How to use ERPNext at LuluLocal

1Where things live right now

Three systems, each with one job. Knowing which one owns what saves most of the confusion.

ERPNext reads from the website but does not write to it. Nothing you do in ERPNext can change what a customer sees on lululocal.co.za.

2Five rules for now

1. Website stock is still changed in Shopify, by hand. When a corporate order uses website stock, reduce it in Shopify as you do today, and keep a one-line note: date, product, quantity, why. These notes make the later handover clean.
2. Invoices go in Xero. Do not raise invoices in ERPNext yet. Quotes are made in ERPNext; the invoice is made in Xero.
3. Website orders are handled in Shopify. Fulfil, cancel and refund there as usual. ERPNext follows on its own. Never edit or cancel a website order inside ERPNext.
4. Every new product needs its own SKU. Keep creating products in Shopify. Give every variant a SKU that has never been used before. Without one, ERPNext cannot match the product when it sells.
5. If in doubt, do not delete. Most mistakes can be undone. A deletion usually cannot. Ask first.

3Signing in

1. Go to lululocal.jh.frappe.cloud and bookmark it. It works on a phone as well.
2. Type your work email and password. If you do not have a password yet, choose Login with email link. A link arrives by email and works for 30 minutes.
3. Forgot your password? Choose Forgot password. That link lasts three days.
4. Once signed in, you land on the Lulu home page.

4The Lulu home page

A plain page with the day's numbers and the things you use. You should rarely need anything else.

Today

What do you want to do?

Tiles for every everyday job: count stock, build a quote, website orders, jobs, quotes, stock on hand, products, customers and suppliers. Click one to go straight there.

Needs a look

A short list of things worth fixing, such as orders waiting more than three days, products with no cost price, or negative stock. When it says "Nothing needs your attention", you are done.

5Building a quote

One screen, top to bottom. The quote is saved in ERPNext with a QC number and a PDF on your letterhead.

1. Client. Start typing the company name and pick it from the list. If they are new, choose + New customer. Add their PO or reference if they gave one. "Valid until" defaults to two weeks.
2. Website gift boxes. The boxes on lululocal.co.za. Find one by typing part of its name, or pick a price band. Press Add to quote, set how many boxes, and use Photo to show the client your own picture instead of the website's. Its contents come from the website automatically.
3. Custom curation. For a box made for this client: name it, set how many boxes and the price per box excluding VAT, then add the contents.
   • From stock: type part of the name or code and pick it.
   • Not in stock yet: use "Add a sourced item" with the supplier, cost and selling price. ERPNext creates the product and supplier so it can be ordered if the client says yes.
   Packaging is costed inside the box price, so do not add it as a separate line.
4. Delivery. Describe the arrangement and choose To be advised, Client collects or Quoted now with an amount excluding VAT.
5. Extras. Engraving, branding, printed tags and anything else with its own price.
6. On this quote. Everything you have added, gift boxes, curation, delivery and extras, with the price of each. Use Remove to take anything off.
7. Look and notes. Choose the layout and check the note that prints on the quote.

Press Create quote. You get the quote number, a Preview the PDF link and a link to open the quote in the desk.

6After the quote

Check and change it

A new quote is a draft, so you can still change anything. Open it from Quotes, edit the lines or prices, and press Save.

Make it final

When it is ready to go, press Submit. The status changes to Open and the quote is locked. To change a submitted quote, use Cancel then Amend. That makes a new version and keeps the old one for the record.

Send it

1. On the quote, press the printer icon.
2. Choose the format at the top: LuluLocal Quick Quote, Presentation Quote or Formal Quote.
3. Press PDF to download it, and attach it to an email from your own mailbox.

Keep track

The Quote board shows every quote in columns by stage, so you can see what is waiting at a glance.

When the client says yes, or no

Yes: on the submitted quote press Create then Sales Order. In ERPNext a sales order is a job. We will practise this together on dummy products before it is used for real, so for now keep running corporate jobs the way you do today.

No: press Set as Lost and give a reason. Over time this shows why quotes do not convert.

7Counting and receiving stock

One screen for both jobs. Made for a phone in one hand while you walk the shelves.

1. Choose what you are doing:
   • I am counting: the number you type replaces what the system thinks is there.
   • Stock has arrived: the number you type is added to what is there.
2. Choose Where: Website stock or Held for corporate jobs. Check the date.
3. Find a product by typing part of its name or its SKU. It shows what the system thinks you have.
4. Type the quantity. If the product has no cost price, a cost box appears. Fill it in while you are there.
5. Add as many products as you like, then press Save once.

8Website orders

Every Shopify order arrives in ERPNext within a minute or two, as a job with the right products and VAT. Nothing is needed from you.

The page shows whether the website is connected, the last 30 days of orders side by side with what Shopify says, and the latest sync activity.

Gift boxes sold on the website come in as the products inside them, so stock comes off the components, not the box.

9Finding things

10What comes next

The stock you counted on 7 October is in ERPNext: 10,600 units in Website stock and 275 Amrod units in Corporate. Every morning we compare ERPNext's stock with Shopify's and explain each difference. The adjustment note from rule 1 is what keeps that quick.

When the two agree for five trading days in a row, corporate holds behave correctly, and someone at LuluLocal owns the morning check, we switch on the stock link. From then on ERPNext keeps the website stock up to date, and the manual adjustments and notes from rule 1 stop. No date is promised: it happens when the evidence says it is safe, and we decide together.

11Words you will see

12Help

Stuck, or something looks wrong? Take a screenshot and send it to Craig Leppan: craig@2nth.ai or 082 875 8049. A screenshot with the quote, order or product number in it is the fastest way to a fix.

We walk through all of this together on Friday 9 October. Bring the questions.