[DISCUSS} Declutter Accounting functionality

[Pierre Smits-3]

Hi All,

Recently (started somewhere in 2018) some activities have been started to
enhance the Accounting component (See list of related below).

Removing the Accounting-AR and Accounting-AP functionality from the main
navigator will reduce the number of applications shown there (and thus
enhance usability), but will lead to the same number of menu-items in the
main menu of accounting. This menu already has so many menu-items that it
will lead to the situation that it will not fit into a single line (in
FlatGray, RainbowStone).

Therefore, I suggest that functionalities will be removed from the
Accounting component and be placed in other (more) suitable components:

   1. Agreements
   2. FixedAssets

*Re 1. Agreements *
Agreements are of the same nature as orders (an order is an agreement
between two - or more - parties). And are expected to be associated more to
Sales and Purchasing roles than Accounting roles. In our OFBiz they are
also a source for Orders. Also, there seem to be no Gl/Financial
transaction functionalities  that are directly related to agreements.
Thus it seems more fitting to have the functionalities regarding agreements
in the OrderMgt component.

*Re 2. Fixed Assets*
The majority of the functions/services related to Fixed Assets are related
to the registration of Fixed Assets, maintenance of these registrations,
and how the Fixed Assets are used (e.g. Rental - through product/order,
and/or work effort). Only a minority of Agreement related
functions/services are related to actual accounting functions like Gl
transactions, and the most complex thereof is/are related to calculating
depreciation.
Given that we have a specific - and optional - component related to Assets
(AssetMaint), I suggest that we move all FixedAsset related object to that
specific component.

Both suggestions will, IMO, lead to a better usability of the Accounting
component, better alignment of functions with the expectations of adopters,
and thus an increase in favourabilty of OFBiz over similar products,
potentially leading to more contributors.

[1] Move accounting ap and ar to plugin ?
<https://ofbiz.markmail.org/message/bhxjdt65usz6tdcz?q=%22move+accounting%22+order:date-forward>
[2] OFBIZ-10552 <https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-10552>

What are your thoughts?

Best regards,

Pierre Smits

*Apache Trafodion <https://trafodion.apache.org>, Vice President*
*Apache Directory <https://directory.apache.org>, PMC Member*
Apache Incubator <https://incubator.apache.org>, committer
*Apache OFBiz <https://ofbiz.apache.org>, contributor (without privileges)
since 2008*
Apache Steve <https://steve.apache.org>, committer

[wp.rauchholz]

I agree with Pierre and would even extend on his idea to move agreements and subscriptions to the order management model.

If a responsibility matrix like RACI would be applied to agreement and subscription functions, I think we would see that in most companies Responsibility and Accountability for these two processes lie with sales and sourcing. I would think that finance would be Consulted and Informed about the outcome of these negotiations.
Finance only get involved at the end of the process.

So yes, I think Pierre has a good point here; this helps to unclutter the system and allows to implement more logical process flow.

Wolfgang


On 2019/03/12 12:07:23, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Recently (started somewhere in 2018) some activities have been started to
> enhance the Accounting component (See list of related below).
>
> Removing the Accounting-AR and Accounting-AP functionality from the main
> navigator will reduce the number of applications shown there (and thus
> enhance usability), but will lead to the same number of menu-items in the
> main menu of accounting. This menu already has so many menu-items that it
> will lead to the situation that it will not fit into a single line (in
> FlatGray, RainbowStone).
>
> Therefore, I suggest that functionalities will be removed from the
> Accounting component and be placed in other (more) suitable components:
>
>    1. Agreements
>    2. FixedAssets
>
> *Re 1. Agreements *
> Agreements are of the same nature as orders (an order is an agreement
> between two - or more - parties). And are expected to be associated more to
> Sales and Purchasing roles than Accounting roles. In our OFBiz they are
> also a source for Orders. Also, there seem to be no Gl/Financial
> transaction functionalities  that are directly related to agreements.
> Thus it seems more fitting to have the functionalities regarding agreements
> in the OrderMgt component.
>
> *Re 2. Fixed Assets*
> The majority of the functions/services related to Fixed Assets are related
> to the registration of Fixed Assets, maintenance of these registrations,
> and how the Fixed Assets are used (e.g. Rental - through product/order,
> and/or work effort). Only a minority of Agreement related
> functions/services are related to actual accounting functions like Gl
> transactions, and the most complex thereof is/are related to calculating
> depreciation.
> Given that we have a specific - and optional - component related to Assets
> (AssetMaint), I suggest that we move all FixedAsset related object to that
> specific component.
>
> Both suggestions will, IMO, lead to a better usability of the Accounting
> component, better alignment of functions with the expectations of adopters,
> and thus an increase in favourabilty of OFBiz over similar products,
> potentially leading to more contributors.
>
> [1] Move accounting ap and ar to plugin ?
> <https://ofbiz.markmail.org/message/bhxjdt65usz6tdcz?q=%22move+accounting%22+order:date-forward>
> [2] OFBIZ-10552 <https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-10552>
>
> What are your thoughts?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Pierre Smits
>
> *Apache Trafodion <https://trafodion.apache.org>, Vice President*
> *Apache Directory <https://directory.apache.org>, PMC Member*
> Apache Incubator <https://incubator.apache.org>, committer
> *Apache OFBiz <https://ofbiz.apache.org>, contributor (without privileges)
> since 2008*
> Apache Steve <https://steve.apache.org>, committer
>

[Paul Foxworthy]

+1

Thanks Pierre.

On Wed, 13 Mar 2019 at 03:03, [hidden email] <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> I agree with Pierre and would even extend on his idea to move agreements
> and subscriptions to the order management model.
>
> If a responsibility matrix like RACI would be applied to agreement and
> subscription functions, I think we would see that in most companies
> Responsibility and Accountability for these two processes lie with sales
> and sourcing. I would think that finance would be Consulted and Informed
> about the outcome of these negotiations.
> Finance only get involved at the end of the process.
>
> So yes, I think Pierre has a good point here; this helps to unclutter the
> system and allows to implement more logical process flow.
>
> Wolfgang
>
>
> On 2019/03/12 12:07:23, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Recently (started somewhere in 2018) some activities have been started to
> > enhance the Accounting component (See list of related below).
> >
> > Removing the Accounting-AR and Accounting-AP functionality from the main
> > navigator will reduce the number of applications shown there (and thus
> > enhance usability), but will lead to the same number of menu-items in the
> > main menu of accounting. This menu already has so many menu-items that it
> > will lead to the situation that it will not fit into a single line (in
> > FlatGray, RainbowStone).
> >
> > Therefore, I suggest that functionalities will be removed from the
> > Accounting component and be placed in other (more) suitable components:
> >
> >    1. Agreements
> >    2. FixedAssets
> >
> > *Re 1. Agreements *
> > Agreements are of the same nature as orders (an order is an agreement
> > between two - or more - parties). And are expected to be associated more
> to
> > Sales and Purchasing roles than Accounting roles. In our OFBiz they are
> > also a source for Orders. Also, there seem to be no Gl/Financial
> > transaction functionalities  that are directly related to agreements.
> > Thus it seems more fitting to have the functionalities regarding
> agreements
> > in the OrderMgt component.
> >
> > *Re 2. Fixed Assets*
> > The majority of the functions/services related to Fixed Assets are
> related
> > to the registration of Fixed Assets, maintenance of these registrations,
> > and how the Fixed Assets are used (e.g. Rental - through product/order,
> > and/or work effort). Only a minority of Agreement related
> > functions/services are related to actual accounting functions like Gl
> > transactions, and the most complex thereof is/are related to calculating
> > depreciation.
> > Given that we have a specific - and optional - component related to
> Assets
> > (AssetMaint), I suggest that we move all FixedAsset related object to
> that
> > specific component.
> >
> > Both suggestions will, IMO, lead to a better usability of the Accounting
> > component, better alignment of functions with the expectations of
> adopters,
> > and thus an increase in favourabilty of OFBiz over similar products,
> > potentially leading to more contributors.
> >
> > [1] Move accounting ap and ar to plugin ?
> > <
> https://ofbiz.markmail.org/message/bhxjdt65usz6tdcz?q=%22move+accounting%22+order:date-forward
> >
> > [2] OFBIZ-10552 <https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-10552>
> >
> > What are your thoughts?
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Pierre Smits
> >
> > *Apache Trafodion <https://trafodion.apache.org>, Vice President*
> > *Apache Directory <https://directory.apache.org>, PMC Member*
> > Apache Incubator <https://incubator.apache.org>, committer
> > *Apache OFBiz <https://ofbiz.apache.org>, contributor (without
> privileges)
> > since 2008*
> > Apache Steve <https://steve.apache.org>, committer
> >
>

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