Industries
The same software, genuinely different problems
Sector pages are usually the same copy with a noun swapped. These are not. Each section below names the specific things that go wrong in that sector and what we actually configure or build to deal with them.
01
Manufacturing
The hardest sector to get right in a mid-market ERP system, because the cost of goods has to tie back to the ledger every month and usually does not.
What tends to be wrong
- Bills of material that reflect engineering rather than how production actually runs
- Work in progress that nobody can reconcile to the general ledger
- Standard costs last reviewed two years ago, so every variance is noise
- Subcontracting handled outside the system on a spreadsheet
- MRP switched off because its recommendations were never trusted
What we do about it
- BOM and routing design that matches the shop floor
- Backflush against manual issue, decided per product line
- WIP and variance reporting that reconciles to the ledger
- Standard cost roll-up and revaluation process
- MRP configuration and forecast setup people will act on
02
Trading & Distribution
Margin is made or lost on landed cost and currency, and both are usually approximated until somebody looks properly.
What tends to be wrong
- Landed costs applied as an average, so true item margin is unknown
- Multi-currency purchasing with exchange differences posted to a suspense account
- Goods received not invoiced growing quietly and nobody reconciling it
- Stock valuation that will not survive audit scrutiny
- Supplier rebates and retrospective discounts tracked outside the system
What we do about it
- Landed cost configuration at document level
- Multi-currency setup and revaluation routines
- GRNI reconciliation designed into the close
- Valuation method selection by item group
- Rebate and settlement discount handling
03
Wholesale
High transaction volume with thin margins, where the reporting question is always the same: which customers and lines are actually making money?
What tends to be wrong
- Customer-specific pricing maintained by hand across hundreds of accounts
- No line-level margin visibility, so unprofitable lines persist
- Credit limits enforced by memory rather than by the system
- Order entry slow enough that people work around it
- E-commerce and ERP stock levels disagreeing during the day
What we do about it
- Price list and special price structure that scales
- Gross profit checks and approval thresholds at order entry
- Credit limit and blocking rules configured properly
- Margin reporting by customer, line and channel
- Real-time integration with e-commerce and marketplaces
04
FMCG
Traceability and shelf life are non-negotiable, and promotional pricing creates most of the month-end work that finance then has to unpick.
What tends to be wrong
- Batch traceability that cannot produce a recall report quickly
- Shelf life and FEFO handled by warehouse convention rather than by the system
- Promotional pricing and deductions reconciled manually every month
- Returns and wastage recorded inconsistently
- Customer-specific packing and labelling requirements outside the system
What we do about it
- Batch and serial configuration with usable traceability reporting
- Shelf life, expiry and picking rules
- Promotion and deduction handling designed into the close
- Wastage and returns processes with proper analysis
- Warehouse and scanning integration
05
Professional Services
Revenue recognition has to match how you actually bill, and work in progress is usually the number nobody can defend.
What tends to be wrong
- Project costing that does not capture real staff time
- Work in progress and accrued income calculated in a spreadsheet
- Revenue recognised on invoicing rather than on delivery
- Fixed-price engagements with no visibility of overrun until completion
- Utilisation reported from a different source than the ledger
What we do about it
- Project and job costing structure
- Time capture feeding the ledger rather than a side system
- WIP and accrued income handled in the system
- Revenue recognition aligned to your billing model
- Project profitability and utilisation reporting
Not on the list?
These are the sectors we see most, not the only ones we work in. The underlying question is always the same — where does your process differ from what the software assumes, and what does that cost you every month?