A web layer and B2B portal over a commercial ERP
A wholesale distributor's entire business ran on AccountMate, a commercial ERP staff could only reach from a desktop client. We built a browser layer directly on the same SQL Server data, added a B2B customer portal that writes real orders back into AccountMate, and automated the email and document filing AccountMate could not do natively.
- CLIENT
- A US building and landlord maintenance supplies distributor
- INDUSTRY
- Wholesale distribution
- ENGAGEMENT
- ERP extension, B2B ecommerce and long-term support, approximately ten years
- STACK
- ASP.NET Web Forms, SQL Server, AccountMate ERP, OCR document processing, Email automation
AccountMate handled accounting well. Everything around it was still manual.
- Staff could only work inside the AccountMate desktop client, with no browser access
- Reporting the business needed was not available natively and had to be assembled by hand
- No automated email or notification capability
- Order shipping workflow lived partly outside the system
- Every customer order came in by phone, email or fax and was keyed in by staff
- Documents arriving by email had to be manually saved, identified and matched to the correct order
One system, built around how the work actually happens.
AccountMate's functionality, in a browser
Order entry, invoicing, payments and reporting screens built directly against the same SQL Server data AccountMate uses, so both stay in step with no synchronization process to maintain.
Customers place their own orders
Account-gated self-service ordering against the live product catalog, with every order written back into AccountMate as a real ERP order rather than a message someone re-keys, plus full order history per customer.
Order shipping handled end to end
The shipping workflow that used to live partly outside the system now runs inside it, from order to dispatch.
Incoming email filed automatically
Attached documents are extracted from incoming email, OCR-processed, identified and attached to the correct order record, removing manual filing and the risk of a document landing on the wrong order.
What it runs on.
What changed.
- Staff work in a browser instead of being confined to the ERP desktop client
- Reporting the ERP could not produce natively is now available directly
- Customers place their own orders, and those orders land in AccountMate with no re-keying
- Order shipping is handled end to end inside one system
- Documents arriving by email are filed against the correct order automatically
- The client kept AccountMate, its accounting history and its established processes intact
This page shows no percentages or figures because none have been confirmed by the client for publication. Where a number is not verified, it is left out rather than estimated.
After go-live.
The engagement ran for approximately ten years, with the platform extended continuously as the business changed. It shows a pattern we use often: when a commercial system cannot be replaced, build a modern layer that extends it.
The work behind this project.
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