to create cost centers for the respective consultants. In this way, the services provided and the costs incurred can be viewed together and the contribution to the company’s success per employee can be measured.
Integrated solutions realize benefits
SAP Business One includes integrated financial accounting. Every tax-relevant document automatically creates a posting record “debit to credit” in the background. Digitized receipts therefore do not have to be digitized a second time (often manually). For this reason, it is advisable to export the posting records for further processing by the tax consultant using standardized interfaces.
CRM systems can also be connected to the SAP Business One Cloud. In this case, the quotations is usually created in the CRM. Resulting sales orders are managed in SAP Business One. The working hours taken over are combined in SAP Business One with the corresponding service items and invoiced. This is how all information comes together in an end-to-end, fully integrated system: the SAP Business One Cloud.
Customer References
Schneider Dokumentation
Industry:
Technical Documantation
Schneider Dokumantation, based in Bad Friedrichshall in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, won the “Global CEO Excellence Award” in the category “Best Technical Documentation CEO 2020” in 2020. Schneider Dokumentation creates professional technical documentation.
GTS Teamlabs Kft
Branche:
SAP Beratung, Softwareentwicklung und Schulung
Based on almost 15 years of professional experience, GTS Teamlabs GmbH operates extremely successfully in the area of SAP Global Trade Services (SAP GTS). SAP GTS automates international trade processes and ensures legal security within international transaction business.
hard & softWERK
Industry:
Software development
Hard & softWERK develops with modern development tools and methods. Modular structures and the use of standardized interfaces are a matter of course. Thus, the most diverse project requirements can be mapped and individually offered.
