Update from the BONSAI world (1/2024)
Events
Review proLogistik Expert Days
On October 16 and 17 / 2023 the proLogistik Expert Days took place in Dortmund. IBB, as part of the proLogistik Group, was also on board for the first time. Numerous participants from the retail, freight forwarding and warehouse logistics sectors showed interest in the special industry solutions for rebate management and invoicing based on BONSAI. The interaction of BONSAI with the other solutions of the proLogistik Group was also presented for the first time. We are delighted at the lively interest in BONSAI among this partly new clientele and are already looking forward to the new projects that will result from the numerous discussions.
ServiCon Future Campus
IBB representatives attended the ServiCon Future Campus in Bonn on September 13 and 14 /2023 to discuss current topics in the areas of law, risk and finance at affiliated groups and to exchange ideas with experts. IBB was also present on November 21 and 22 / 2023 in Hamburg at the ServiCon Future Campus to present innovative approaches and solutions in member consulting and discuss them with industry colleagues. Many of the findings from the discussions are incorporated into the further design and development of BONSAI.
Product news
Interactive reporting: supplier dashboard
IBB Adaptive Solutions GmbH is pleased to announce a significant enhancement to the BONSAI software solution: interactive reporting directly in the BONSAI interface. This function was developed to provide our users with a quick and efficient overview of the agreements, turnovers and revenues per supplier.
With this new reporting feature, users can now access dynamic and interactive reports directly in the BONSAI interface, providing real-time updates. This enables users to carry out in-depth analyses and evaluations directly in their familiar working environment without any detours or additional tools.
The expansion of interactive reporting in BONSAI underlines our commitment to continuous innovation and the provision of tools that increase the efficiency and productivity of our customers. Users benefit from an intuitive user interface that makes it easy to gain an overview of complex data volumes and make business decisions based on sound data.
This development is a further step by IBB to promote the digital transformation in the rebate management and to help our customers optimize their business processes and strengthen their competitiveness.
Our consultants will be happy to work with you to develop a concept for the optimal presentation of each supplier’s turnover and reveenue data. The new functions of the interactive supplier dashboard are available as part of a license extension.
Contact us if you would like to evaluate the function in your test system!
Mandatory e-invoicing (B2B) in Germany from 2025
IBB is actively working on implementing support for B2B e-invoicing within our BONSAI software solution in order to comply with the B2B e-invoicing obligation that will apply in Germany from 2025.
Our goal is to provide our customers with seamless, efficient and legally compliant processing of electronic bonus settlements in order to minimize administrative effort and maximize process efficiency.
According to the current draft bill on the e-invoicing obligation for domestic B2B transactions, transitional regulations and different deadlines for the introduction are to be expected. From 01.01.2025, all companies must accept e-invoices; special consent to receive them in this format is no longer required. However, paper and PDF invoices will remain permissible until 31.12.2026.
A “real” e-invoice obligation is not planned until 01.01.2027, as only electronic invoices may be sent from this date. Instead of an e-invoice, a paper invoice or, with the recipient’s consent, an invoice in another electronic format can also be issued for a transaction carried out between 01.01.2025 and 31.12.2026 (Section 27 (39) sentence 1 no. 1 UStG-E).
We will keep you up to date and will also be offering workshops and webinars over the course of the year in order to optimally prepare for the conversion of BONSAI billing and distribution to e-billing.
proLogistik hardware solutions
As part of the proLogistik Group, we are pleased to be able to present solutions from all areas of the group: In the “Hardware” area, proLogistik offers innovative hardware technologies throughout the DACH region.
The range of services offered by proLogistik’s hardware division includes end devices for all logistics applications, network technology and numerous services. The main areas are:
- development and production of individual hardware solutions,
- as well as hardware consulting
- hardware service concepts and mobile device management software
- local repair centers
- hardware rental solutions incl. services and support (hardware as a service)
All transportation management, warehouse management and logistics requirements are supported. If you are interested, please contact us at office@ibb-as.com and we will forward your request to the contact person in our group.
New functions and features in the latest BONSAI releases
Extension of net net price calculation to include order quantities and quantity conversion
To further improve flexibility and accuracy when calculating product prices, we have added the new input parameter “Quantity” to the calculation. This parameter now allows you to include order quantities directly in the calculation and thus make the price calculation even more precise.
The quantity is specified in the unit of the item, such as “Sales unit”, “Bottle” or “Liter”, and offers the option of taking into account stepped agreements based on the order quantity. When a quantity is specified as part of the calculation, the stepped agreements are calculated automatically, whereby the order quantity is converted into the corresponding agreement unit according to the stored conversion factors and the resulting agreement value is then converted back into the quantity unit of the product.
It also happens that agreements are negotiated in a unit of measurement that does not correspond to the product unit – for example, an agreement of EUR 3.50 per pallet, while the item is managed in sales units.
In order to take such agreements into account in the calculation, BONSAI now has the ability to convert these agreements into the unit of the product using conversion factors and to deduct the corresponding absolute amount directly in the net net price calculation (APK).
This intelligent solution ensures precise and automated consideration of all agreements, regardless of the units originally negotiated.
Assignment of BONSAI users to suppliers
From now on, responsible users can be assigned directly to a supplier via the “Responsible users” side panel.
This assignment not only enables clearly defined responsibilities within your team, but also activates additional functions, such as the assignment of internal signatures for contracts.
The respective responsibilities of the users are defined globally in the administration, which ensures a high degree of flexibility and control. This means that different responsibilities such as “Negotiation”, “Invoicing” or “Turnover reports” can be assigned to different BONSAI users for each supplier.
In addition, this new feature offers the option of automatically including responsible users as CC recipients in contract communications, provided they are stored in the contract type with the corresponding “responsibility”. This ensures improved communication and transparency in contractual matters.
In addition, when creating contracts based on “responsibilities” defined in contract templates, responsible users can be automatically suggested as signatories. This function facilitates compliance with internal guidelines and ensures that all relevant parties are involved in the contract signing process.
Improvements to credit note registration
In order to further improve the accuracy and user-friendliness of credit note registration in BONSAI, we have made two significant changes.
The document date is no longer automatically pre-assigned with the creation date, but must be entered explicitly by the user to avoid incorrect entries. In addition, the posting date has been removed from the credit note display, as this is normally only defined when the calculation run is created. It is initially pre-assigned with the current date and can be adjusted before the final document is created.
In addition, when making manual adjustments to the gross amount in a line, the deviation from the calculated gross amount is now displayed, which makes it easier to identify the need for corrections, for example due to rounding differences.
When registrating a credit note in BONSAI, the credit note number entered is now checked for uniqueness as soon as it is entered. To improve input and checking, the position of the “Supplier” and “Credit note number” fields has been swapped.
In addition, the length of the credit note number can now be validated when saving the credit note so that length overruns in the booking interface can be avoided directly during entry. The length of the credit note number can be set for each system.
“SEPA block” field added to organizational master data
The master data of organizations in BONSAI has been expanded to include an important feature: the “SEPA block” field. This function makes it possible to determine whether transfer orders should be generated for specific companies or businesses and exported via the SEPA interface.
Setting “Yes” in the “SEPA block” prevents the export of transfer orders for the relevant document recipient, which provides an additional level of control in payment transactions and ensures that transfers are only executed to approved recipients.
Confirmation and generation of receipts with a gross total of 0.00 Euro
In special cases, it can happen that a settlement or distribution document has a gross amount of EUR 0.00 in total. Documents with a gross amount of 0.00 Euro are usually automatically suppressed.
However, there are use cases in which the results for such a document are to be acknowledged and settled. For example, if amounts that have already been invoiced are to be transferred from one category to another without changing the total amount. In order to mark such results as invoiced or debited, BONSAI now enables the configuration of document creation in such a way that documents with a gross total of 0.00 euros are also systematically generated.
These documents are given an internal document number and are marked with a special dispatch type: “Internal document – no dispatch”. In addition, there is no interface or document post-processing for these documents, which enables clear and uncomplicated administration.
This functionality can be activated individually for the settlement (ABR) and/or distribution (AUS) processes to meet the specific requirements of your company.
Standardized display of dispatch information for internal documents
In the course of the latest updates, we have harmonized the presentation and handling of the document dispatch in order to increase transparency within the system. In particular, the dispatch type for internal documents has been extended with the option “Internal document – no dispatch”. This adjustment ensures that the “Sent successfully” checkbox is not activated for internal documents that are used exclusively for the purpose of registering the credit note in BONSAI and do not actually provide for dispatch.
This contributes to a clear distinction between internal and external documents and avoids confusion regarding the dispatch status.
Agreements: New text type “Contract and document”
A new text type “Contract and document” has been introduced for agreements. This allows you to maintain a text that is printed both in contracts and on the documents when the agreement is displayed.
Such a text no longer needs to be maintained twice with text type “Contract” and text type “Document”.
Configurable determination of quota-relevant turnovers in planning
In the planning module, it is now possible to configure the determination of quota-relevant turnover for each scenario type. This means that different turnover bases and delivery channels can be used to determine the quota-relevant turnovers for each scenario type.
Administration: Deactivating purchasing areas
It is now possible to mark shopping areas as inactive. The “Inactive” indicator can be edited as soon as the user has been assigned the authorization to deactivate purchasing areas.
A purchasing area can only be marked as inactive if it is not assigned to a supplier or user.
As soon as a shopping area is marked as inactive, it is no longer offered for selection.
Class authorization for the type of contract
In order to control user access to specific contract documents, contract authorizations can now be set for the contract type via the assignment of classes. Only those contracts to which the user has access are displayed in the contract list. Similarly, only contract templates or contract types authorized for a user can be selected when creating a contract.
These authorizations also apply to agreements that are displayed in the contract. If no class is selected, all contracts can be viewed.
Supplier block for settlement and distribution can be controlled separately
A supplier can be blocked for confirmation. The agreements are then still calculated in the settlement or distribution run, but with “Settlement according to agreement”, if the confirmation block is activated, no confirmation and therefore no invoicing takes place.
From now on, the user can control whether the confirmation block should only take effect in the settlement, only in the distribution, in both cases or in neither case.
Please note: The confirmation block distribution does not apply to confirmation by organization.
Agreement approval: Approve your own changes
Previously, agreements with the status “To be approved” could not be approved if the last change was made by the current user. This serves to ensure a dual control principle during approval.
In some use cases, however, it may also be necessary for a user to approve agreements after they have made changes to the agreement themselves. For this purpose, the new authorization “Aprrove agreements: approve own changes” has now been introduced. This enables selected users to approve agreements independently of the last change user.
This new feature allows specially authorized users to pursue a more efficient and dynamic way of working by giving them the freedom to approve agreements even after their own changes.
This is particularly benefiting in situations where quick adjustments and decisions are required and a second auditing user is not feasible in terms of organization or time.
Posting data extended to include the entry of a due date
Another important function was recently made available in BONSAI: the option to enter a due date directly in the booking data in the invoicer list. This new feature offers you an additional level of control by allowing you to set the due date for settlements and distributions individually.
The entered due date is displayed on the created documents and can be transferred to the posting interface.
When using the “Dunning” module, the entered due date is used to calculate the expected incoming payment and the dunning periods.
If you would like to use these features to further optimize your processes, we invite you to get in touch with your IBB consultant or contact our support team.
