The words you will meet in an ERP project

Forty terms, each in plain English, each pointing to where it matters in your systems.

ERPEnterprise resource planning software that runs finance, sales, inventory, purchasing and operations in one shared database.CRMCustomer relationship management software that tracks leads, opportunities, quotes and customer communication in one pipeline.TRNThe Tax Registration Number issued by the FTA to every VAT-registered business in the UAE.VAT returnThe periodic filing to the FTA that reports output VAT charged, input VAT recoverable and the net amount payable.Corporate taxThe UAE federal tax on business profits, charged at 9 percent on taxable income above AED 375,000.E-invoicingThe UAE mandate to issue and receive invoices as structured electronic documents exchanged through accredited providers.PeppolThe international network and standards the UAE uses to exchange e-invoices between accredited access points.PINT AEThe UAE-specific Peppol invoice format that every e-invoice must follow to be accepted on the network.Accredited Service Provider (ASP)A provider accredited by the UAE authorities to validate, transmit and report e-invoices on behalf of businesses.UBLUniversal Business Language, the XML standard that e-invoices and other Peppol documents are written in.FTAThe Federal Tax Authority, the UAE body that administers VAT, excise, corporate tax and e-invoicing.ZATCAThe Saudi Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, which runs KSA's mandatory e-invoicing regime known as Fatoora.Credit noteA tax document that reduces or cancels a previously issued invoice, with the VAT adjusted accordingly.Landed costThe full cost of an imported item including freight, insurance, customs duty and handling, not just the supplier price.Bill of materials (BOM)The structured list of components, quantities and operations needed to make one unit of a finished product.Work orderAn instruction to produce a set quantity of a product, consuming components from a BOM and recording labour and output.Interim payment certificate (IPC)A certified statement of work completed on a construction contract, used to raise a progress invoice to the client.RetentionA percentage withheld from each construction payment until the defects liability period ends, then released.Chart of accountsThe structured list of general ledger accounts a business uses to record and report every transaction.Month-end closeThe routine of reconciling, adjusting and locking the books each month so reports can be trusted.Bank reconciliationMatching every transaction on the bank statement to entries in the ledger and explaining any difference.Multi-entity consolidationCombining the accounts of several legal entities into one group view, eliminating transactions between them.Intercompany transactionA sale, purchase, loan or recharge between two entities in the same group, which must be recorded on both sides.Opening balancesThe ledger, customer, supplier and stock balances loaded into a new system at the cut-over date.Data migrationExtracting, cleaning and loading master data and balances from old systems into the new ERP before go-live.UAT (user acceptance testing)The stage where your own staff test the configured system against real scenarios before agreeing it is ready.Go-liveThe day the new system becomes the system of record and the old one stops being used for new transactions.CutoverThe controlled sequence of steps that moves the business from the old system to the new one over a short window.Parallel runRunning the old and new systems side by side for a period and comparing results before relying on the new one.Change requestA formal request to add or alter something outside the agreed scope, priced and approved before it is built.Scope of workThe written definition of what the implementation will deliver, which modules, processes, integrations and data.Fixed-price implementationAn ERP project priced as a set fee for a defined scope, rather than billed by the hour or day.AMC (annual maintenance contract)A yearly support agreement covering fixes, updates, user questions and small changes after the ERP goes live.SLAA service level agreement setting the response and resolution times a support provider commits to by issue severity.LocalisationThe country-specific configuration of an ERP: tax rules, chart of accounts, reports, formats and legal requirements.Odoo Community vs EnterpriseOdoo's free open-source edition compared with the licensed edition that adds full accounting, localisation and more apps.SaaS vs on-premiseSoftware hosted and maintained by the vendor on subscription, compared with software installed on servers you control.Integration (API)A connection that lets two systems exchange data automatically through a programming interface instead of manual re-entry.Master dataThe core reference records, customers, suppliers, products, accounts and employees, that every transaction depends on.Audit trailThe system record of who created, changed or deleted each entry, when, and what the value was before.
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