Neto
Neto Advanced Inventory Webinar
22 Feb 2017 • 21 min read
Thanks for your interest in our recent Neto Inventory webinar. You can re-watch the recorded version of the webinar below. We’ve also answered your questions from Q&A below.
If you have an idea for a new feature or improvement that you would like us to consider, please let us know by completing the following form: Product Ideas Form.
Q: Would be great to have a “Mobile Phone” field in customer card…
The default Neto Customer card comes with a Phone Number field. Neto allows you to add additional fields to customer card via the Control Panel.
Q: What if you produce your stock and you don’t actually buy your stock from a 3rd party. Can you track this?
Neto Advanced Inventory is not designed to handle the manufacturing process, however it can manage the stock on hand process post manufacture.
Q: What if some cost prices are in other currencies? Ie we buy in USD
Neto Advanced Inventory supports purchasing from suppliers in any currency with live currency conversion back to the merchants base currency.
Q: Can you add the cost price later through an export/import? The reason i ask is we will do a cut over live at the start of the financial year so we need to do it on the 30/06 to get an accurate cut over.
Turning on Neto Advanced Inventory will lock the cost field and not allow a manual update through Import/Export, and the cost fields will be automatically calculated as COGS.
Q: What if we already have Inventory in Unleashed?
Neto Advanced Inventory is not compatible with the Unleashed or any other inventory product, and they cannot be run simultaneously. Additional documentation will be added to our Support Docs website within the coming weeks to assist with migrating from other inventory platforms.
Q: Multiple due dates? Large orders = multiple containers.
For Multiple Delivery Dates, we recommend using the receive and split functionality to send a single purchase order, with multiple receipts. This will allow you to have new due date for the split purchase order.
Q: We don’t know the exchange rate until we’ve paid for the order…Can we update it later?
Neto Advanced Inventory supports purchasing from suppliers in any currency with live currency conversion back to the merchants base currency. The currency field can be updated throughout the Purchase Order process, right up until the purchase order has been marked as received.
Q: Can we use Purchase Orders to send parts directly from our supplier to our customer
Neto provides Drop Shipping functionality through the Drop shipping add-on. We will be delivering cross docking functionality in the next few weeks, and will be developing a more comprehensive integration to existing dropshipping functionality in Q2/Q3 2017.
Q: Adding items we haven’t had before? New items? Do they need to be created as products before we add them? How does this work when we often need to take photos of products so can’t fully create a product until it’s here.
For now, you will need to create your products and add them to your Neto system before creating the purchase order. You can hide these products from your sales channels, including the website, until they are received, photographed and ready to launch.
We have the functionality to create products from the purchase order screen in our roadmap. We will be looking to prioritise this after we have completed the Advanced COGS functionality and MYOB AccountRight Live Integration.
Q: Will Purchase Orders get exported to Xero?
While we do not create Purchase Orders in Xero, they are exported as a an Accounts Payable Bill. The Bill is created as unpaid.
Q: Do we need to set up Purchase Order templates?
There is a standard purchase order template, these are not customisable as yet but may be in the future.
Q: Do the Purchase Orders get entered into Xero? Or is it only tracked in Neto? Do we need to enter the invoice into Xero after Purchase Order is received from supplier to make payment? Or does it get entered as AP automatically?
While we do not create Purchase Orders in Xero, they are exported as a an Accounts Payable Bill. The Bill is created as unpaid.
Q: Can we import CSV Purchase Orders like we do with Sale Orders?
At the moment we do not provide the ability to import Purchase Orders.
Q: What about receiving goods off the delivery docket (ie we don’t have the supplier invoice yet but need to receive the goods into stock and then match prices on invoice later)
Neto Inventory is designed to support the merchants business process and does not require a specific artifact. If you wish to receive based on delivery docket, it is possible to do that, and then add supplier invoice costs at a later point - initially this can only be done via your accounting system, but our Advanced COGS feature will improve ability to update landed costs at a later point.
Q: Change due date when splitting Purchase Orders?
When receiving a part of a Purchase Order, Neto allows you to split the Purchase Order, receive part of the purchase and create a new purchase order to receive the remaining items. Once the purchase order has been split, you can simply edit the Purchase Order to update with the new Due Date.
Q: Can I add incoming freight costs to a Purchase Order?
Our priority for Q2 is the delivery of Advanced COGs which will include the ability to capture landed costs, including incoming freight costs.
Q: Can you set a minimum stock levels so that the system would advise you if stock needed to be ordered and could prompt you to do Purchase Order.
Neto allows you to receive email alerts when stock is running low and run re-stock reports to streamline your purchase ordering.
Q: How does the real-time currency exchange match the actual exchange rate we paid?
When creating a Purchase Order, Neto will automatically convert your base currency into your supplier currency. This conversion is calculated at the time of the Purchase Order being created and is indicative only.
Neto allows you to update the exchange rate through the Purchase order process right up until your have marked it as received. This allows you to edit the exchange rate after you have paid the Purchase order invoice with your supplier.
Q: Adding in incoming freight costs: Does it allow you to add this? Does it amortise it over the items purchased? How? Is it by number of units, by percentage of order value or others?
Our priority for Q2 is the delivery of Advanced COGs which will include the ability to capture landed costs, including incoming freight costs. More information about how Advanced COGS works will be released closer to the release date of this enhancement.
Q: Does your system allow us build a product? We produce our stock, we don’t buy from 3rd party.
Neto Advanced Inventory is not designed to handle the manufacturing process, however it can manage the stock on hand process post manufacture.
Q: So just to get it right. If we are migrating to this inventory we can’t turn it on until we are cutting over live so we import the correct average cost (ie we only have one shot to get the average cost in).
In order to get the most out of Neto Advanced Inventory, you need to ensure that each of your products have:
Adding this additional data to your products can be done before enabling Advanced Inventory via the Setup Wizard. This additional data will facilitate in the calculation of your products average cost, as well as the creation of Purchase Orders automatically using purchase prices and primary suppliers.
Once added, you can start the Neto Inventory Setup Wizard to turn on advanced inventory.
After install, if you need to revalue your average cost you can perform stock adjustment to remove all your stock at the current price and then write it back at the new price.
Q: We’d been building based upon forecasting formulas. What formula(s) are being used / will be added later?
The Neto Inventory is built based on Weighted Moving Average.
Q: I am using Quickbooks for accounting and Neto to manage sales orders. To effectively use the Neto inventory module, should I also look at integrating sales to Quickbooks?
We are planning a full integration between Neto Advanced Inventory and Quickbooks Online for the second half of 2017. In the interim, we would suggest that you continue to manually import sales into QuickBooks.
Neto Advanced Inventory can be used effectively even without the integration, your accountant can use Neto reports to perform accounting adjustments at required intervals. Using a combination of the stock valuation report and profit by order report
Q: Where can we add the supplier’s SKU?
A Supplier SKU can be added on each individual product page or via the product csv import system.
Q: Is there a setting where we can stop stock going into negative (eg it will not allow you to invoice a product if it is at zero qty)
The ability to sell into negative is a configurable setting in Neto.
Q: Can we set seasonal periods per SKU for forecasting?
At this point, Neto Advanced Inventory does not support this functionality, we suggest that you put it forward as a potential improvement for future consideration.
Q: Can we input minimum order qtys per item?
Yes. There are 2 fields on the Product Card that relate to this:
Restock Qty: For reporting purposes. When qty in stock gets below this qty you will be alerted in purchasing reports.
Reorder Qty: For reporting purposes. The qty you typically order with your supplier, used when generating purchasing reports.
Populating these fields with data will streamline your Purchase Order Process.
Q: What is secondary lead time?
Q: Does the roadmap include the ability to add shipping costs, customs duty and bank charges to calculate the landed cost of products
Our priority for Q2 is the delivery of Advanced COGs which will include the ability to capture landed costs, including incoming freight costs.
Q: If a price changes and you have existing stock, does it show the new cost as being the cost, or does it work out a weighted value? If weighted value, what method? (Bucket method, raw average at time of receipt, etc)
Neto will track the average cost over time. The exact formula used for calculating the ACOG value is detailed in our article on purchase order creation.
Q: Is there any intention on working on the platform to make it user friendly to manufacturers? Will Neto ever be able to build a product within the module?
Neto is not designed to handle the manufacturing process, however it can manage the stock on hand process post manufacture.
Q: What will be the level of integration with MYOB ?
The standard integration pattern we are using for MYOB AccountRight Live is at the journal level, much in the same way the Xero integration works now. We will not be exporting purchase orders to MYOB AccountRight Live.
Q: Can it pull live data via stream from wholesalers if they offer live feeds to their stock qtys and is this relatable for drop shipping?
We are planning a more comprehensive integration to dropshipping functionality in the second half of 2017. We will be taking feedback from customers in designing that feature.
Q: Where can we access the product roadmap?
We are looking to improve the overall visibility of our 3, 6 and 12 month roadmap… The updated Neto Roadmap will be available via the website here: www.netohq.com/roadmap
Q: No scan to stocktake or scan to receive orders yet?
We have plans to support receipting using barcode scanners, however this functionality is not yet available.
Q: The other issue if we bring products in from overseas as well as the FX rates we need to account for import duties and this can change within 5-7% dependent on product as well as previously mentioned freight? How do you take this into account?
Our priority for Q2 is the delivery of Advanced COGs which will include the ability to capture landed costs, including incoming freight costs, import duties and more.
Q: We’re currently testing the MYOB Live integration. Should we wait until this integration is completed before going ahead?
Ideally you will have your financial integration set up and running prior to integrating Neto Advanced Inventory. It will be necessary to manually process adjusting journals, however there are a number of reports that can assist by providing the information you need for the adjustments
Q: With kitted products, does the system calculate the cost price from the kitted component products or do you have to manually enter that?
If you are purchasing pre built kits or splitting for warehouse picking then the system will apply a cost to those kits. We are looking at a fix whereby the kit cost is calculated from the sum of the components to cover other uses cases in the purchasing and selling of kits
Q: Is the cost price of our products just the cost of the item NOT including Shipping? Does any shipping charges get added to the PO when the order arrives and you receipt it in?
In order to get the most out of Neto Advanced Inventory, you need to ensure that each of your products have:
Adding this additional data to your products can be done before enabling Neto Advanced Inventory via the Setup Wizard.
This additional data will facilitate in the calculation of your products average cost, as well as the creation of Purchase Orders automatically using purchase prices and primary suppliers.
Once added, you can start the Neto Advanced Inventory Setup Wizard to turn on advanced inventory.
Q: Stock transfer in the future, will it take into account transit time? Many platforms do not and it will be instant which in real life, is not.
Stock transfers are currently planned for Q3. We will be seeking customer input when designing this feature to ensure it support industry best practice and meets our customer’s needs
Q: Can you edit the exchange rate AFTER you receive the goods?
When creating a Purchase Order, Neto will automatically convert your base currency into your supplier currency. This conversion is calculated at the time of the Purchase Order being created and is indicative only.
Neto allows you to update the exchange rate through the Purchase order process right up until your have marked it as received. This allows you to edit the exchange rate after you have paid the Purchase order invoice with your supplier. We are currently working on Advanced Cost of Goods, which will support the scenarios of invoice after receipt.
Q: Can you turn off the function to show quantity in stock on the website and just have “in Stock” showing. Eg. Can you sell items that are out of stock?
Neto does support the ability to sell into negative inventory.
Q: Is there an API framework for the new Inventory functions in NETO?
The development of API endpoints for our inventory functions is on our roadmap, but are not available at this point. We will update our API documentation once the endpoints are available.
Q: If the product sold is made up of several individual items, can the Neto inventory system use the individual items purchased to build the kit that is sold?
The scenario you have provided is exactly how kitting works with Neto Advanced Inventory.
Q: Does the ‘Forecast Demand’ include an option to show the CBM of the estimated order? This is to know whether the order is large enough to fill a container (for overseas orders)?
At this time, no, however should you require this feature, we recommend submitting your idea’s to the product team for review.
Q: Can you just scan items in for stocktake instead of manually adding them?
We have plans to support receipting using barcode scanners, however this functionality is not yet available.
Q: If you add a supplier via Neto, will it update Xero?
When a Bill is exported to Accounts Payable, the supplier is created in Xero - unless they already exist in which case they are linked.
Q: Is loading the Neto site with all this inventory information going to slow the site down? After a while this system will be holding many purchase orders etc.
We have tested the Neto Advanced Inventory on sites with up to 40,000 products and there is no perceivable performance impact. We will of course continue to monitor performance and request that if you experience any issues relating to purchase orders to contact your support team.
Q: Any roadmap for tracking product expiry dates?
At this point we do not have tracking of product expiry dates on our roadmap, we suggest you add it to the our ideas portal for prioritisation.
Q: What if some of our overseas suppliers are on 60 day accounts so we can’t give exchange rate at time we receive PO?
An exchange rate will still need to be added so that an estimated average cost is calculated when receiving the goods. Advances COGS will help in adjusting this later.
Q: I think for importers of overseas products having the ability to set percentage of the product cost based on import duty we need to apply..
Agree, and the advanced Cost of Goods functionality planned for Q2 will cover most of the scenarios discussed.
Q: Abit concerned that POs don’t push through to Xero…
While we do not create Purchase Orders in Xero, they are exported as an Accounts Payable Bill. The Bill is created as unpaid.
Q: Will the purchase exchange rates only work for AUD? We are a NZ company and we purchase in Euro.
Neto Advanced Inventory supports purchasing from suppliers in any currency with live currency conversion back to the merchants base currency.
Q: How are the payments for the Purchase Orders handled?
All payments will then be handled in your Financial System. While we do not create Purchase Orders in Xero, they are exported as a an Accounts Payable Bill. The Bill is created as unpaid.
Q: What is the cost of the inventory package?
Neto Advanced Inventory is included on the Large Plan and above.
Q: You mention average cost a lot. Can I base selling prices on actual cost?
The average cost relates to the purchasing of items and the calculation of average cost of goods sold. It does not directly impact your selling prices, but does provide you with a good understanding of what you need to be selling at in order to maintain margins and profitability.
Q: You guys say it doesn’t export the Purchase Order to Xero. Does it do it once you have received the Purchase order in Neto so you can then pay it in Xero?
While we do not create Purchase Orders in Xero, they are exported as a an Accounts Payable Bill. The Bill is created as unpaid.
Q: Can the % profit margin be displayed against a product? This will highlight situation where the cost price has risen and the retail price needs to be raised.
At the moment we do not display % profit margin against a product. It is an excellent idea and we suggest you submit it to our ideas register. In the interim, you can use the cost analysis report to track increasing costs over time.
Q: How do the orders download to Xero. Do they go to Xero in a daily batch or individually. At the moment we use Cin7 and they are sent there individually when orders are despatched. Just wondering how Neto will do it and how easy it will be to reconcile?
You are able to configure how your sales orders are downloaded to Xero. They can be processed as individual or batched based on your Xero configuration. The COGS will follow the same setting.
Q: Can I filter stock takes by supplier?
You can currently filter stock takes by:
You can create a stocktake for all products belonging to a particular supplier though by going to Products > View products, then filtering by Primary Supplier.
Once you have your products filtered, select the required products and click Create stocktake with selected.
Q: If the integration to MYOB will be by journal, how will the accounts payable be managed ?
The integration to MYOB Live will follow the exact same pattern as the integration with Xero.
Q: Can you create a PO from a new sales order?
We are currently working on the development of a new ‘cross-docking’ feature which will allow you to generate a purchase order from one or more selected sales orders. A purchase order will generate for each unique supplier that has products on the selected purchase orders.
For example, if you select 10 sales orders that have a total of 100 product from 20 suppliers, it will generate 20 purchase orders.
In addition to this, we will be developing a more comprehensive integration to existing dropshipping functionality in Q2/Q3 2017.
Q: If your new sales order has items from multiple supplier will Neto automatically create multiple POs?
Yes, the new cross docking feature will allow you to select one or more sales from the back order or sales order listing page and generate one purchase order per related supplier
Q: When you do a purchase order does that auto populate with a cost from inventory master file?
When you create a purchase order the cost price is automatically populated from the product record. This is the key reason we have the creation of cost price for all products part of the setup process.
Q: Stock transfers are an important part of it for us. the problem we had with stock transfers is it shows as in stock in the new warehouse even though it may still be in transit causing the sales team issues when letting customers know if products are in stock, Will Neto have a solution for this when you do the stock transfers?transfers?
Stock transfers are currently planned for Q3. We will be seeking customer input when designing this feature and will include your feedback as provided
Q: For us to upgrade to the inventory module we are being asked to step up from A(138 per month to $299 per month. We have been with Neto for almost a year.Seems a big jump. Your comments welcomed.
We recognise that this may appear to be a large increase, but for our Medium Plan customers, the basic price of a starter inventory offering on a platform such as Cin7, Unleashed or Tradegecko is between $179 and $359 per month (depending upon number of locations and users. This excludes the costs of setting up and maintaining the integration.
We are considering other licensing options for Neto Advanced Inventory at a future date, and your feedback is appreciated.
Q: Do I change all landed cost to be buy price from Supplier. If so then I am not too clear about how I amortize the shipping cost to cost to get a landed cost
Our priority for Q2 is the delivery of Advanced COGs which will include the ability to capture landed costs, including incoming freight costs. More information about how Advanced COGS works will be released closer to the release date of this enhancement.
