Working with Partners

_

_

Introduction to Working with Partners

Partners in opentaps are the independent organizations that help sell your products. In opentaps you can define the Partner accounts they will cover for you, and you can support your Partners by creating End-Customer invoices for your Partners, covering their resales of your products to End-Customers. The relationship with your Partner is managed using an Agreements in two parts.

Two Kinds of Partner Agreements

• The Partner Sales Agreement part defines who your Partner's Customer will be, and what they will sell to them. This is located in CRMSFA > Partners Tab > [Find Partners] > "Partner Details" Screen You will have one of these agreements with the Partner for each of their end Customers, thus there may be several of these agreements for each Partner.

• The Partner Agreement part located in FINANCIALS defines the terms and conditions of sale between you and your Partner, including such key items as the discount you give to your Partner, the terms of payment for your deliverables to the Partner, and other key terms you may need to include. This is located in FINANCIALS > Partners Tab > "Agreements" section.

• Prices and product specific information is contained in CATALOG sections that you configure according to the Setting Up Your Products manual section.

You can manage your Partners in the CRMSFA application's Partners Tab, which provides for:

• Creating Partners
• Creating and using Partner Sales Agreements which includes identification of the specific Customer accounts that your Partner will cover

You manage your Partner invoices and financial agreements in the FINANCIAL applications Partners Tab, which provides for:

• Creating invoices for your Partner, from the Partner to the End Customer (using the "Create Partner Invoice" link).
• Creating and managing invoices to your Partner (using the "Invoice Partners" link).
• Creating and managing Partner Agreements using links under the "Agreements" section.

As we just mentioned, there are two types of invoices involving Partners.

• First, you can support your Partners by creating invoices from your Partners to each of their End-Customers in these screens. Then, when each of these Partner to End-Customer invoices are created and approved (marked as Ready), the second type of invoices from your organization to the Partner's company can be created.
• Second you can invoice your Partner for the total for all the Partner's resales for which the Partner owes your company under all of the Partner Sales Agreement terms. Thus, all of the end Customer resales made by your Partner are considered in calculating these second type of invoices.

In the opentaps CATALOG section prices can be set for each Partner or Customer situation, if you choose to offer specific pricing for them. Otherwise your regular pricing defined in the CATALOG section can be used. Refer to Setting Up Your Products.

Part I -- Working with Partners in CRMSFA

Navigate from the main menu to CRMSFA > Partners Tab to the "Find Partners" screen. This screen opens with a list of your current partners displayed in columns of the information you have selected to see as explained below.

The shortcuts for this screen are:

• [Find Partners], and
• [Create Partners]

The Partners are created first using [Create Partner], and including all the general information needed for a profile, such as: name, location, industry, revenue, contacts and addresses.

In the [Find Partners] "Find By" window you can specify a particular partner by name, ID, or any of several other characteristics you enter in the tabs within this box, before you click [Find Partners]

In the "Partner List" window you can sort on any column you select using the drop down box on each column header, and you can change the columns displayed by pointing to "Columns" in this drop down box and selecting which columns to display.

To work with the details of a Partner, click on their name in the Partner List to open the Partner Details screen. The basic Partner information can be viewed and edited, and access is provided to the full range of teamwork and coordination functions including:

• Pending Activities
• Activities History
• Bookmarks and Files
• Notes

Before you create a Partner Sales Agreement, you must have created both of the parties that will be named in the agreement, as follows:

• you must create the Partner as discussed above, and
• you must create the End-Customer of your Partner as a Contact or an Account in CRMSFA. Refer to The Contacts Tab or The Accounts Tab sections of the Users Manual.

The Partner Sales Agreement is Created, Viewed, or Edited from the Partner Details screen. It documents which Accounts will be serviced by this Partner (reseller) and you can include other information like what products they can resell, or other terms.

The Partner Sales Agreement captures four important items:

• The name of your Partner who is reselling for you, the (From Party) entry
• The name of the Customer Account that your Partner is selling to, the (To Party) entry
• The Partner to Customer payment terms which can be identified using the drop down box selection, and is described in text entered in the box provided and saved by clicking [Create Agreement Item].
• Partner to Customer Terms of Service identified using the drop down box selection, entered as text in the box provided, and saved by clicking [Create Agreement Item]

Step-By-Step Create Sales Agreement Create the Partner Sales Agreement in order to capture the agreement that your Partner will have with the End-Customer account on your behalf, that is, reselling and supporting your products to the End-Customer according to the terms of this agreement.

*  Navigate to CRMSFA > Partners Tab > [Find Partners] screen
*  In the "Partners List" box Click on the Partner you want to create a sales agreement with
*  In the "Agreements" box Click [Create New]
*  Enter the creation date of the agreement
*  Enter the ID of the End-Customer of your Partner for this agreement in the "Party ID To" box
   (This is not the Partner's ID or Name.  That is picked up when you clicked the 
   Partner List.)
*  Enter a Description of this Agreement
*  Enter the full text of what you need to capture about this agreement regarding the
   customer, products, services, suport, and terms to be included.
*  Click [Create] to save and open the "Agreement Details" screen.  Two additional boxes are
   displayed for entering terms.
*  In "Partner-Customer Payment Terms" Select a "Term Type" in the drop down box, and enter a
   value in the "Term Value" box.  You should not use a dollar symbol ($) in the value box,
   just enter numbers.
*  Click [Create Agreement Term]
*  In "Partner Terms of Service" ... this box is under development
*  At the top of this screen three buttons control the agreement status, and one button allows 
   editing of the basic agreement and text sections.  Note that the parties to the agreement
   cannot be edited.
*  Use [Activate] to approve the agreement and make it active.
*  Use [Reject] to disapprove the agreement and keep it inactive.
*  Use [Cancel] to permanently void the agreement.

When the new agreement is completed the Partner Sales Agreement will be listed on the appropriate Partner Details page along with its Status (Created, Active, Rejected, Canceled) and effective dates.

In opentaps initial release 1.4 these information items are stored as reference items, but may incorporate specific parameters used in system calculations in a later update to the release.

Part II -- Working with Partner in FINANCIALS

Navigate from the main menu to FINANCIALS > Partners Tab which opens the "Partners" screen containing links for "Invoices" and links for "Agreements".

Create Partner Agreements

The first step in FINANCIALS is to create the Partner Agreement.

*  Click: the [Create Partner Agreement] link.
*  Select a Partner from the "To Party" drop down box that you created in 
   CRMSFA [Create Partner].
*  Enter the effective dates for the agreement or leave blank if the effective date is 
   today and there is no termination date required.
*  Enter text of this agreement as a preamble to the sections to follow, which are terms such
   as the payment terms and the commission rate you will collect.  (The commission is equal 
   to the partner's discount rate on their orders from you.) 
*  Click: [Create] to store the data and open the new agreement.

This opens the "Payment Terms" box, and the "Commission Rate Schedule" box where you enter terms used in calculating invoices.

*  Select a payment term from the "Term type" drop down box and enter the numeric value of the
   term.  For example, if payment is always due on the 15th of the month, enter 15 in the
   value box.
*  Click: [Create Agreement Term] to save.

*  In "Commission Rate Schedule box, Select a Term type from the drop down box.
*  Enter a "Term Value".  For example, if you provide your Partner a 35% commission on your
   Partner's sales then enter 35 in the value box.  Refer to the following section for an
   explanation of the Term types.
*  Enter or look up (using the lookup widget) the "Category" of product you defined in 
   the CATALOG application for this term.  Refer to Setting Up Your Products.
*  Enter a description of this term.
*  Enter the "Min" (minimum) quantity of product to which this term applies.
*  Enter the "Max" (maximum) quantity of product to which this term applies. 
*  Click: Create Agreement Term
*  Enter as many commission terms for the products or categories that are required.

Commission Rates and Term Value Entries

For a discussion of the commission rates and term value entries you can use refer to View Partner Agreement Screen in the section labeled "Commission Rate Schedule".

Step-By-Step Processing Partner Tab Invoices

To prepare an invoice for one of your Partners to their own End-Customer, proceed as follows:

*  Navigate to FINANCIALS > Partners Tab > [Create Partner Invoice]  to open the screen
*  Select the Partner for this invoice from the "Partner" drop down box
*  Enter the Customer for this invoice in the "Customer" box.  (This must be one of the
   customers listed in this Partner's Partner Sales Agreement.)
*  Enter the Invoice and the Due dates
*  Enter the reference number, description, and comments
*  Click [Create] to create and open the "Partner Invoice" screen (Note: This is not the same
   Invoice Screen as under FINANCIALS > Payables Tab although it is very similar.)
*  To be completed . . .

To prepare an invoice from your company to one of your Partners, based upon the Partner to End-Customer invoices you have previously processed for this partner,proceed as follows:

*  Navigate to FINANCIALS > Partners Tab > [Invoice Partners] link
*  Select the Partner from the drop down box of the partners you have previously created.
*  Enter the Invoice Date range for the sales to which this invoice applies
*  Enter the Due Date for this invoice
*  Click: [Find] to bring up a list of all the Partner Invoices to the End-Customers which
   have been prepared on the opentaps system during the specified calender time frame.
*  To include an invoice from the list in this new invoice calculation to your partner,
   Click the small Check-box on the end of the line item listing for each particular invoice.
*  After all the desired Check-boxes are checked and you are ready to calculate the new
   invoice to your partner, Click: [Invoice Selected Invoices].
*  This creates an invoice to your Partner based on the invoices you just selected.  
*  If you need to invoice items directly to your Partner, Click [Full View] just above the
   "Items" box.  This makes the "New Invoice Item" box visible.
*  Add any additional invoice items needed following the manual section 
   Processing Sales Invoices

This invoice is in the FINANCIALS > Payables Tab section and can be processed like any standard invoice to an account of your company. The amount invoiced to your Partner for each line item you selected to include is equal to the amount previously invoiced from the Partner to the End-Customer multiplied by (100% minus the Partners commission %_rate) taken from their Partner Agreement.

Refer to these related Manual sections:

• View Partner Agreement Screen
• Invoice Partners Screen
• Create Partner Invoice Screen
• Managing Partners

The Orders Tab < Tabs Pages > Sales Teams and Account Teams