Advantage

A full ERP system designed by ADS Solutions.

About Advantage

ADS Solutions Advantage is the right-sized alternative for growing wholesale distribution businesses whether they have one location or multiple warehouses and branches. They’ve chosen to focus solely on creating high quality distribution software for the durable goods wholesale distribution industry for more than 25 years. They concentrate on wholesale industries, so they’re able to offer integrated distribution-centered solutions at more competitive prices than those of similarly powerful packages. Developed through years of experience, the feature-rich Advantage distribution software, pre-defined data conversion tools, and comprehensive implementation and training give distributors powerful solutions to tackle the complex world of wholesale supply.

Wholesale distribution is a complex, ever-changing environment with difficult daily operational challenges. Because of this, distributors can reap huge benefits by using well-designed solutions to streamline business processes and provide actionable business intelligence.

Too often, distributors are weighed down by repetitive data entry, unreliable inventory figures, time-consuming price updates, complicated commission calculations, multi-step rebate or special order processing, confusing reports, and resource-draining employee training.

Generic accounting software doesn’t offer the sophisticated inventory tracking and pricing that distributors need. To overcome this, wholesalers often feel they have no choice but to step up to ERP packages designed for large companies which are often too complex, require extensive training and implementation, and are very expensive.

Accounts Payable

ADS Solutions Advantage provides a fully integrated, flexible accounting system that adapts to customers’ unique business processes and allows customers to manage all aspects of their businesses. When properly implemented, the system includes multiple levels of security, a complete audit trail, fully GAAP-compliant financial statements and built-in best practice procedures. In addition, Advantage has all the necessary reports to let customers manage their businesses for optimal financial performance.

Accounts Payable

  • Easy vendor lookup with multiple cross references including “sounds like”
  • Easy access to vendor ledger card with full drill-down capabilities
  • Supports multiple bank accounts and checkbooks, edit reports and batch reconciliations
  • Ability to set invoice payment priorities and check writing
  • Cash requirements report forecasts cash needed for cash discounts
  • Accounts payable aging: by vendor payment, priority, due date, by vendor, as of a past date
  • Warnings if Purchase Order, Receiving Document, and Voucher totals vary
  • Ability to allocate a single voucher to one or multiple receiving transactions
  • Ability to easily process 1099 forms

Accounts Receivable

ADS Solutions Advantage provides a fully integrated, flexible accounting system that adapts to customers’ unique business processes and allows customers to manage all aspects of their businesses. When properly implemented, the system includes multiple levels of security, a complete audit trail, fully GAAP-compliant financial statements and built-in best practice procedures. In addition, Advantage has all the necessary reports to let customers manage their businesses for optimal financial performance.

Accounts Receivable

  • Maintain invoices, accounts receivable, and payment detail for an unlimited user-specified time period
  • With a single keystroke access a customer’s open and paid invoices:
    • up to the minute 30/60/90 aging
    • amount due with and without interest charges
    • collection comments
    • payment history by item if multiple payments are applied to an invoice
    • see last payment listing with detail on how payments were allocated
    • monthly sales and payment summary history screens for the last 3 years (or more)
  • Ability to support complex cash and payment date discount rules
  • Charge and book finance charges with flexibility as to how applied
  • Detailed aging reports on a number of different bases
  • Easily generate customer statements for one, all, or a group of customers and automatically deal with specified ship-to locations and bill-to locations
  • Monthly sales tax journal by user-defined tax jurisdiction
  • Supports split tax jurisdiction codes/rates
  • Create bank deposit slips automatically
  • Ability to write-off accounts receivable balance to multiple General Ledger accounts during cash receipts.
  • Cashiering functions allow quick over-the-counter sales
  • Flexible cash receipts capability to apply cash, accept and apply deposits and view customer
  • Ledger Card
  • Easily access Customer Master from within the cash receipts program
  • From within the Customer Master record, view in summary or detail:
    • orders
    • quotes
    • back orders
    • future orders
    • printed but not shipped orders (work orders and pick lists)
    • invoices
    • special orders
    • open balances and payment history
  • Ability to process next month’s sales before closing last month’s transactions.
  • Ability to age Accounts Payable as of a past date
  • Supports Recurring Billing

Automated Vendor Pricelist Updates

Your sales staff can prospect effectively with the tools available in ADS Solutions Advantage. Most importantly, the flexible pricing schemes and detailed contact notes help your sales staff SELL in the office and in the field. You can reward your hard-working staffers with multi-level, incentive-ready commission plans.

Keep your customers happy with help from Advantage’s extensive customer service features. Quickly reorder from past invoices, quotes, frequently purchased products, alternate products, and accessories. Numerous tools are designed to shorten the sales cycle and help your team provide excellent customer service to improve customer retention.

Automated Vendor Price Updates

  • Simplify product file maintenance by updating product, costs, and suggested prices automatically via data file supplied by vendor
  • Choose which information to update and which to keep
  • Update information using manufacturer/vendor product numbers which will automatically be converted to your part number
  • Use saved template for each vendor to streamline update process

Bar Coding & RF Data Terminals

Bar Coding

  • Synonym part number feature converts UPC or vendor bar code to your item number:
  • Use your manufacturer’s bar code or other ‘foreign’ part# and the system will automatically reference your part number
  • Link a particular bar code number with a specific unit of measure (each, cases, package, etc.)
  • Use vendor, manufacturer, or your own bar codes to:
    • enter part numbers by scanning bar codes
    • make bin labels
    • enter multiple items in order entry and quickly change quantity and price
    • create relationship between vendor barcode number and your product number on-the-fly while scanning codes
  • Print bar codes on laser printers, dot matrix printers, and select brands of thermal bar code label printers
  • Bar codes are printed using industry standard symbologies
  • Bar code readers can read multiple bar code formats
  • Automatically print bar code labels:
    • when you receive a product
    • when you enter a new PO
    • at the end of day for new products or receipts
  • Different bar codes allow for different pack sizes of the same product
  • Bar coding supported in order entry, purchase order entry, inventory counting, receiving, and more. * For example, print bar codes on pick lists and scan to confirm shipment

Radio-Frequency (RF) Data Terminals

  • Supports use of RF terminals to process orders, purchase orders and ship confirmations, receive products, and count inventory
  • Key a specific vendor bar code# to a specific unit of measure
  • Print bar codes on your POs and scan part #s from PO or from vendor bar code labels
  • Scan receipts or scan exceptions with RF or Wireless
  • Create relationship between vendor barcode # and your product# “on-the-fly” (while scanning codes)
  • ADS Solutions interfaces with RF bar code reader supports: order entry, count sheets, warehouse transfers, put away, PO entry, receive POs, ship confirmation.
  • Specify a different unit of measure or change the quantity while scanning
  • Includes location information when appropriate (for put-aways and count-sheets)
  • Wireless inventory counting, receiving and confirmation using PDA devices

Bill of Materials & Kits

Bill of Materials

  • Bill of materials supports simple assembly or light manufacturing:
    • formulate subassemblies into finished goods
    • assign differing valuations for work in process
    • create batches of unfinished items while assembling
    • designated Protected Stock is protected from order entry allocation during assembly
  • Supports reverse bill of materials for distributors who cut standard size items and need to track / inventory / sell smaller pieces
  • Include items in the assembly unique to a particular finished goods unit of measure; (e.g., specify different labels and box/bottle sizes for finished goods with differing units of measure)
  • Unlimited levels of bill of material items; a BOM may be a component of another BOM.
  • Cost files are changed as required during the end of day process
  • Automatic optional cost rollup so cost of bill of materials reflects most recent cost of products
  • Automatically generate POs for special order items contained on a bill of materials

Kits

  • Full support for kitting; which allows sale of stock items individually and/or as kits
  • Inventory can be kept by items in a kit or by the kit (as one unit)
  • Pricing can be assigned by kit or as total price of items in kit plus optional kit discount
  • Costs can be kept by kit or by items in kit
  • Cost increases for any item included in a kit, can automatically increase the kit price
  • During Order Entry:
    • Kits can be configured, on-the-fly from a template kit
    • Change items in a kit or add items to the kit for a particular customer without changing the kit template
    • Detailed kit line items can be displayed (even when only a single line prints on order)
    • Edit price/quantity, etc. of detail lines
  • Place purchase orders for kits for better vendor prices. If desired, receive vendor kits and store as component parts

Catch Weight

  • Catch weighting allows you to sell an item of variable weight or length by units other than weight or length, e.g.:
    • sell a box of goods priced by pound where each box may have a different weight
    • sell a spool of wire priced by foot where each spool may have a different length
    • rent an item and charge for fractional days / weeks / months when charging the customer
  • Ability to extend sales order by the actual weight of item
  • Items sold by unit, but cost by weight are automatically priced by weight
  • Weight consolidated per invoice line item if desired
  • In ship-confirmation:
    • accept the weight(s) entered in order entry
    • enter the actual weights for each item
    • enter a single consolidated weight for the items
  • Supports decimal quantities

CD-ROM Catalog Interface

  • Upload information from CD Catalogs.
  • Choose which records to import.
  • Import during order entry.

Commission Management

Your sales staff can prospect effectively with the tools available in ADS Solutions Advantage. Most importantly, the flexible pricing schemes and detailed contact notes help your sales staff SELL in the office and in the field. You can reward your hard-working staffers with multi-level, incentive-ready commission plans.

Keep your customers happy with help from Advantage’s extensive customer service features. Quickly reorder from past invoices, quotes, frequently purchased products, alternate products, and accessories. Numerous tools are designed to shorten the sales cycle and help your team provide excellent customer service to improve customer retention.

Commission

  • Calculate commissions by profit by line or a percentage of gross by line
  • Supports customized commission rules by salesperson
  • Pay commission based on invoice date or collection date
  • Track commissions paid on overdue customer accounts with ability to take back commissions on a line item basis
  • Customize commission system to meet your needs
  • Decrease commission percentage automatically if the product is discounted below user defined levels
  • Recalculate commissions as necessary if cost changes are made to the invoice even after ship confirmation
  • Manually adjust commissions line by line as necessary to process special situations
  • Enter a user defined cost in order entry that will apply for commission purposes on a single order line only
  • Calculate commission while taking into account rebated manufacturing costs that may apply for sales of a specific item to a specific customer during a specific time period
  • Define different commission rates for each sales representative on each commission class of product

Contact List

Your sales staff can prospect effectively with the tools available in ADS Solutions Advantage. Most importantly, the flexible pricing schemes and detailed contact notes help your sales staff SELL in the office and in the field. You can reward your hard-working staffers with multi-level, incentive-ready commission plans.

Keep your customers happy with help from Advantage’s extensive customer service features. Quickly reorder from past invoices, quotes, frequently purchased products, alternate products, and accessories. Numerous tools are designed to shorten the sales cycle and help your team provide excellent customer service to improve customer retention.

Contact List

  • Personalized contact list for each user, including: comments, phone numbers, follow codes, etc.
  • Easy contact lookup with multiple cross-referencing and search features
  • Fax and email contacts using optional integrated fax and email system
  • Lists can serve as distribution lists for mailings, follow-up, etc.
  • Easily add new contacts on the fly
  • Print contact report

Credit Hold

  • Automatically place accounts on Credit Hold when assigned credit limit is exceeded or if an invoice is open beyond a preselected number of days - which can be different from the invoice due date
  • Manually assign customers to Credit Status that prohibits orders under user-defined conditions
  • Process orders for customers on Credit Hold with a password override
  • See warning message at beginning and end of order entry for accounts on Credit Hold
  • Optionally:
    • prevent printing of pick lists for orders over-credit limit
    • warn when printing picks where some orders are for customers on Credit Hold
  • Review daily report of customers who have exceeded credit limits
  • Seasonally adjust credit limits for groups of customers
  • Print report of accounts on Credit Hold
  • Print collections report with phone number and other information to easily contact customers
  • Track the number of times per month:
    • an account goes outside of terms
    • bounced checks are received from a customer
  • Special Credit Manager’s Screen centralizes management of overdue accounts

Customer Master

  • Extensive customer look-up and cross-reference capabilities including “sounds like” options
  • Retain multiple phone numbers, contact names, e-mail addresses, etc.
  • Use bill-to addresses for responsible party; add unlimited shipping addresses for each bill-to address
  • Extensive and extremely powerful contract pricing functionality:
    • by product
    • by category by bill-to
    • by category by ship-to
    • by category by both bill-to and ship-to
    • share contract prices between customers
    • set contract pricing by dollar amount
    • set contract pricing by cost plus list minus a percentage
    • set contract pricing by quantity break level
    • set contract pricing by matrix level
  • Handle manufacturer credits for sales to a specific customer with rebate costing by item
  • Enter and view unlimited comments in the customer record
  • Store sales history by both ship-to customer and by bill-to customer
  • Without leaving the customer master record:
    • view all quotes, orders, future orders, backorders, and orders printed not shipped with details
    • view status of special-order items
    • view customer ledger card showing all unpaid and paid invoices with payment history
    • view invoices
    • view sales history and prior purchases by part
    • view serial numbers sold to this customer
    • link and view scanned documents related to customer
    • view customer Average-Days-to-Pay
    • view Days Open for each invoice
    • provide instant Quick Quote on individual products
    • enter or update an order or quote or enter an immediate invoice
    • view and update valid entries for fields such as ship methods and tax jurisdiction
  • See calculations for all customer discounts including price and how it was calculated
  • Establish contracts for specific items by unit-of-measure with expiration date with option to support rebated cost from manufacturer

E-Commerce

Product Information Includes:

  • Product numbers: including manufacturer numbers, alternate products, accessory products
  • Images: thumbnail and full-size images
  • Units of measure
  • Customer-specific pricing including quantity breaks OR retail pricing OR no pricing
  • Size: Weight and cubes
  • Description: standard description and optional Web-specific product description
  • Additional information: MSDS sheets, product brochures, links to other web pages

Customers and Sales Staff Can Order Products Using:

  • Computer-generated automatic suggested order
  • Contract prices list
  • List of most recent purchases
  • Past invoices (all or selected items)
  • Saved quotes (all or selected items)
  • Product category “drill-down” index
  • Product name/description search
  • Customer’s product number
  • Your product number
  • Vendor/manufacturer’s product number

Pricing Includes:

  • Contract pricing
  • Quantity breaks
  • Matrix pricing
  • Advertised pricing
  • Web site special pricing
  • Discount from list price
  • Mark up from cost
  • Multi-level pricing - combines pricing methods listed above
  • Pricing and selling in different units of measure

Customer Service:

  • View account status including statements & payment history or print a statement
  • Check up-to-the-minute order status
  • See last items purchased & suggested reorder date & quantity
  • Search for previous transactions by purchase order number, part number, description, and order date

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

  • Electronically transmit and convert documents between trading partners via modem
  • Automate images/invoicing and sending/receiving electronic mail using EDI
  • Electronically send and receive purchase orders (without reentering purchasing choices)
  • Send the following forms through EDI:
    • receipts of purchase orders (form 850)
    • purchase order changes (form 860)
    • purchase order acknowledgments (form 997)
    • invoices sent to a vendor (form 810) and more
  • Confirm acceptance or rejection of each PO
  • Report confirmed POs before transmission
  • Create EDI invoices are automatically created for EDI flagged customers when invoices are printed
  • Choose to send Acknowledgments of POs (form 997)
  • Optionally print an invoice for your files (with a message not to send the invoice)
  • Benefit from more than 20 years of experience with EDI

Fax by Email

ADS Solutions has developed a simple and efficient way to send faxes without the expense of a fax phone line, fax modem, and dedicated fax server computer. Advantage distribution software ERP package now has the ability to send faxes by email through e-Fax (efax.com) or through other similar fax-by-email service providers.

A new component residing on the main Advantage server sends email to a fax-by-email provider who then sends a fax to the indicated fax number. This process eliminates the need for a separate fax server computer.

There are many benefits of faxing (and emailing) with the new fax-by-email component: greater faxing reliability and less downtime.

  • Elimination of your fax server computer and associated IT and network overhead
  • No need for a dedicated fax line and fax modem
  • Automatic start up for faxing and emailing (the new component runs automatically as a service; depending on your version of Advantage, scanning will need to be manually initiated)
  • Email notification for failed faxes
  • Create your own personalized fax cover sheets

Flexible Pricing

  • Sell products in one unit of measure and price in another
  • Track costs with multiple cost files for each item
  • Protect cost, price, and profit information with multiple levels of passwords
  • Maintain separate costs for products by warehouse
  • Maintain multiple quantity breaks for each product
  • Maintain pricing by:
    • Customer Price level number
    • Columnar (matrix pricing by customer price level number)
    • Detailed Pricing and Standard discount lists both supported
    • Contracts by customer, by product or product category with an expiration date
    • Pricing by warehouse location
    • Quantity break pricing discounts with support for consolidated aggregate pricing (example: buy two of one item and three of another to receive the five lot price)
    • Advertised pricing by location with expiration date
  • Prices can be: a discount percent from list, a markup percent from cost, based on Gross Margin, a fixed dollar amount
  • Pricing can be customized for the customer, product, or product category:
    • Special add-on discounts by customer, product, or product category
    • Overall discounts can be applied for individual customers
    • Date sensitive pricing
    • A minimum discount percent regardless of the quantity purchased
    • Quantity break pricing can be turned off for selected customers
  • Multiple price book formats available
  • Price books can be sorted alphabetically, even if products are not in sorted order
  • Quickly change prices for categories and subcategories of products
  • Pricing can limit the discount percent to maximum level regardless of the quantity purchased
  • Pricing updates from vendors can be integrated into the pricing and costing functions
  • Automatically track and report all price overrides and highlights low margin sales:
    • Password protect selling an item below a specified margin% set by product category
    • Manual price overrides at order entry (with optional password)

General Ledger

ADS Solutions Advantage provides a fully integrated, flexible accounting system that adapts to customers’ unique business processes and allows customers to manage all aspects of their businesses. When properly implemented, the system includes multiple levels of security, a complete audit trail, fully GAAP-compliant financial statements and built-in best practice procedures. In addition, Advantage has all the necessary reports to let customers manage their businesses for optimal financial performance.

General Ledger

  • Fully integrated General Ledger with multi-segment
  • Chart of Accounts capability
  • Ability to generate user-defined financial statements by warehouse location and/or by department
  • Full drill-down capability for all financial statements to individual voucher or invoice levels
  • Includes ability to set default posting or allocation accounts
  • Supports detailed budgeting by General Ledger account, by department, and by warehouse.
  • Financial reports can be easily customized and exported to Microsoft Excel

Imaging

Synergy terminal emulator offers imaging capabilities (Tiff, PCX, BMP and more!). View catalog pictures and illustrations.

Interoffice E-Mail

  • Password protected messaging system.
  • New messages appear at user logon.
  • Notification to check messages can be sent to user’s terminal.
  • Supports response-required messages.
  • Easily send mail to one person, group, or all logons.
  • Print mail from screen.

Inventory Management / Warehouse Transfers

Advantage Inventory Management is part an integrated suite of modules which provide a solution for distribution businesses.

Designed to supply mid-size distributors with powerful tools, Advantage Inventory Management offers:

  • Track inventory for one or multiple warehouses
  • Track finished inventory and raw materials
  • Group sets of items as kits
  • Inventory ledger card shows all inventory changes
    • use one central screen to see the detail behind every transaction changing on-hand inventory
    • keep history as long as you wish
  • Fully supports multiple units of measure allowing the same item to be purchased, received, costed, priced and sold in different units of measure with the same part number
    • Also supports catch weight for items sold by unit but priced by actual weight, length etc.
  • Inventory count sheets and cycle count by: location description (or warehouse mapping #), vendor, product category, product group, product subcategory, entering count on the fly with a radio frequency bar code entry device
  • Ability to create orders after counting and before processing count sheets
  • Exception reports show receipts processed before counting but not entered until after counting finished
  • Discrepancy report generated prior to making an inventory adjustment
  • Inventory can be automatically adjusted from the discrepancy report
  • Optional use of bar codes and RF data terminals and PDAs in inventory process
  • Multiple cost files allows inventory valuation as of any date by replacement cost, accounting cost, average cost, or special cost

Warehouse Transfers

  • Allows support of multiple warehouses including: all inventory reports available for specified warehouses
    • ability to check inventory status and availability for each warehouse while entering quote, order, purchase order, etc.
    • selling prices for items can vary by warehouse
    • define safety stock levels by warehouse
    • define inventory stocking levels by warehouse
  • Ability to move a list of products from one warehouse to another, or a list of products to defective status within a single warehouse
  • Warehouse transfer sheets created prior to transfer; prints an inter-warehouse pick list showing quantity to transfer, quantity expected to be on-hand, unit of measure, etc.
  • Use warehouse transfer to track a group of items stage by stage through the shipping process or manufacturing cycle
  • Can vary costs by warehouse location to more accurately reflect value-added labor

Job Cost

  • Build a job from your quote or bid, or directly from an order–no quote required, or by adding an order to a job
  • Use a preexisting job to create a quote to be sure to bid correctly
  • Modify jobs easily to: add parts to a job, add labor hours to a job, link to job cost from order entry
  • Change orders become fully integrated with little effort
  • Add/change line items in order entry–simply assign the order to the job
  • Monitor costs and materials:
    • Add miscellaneous costs to the job directly from accounts payable entry
    • Automatic link between accounts payable and job cost master
    • Easily control materials required by your customer
    • Track cost overruns on screen and by report
    • Rely on estimated cost to complete a job - it takes into consideration bid cost, revised cost, cost history to date, and remaining balance to complete
    • Manage cash flow requirements with screen display of remaining cash vs. remaining cost
    • See quick summary of the job by phase and/or by task
  • Bill by phase and/or by invoice
  • Create an unlimited number of concurrent jobs per customer

Laser & Plain Paper Forms

  • Pre-formatted professional laser forms for sales orders, quotes, invoices, pick lists (priced/unpriced), statements, requests for quotations, checks, purchase orders and contract price lists.
  • Using laser forms allows one printer to print all of your forms without changing paper stock.
  • All laser forms (except for checks) are printed on plain paper stock, no preprinted forms required.
  • Eliminates printing expense for form (except checks).

Order Dispatch

  • Dispatch orders to service people in the field
  • View on-screen and printed reports of dispatched and un-dispatched orders
  • Enter unlimited service order comments and detailed job instructions
  • Display summary or detailed customer information display

Order Entry

  • The same intuitive order entry process is used to create:
    • immediate invoices (over-the-counter)
    • two-step orders (pick/pack slip with confirmation)
    • quotes/bids
    • future orders
    • recurring orders
    • rental orders
    • repair orders
    • returned goods (credit memos)
  • Sales staff have full access to complete customer sales history including: last sale, last purchase date, quantity, and price, prior purchases by part # by customer
  • Prompt with pop-ups for accessory products (e.g., batteries with a flashlight sale)
  • Monitor and adjust prices and charges:
    • assign a one-time special cost to an item during order entry with password
    • price items by the ship-to address or by the bill-to address
    • create invoice and instantly update accounts receivables
    • add freight and/or labor charges during order entry or at ship confirmation
  • Create invoices with split terms and automatically generate multiple Accounts Receivable items
  • Pre-set pricing guidelines, warnings or limits:
    • see warning during order entry if an order line does not meet a defined profit margin
    • enter password to process an order line below a specified profit margin
    • determine the most competitive bid and desired profit margin by manipulating various combinations of pricing and costing during order and quote entry
  • Automatically convert quotes to orders
  • Easily purchase and ship special order items
  • Quickly process drop-ship orders
  • Take advantage of multiple warehouses: ship each line on the order from a different warehouse
    • ship item from alternate warehouse if a customer’s normal shipping warehouse is out of stock
    • view available inventory in all warehouses while entering an order
  • Access the Product Master from order entry to see detailed product information.
  • Consolidate like parts from different pick tickets/orders onto one invoice when confirming shipment
  • Multiple sort options available on order
  • Easily enter products on orders:
    • find item using any word in the item description
    • enter item using user-defined item number
    • find item with multiple user-defined cross-references like an abbreviation of the item name
    • enter a synonym part number which will automatically convert to internal part number
    • enter item by reading bar code – great for counter sales
    • automatically convert UPC or vendor bar code label to your item number
    • add accessory and alternate items to order from quick entry pop-up screen
    • add items from the contract prices list, list of most recent parts purchased, and more

Password Security

  • Flexibility in setting up password security:
    • Any main menu item can be password protected.
    • Customizable menus for each location or logon limit available screens. Accounts payable, for example, has multiple levels of password protection.
    • Passwords can be designed around job function or job level and globally reassigned or deleted.
    • Passwords may be permanently disabled.
    • Password access to certain options may be permanently disabled.
    • Password access may be restricted to specific times of day.
    • Password access may be restricted to specific terminals.
    • Eliminate password prompts for certain logons or logon ports.
    • Apply different password rules for different logons or logon ports.
  • Hidden password entry.
  • Each prompt may have up to 5 legal responses; a network of passwords allows for individualized security.
  • Remote passwording is supported; allowing supervisors to monitor activities.
  • One master password lets owner easily access all features.

Payroll

ADS Solutions Advantage provides a fully integrated, flexible accounting system that adapts to customers’ unique business processes and allows customers to manage all aspects of their businesses. When properly implemented, the system includes multiple levels of security, a complete audit trail, fully GAAP-compliant financial statements and built-in best practice procedures. In addition, Advantage has all the necessary reports to let customers manage their businesses for optimal financial performance.

  • Maintains comprehensive employee payroll and personal information records (with unlimited free form comments for each employee)
  • Enables processing of payroll checks for hourly and salaried employees
  • Prints computerized paychecks (on standard check stock) for multiple banks and also allows manual checks
  • Provides multiple payroll reports including:
    • Pro-forma Paycheck Edit Report
    • Printed Payroll Checks Report
    • Summary by Employee
    • Federal Forms 940 & 941 worksheets
    • Wages by week for specified fiscal period
  • Automatic preparation of W-2s
  • Sort Employee Master Reports by birth date, hire date, etc. to use for employee recognition programs
  • User-defined General Ledger withholding matrix easily handles 401(k) and cafeteria benefit plans, expense reimbursements, garnishments, loan or salary advance repayments
  • Salary and commission can print on one paycheck with different withholding amounts

Point-of-Sale (Cashiering)

  • Sell over-the-counter with special integrated features
  • Create and print immediate invoices for walk-in customer sales
  • Use bar codes to input products into order
  • For greater security, restrict sales counter access to other areas of the system
  • Create customizable invoices, quotes, etc., from the sales counter
  • Customize what prints on invoices by customer, item, and transaction
  • Accept up to three payment types per sales transaction (cash, credit card, or check)
  • Use built-in cashiering functions to accept payments and take deposits
  • Take credit card payments securely with optional Credit Card Verification and Authorization modules that integrate with sales counter functions Integrated cash drawer functionality
  • Segregate payments by terminal or logon to double check accuracy
  • Point of sale display of line item prices and totals on tabletop or pole display units in accordance with state, county, and city requirements

Product Master

  • Flexible format for product ID number can vary from item to item
  • Extensive cross-referencing makes for easy product lookup
  • Multiple synonym part numbers can be defined for each item (such as by unit-of-measure); ordering can be done using vendor / manufacturer / competitor part numbers
  • From product master record:
    • display the last 100 or more customers who purchased an item
    • display the last sale information for an item, including price
    • display the last sale information for an item by customer, including price
    • display sales history by day, week, month or year, for an unlimited number of years
    • show purchase order history
    • view inventory availability in multiple warehouses a list of substitutes can be defined for each item
    • alternate vendors can be established for each item with alternate cost for each vendor
    • system will suggest order point and order quantities based on item lead time, demand history and desired stocking levels
  • Reorder quantities Can be calculated using Economic Order Quantity (EOQ), or Dynamic Order Point (DOP)
  • Inventory stocking and safety stock levels can be defined at the warehouse level
  • Cost and price for items can vary by warehouse
  • Each item can carry multiple prices such as List price, Quantity discounts, Customer Type pricing, Columnar pricing, and Advertised pricing by customer type (column price) with expiration date
  • Commission rates can be established at the item level
  • Discounts can be assigned to customers using price lists to easily adjust pricing for groups of like customers
  • Multiple units of measure are fully supported:
    • establish up to ten or more units of measure for each item (each, dozen, case, pallet, etc.)
    • each unit-of-measure can be priced individually; price does not have to be a multiple of the base unit of measure
    • items can be purchased in one unit of measure, received in another, picked in another, and sold in another
  • Selling with Kits is fully supported:
    • sell items you stock as individual items and as a kit, an assembly of those items
    • kits can be configured on-the-fly from a template kit while in the sales order
    • change items in kit during order entry while the kit template product remains unchanged
  • Purchase orders can be placed for kits (to take advantage of vendor discounts) which can be disassembled into the component parts
  • Items can be tracked by serial number
  • Items can be designated as Rental items
  • Items can be designated as Special Order items
  • Inventory items can be Lot Traceable

Purchasing / EOQ / Vendor EOQ

Purchasing

  • Extensive vendor cross-referencing lookup including “sounds like” option
  • Ability to specify a product in purchase order entry by the vendor’s part number and automatically convert this to your part number
  • Ability to purchase, receive, cost, price and sell the same item in different units of measure with the same part number
  • Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) system produces * Recommended Purchase Report with option to create purchase orders based on sales history or budget
  • Return on investment (ROI) analysis during purchase order entry helps determine optimal order quantity based on quantity break pricing
  • Sort purchase order line items by part number, part category, or description
  • Extensive reporting capabilities for things like: overdue items by vendor, open purchase orders by vendor, expected receipts by date, etc.
  • Ability to cancel un-received items on open purchase orders
  • Password-protected ability to over-receive items, partially receive items, enter landed cost, add additional lines
  • Option to send and receive purchase orders via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
  • Display status of special order items by vendor and retrieve them into a PO
  • Line Point Buying capability by dollars, weight, cube or quantity
  • Vendor discounts by weights and cubes
  • Specialized integrated processing of special order items with drop-ship from vendor to customer fully supported
  • Easy access to Product Master to add/update products from purchasing and receiving
  • Sophisticated lot number traceability
  • Request For Quotation features:
    • send list of parts to competing vendors
    • enter parts list manually or import from an order, quote, purchase order, or invoice
    • predefine list of vendors to receive RFQ based on parts
    • restrict requests for certain parts from being sent to certain vendors
    • system highlights best pricing from vendor
    • system creates PO based on your selected vendor
    • stores quoted prices in vendor record for future reference

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) - Automatic Replenishment System

  • Create recommended purchasing report and/or automatically generate purchase orders with EOQ analysis
  • Analyze history by warehouse and purchase by warehouse or centrally with/without automatic warehouse transfers
  • Create product use-rates based on historical sales information including “stock out” periods, “seasonal variations”, and “extraordinary” sales events
  • User-specified days of desired inventory for a product
  • User-specified safety margin of stock
  • Line point predictions available for an entire product line with a structured review cycle
  • All computer calculations can be overridden
  • Order quantity can be set:
    • manually specifying an order quantity
    • manually specifying an ‘order up to’ quantity
    • by computer calculation based on desired inventory level, use rate, and safety stock (DOQ)
    • by computer calculation based on the cost to carry inventory (warehousing cost), cost to purchase a line item (overhead associated with purchasing), and actual cost to determine an economic order quantity (EOQ)
    • by averaging the two computer calculation methods
  • Predefined purchasing cycles supported
  • Review report of overstocks
  • Optionally automatically generate Purchase Orders based on Recommended Replenishment Report
  • Use seasonal weighting to prevent overstocks during off season
  • Out of stock conditions can be reviewed manually
  • Worksheets help you calculate the ‘cost to order’ a purchase order line item and the cost to carry stock (cost to warehouse)
  • Vendor EOQ aids in line point purchasing (consolidating purchase of several parts from the same vendor on a single PO)

Vendor EOQ (Line Point Purchasing Analysis)

  • Vendor EOQ complements the EOQ system by including vendor requirements/restrictions when creating recommended-purchase reports
  • Vendor EOQ aids line-point purchasing (consolidating purchases of several parts from the same vendor on a single PO) optimizing quantities to take advantage of special vendor purchasing requirements or to reach targets for free freight and/or special discounting
  • Scheduled periodic review of all parts purchased from a vendor
  • Solve headaches associated with meeting a vendor’s purchasing restrictions or incentives by defining a line point minimum order quantity, dollar amount, weight, or cubes
  • Line Point by weight and by cubes
  • Line Point order point adjustment suggests items to purchase to reach line point
  • Use adjustment suggestions to reach line points that are within a specified close range
  • Define your own number of lead days for vendor

Quotes

Your sales staff can prospect effectively with the tools available in ADS Solutions Advantage. Most importantly, the flexible pricing schemes and detailed contact notes help your sales staff SELL in the office and in the field. You can reward your hard-working staffers with multi-level, incentive-ready commission plans.

Keep your customers happy with help from Advantage’s extensive customer service features. Quickly reorder from past invoices, quotes, frequently purchased products, alternate products, and accessories. Numerous tools are designed to shorten the sales cycle and help your team provide excellent customer service to improve customer retention.

  • Copy quotes to sales order or to another customer’s file
  • Save quotes and use as an order template to reduce order entry time
  • Request for Quotes feature speeds your purchasing process from vendor
  • Use any pricing method for a quote

Recurring Billing

ADS Solutions Advantage provides a fully integrated, flexible accounting system that adapts to customers’ unique business processes and allows customers to manage all aspects of their businesses. When properly implemented, the system includes multiple levels of security, a complete audit trail, fully GAAP-compliant financial statements and built-in best practice procedures. In addition, Advantage has all the necessary reports to let customers manage their businesses for optimal financial performance.

Recurring Billing

  • Permits repetitive billing for leases, contracts, split terms billing, club / membership billing and any other type of recurring invoicing where a specified amount is due for a specified number of billing periods
  • Invoices are created automatically a specified number of days before the next payment is due
  • List of invoices created and sent-to-date for each “contract”
  • Lease payment coupons available

Rentals

  • Process rentals just like entering a regular order Include non-rental parts on rental invoices
  • Rent multiple items with different rental cycles on the same invoice
  • Allow partial / complete returns of rented items with automatic adjustment of subsequent billings
  • Automatically report and bill overdue rentals until the item is returned
  • Immediately review printed or on-screen overdue rentals report

Repairs

  • Track repair history of items that the customer purchased from you or purchased elsewhere but brought in for repairs
  • Easily enter repair orders:
    • enter and track repairs like a regular sales item or sell and track a repair as a purchased repair “kit”
    • Use “repair-as-a-kit” template for a default list of repair components that can be modified at order entry
    • Charge zero for some items (which may be under warranty) and charge actual price for other items
  • Track and report components used for repairs in a number of ways:
    • track all or a selected number of the components used for the repair
    • optionally print repair components on work orders, pick tickets, invoices, quotes, etc.
    • restrict printing of components by hiding zero price items, hiding items in a specific department, or by some other customized method
    • keep part numbers, etc. blind from the customer
  • Automatically price the repair:
    • by the list of components used in the repair (including service charges)
    • by a set price assigned to the repair
  • Review extensive repair history and analysis:
    • see every repair-related invoice, quote, comment, etc. ever generated on-screen
    • track revenue generated and cost incurred to repair each item by fiscal period

Report Generator

  • Easily create reports to your own specifications.
  • Saved reports can be made to run on-demand or automatically.
  • Populations of selected items can be saved and combined with others.
  • Hundreds of pre-defined reports.
  • Control of printing daily and monthly reports.

Sales Force Automation

Your sales staff can prospect effectively with the tools available in ADS Solutions Advantage. Most importantly, the flexible pricing schemes and detailed contact notes help your sales staff SELL in the office and in the field. You can reward your hard-working staffers with multi-level, incentive-ready commission plans.

Keep your customers happy with help from Advantage’s extensive customer service features. Quickly reorder from past invoices, quotes, frequently purchased products, alternate products, and accessories. Numerous tools are designed to shorten the sales cycle and help your team provide excellent customer service to improve customer retention.

Sales Force Automation

  • Use remote desktop technology to access the ADS Solutions system from anywhere via the Internet
  • Review pricing, sales / product use history, and product availability at your customer’s place of business
  • Create quotes and orders just as if you were in the office
  • Optional PDA-sized application is feature-rich in a small package

Sales Prospecting

Your sales staff can prospect effectively with the tools available in ADS Solutions Advantage. Most importantly, the flexible pricing schemes and detailed contact notes help your sales staff SELL in the office and in the field. You can reward your hard-working staffers with multi-level, incentive-ready commission plans.

Keep your customers happy with help from Advantage’s extensive customer service features. Quickly reorder from past invoices, quotes, frequently purchased products, alternate products, and accessories. Numerous tools are designed to shorten the sales cycle and help your team provide excellent customer service to improve customer retention.

Sales Prospecting

  • Manage unlimited mail lists of prospective customers
  • Assign codes to track prospects through the sales cycle
  • Use personalized Contact Lists to maintain contact with prospects
  • Create full prospect records with multiple contacts, comments, company type, assigned sales person, etc.

Sales Route Analysis Reports

Your sales staff can prospect effectively with the tools available in ADS Solutions Advantage. Most importantly, the flexible pricing schemes and detailed contact notes help your sales staff SELL in the office and in the field. You can reward your hard-working staffers with multi-level, incentive-ready commission plans.

Keep your customers happy with help from Advantage’s extensive customer service features. Quickly reorder from past invoices, quotes, frequently purchased products, alternate products, and accessories. Numerous tools are designed to shorten the sales cycle and help your team provide excellent customer service to improve customer retention.

Sales Route Analysis Report

  • Use Sale Route Analysis report to analyze customer sales history by displaying:
    • several weeks or several months worth of purchase history
    • last sales information
    • new pricing changes
  • Calculates customer use-rates and projects out-of-stock date based on the last purchase quantity
  • Automated email reminders to customers projected to be running out of stock based on use-rates and last purchase
  • Evaluate more than one customer at a time, including routes (groups of customers)
  • Automatically incorporate increased lead times for special order items

Salespak

Remote order entry system for outside sales staff. Salespak equips laptops with product, inventory, purchasing history, and usage information so sales staff can place orders and review customer buying patterns at customer site.

Suggested buying lists for each customer factor in usage, purchase history, and lead time to simplify customer re-orders.

Salespak can be used with Advantage integrated distribution software to streamline business practices and increase profits.

Serial Numbers / Lot Traceability

Serial Numbering

  • Assign a serial number to any product
  • Serial number access from Purchasing Master, Product Master, Customer Master, Vendor Master or the Sales Representative Master files
  • Serial Master displays the relevant details about a specific serial number
  • See history of all associated documents, transaction dates, and locations, and status on the Serial Master
  • Enhancements allow for warranty tracking and service repair
  • Easily assign serial numbers to bill of materials items

Lot Traceability

  • System permits two levels of lot control:
    • lot field on a PO line# as a memo field
    • lot control tracks a product from receipt to sale
  • Products can be assigned an internal lot number as they are received which can be user-assigned or system-generated
  • Supports use of manufacturers’ lot numbers as products are received
  • Flexible set up of user-specified information is easy to change
  • Orders can be split at ship confirmation or at the sales counter into multiple lines if one shipment can contain multiple lot numbers
  • The system tracks lot number information from every aspect by: purchase, order, lot number, invoice, customer
  • Store lot number information indefinitely
  • Detail records can be purged while lot information is preserved

Shipping Manifest System (UPS)

UPS WorldShip Export

  • Export customer shipments to UPS Internet shipping and tracking system (WorldShip Online)
  • Utilizes computerized name, address, weight, shipping method, etc.
  • Simplify shipping by exporting a shipment list to UPS which has been automatically created from a list of orders in ADS Solutions Advantage
  • Automatically estimate weight of the parcel from weights of the products included on the order or get weight from integrated electronic scale
  • Electronically send shipment list to UPS for pick up
  • Instantly add weight, shipment date, tracking number, and charges to customer orders
  • Freight charges are automatically included on invoices

UPS Roadnet Logistics

  • Export customer shipments to UPS Internet shipping and tracking system (WorldShip Online)
  • Utilizes computerized name, address, weight, shipping method, etc.
  • Simplify shipping by exporting a shipment list to UPS which has been automatically created from a list of orders in ADS Solutions Advantage
  • Automatically estimate weight of the parcel from weights of the products included on the order or get weight from integrated electronic scale
  • Electronically send shipment list to UPS for pick up
  • Instantly add weight, shipment date, tracking number, and charges to customer orders
  • Freight charges are automatically included on invoices

Special Order Processing

Your sales staff can prospect effectively with the tools available in ADS Solutions Advantage. Most importantly, the flexible pricing schemes and detailed contact notes help your sales staff SELL in the office and in the field. You can reward your hard-working staffers with multi-level, incentive-ready commission plans.

Keep your customers happy with help from Advantage’s extensive customer service features. Quickly reorder from past invoices, quotes, frequently purchased products, alternate products, and accessories. Numerous tools are designed to shorten the sales cycle and help your team provide excellent customer service to improve customer retention.

  • Order a special order item and a message will notify designated (purchasing) person
  • Automatically create PO for special order item tied to specific customer order
  • Drop ship an item from vendor directly to your customer
  • Automatically match PO with special order item pick slips
  • Designate a stock item as a one-time special order item when ordering
  • Review end-of-day non-stock purchase report and open special order report
  • Check central screen to view all aspects of special order including detailed status display

Time Clock

ADS Solutions Advantage provides a fully integrated, flexible accounting system that adapts to customers’ unique business processes and allows customers to manage all aspects of their businesses. When properly implemented, the system includes multiple levels of security, a complete audit trail, fully GAAP-compliant financial statements and built-in best practice procedures. In addition, Advantage has all the necessary reports to let customers manage their businesses for optimal financial performance.

  • Records employee punch-in/punch-out entries on a time card system of compensation
  • Punch-in/punch-out up to 1000 times a day
  • Password prevents unauthorized use of employee clock record
  • Hourly time card summaries including overtime available can print at the end of each time clock period
  • Number of hours worked per day, overtime rate, permitted lunch break are all set system-wide
  • Provides overtime tracking with option for overtime approval required
  • Permits controlled starting time with exceptions for special projects
  • Vacation, sick time, and comp time are tracked and reported as required
  • Emergency information is on hand: emergency contact, physician name, known allergies and/or medications; general comments
  • Multiple passwords can be assigned to each password prompt
  • All menus, key programs, changes and/or overrides can be password protected with unique passwords
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