Sage 300

The AVADA MEDIA team developed a number of important functional modules for InteGen, a company specializing in the professional implementation of the Sage 300 system. The main objective was to create  convenient and secure tools for automatic integration with several external services, significantly streamlining financial management and reporting. Thanks to well-considered technical solutions, this development made it possible to optimize business processes and increase the client’s operational efficiency.

Brief Overview of Sage 300

Sage 300 is a multifunctional ERP platform that provides comprehensive management of finances and accounting processes. With its help, companies can optimize accounting, simplify their work with orders and invoices, and consolidate data into a single information resource. Due to its flexible architecture and extensive customization options, Sage 300 is in high demand among organizations looking to reduce manual operations and enhance the transparency of internal processes.

Project Goals and Objectives

The primary task for the AVADA MEDIA team was to extend the basic capabilities of Sage 300 by developing an automatic synchronization with external services. Several third-party platforms needed to be integrated into the ERP infrastructure to speed up staff operations and make data interaction more user-friendly. Specifically, it was necessary to set up integrations with the following solutions:

• RENTWAY – a car rental booking system.
• WooCommerce – an e-commerce platform for managing online store orders.
• DCS+ – a software suite for travel bookings and financial document generation.
• Smart Invoice – a software solution developed by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to interact with the Virtual Sales Data Controller (VSDC) and monitor the correctness of tax data.

The goal was to ensure that each of these services would automatically exchange information with Sage 300, minimizing manual input and preventing errors when transferring data.

1. Integration of RENTWAY and Sage 300

RENTWAY’s platform accumulates data about completed car rentals. Previously, financial operations had to be manually transferred into Sage 300. AVADA MEDIA implemented an automatic request mechanism to the RENTWAY database:

• The retrieved data is recorded in the corresponding Sage 300 tables.
• The date of the last successful request is saved, so only new records are processed during subsequent requests.

This significantly reduced manual workload and increased the speed of financial reporting updates.

2. Integration of WooCommerce and Sage 300

WooCommerce stores information on orders, customers, and products. An integration service was developed to automatically transfer orders to Sage 300 by making requests to WooCommerce using authentication tokens and timestamps. As a result:

• All new orders placed in WooCommerce are automatically created in Sage 300.
• The system checks for the existence of the customer and product code in the ERP. If some data is missing, additional requests are sent, and corresponding records are created.

This solution centralizes and unifies the processing of orders and products.

3. Integration of DCS+ and Sage 300

DCS+ manages travel bookings and generates related financial documents. An existing integration written in C# was redesigned in Python at the client’s request. During this process:

• XML files that enter a “queue” were set up for processing.
• After each XML file is processed, Sage 300 notifies DCS+ that the data has been successfully saved.
• The process repeats until the queue is empty.
• XML data is then extracted and posted into Sage 300, creating customer records and invoices.

Additionally, the need for on-the-fly adjustments to the algorithm was considered, in line with evolving business requirements.

4. Integration of Smart Invoice and Sage 300

Smart Invoice is developed by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and uses the VSDC system to validate tax documents. To connect Sage 300 and Smart Invoice:

• Relevant screens and functionality within the ERP were adapted to send data to VSDC.
• After successful data verification, Sage 300 users receive confirmation of the correct formation of the invoice.
• Additional screens were created to automate the VSDC process in bulk.

This ensures that tax reporting meets the required standards and is generated automatically.

Technologies Used

In the course of development and integration, the AVADA MEDIA team utilized a wide range of technologies and tools: Python and Sage 300.

As a result of all the work performed, the client obtained:

• A single interface for viewing and managing information from various sources.
• Reduced manual labor when transferring data, minimizing the likelihood of errors and speeding up operations.
• Flexibility and scalability thanks to a modular approach, allowing easy addition and modification of integrations without significant overhead.
• Enhanced accuracy of financial and tax reporting through automatic data validation.

The project clearly demonstrated how comprehensive enhancements to Sage 300 and carefully planned integrations with external systems can boost business management efficiency, enabling companies to focus on strategy and development rather than manual data entry.

AVADA MEDIA plans to continue expanding its competencies in ERP solutions, automation, and integration, helping clients refine their internal processes and achieve their goals more quickly.