Creating Ideal Metal Technologies Through Integration

So how exactly does this amazing seamless integration work that we’ve built with JMS between Sage Intacct and iMetal? We’ve talked about how it creates an ideal metal technologies solution for fabricators and distributors, but we realize there may be some skeptics or simply curious people wondering how the integration really impacts a company. We’re happy to dive into how it impacts the day to day work of individuals on the team and the company overall, improving both significantly.

Customers: Sage ⇒ iMetal
Customer Contacts: Sage ⇒ iMetal, iMetal ⇒ Sage

With Customers, one of the most important tasks is outgoing billing, so Sage Intacct maintains the truth source with credit checks & credit limits, parent/child limits, restrictions to entities, tax ID, etc. This is all vetted by the finance team for accuracy. As soon as it's added to Sage, it gets pushed to iMetal and is available for Sales. That means all the information needed on the sales & operations - credit limits, key contacts, address, etc. - are available immediately. That way Sales teams can take orders and follow up as needed, and also not place orders for customers who are over extended. 

Customer Contact information goes both way though, so if there are new Ship To addresses because there's a new location or worksite, new Warehouse or Sales contacts, these can be established in iMetal and get seamlessly moved to Sage. Ongoing updates from the finance side such as address changes, adding a new subsidiary, etc. are all pushed to iMetal seamlessly.

Vendors: Sage ⇒ iMetal
Vendor Contacts: Sage ⇒ iMetal, iMetal ⇒ Sage

Just like with Customer information, it’s the exact same scenario on supplier/vendor side. One difference is that iMetal will filter out non-trade vendors so that they are not added to the system unnecessarily. This extends iMetal which on its own does not handle finance functions or non-trade vendors. A finance solution like Sage Intacct is needed to handle these needs and the integration takes care of them perfectly.

Accounts Receivable Terms: Sage ⇒ iMetal
Accounts Payable Terms: Sage ⇒ iMetal

Since these are purely finance, they are managed in Sage Intacct and all information is pushed to iMetal so the appropriate teams have the information. For example, if there’s a 1% discount available on invoices if they’re paid in 5 days or net 30, Sales needs to be able to promote that to clients. Similarly, if there are late payment penalties then the Operations team needs to be able to communicate that and the right metal technologies can help make things easier for everyone. All terms codes are managed by in Sage Intacct and pushed to iMetal so that sales people know exactly what the terms are for what they're selling, allowing them to offer discounts and clarify potential penalties to both clients & suppliers.

Sales Invoices: iMetal ⇒ Sage

Since Sales Invoices pull information primarily from operations, this information is managed in iMetal and pushed to Sage Intacct. All inventory down to the very detailed things like nuts & bolts or additional labour services, stock tracking, complicated pricing structures all lives in iMetal. The iMetal solution offers a detailed prebuilt workflow from order to shipment to invoice on the operations side, wrapping up with product going out the door and shipping to the customer. The integration with Sage Intacct automatically collapses that invoice down to relevant information needed by the Finance team. The 200 line invoice isn't needed in Sage Intacct, but the total revenue, total COGS, maybe some freight, maybe an adjustment line, inventory/stock adjustments, ship to address for tax purposes, etc. - the key information is pushed through to Sage Intacct to update financial reporting. This is fully synced together between the two systems with reference numbers for tracking & reporting on both sides, giving a truly seamless and invisible metal technologies integration to both teams.

One item to note is taxes. The capture and calculation of tax goes both directions. Taxes are established in Sage Intacct and pushed to iMetal. iMetal does the calculation based on ship to address and products, then pushed back to Sage Intacct with the sales invoice. This includes specific country tax for Canada, UK and US.

Sales Credits: iMetal ⇒ Sage

Sales credits to the customer (i.e. - damaged goods, returned goods, RMAs, charged the wrong tax, shipped the wrong item, credit requests) are always done on the Operations side, so they own this information in the integration. When it’s entered into iMetal by the Operations team, who makes the credit decision, it feeds through automatically to the Finance team with all applicable taxes on the credit note as well.

Purchase Invoices: iMetal ⇒ Sage

Since these are operational decisions, such as the team buys more raw goods, they are the ones who make the order, receive it in the warehouse, and then the vendor sends an invoice. For example, increasing stock or inventory, or perhaps direct expenses like sundries (tires, non-inventory items like nuts & bolts, various supplies that aren't stockable material, pallets, etc.). When the vendor invoice is loaded into iMetal, all relevant information gets pushed through to Sage Intacct, just like with the customer invoices. 

Direct General Ledger Entries: iMetal ⇒ Sage

Sometimes there are entries that impact finances that don't go through an invoice. For example, the warehouse has to write off a batch of materials that were lost. Maybe the inventory count was off and needs to be adjusted, up or down. These could affect revenue, cost of sales items, etc. but are not related to a vendor or customer. This part of the integration allows any operational adjustments that impact the General Ledger to be made automatically and reflected in Sage Intacct.

Accounts Receivable Payments: Sage ⇒ iMetal
Customer Balances / Open Items: Sage ⇒ iMetal

Since these are purely a finance function, with incoming payments from customers coming in the door, this information is managed in Sage Intacct. This could be a wire transfer, online payments or even POS payments from store floors. Through the integration, this information is shared automatically with the Operations team so the Sales rep has that visibility when talking to the client, making sure they know the total balance due from the customer, if there are pending credits, etc. This allows Finance to control the cash flow but the Sales reps have full visibility and the knowledge they need to be great at their job.

As you can see, there is a lot of communication between the two systems! We’ve done our best to build all of the touchpoints and transfer of knowledge needed so that everyone in the company can do their job easier and better. Ultimately, with industry specific and best in class metal technologies our clients are seeing much higher accuracy in their reporting, allowing all teams across the company to make better decisions, and sales teams are feeling more empowered, allowing them to build better client relationships and increase sales. 

If you have questions about any specific part of the integration, or would like to learn more, please reach out to our team. We find this stuff fascinating and are happy to dive into the details with you.