Blue Link ERP

Blue Link ERP is Blue Link's flagship product -- an integrated inventory and accounting ERP software package built primarily for small and medium distributors and wholesalers. Blue Link ERP software is available as a cloud-based (hosted) or on-premises solution.

Inventory and accounting make up Blue Link's core robust functionality for wholesale and distribution, with specialized functionality such as: landed cost tracking, lot tracking, eCommerce integration and import & export functionality.

Video Overview

General Features

• General Ledger
• Accounts Receivable
• Accounts Payable
• Bank Management
• Payment Processing
• Contact Management
• Inventory Management
• Order Entry & Invoicing
• Purchase Orders
• RMAs
• Barcode Scanning
• Job Costing
• Production Control/BOM
• API for Integration with Other Software
• Financial Report Writer

Options Components Include:

• Landed Cost Tracking
• Lot Tracking
• Backorder Fulfillment/Management
• iPad Application
• eCommerce Integration
• Customer Online Ordering Portal
• CRM
• EDI Integration
• Warehouse Shipping
• Commission Processing Engine
• Inter-Warehouse Transfer
• Inter-Company Accounting
• Sales Order Accruals
• Asset Register
• Service Scheduling
• Expense Tracker
• Sales Budgeting
• Point of Sale (POS)
• Apparel/Product Matrix (Style/Color/Size)
• Service Management
• Web.Venture Business-to-Business E-Commerce
• Pro Quote
• Track 'n Bill

Accounts Payable

Features Include:

• Quick Vendor Lookup: Search for a particular vendor by Company Name, Address, City, Province, Postal Code, Phone Number or any combination thereof. Once you have found the vendor you can quickly create a new purchase order or A/P Voucher.
• Detailed Notes may be recorded with an Accounts Payable invoice (voucher). These notes will appear on all reports prior to posting the voucher and on the General Ledger Journal reports after posting
• Flexible cheque printing options, including selections by due date, vendor, invoice
• Print laser or continuous cheques
• Prints multiple cheque stubs when the number of vendor's invoices being paid exceeds the length of one stub (optional)
• Default G/L accounts by vendor
• Print detailed and summarized aging reports in various formats, including RETROACTIVE aging reports
• Alternate Vendor Payment: This feature is designed for those situations where you make a purchase from one vendor, but pay for that purchase under a different vendor (such as credit card transactions). The payment vendor may either be specified when recording the invoice, or before making payment.
• Calculate early payment discounts
• Ability to flag a vendor as inactive
• Set-up recurring transactions for repetitive payments (such as leases), and process them with one click
• Voucher entry: sales tax on non-inventory invoices is automatically pro-rated across selected expense accounts
• Handles prepayments to vendors
• Vendor payment history shows, in detail, which invoices were paid by each cheque and any discount taken
• On screen reconciliation with purchase orders received when processing invoices
• Print due date report for outstanding invoices
• View contact notes on screen, date and time stamped with user name
• (Canadian users) Reporting and reconciliation function tracks all GST collected, and input credits, since last reconciliation, thus dealing with backdated transactions and general journal adjustments
• Optionally print MICR encoding on cheques
• Print history reports, mailing labels, rolodex cards
• Vendor ID Codes can be changed at any time, and history will follow
• Ability to assign a default warehouse location to a vendor, which will default on creating a purchase order

Accounts Receivable

Features Include:

• Quick Customer Lookup: Search for a particular customer by Company Name, Address, City, Province, Postal Code, Phone Number or any combination thereof. Once you have found the customer you can quickly create a new sales order
• Multiple Contacts: using integration between the Customer and Contact Manager modules, easily manage multiple contact people per customer, with different roles/titles and email addresses
• Accounts Receivable Collections Screen: An all ecompassing screen designed for the collections of moneys from customers. Has full integration with Micorosft Outlook for entering tasks, appointments, or sending emails. You can initiate very specific sorts based on 8 different criteria.
• Customer screen displays detailed aging, sales history, and Outstanding Orders
• User definable customer classes, aging periods and terms
• Current month, year to date and last year information on a summary screen for quick reference
• Record Payments: ability to apply payments against invoices with multiple options; overpayments and prepayments are handled seamlessly
• Ability to store multiple (unlimited) ship to addresses per customer, and optionally designate one as the default
• Print detailed and summarized aging reports in various formats, including RETROACTIVE aging reports
• Revaluation Report shows oustanding foreign currency receivables with unrealized gain or loss since transaction date
• Ability to specify a tax authority by ship to address, which will override the customer's default tax authority
• Ability to specify a default GL department by customer - used when posting invoices, etc.
• ýDrill downý feature for tracking Customer purchases and reprinting invoices
• Multiple customer discount levels
• Ability to set a customer inactive.
• Chose between Printing, Faxing, or Emailing invoices, statements and overdue notices based on the Customer defaults
• Collection notes on screen, automatically date and time stamped, with user name
• Customer contract pricing, including optional expiry date and global price change
• Customer payment history details how payments were allocated against invoices
• Commodity Tax Report breaks down invoices by tax authority
• Manage detailed Customer Comments, which are displayed on Order Entry screen
• 2nd Language field selection, allowing alternate Inventory Description language on Orders and Invoices
• Ability to specify a default warehouse location for a customer, used as a default on order entry.
• Tax Exemption expiry report
• Group function: facilitates grouping separate bill to accounts on statements and certain reports
• Reprint an invoice on demand, or fax/email directly from screen preview
• Customer ID Codes can be changed at any time, and history will follow
• Charge interest on overdue accounts (optional)
• Customer refund cheques

Contact Manager

Features Include:

• Single point of entry for all contact information: no more separate databases to maintain for Email, faxing, customers, etc.
• Unlimited contact people per contact organization, with separate address fields for each contact person
• Categorize by request, source and status, with reports such as sales by source
• Convert prospects/contacts to customers/vendors and vice versa
• Update Microsoft Outlook with new contacts and tasks
• Option to Integrate with Microsoft Exchange" to update public folders on your server
• Import Contacts from Microsoft Outlook"
• Unlimited contact notes with automatic user, date and time stamping, and user-defined categories
• Set appointments and follow up times (optionally updates MS Outlook" automatically)
• Link to Microsoft Word" for mail merge follow up letters
• Quote system provides ability to quote prospects and convert quotes to firmed orders by one click of a button, with the option to transfer only selected items from the quote
• Print quotations in English or second language
• Re-usable quote templates are supported
• Persistent Quotes option: when a quote is transferred to sales order, the user has the option to retain the quote as a valid, open quote
• Quotation history: ability to review all historical quotes transferred to sales orders
• Optional links to other popular CRM packages

General Ledger

Features Include:

• Flexible account number structure - up to 10 characters plus 4 character department code
• Optional departmentalization of Chart of Accounts
• Up to 36 open periods
• Two level categorization of General Ledger accounts facilitates detailed ratio analysis on Executive Summary Screen, and third party reporting.
• Drill down: two levels of transaction drill down from the General Ledger screen
• Detailed/Summary trial balance
• Reversing journal entries for accruals
• Flexible system of recurring journal entries to automate repetitive transactions
• General Journal entries may have detailed notes attached, which are displayed on various reports.
• All Control Account postings are password protected
• Posting analysis by user/date for audit trail purposes
• Detailed/Summarized transaction listings
• General Ledger Codes can be changed at any time, and the history follows
• Source journals for all transaction types: purchase journal, sales journal, cash receipts, disbursements, etc.
• Unlimited transaction history
• Historic Exchange Rates: Changes in exchange rates are logged and can be reported on
• Ability to enter detailed notes for any GL Account.
• Ability to export to Caseware"
• (For Canadian users) - Track GIFI code by GL Account

Inventory

Features Include:

• Multiple Units of Measure: Ability to define unlimited unit of measure (UOM) structures, with conversion factors, facilitating purchasing and selling by weight, volume, pack sizes, etc. Each product code may be assigned to a UOM structure, allowing overrides where appropriate (such as pack sizes) or preventing changes (such as weights)
• Item reorder level by season and location: Allows for seasonal flucuations to be incorporated into the reorder of inventory, along with the specific reorder levels by warehouse location.
• Ability to assign different selling prices to inventory items for each unit of measure, for each different currency, with an unlimited number of quantity/price breaks in each case.
• Sales by month by year: Review 5 year sales trends by product, including margins, units, and sales dollars.
• Serial number tracking
• Supports multiple warehouses / locations
• Inventory count batch update feature can be used to enter full or partial (cycle) counts - both current and retroactive.
• Track on hand, on order, on backorder, on sales order, last sale, lead time
• Drill down for units on Sales and Purchase Orders
• Active Flag: Ability to flag an inventory item as inactive. When inactive the inventory item will not appear in any Inventory selection combo boxes.
• Review purchase & sales information by item on screen
• Track multiple vendors with their product and UPC codes, and prices - can optionally be defaulted on Purchase Orders
• Bill of materials: define components for assembled / manufactured goods, including labor and other soft costs
• Define kits, which will explode into their components on the sales order
• Kit / Finished Good Availability: Ability to view constraining components, and calculate the maximum quantity that can be made/sold as a result
• On screen sales analysis with drill down to detail, and graphs
• RETROACTIVE inventory listing may be printed
• Second language description field: will be printed on invoices for customers flagged as second language
• Sophisticated inventory adjument process
• On screen display of purchase history, actual costs and FIFO layers
• Copy product option allows quick creation of similar product items
• Manufacturer Information: ability to specify manufacturer, manufacturer's Part Number, and Suggested Retail Price
• FIFO costing option
• Use the global price change feature to change all/some inventory prices
• Handles quantity / price breaks
• Multi-level discount matrix can be applied to both products and customers
• Change inventory code and history updates automatically
• Ability to store pictures and/or technical documents by item

Job Cost

Features Include:

• Track job from quote to completion
• Update project cost information directly from other modules, including sales order, purchase order, accounts payable, accounts receivable, etc.
• Time card entry for labour costs, using multiple rates and work types - intergrates with Paymate payroll software
• Prepare and retain original estimates, with complete change order detail history
• Inventory costs can be posted from purchase orders (items purchased for project) or from sales orders (items sold as revenue on a project)
• Project costs can optionally be updated or adjusted via separate job cost journal
• Committed cost report shows all costs allocated to the job, plus any additional costs outstanding on open purchase orders
• Open purchase order report by job code
• Job profit and loss report, summarizing costs and revenues, grouped by cost code, closed jobs and presents a total profit/loss figure for each job or for each closed job
• Other reports include detailed job transaction report, summarized job cost / estimate comparison, work in progress, time cards by day, by employee, by Job
• History of completed (ýclosedý) jobs with detailed and summarized reports
• Retainage can be held and paid

Landed Cost

Features Include:

• Landed cost factors are added to inventory cost on receipt of purchase order, with the appropriate accruals to specified vendors (carrier, broker, etc.)
• Define an unlimited number of cost factors (duty, freight, brokerage, duty at different rates, etc.)
• Define values per factor as a percentage or fixed dollar amount
• A general ledger accrual account is defined for each landed cost factor
• A default vendor may be defined for landed cost factors
• Each factor may optionally be defined to automatically default on each shipment
• Specific inventory items may be flagged as exempt from specific factors
• Landed cost accruals are matched against specific invoices from suppliers, brokers, carriers, etc.
• Variances are accounted for when matching each invoice to the vendor's accrual
• Accrual subledger report details the accrued amounts by account / vendor / shipment receipt
• Variance report details the variances between accrued and actual costs

Order Entry/Invoicing

Features Include:

• Advanced search features for finding customers and products by code, name, class, etc.
• Reverse Posted Invoice: Allows you to reverse an invoice that posted in error. The following occurs in this routine: a credit invoice is posted to history, a credit will appear in A/R for the invoice amount, the invoice credit will be offset against the original invoice, a reversing G/L entry will be entered based on a user defined date. Finally, the reversed invoice can be reinstated as an open order.
• Order Entry - Purchase Order Integration: Tight integration is now achieved between the Sales Order and Purchasing. Now, when an item is backordered, you can automatically generate a PO based on the default vendor, a vendor of your chosing, or adding the item(s) to an open PO. You also have the option to drop ship the order to the customer. Once the goods are received, the sales order is automatically updated.
• Backorder handling and processing
• Copy History Invoice: Ability to use a previously posted invoice as a template for a new sales order.
• View customer comments as entered in the customer screen
• Apply discounts to individual line items and/or the entire invoice
• Credit control warnings alert salespeople of credit issues
• Assign Serial numbers to products when processing an order
• Add customers, inventory items and ship to addresses on the fly
• Use the 'configurator' to build kits on the fly
• Generate purchase orders from sales orders on the fly
• View Inventory status during Order Entry, and drill down details of items on order and on purchase order
• Print Invoices and Order Confirmations in English or second language (such as French)
• Print invoices individually, or use the batch option to batch print invoices
• Print order confirmations, picking lists, packing slips, shipping labels etc.
• Post invoices individually or use the Multiple Invoices option
• Format invoices, packing slips, etc, using Microsoft Word! You can have multiple formats using this amazing feature!
• Automatic inventory kit explosion, with the ability to calculate and show any backordered components
• Use recurring sales orders for periodic billing (based on Microsoft Outlook"-style Recurrence functions)
• Reprint invoices at any time
• Accept payments/deposits at order entry, record payment method and cheque number
• Departmental posting option for G/L postings
• 2nd Language Description capability based on Customer specific requirements
• Print open order, history and backorder reports
• Retail Sales Tax included function, for equipment sold with installation
• Print a deleted orders report to track what orders were deleted, who deleted them and why
• Use the Profit button to view order gross margin

Payroll

Features Include:

• Unlimited number of employees
• Unlimited number of companies
• Personal information: family details, benefits information, salary & performance details, skills inventory, training record, free form notes
• Tracks: expense reimbursement, vacation pay, multple pay rates, piece work, commissions, premiums, and formulas
• 15 benefits types by formula or lump sum
• Statutory deductions, formula based deductions, percent of gross, garnishes, and declining balance
• 30 earnings types
• 50 deductions categories
• (Canadian Users) Employer Health Tax, NWT Payroll Tax
• Customizable cheques & payslips
• Direct Deposit option
• T4's - Print or file using magnetic media
• Standard Record of Employment
• Supports all Canadian provinces/territories and USA states
• Sick pay accrual
• Interfaces with Blue Link Solutions for employees, General Ledger postings, Bank Manager and Job Costing

Production Control

Features Include:

• Track assemblies of raw materials to finished goods
• Define bills of materials for finished goods products
• Bill of materials may include inventoried parts, other finished goods, and non-inventory costs (such as labour)
• Different components of the same finished product may be drawn from different inventory locations
• Firming of a production batch reserves components and identifies shortages
• Opening a production batch removes components from inventory, moves them to work in progress, and performs the applicable general ledger postings
• Closing a production batch moves work in progress to finished goods with applicable general ledger postings
• Production control status and work in progress reports
• Bill of materials and availability reports
• Optionally links to sales orders

Purchasing

Features Include:

• Vendor specifc price per Inventory may be set as default price for Purchase Orders
• Optional default of unit price to last cost from the same vendor
• Ability to default the vendor's part number on the purchase order, and have it print in addition to your product code. In addition, if changed on the PO screen there is an option to carry that change back to the Inventory module.
• Vendor's reference number may be recorded (such as there sales order # or quote #) - if it exists, it will print on the PO.
• Integrated with Landed Cost tracking (see separate specifications)
• Print Purchase Purchase Order in English or French
• Purchase Order documents can be generated via integration with Microsoft Word". You can specify a default Word Purchase Order template, or can choose from any number of templates at time of printing
• Print purchase order history and open order reports
• Receive Purchase Order fully or partially, with or without invoice
• Purchase Order Receive: option to retain un-received items as backorders, or close the Purchase Order
• Record serial numbers when receiving purchase orders
• Accrual of purchase orders received without invoice from supplier, with appropriate general ledger postings
• On screen matching of received shipments with supplier invoices
• Tracks vendors and costs on posting to inventory
• Purchase receipts history report allows printing details of any shipment receipt at any time
• Automatically pro-rates retail sales taxes on non-inventory purchase orders
• Retain Purchase Order history indefinitely

Sales Analysis

Features Include:

• Print Sales History by Customer for specific products, customers, sales reps, and for a given time period
• Print Margin Reports by invoice and by exception based on a target gross profit %
• Print Daily Sales Report by product and inventory class. Print/Graph weekly Sales Report by inventory class
• Review Inventory Sales by product code for specific date range, with drill down
• Print a source analysis report, tracking sales to lead sources
• Print Sales commission reports in detail or summary