Essent^® Software Enhancements for 2018

Q2

Quick Add Menu

EssentOne has a new Quick Add feature that makes it easy to create Quotes, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders and other documents on the fly. No matter where you are in the system, it’s easy to find the Quick Add menu and choose a new document to create.

Automated Commission

Automated Commission Management is strengthened with default commission splits. Set your business rules default commission splits instead of manually splitting up the commissions for every order. Automated Commission Management is part of the EssentOne Accounting Engine that performs accounting operations automatically as a result of processing orders.

Purchasing Dashboard

EssentOne has a new front end for business logistics. The new Purchasing Area and Dashboard shows logistics at a glance and creates to home for Purchase Order management. Rather than running reports or drilling for information, the dashboard shows a graphical snapshot of your business, where you are, what you need to do. The system digests the high volumes of purchasing information and puts it one place, making it easier to understand and use.

Other improvements to business logistics include:

Purchasing enhancements are streamlined. You can now change a supplier Ship-To address on a PO for to further streamline purchasing.

Spend Management

Spend management is improved with EssentOne support for multiple PayPal accounts. Now each Branch, or user-defined portion of the business, now can have its own individual PayPal account, the same as each Branch has been able to have its own individual payment card.

Bulk Shipments

It’s easier than ever to record shipments. Rather than individually enter dozens or hundreds of shipments, now Essent users can upload shipments in bulk via a simple CSV file.

Bulk Promotions

Easily apply promotion to hundreds of products at once. Rather than individually add products to a promotion, simply create the promotion and import a CSV file with all of the SKUs that should be included. The promotion is applied to all of the SKUs.

Program and Catalog Management

EssentOne users can manage programs and catalogs in the back office and automatically publish them to ecommerce websites and company stores. There’s no need to manage the products in two locations – manage programs and catalogs in the business management system, and the website automatically updates.

New automation has been added to program management, as well. Users can now set a maximum order quantity for specific customers.

Customer Returns

Enhanced Documents

EssentOne now generates Sales Orders and Quotes that include both Shipping Dates and In-Hands Dates so there’s no confusion over timelines. In another improvement to document clarity, packing lists now list how many boxes are included in the shipment.

Customer Accounting

Manage the Accounting side of each customer, including credit limits, cost centers, and customer budgeting.

Custom Reporting

More data is available in reporting than ever before. Vouched Date, Billed Total, and Billed Unit Quantity are now available in custom reports.

Improved SEO

Search Engine Optimization is enhanced. The robots meta tag now can be applied to individual products and individual groups of products.

Q1

Sales Order Management

Order entry is faster than ever with the following User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) enhancements:

• Product groups within orders are now ready for items to be added as soon as you get to them. Upon opening the order, product groups are open and ready for you to add products, services, and charges.
• Users can add products to an order simply by duplicating existing line items. And they can create new orders simply by duplicating existing orders. There is no need to re-create what you’ve already created.
• A new drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to organize line items in the way you or your customers want to see them. If you want products in one bunch, services in another, and charges in a third, you can do that. If you want the services and charges to appear next to their associated products, you can do that as well. It’s up to you and it’s all as simple as dragging and dropping.
• Search enhancements make it easier to find previous orders in case you want to duplicate them for a new order or just check on the information.

Product Matrices

The convenience of product matrices is now available for hundreds of thousands of additional products.

As those of us in the promotional products industry know, custom products can have an almost infinite number of potential configurations that complicate product information and how it’s applied to orders. One way that Essent reduces this complexity is with product matrices where users simply fill in a table to say how many of each variation they want on an order. The system understands the variations and adds them to sales orders and purchase orders appropriately.

While EssentOne previously provided product matrices for products in a company’s own catalog, now the convenience is extended to custom products. This includes products that are imported from the industry’s leading product research catalogs including ASI ESP and DistributorCentral, sourcing tools that represent hundreds of thousands of products.

Custom Invoice Scheduling

Custom invoice scheduling allows you to invoice customers at any time. Pre-sets remain to invoice when a line item is completed, when the full order is completed, or when bills are received.

Now, the addition of custom invoice scheduling allows EssentOne users to invoice at any point in the transaction lifecycle, when it makes the most sense for their processes, rules, and cash flow.

No matter which invoicing method you choose, invoicing information will continue to flow automatically into the Accounting Engine for the automated performance of accounting activities, including sophisticated activities like job costing and commission calculation.

Mobile Optimization

EssentOne continues to be the only enterprise-grade business management system that’s designed for the promotional products industry and lets you run your full business from your phone. Mobile-friendliness enhancements have been added throughout the system, most notably in accounting. You can visit the client’s site, take an order, and generate an invoice on your mobile device right on the spot. Your business can be with you wherever you go.

Security

The Essent Chief Security Officer and Security Team continue to protect Essent and customer networks and servers with 24x7x365 monitoring. Security and encryption, which are routinely updated, have been updated once again to stay ahead of potential threats in the always-evolving world of cybersecurity.

Buyer Integration

Essent developed an integration solution that allows inventory and fulfillment information to flow automatically from a distributor’s business management system to the end buyer’s business management system in real-time. In other words, an end buyer can look up a distributor’s inventory levels and other information at any time just by checking their own ERP. Just as is the case when suppliers integrate with distributors, the integration creates a tighter partnership and a more efficient transaction lifecycle. The award-winning Essent integration team continues to provide the most efficient path to integration in the promotional products industry.

Automated Pricing Rules

Pricing can now be automatically applied to product categories.

If it’s your rule to always markup apparel by 50%, you can set the rule at the category level. If it’s your rule to always markup certain apparel like polo shirts an additional 25%, you can set that rule at the subcategory level.

The automation works equally well for products in your own catalog and for custom products. Products imported from the product research catalogs within EssentOne can have your pricing automatically applied as soon as you assign the product a category and subcategory.

Every category and subcategory can have a pricing rule, and there is no limit to the number of categories and subcategories you can create. So automatic pricing can be applied to your entire product line and even products you’ve never sold before.

Custom Reporting

We’ve added to the hundreds of ways that users can view data in EssentOne. A new report shows greater details for sales orders and purchase orders.

Inventory

Inventory functionality has been added to EssentOne. Companies who hold physical inventory can see complete, accurate, real-time inventory levels in EssentOne at all times. There’s no more calling or emailing the warehouse to check what’s on hand. Orders move forward more efficiently with the confidence of constantly knowing the inventory on hand.