ERPNext CRM Consultant, UK

Quote, order, dispatch and VAT invoice in one chain

British buyers expect a quotation that states price, delivery lead time, carriage and VAT clearly, and an invoice that matches it. When the quote is typed in Word and the invoice is raised in accounting software, the two drift apart. ERPNext keeps them on one thread.

The flow I normally build:

• Opportunity holds the inquiry details, expected value and the next action.
• Quotation takes items and customer-specific prices from the price list and applies a sales taxes and charges template chosen from the customer's tax category.
• Sales order is raised from the accepted quotation and checks credit limit and stock.
• Delivery note confirms dispatch, including part deliveries.
• Sales invoice carries the same VAT treatment, so the return your accounts team prepares reflects what sales agreed.

VAT treatment itself is a finance decision. Domestic standard-rated sales, zero-rated exports and any reverse charge or special arrangements for goods moving to or from Northern Ireland should be confirmed with your accountant, then built as templates once. How those invoices reach HMRC under Making Tax Digital belongs in the accounting design, covered on my ERPNext consultant in the UK page. My concern on the CRM side is that salespeople cannot pick the wrong template by accident.

Company numbers, VAT numbers and EORI on the account

The quickest way to spot weak CRM data in a UK business is to search for a large customer and count the results. Trading names, registered names, branch names and old spellings all create separate accounts, and credit control ends up chasing the wrong one.

I tighten the customer record around identifiers that do not change:

• Registered name and company number for limited companies and LLPs, with the trading name stored separately. These can be checked against the public Companies House register when an account is opened.
• VAT registration number where the customer has one, so it prints on documents where needed and helps tell similar companies apart.
• EORI number for customers you ship to across a customs border, which your logistics team will need anyway.
• Separate billing and delivery addresses under one customer, rather than a new account for every site.

During migration, I match old CRM accounts to accounting customers on these identifiers first and on names second. Accounts that cannot be matched go to a review list for the sales team rather than being imported blind. It is slow work, but it is what lets sales and credit control agree on the customer's balance and history.

Specifiers, merchants and other UK lead sources

Many UK product businesses do not sell directly to the person who chooses the product. In construction supply, building services and engineering, a consultant or architect specifies the product, a contractor wins the job and the order may arrive through a builders' or electrical merchant months later. A CRM that only tracks the buyer misses most of the story.

In ERPNext I model this with a few deliberate choices:

• The project is an opportunity, linked to the specifier as a contact or prospect.
• Contractors and merchants are recorded as parties to that opportunity, so when an order arrives from a merchant the sales team can see which specification it came from.
• Lead source distinguishes specification visits, merchant referrals, trade shows, website inquiries and existing account reorders.

For firms selling directly, the common sources are website forms, phone inquiries, distributor referrals and repeat business from account customers. A web form can create a lead in ERPNext directly. Phone inquiries need a quick-entry habit, which is a training issue more than a configuration one. Once sources are reliable, you can see which ones turn into margin, not just volume. See construction and wholesale for the industry view.

Pricing in sterling, euros and dollars

British suppliers selling into Ireland and continental Europe often quote in euros, and some export customers expect dollars. ERPNext supports multi-currency quotations and invoices, with exchange rates applied to the company's sterling books, but the commercial rules still need designing.

Questions I settle with sales and finance:

• Is each currency a separate price list maintained by someone, or calculated from sterling with a margin? Separate lists give control; calculated prices are easier but drift with the rate.
• Which exchange rate applies when a quote is accepted weeks after it was issued, and who absorbs the movement?
• Does a customer always trade in one currency? Fixing the billing currency on the customer avoids accidental mixed-currency accounts.
• How are delivery terms stated on export quotes, so carriage and duty responsibilities are clear before the order is placed?

The VAT side of EU sales differs from domestic trade and depends on what you sell and how goods move, so I confirm treatments with your accountant before templates are built. The multi-currency ERP page covers the accounting side, and the ERPNext accounting for UK firms page goes deeper on ledgers.

Frappe CRM, a separate CRM, and where ERPNext CRM stops

Not every UK business should run its pipeline in ERPNext. I use three tests: how much of your pipeline comes from marketing, how many people work only in sales and never touch orders, and how much reporting your board expects on campaign return.

If marketing is light and sales is order-driven, ERPNext CRM is usually the sensible choice. If your sales team wants a cleaner deal screen but you would rather stay within the Frappe stack, Frappe CRM is worth evaluating as a separate app; I check what it currently supports and how won deals pass into ERPNext before advising. If campaigns drive growth, a dedicated CRM integrated with ERPNext is the better design.

The limits I flag to British clients:

• Nurture journeys, scoring and landing pages are basic or absent.
• Paid social and search attribution to closed revenue needs custom work or another tool.
• Ready-made connectors for UK cloud telephony and sales engagement tools are fewer than on the larger CRM platforms; check each one.

Data protection obligations apply whichever CRM you choose, and they are a matter for your own advisors. My role is the system design: one owner per record and clear sync rules. More on the product is on the ERPNext CRM page, with CRM consulting, the UK ERP consultant page and the UK hub.