ERP Implementation Consultant, Jordan

Why rollouts in Jordan stall after the design stage

Jordanian ERP projects rarely fail in the sales stage. They lose momentum during build, when the implementer is configuring and the client team is still busy with daily operations. The same pressure points come up repeatedly.

• The e-invoicing connection is left until the end. It gets tested days before go-live, rejections appear, and nobody has decided who corrects them.
• Batch data is messier than expected. Lot numbers and expiry dates live in spreadsheets or an older system, with gaps that only surface during migration.
• Currency decisions are made by default. How dollar receivables are revalued, and which rate a payment uses, is settled by whoever configures it rather than by finance.
• Arabic output is treated as formatting. Invoice and delivery note layouts are reviewed too late for changes to be tested properly.
• Testing is done by the implementer. Their consultants click through scripts they wrote, and real exceptions appear once your staff start working.

Each problem is avoidable with clear ownership on the client side. That is the gap I fill. If a project has already gone off course, my ERP recovery service is the right place to start.

How I oversee the implementer without slowing them down

Implementers in Jordan generally work best with a client counterpart who can make or obtain decisions quickly. I aim to be that person, not a second layer of bureaucracy.

The requirements agreed during selection or business analysis become the baseline. When the implementer issues a design document, I read it against those requirements, walk the relevant manager through it in plain language and return it signed or with written questions. When they configure, I ask them to demonstrate each iteration on your own scenarios, such as receiving short-dated stock or billing a client abroad, rather than describe it in a status report.

Change requests go into a shared log. Each records the business reason, the implementer's estimate and the effect on timeline, and is approved, rejected or deferred by your sponsor. Deferred items move to a later phase so nothing is lost.

I also keep an eye on things that are easy to miss: whether the consultants you met during the sale are still on the project, whether customization is documented, and who will hold administrator access afterwards. Weekly written notes keep your management informed without long meetings. The broader approach is on my ERP implementation page.

Rehearsing e-invoicing before it goes live

Jordan's national electronic invoicing system turns invoicing into something that can fail in public. If submissions break on the first morning, sales staff stop issuing invoices and customers notice. I therefore treat e-invoicing as its own test stream, with a clear owner and exit criteria.

Working with the implementer, I plan rehearsal in a test environment where one is available. The scripts cover:

• Standard invoices for each type of customer and sales tax treatment your advisor has confirmed.
• Credit notes and corrections that must reference the original document.
• A deliberately faulty invoice, to see how the rejection appears to the user, how it is fixed and how it is resent.
• What happens when the connection drops halfway through a batch.
• How the submission status and any returned reference show on the printed invoice and in reports.

Before go-live, we agree who checks the submission queue each day, what they do with failures and how the implementer is contacted if the connector itself stops. Which invoices are in scope, and when, is confirmed by your tax advisor; I do not interpret the rules. Testing method in general is covered under ERP testing and UAT.

Migrating lots, dollar balances and price lists

Data migration in Jordan usually starts from a local accounting package, spreadsheets kept by the warehouse, or both. The data is rarely ready, so migration needs an owner in your team, templates agreed with the implementer and several trial loads, each reconciled before the next.

A few items need particular care:

• Open lots and expiry dates. Stock is loaded by lot, with expiry dates and locations, and matched to a physical count. Missing or inconsistent lots are resolved before cutover, not after.
• Dollar and dinar balances. Open customer and supplier invoices are loaded individually in their original currency, with the rate your accountant specifies, so revaluation and ageing work from day one.
• Price lists and customer terms. Contract prices, discounts and credit limits for pharmacies, hospitals or distributors are reviewed by sales before loading.
• Tax codes. Old codes are mapped to the new structure and checked against your advisor's guidance.

Cutover is planned at a period end, so the old system is closed cleanly and opening balances can be proved line by line. Payroll and social security contributions usually stay with your payroll provider, with journals posted into the ERP. More detail is on my ERP data migration page.

Training, go-live and remote hypercare

Training works best when your own key users lead it. I agree a plan where each key user learns their area during testing, then trains colleagues in Arabic or English, with the implementer supporting and supplying material. Short role-based guides, written for your processes, matter more than long manuals.

The go-live decision is taken against a checklist: UAT signed off, e-invoicing rehearsal passed, migrated balances reconciled, users trained, support arrangements confirmed and a fallback plan agreed. If a critical item is open, the date moves. That discipline costs a little time and saves a great deal of correction work later.

Hypercare follows. For a defined period, issues are logged centrally and reviewed every day with the implementer and key users, ranked by business impact. Early issues are often small: a user posting to the wrong location, an approval stuck with someone on leave, an invoice that failed submission overnight. I stay through the first month-end and first sales tax period on the new system, then hand over to your internal owners.

Everything runs remotely. If you are still choosing software, see ERP selection in Jordan; for the wider picture, visit the Jordan ERP consultant page or the Jordan overview. The ERP go-live support service explains this stage in general terms.