SAP Business One 9.3 looks to be a practical and important release, one that shows SAP is seriously taking their customers’ feedback into consideration.
Scheduled to launch next quarter (some estimate that the general release will take place towards the end of August 2017), the 9.3 update will include boosted functionalities in project management and production, as well as improvements in other core areas.
What’s Slated to Improve in a General Release
SAP Business One 9.3 will see further optimization to boost performance and stability. There will also be an expansion on core processes, rounding out important areas:
- addition of simple production routing
- addition of return merchandise authorization management (RMA)
- project management updates
- simplifying and streamlining CRM processes
- authorization management
- centralized payment engine
- GL account determination updates
- price list enhancements
Some examples of changes include:
Production Routing
SAP Business One’s Production Module will include ‘Routings’. This will be useful for businesses with Light Production requirements; previously such businesses may have to invest in an add-on. In addition, employees can be assigned to a Cost Centre.
Return Merchandise Authorization Management
Previously missing in older versions, the RMA will be added to SAP Business One 9.3. It’s a document issued to unhappy clients who want to return a purchased product. The RMA will be directly generated from a menu, an Invoice, a Delivery, or even a Service Call.
Project Management
There are some updates for Project Management. For example, transactions will be able to be assigned to a project stage (not just to a project) for easier, more accurate project cost analysis. A Project Gant Chart is also slated to be added for better management.
Improved Authorization Management
Company and User Settings have been simplified and rationalized. Functionality has been added for User Defaults and a User now has the options to change his/her own authorization settings.
Price List Enhancements
Currently, all prices relate back to the Stock Unit in the system. In version 9.3., SAP will introduce Price Unit, so all pricing for items could now be configured per kilo or box, instead of just going back to the Stock Unit.
It will also be possible at a customer level to do a Price Hierarchy Overrule, by indicating that the customer should receive the lowest/highest price found. While there will still be price layers in SAP Business One, it will be possible to override that by giving the customer the lowest/highest price in the system (example: a short-term promotion discount over X months period which happens to be lower than the usual special discount given to a customer will be chosen if the setting is set to ‘select lowest’ price option).
Other Changes
A small but helpful tweak — you will be able to edit Transactions that have been approved in Alerts and Approvals. Edited Transactions will then be automatically submitted for approval again.
You will also be able to import data more easily from Excel, with a new Opening Balances import function and Journal Entry import function. In addition, you will also be able to import data such as Batch or Serial Numbers at Goods Receipt directly.
What’s Slated to Improve for HANA
Companies using SAP Business One HANA can expect additional exclusive improvements. By leveraging on the SAP HANA platform and building on the semantic layer, SAP intends to offer new cockpit templates for their SAP Business One HANA users.
With a new analytics portal, users will be able to schedule and consume reports without having to log into SAP Business One, further supporting intelligent real-time analysis. Other enhancements include the addition of Up-sell/Cross-sell recommendations in Order and Quotation Entry, as well as a Customer 360 dashboard to see all the important customer performance and trends.
Do note that all the above described enhancements are subject to change from SAP’s side. For further updates, stay tune to this page.
