A wholesale distribution ERP consultant earns the fee in the gap between the warehouse and the general ledger. When inventory lives in one tool and the books in another, margins get reconciled after the fact and nobody fully trusts the stock value on the balance sheet. Lucentive puts accounting and inventory in one system and connects the rest.
Inventory and accounting in the same system
- Receipts, transfers and adjustments post to the ledger as they happen.
- Item costs flow into margin reporting by customer, product line and location.
- Purchasing and order management run against the same item records finance reports on.
Best fit for warehouse, shipping and sales tools
Distributors rarely need one suite for everything. Warehouse management, shipping, EDI, CRM and e-commerce connect to the core where a specialist tool does the job better, and each integration is built and tested before go-live.
How an engagement runs
- A fixed-fee ERP advisory maps your order-to-cash and procure-to-pay flows and recommends a platform, or tells you to stay put.
- Implementation designs items, locations and the chart of accounts around your reporting.
- A parallel close proves the inventory valuation before go-live.
- The same principal consultants support you after launch.
Signs it is time
Stock counts that never match the books, margins you only trust at quarter-end, and purchasing done from spreadsheets are the usual triggers. Background reading: what order processing involves.
Common questions
Will the warehouse team have to change how they work?
As little as possible. Receiving, picking and shipping stay in the tools that suit your warehouse. What changes is that each transaction reaches the ledger as it happens, so finance is not rebuilding stock at month-end.
Can our online store connect?
Yes. Online orders can flow into order management and on to the ledger, using the same item and customer records as your other sales channels.
Do you handle more than one warehouse?
Yes. Each warehouse is set up as a location, so stock levels, transfers and valuation report by location as well as in total. Purchasing can then be planned against real on-hand quantities rather than a monthly count.
How is the inventory value proved before go-live?
Opening quantities and costs are loaded and reconciled to the old system, and to a physical count where needed. The parallel close then compares inventory value in both systems before anyone relies on the new one.
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