Do you want to offer multiple discounts, but not sure how to calculate the price? Do you want to add a fee on top of that? What if you want to track margins or rebates or royalties? Plus, you want all of them to track to their own specific financial account without having to manually go in and adjust those accounts. Rockton Pricing Management (RPM) can do that work for you. Set it up once, and your part is done.
When you use RPM, you can set up as many Price Calculations, or discounts, as you need to adjust the price of your items. A Price Calculation adjusts the price based on whether you want to increase or decrease the price or not affect the price at all. The best thing though, is that each of these calculations can be assigned their own GL account.
For example, say you need to show three separate discounts plus a packaging fee for an item. To calculate multiple discounts, you would have the following Price Calculations created.
- 5% Customer Discount
- 3% Winter Sale Discount
- 1% Special Item Discount
- $5 Packaging Fee
So, How Do You Calculate Multiple Discounts Using Multiple GL Accounts?
Let’s go through the setup of a Price Calculation.
- Under the Pricing menu, open Price Calculations and click Add New.
- Enter a specific Price Calculation Name. Make sure it is descriptive, so you know what the Price Calculation is used for on the Price Schedule.
- Select a Price Mode Option. In this example, use Percent Adjustment.
- Mark Modify Unit Price. This means the Price Calculation changes the Unit Price by the amount calculated.
Note: If you have more than one Price Calculation you can mark From the Base Unit Price if you want each calculation to calculate from the Base Unit Price. If unmarked, each Price Calculation calculates based on the last calculated price.
- In the Percent field, enter the Percent Discount. In this example, enter -5.
- Click the Tracking tab and mark the Track Adjustments check box. This tells RPM to add the line in Acumatica.
- Select the Debit and Credit GL Accounts where you want the discount to post.
- Save and close the screen.
The Price Calculation should look like this screenshot. Note the Tracking section.
When you create a Price Calculation for the fee, follow the same steps, except select Fixed Adjustment for the Price Mode Option. You are then able to enter the amount of the fee.
After all the Price Calculations are created and the appropriate GL accounts are assigned, add the Price Calculations to the Price Schedule.
Now that the Price Calculations are created and assigned to the Price Schedule, all you need to do is enter transactions in Acumatica. As the transactions are entered, Acumatica and RPM work together seamlessly to calculate the price and make those adjustments to the financial accounts.
In this example, the financial accounts are not editable, however, in RPM you have the option to make these lines editable. This allows you the ability to change the accounts and amounts used on the transaction. It’s another way RPM offers flexibility to meet your pricing needs.
Making adjustments to your pricing, even having to calculate multiple discounts, is easy and super flexible in RPM. Simply set the financial account on the Price Calculation and forget it.
If you would like more information on RPM or would like to see a demo, contact us at sales@rocktonsoftware.com or call 877-4ROCKTON.
Do you want to be able to track the dollar amount associated with a specific discount? Maybe you want to see how much of a discount is given to a specific customer or for a specific promotion. If you use exclusive GL accounts for discounts from promotions, you can easily see that information in Acumatica with the help of Rockton Pricing Management (RPM).
For Example
Let’s take a look at an example of how to use RPM to create a discount for a promotion you want to run for the month of April. Then, track the amount tied to that discount in the general ledger when the discount is used on transactions during the month.
How it’s done
A Price Calculation is what drives a price adjustment on a transaction to change the base price of an item. It is where you assign the discount based on an amount or a percentage. In this example, let’s say we are running a promotion specifically for our Loyal customers. They get $10 off when they purchase a specific item in April. The Price Calculation is set up for this amount and tied to a specific GL Account to track the discount. Here is an example of what the Price Calculation could look like.
We already have a Price Schedule for our Loyal Customers so we can easily add this new Price Calculation to the Price Schedule. RPM knows to look for the Item and Customer information to get the correct price.
Now that we have RPM set up to track the discount to a designated account, enter transactions as you normally would in Acumatica. We have already entered some transactions using this Price Schedule with the Price Calculation.
We can see the Price Calculations that were assigned on the transactions, for our new promotion. Click Edit and scroll down to the Price Adjustments area. RPM makes it easy to see your price adjustments within Acumatica. This way, you can verify the information before the transaction is posted. You can even click the View Diagnostics button to see how RPM found the price it returned.
View the GL Account
After the transactions are posted, you can view the GL account to get the total associated with that particular discount. How you view the information is entirely up to you. It can be done through a report, inquiry, whatever way you prefer to view GL Account information. Do keep in mind, if you have multiple discounts posting to the same GL Account, you will see all the transactions.
Summary
While this example is specific to a discount from a promotion, Rockton Pricing Management allows you to track specific GL accounts with any of the Price Calculations you want to use. It doesn’t have to be a discount. It could be royalties, margins, fees, or any other adjustments you use. RPM makes your work simpler & easier®.
If you would like more information on Rockton Pricing Management or would like to see a demo, please contact sales@rocktonsoftware.com or call 877-4ROCKTON (877-476-2586).
Raise your hand 🖐️ if you are in manual mode when it comes to updating any price adjustment or getting shipments out the door?
Get the right price for the right customer with Rockton Pricing Management (RPM) and get your items out the door quickly and accurately with StarShip.
Domestic or International – together, we have you covered!
With Rockton Pricing Management you can:
- Automate even the most complex and obscure pricing scenarios and calculations
- Enable date-driven pricing with all historical pricing tracked and archived
- Always get the right pricing for the right customer at the right time
- Easily set up and track all pricing changes, even daily
With StarShip from V-Technologies you can:
- Save on shipping costs with best way rules and discounted USPS rates
- Shave time off your small package and LTL shipment processing
- Simplify drop shipping, third party, and international
- Support complex shipping requirements such as hazmat
Let’s Chat About Pricing
Rockton Pricing Management is super flexible in the fact that it will work with multi-companies, multi-currency’s, all of your items, and be able to do some really cool adjustments and distributions within our pricing engine which will then push over into Dynamics GP or Acumatica.
How Flexible is RPM
We strive to automate those really complex pricing scenarios. So, if you sell blue shirts to customers in the mid-west on Fridays, that should be 8% off of your list price. We can figure all of that out for you so that you don’t have to manage that price list. We have some criteria you plug into RPM, and those prices will automatically pull into Dynamics GP or Acumatica for your sales transactions.
Date-driven pricing is no problem at all. If you want to offer a Memorial Day sale, you might need to make sure you’re only giving that special pricing from Friday to Monday. We can manage all of that behind the scenes with RPM’s date-driven options and also keep that history for you. So, if you want to know what you charged five years ago for a special promotion or for a certain customer, the history is right there so you can look back at it.
Make changes as often as you like. Some of our customers working within the commodities markets have pricing that may fluctuate daily. RPM makes it simple enough for you to be able to change prices or change calculations based costs, as often as you need to, without having to go crazy, trying to figure out, where is all of this information is being stored.
Sits outside of your ERP system
Rockton Pricing Management sits outside of Dynamics GP or Acumatica. This allows you to set specific users that can administrate the product, while the end user’s experience is just like normal. We have a connector that allows RPM to pull the needed information from GP or Acumatica, process those calculations based on your rules, and then push that price right back over into the sales transaction entry window.
This includes:
- Any price adjustment
- Rebates
- Discounts
- Commissions
Want to price based on location? We can do that too.
Depending on how you are shipping your product, rising gas prices could potentially impact your shipping costs. If you want to recover some of that additional cost, we can adjust the price of an individual line item to increase based on where you are sending it.
Speaking of shipping let’s dive into StarShip next.
StarShip offers integrations to over 12 different e-commerce platforms. This includes shopping carts and marketplaces. So, we’re able to combine all of your different order points into one seamless integration when you’re shipping for both parcel and LTL carriers.
StarShip also has plugins available for different EDI solutions as well. So, regardless of where your orders are coming from, StarShip can harness all of those different transactions together into one integration point and one platform to manage all of your various carriers.
Shipping simplified
With StarShip you have the ability to quickly ship your small packages and pallets regardless of which mode of transport you’re using. Fulfill those orders quickly and automatically.
Simplify the process of automating drops shipments, hazardous materials, international shipments, and EDI.
V-Technologies niche is integration – providing the link between your ERP, accounting and business applications, and the warehouse resulting in faster, more efficient, shipment processing as well as front office visibility.
Features & Functionality
If you have fulfillment that you’re doing on behalf of another customer or you have different business units, you can set up multiple profiles. These profiles can have different drop ship IDs where you can have the information for the return address, and their company logo. All the attributes of the customer that you’re shipping on behalf of will easily populate on the paperwork automatically.
Save on shipping
If you want to do a rate comparison, StarShip can look at all the various carriers that are available to your particular destination. You can also take that decision out of the hands of the shipper and let the system do the thinking for you.
StarShip will rank the services in order of expense. So, you have UPS that came over from the sales transaction but FedEx comes in a little bit cheaper to this destination.
With both solutions you can:
- Achieve and maintain customer loyalty
- Have the ability to look at historical data
- Automate pricing and shipping in Dynamics GP and Acumatica
Next steps:
- Check out the webinar recording and see both of these solutions in action
- Contact us to learn more about Rockton Pricing Management
- Reach out to V-Technologies to learn more about StarShip
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the ability to assign a different GL account to different discounts in Acumatica?
Meet Jane, the Accounting Manager. She knows John, the Sales Manager, has been offering multiple discounts which are great and all, but Accounting needs to be able to track these back to specific GL accounts.
Why is it important to assign these different price adjustments back to specific GL accounts?
- It’s easier for Accounting to track
- Gives Accounting a better view of what adjustments were applied and why
- Automates this process versus creating separate entries each month
Jane wants to track:
- Standard 30-day promo and bonus discount to computers & electronics
- Key customer discount to sales and marketing
Right now, she can’t do that in Acumatica.
A lot to ask? We think not!
There is a way she can do all of it, she just needs some help from a specific pricing engine known as Rockton Pricing Management (RPM).
We got your back, Jane. Watch this quick 1-minute video to find out how:
or watch this 1 minute product example:
With RPM for Acumatica she now can:
- Track all those discount codes back to specific GL Accounts
- Save time not manually creating journal entries at the end of every month
Next steps:
The main aim of pricing and revenue management in a supply chain is to create a balance between supply and demand, while simultaneously optimizing profits. Traditionally, businesses would tweak the availability of their assets. However, in this day in age, revenue management has adopted a different approach. One that focuses more on pricing as the main tool for leveling out supply and demand.
As a more universal approach, this type of pricing and revenue management in a supply chain has proven to boost profits more efficiently. It’s a winning strategy for companies across a number of industries, including manufacturing, food distribution, and wholesale. Let’s dive into how and why you would adopt this approach for your own company.
Balancing supply and demand
Individually, both supply and demand can be adjusted using several different strategies. For supply, this could include changes to your inventory, while demand is usually generated by marketing efforts.
Pricing management is the process that ties supply and demand together by focusing on strategies designed to strike a balance between the two. Working with limited supply chain assets, both in terms of capacity and inventory, pricing and revenue management in a supply chain use pricing as the key tool for optimizing profits.
Increasing the profit margin
There are several revenue management strategies organizations can choose from, depending on your industry and business model. You can choose to focus on the timing of your pricing, targeting different customer segments or adjusting rates based on product or service availability.
Each of these approaches to pricing and revenue management in a supply chain can significantly increase profits. Which one you choose is largely based on the nature of your offering. Perhaps your value proposition is different for different audiences. Or maybe the demand for your products or services spikes during certain seasons. You could even adjust pricing based on individual versus wholesale purchases.
Seasonal pricing and revenue management in a supply chain
Manufacturers and food distribution companies selling season-specific products rely on revenue management tactics to balance out their supply and demand between peak times and the rest of the year. One winning pricing strategy for optimizing profits in this area is fluctuating between higher rates when demand spikes, and reduced prices in off-peak periods. This way you’re encouraging customers to shift their demand, which in turn allows you to maintain the efficiency of your supply chain.
By making this shift as well you are not stuck with a ton of inventory at certain times of the year and you can maintain consistent cash flow for these items.
Revenue management of bulk and spot customers
Most products can be offered individually at a higher price (spot sales) or in bulk at a lower rate. Effective pricing and revenue management in a supply chain strikes the right balance between the two, ensuring wholesale companies are bringing in optimal profit from their offering. You can achieve that through in-depth customer segmentation and strategic inventory management.
It does take an all-hands-on-deck approach. All teams need to be on the same page to be able to execute an effective pricing and revenue management strategy.
Not sure where to start?
- Download our pricing strategies checklist
- Take a closer look at Rockton Pricing Management
- Schedule some time to chat with us to learn more about our pricing solution
Duplication of pricing, price adjustments, date-driven pricing, and promotions can be a daunting task.
Is it a manual process for you? Do you have to keep track of a million spreadsheets? How about a pricing strategy, what does yours look like?
When you think about your pricing strategies and offering discounts or promotions, it can be time-consuming and painful? Acumatica does have some pricing functionality like discounts and special promotions, but it may not meet all your pricing needs. Maybe you need to rethink your strategy, start here with this checklist.
How can you end the duplication process with pricing? Here are 4 ways:
1. Automate different pricing strategies
Whether those strategies involve running promotional discounts, offer VIP client discounts, rebates for vendors, and more. There really is no limit to the different price adjustments you can use or how many you can offer.
2. Don’t forget the accounting side of things
If you are using a variety of promotions or campaigns (as described above) and you want to put dollars to each of those accounts, you can post adjustments to multiple GL accounts for a single line item.
3. SQL Based Engine
Rockton Pricing Management (RPM) is the pricing engine sitting outside of your ERP system. It is the little engine that could or can do any type of price calculation. Once the price is calculated based on certain criteria it will then push that price back into Acumatica.
We push all of those:
- distributions
- discounts
- commissions
- promotions
- rebates
4. How flexible is Rockton Pricing Management?
You can set up a few different promotions that apply specifically to a date range, for a particular customer.
Change a percentage at any time. Give your VIP customer a 3% discount when they are ordering regularly and then when they’re not ordering as much you can easily remove them from VIP status. This can help increase your bottom line knowing you have the flexibility to change which customers get which discounts.
This is all done behind the scenes which means no more duplication of efforts. When you’re setting up these different price calculations, RPM will do the rest and tell the system to just remove that customer from the VIP status filter.
Now, let’s take it a step further. If you have these types of pricing scenarios, then you’re obviously selling goods or services. Wouldn’t it be nice to connect all of your channels from EDI and storefronts to inventory, shipping, and fulfillment?
Here are 3 ways to say goodbye to data duplication
1. One platform is all you need
TrueCommerce can help you streamline processes including eCommerce, marketplaces, and EDI with one single, unified solution. It is a true multi-tenant, cloud-based technology, so you can run it anywhere.
2. All Your Orders in 1 Place
You don’t realize how many places pricing can touch – EDI, Amazon, storefront, an email pdf. It doesn’t matter where the orders are coming from they all end up in 1 central place.
Where is your pricing coming from?
- EDI orders with the negotiated price
- eCommerce with the promotional pricing for your web store or your website
With all of your orders in one central place, there is no more duplication and you never have to re-enter orders or re-type them in.
3. Product Management to the Rescue
Selling on these different platforms and marketplaces is a great way to make money, build your business, and sell your products but each one is different.
Rockton Pricing Management handles all the different pricing scenarios and attributes, TrueCommerce can also enhance those products to have all the different attributes required by doing digital commerce.
The information Amazon wants is different than what Shopify might need to know, this includes product descriptions, packaging, size of your product, and shipping info. With product management in place, you don’t need to keep track of all of that.
With everything integrated and working together with your storefront (Amazon, Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento) you can keep things running smoothly and seamlessly with Acumatica.
Next Steps:
End the duplication of pricing, inputting orders, and tracking your entire supply chain process. It is nice to know there are tools out there to not only manage your pricing but your shopping platforms as well.
Check out this webinar to see how Rockton Software and TrueCommerce can help:
- Automate complex and obscure pricing scenarios and calculations
- Enable date-driven pricing with all historical pricing tracked
- Add multiple price adjustments on 1 item
- Gain access to more than 92,000 pre-connected retailers, marketplaces, distributors, vendors, and logistic providers.
Meet John, he’s the Pricing Manager. He wants to do something extra special for his customers, like multiple discounts.
What’s his struggle?
He wishes he could offer:
- a standard 30-day promo
- key customer discount
- a bonus discount for those who buy more than 1 item
- anything else he can dream up🤔
Right now he can’t offer any extra discounts for his customers. It’s pretty much a one-and-done scenario.
All he can do is apply:
- one discount
- one item at a time
There is a way he can do all of it, he just needs some help from a specific pricing engine known as Rockton Pricing Management (RPM).
With RPM for Acumatica he now can:
- give the VIP treatment
- create as many discounts for one item as he wants
- incentivize those loyal customers
You now have the flexibility to offer those discounts or promos for your special customers to give them a little something extra when they purchase an item or service from you.
Ready to give your customers VIP treatment?
Across many industries, businesses face the same problem: the market is becoming saturated with options every year, making the competition fiercer. It’s easy to feel like you’re losing your grip on the situation. Have no fear, there’s still a lot you have influence over, starting with your price optimization strategy.
Take a look at the 4 best practices we’ve collected below. Make a note of how many you’ve already implemented. The ones you don’t have in your toolbox are a great place to start your price optimization quest.
#1 Customer Segmentation
By now, most organizations have clocked on to the fact that one blanket pricing for all their audiences simply doesn’t work. To harness the full power of your pricing strategy, you want to really drill into your consumer demographics and create robust customer segments. In fact, many experts recommend adopting a Good-Better-Best (G-B-B) pricing strategy when you’re determining your rates.
Once you have decided how you want to segment your customers, Rockton Pricing Management gives you the power to amend your prices based on customer tiers. For instance, you can generate more revenue by attracting new, high-spend customers with a premium version of your offering. Or you can release a basic package that makes your product or service more accessible to those who cannot afford your key proposition. The latter also serves as a safeguard to your pricing power by doing away with the need to offer discounts as a means to entice customers.
#2 Continuous Improvement
There are two main factors that play into this. On one hand, we recommend investing in research and development, no matter your industry. After all, the best way to stay ahead of the competition and justify your pricing is through continuous innovation. Alongside this, try to avoid rigid pricing. Instead, monitor how your target market is responding to your rates and make adjustments accordingly.
#3 Empowered Sales Team
In today’s fast-paced digital environment, even if you have a dedicated revenue manager or even a whole team, it could be challenging for a handful of people to stay on top of pricing adjustments and fluctuations in demand. That’s why many companies are arming their sales teams with powerful software developed specifically to provide guidance with pricing management.
#4 Innovative Technology
A pricing management solution can do much more than simply assist your team with performing their daily tasks. Our flexible pricing tool is API enabled, which means our pricing solution works with your ERP. We provide SQL-based and web service APIs for RPM so you can connect to any ERP system.
With powerful pricing management software, you can automate any pricing scenario, regardless of its complexity. You will also save time, money and reduce errors by linking your price manager tool with your ERP system. The bottom line is, investing in innovative pricing management technology will give you the peace of mind that you’re showing the right prices to the right customer segments at exactly the right moment.
Ready to take your pricing strategies to the next level?
- Learn more about our pricing management tool
- Download our pricing strategies checklist
What is a Pricing Method?
The Pricing Method in Rockton Pricing Management (RPM) is used to determine how you want to calculate the price on a transaction line. There are three Pricing Methods to choose from when you are setting up the RPM Connector to use in RPM. In order to decide which method to use, you first want to understand how your ERP system is tied to RPM, then decide how you want pricing to be determined.
The RPM Connector ties your ERP to RPM. A Price Schedule is created in RPM and matches the Price Level in Microsoft Dynamics GP or the Customer Price Class in Acumatica. If a Price Schedule exists in RPM, it must match to a record in the ERP. The Price Schedule is then used to determine pricing for your transaction lines and whether any price adjustments should be calculated on that line.
The Pricing Method on the RPM Connector is important because it determines which Price Schedule to use when calculating the price for the transaction line. You decide if you want the price to be determined based on the Price Schedule you assign or if you want the system to determine the best Price Schedule to use.
What are the 3 Methods?
1. Static
The static Pricing Method always uses the Price Schedule that defaults onto the transaction in the ERP. The Price Level or Customer Price Class remains the same and drives the Price Schedule RPM uses to calculate the price. For example, if Dynamics GP has a Price Level called Retail and is the default for the Sales Transaction Line when you enter the transaction, then the Retail Price Schedule is automatically used. The price from that Price Schedule is assigned to the line. The same is true in Acumatica. If a Customer Price Class of Retail is used on the Sales order or invoice, then the price is determined by the Retail Price Schedule in RPM.
2. Dynamic
The dynamic Pricing Method is a more advanced method for assigning a Price Schedule to a transaction. It lets RPM determine the best Price Schedule to use. When a transaction is entered, RPM reviews the valid Price Schedules in RPM, and the first Price Schedule found that matches the information on the transaction is used. This is usually based on combinations of Customer, Item, Date, and other attributes. Dynamic pricing allows for more of those complex pricing scenarios.
3. Hybrid
When the hybrid Pricing Method is selected, both Static and Dynamic Pricing Methods are used. With this option, you allow the ERP system to specify which Price Schedule to use (Static Pricing) or leave the Price Schedule blank, and a Price Schedule is selected for you (Dynamic Pricing).
This allows the flexibility of:
- Allowing a specific Price Schedule to default,
- Allowing the user to override the Price Schedule,
- Using Dynamic Pricing to determine the best Price Schedule for the scenario
RPM Company Setup for the Microsoft Dynamics GP Connector:
RPM Settings for the Acumatica Connector:
There’s no need to stress about selecting the right option for your business. If the Pricing Method you selected doesn’t meet your needs, simply go in the RPM Company Setup window and change the Pricing Method at any time.
These are the basics of the RPM Connector Pricing Methods. If you have any questions or need assistance with selecting the right Pricing Method, feel free to reach out to us at support@rocktonsoftware.com.
Need help with your pricing strategies?
- Download our checklist
- Schedule a demo to learn more about Rockton Pricing Management
As someone working in a digital era, you would have likely heard the term dynamic price management being thrown about, but what if you’re still not sure exactly what it means? Fear not, that’s why we’re here. Dive into our quick guide to dynamic pricing revenue management for a crash-course on everything you need to know.
What is dynamic pricing management?
Simply put, it’s is a pricing strategy that uses real-time data to calculate price adjustments. Focused on changing price levels, this approach enables anyone from technology retailers and wholesalers to companies in more specialized fields such as waste management and food distribution to maximize their profits by making tweaks to their prices as and when it’s necessary.
The real power of dynamic pricing revenue management lies in the fact that the process involves much more than simply looking at prices at face value. Factors such as order cancellations and competitor rates play a crucial part in determining the best pricing strategy for your business.
There are a few you can choose from, ranging from complex real-time models to straight-forward rules-based pricing. Price adjustments can be based on customer segments, capacity, or even the specific qualities of your product or service.
The importance of dynamic pricing and revenue management
Online sales are seeing an unprecedented increase in both supply and demand in the current digital climate. This means there was never a better time to set up a pricing strategy based on real-time demand.
It gives you greater flexibility when it comes to the prices of your products or services, enabling you to simultaneously increase the number of sales you make and boost your profits.
The benefits of dynamic pricing revenue management
It’s a pricing strategy tailored to the bigger picture. Instead of setting a static price on each item in your inventory, dynamic pricing allows you to analyze customer loyalty and set up Cost Plus % based on your findings.
In addition to giving you more control over the profit margin associated with each customer segment and product, dynamic pricing and revenue management is a great way to grow the overall profits your business makes. You just need to set up an effective pricing strategy that resonates with customers!
Automating dynamic price management
Dynamic pricing often requires a lot of time and resources, and it could even cause significant losses if set up incorrectly. This is why many businesses steer clear of this pricing strategy. However, provided implementation is done right, it has innumerable benefits.
In addition to the obvious increase in sales, dynamic pricing and revenue management has more long-term advantages such as better inventory management and greater competitiveness in the face of ever-changing market demands. Plus, it provides a valuable insight into the behaviors and preferences of your customers.
With pricing strategy in a continuous flux, methods change and evolve all the time. Getting ahead of the competition with your approach is a sure-fire way to success, and with the right setup, dynamic pricing can be just the thing you need to stand out.
Time is of the essence when it comes to dynamic price management – the more quickly and efficiently you implement it, the sooner you’ll start seeing the profits roll in. Combining this innovative pricing strategy with a dynamic pricing automation tool, like Rockton Pricing Management, will empower you to establish core pricing scenarios and let the system do the rest of the work in the background.
Find out more about our dynamic price management tool
- Schedule a demo and see it in action, contact sales@rocktonsoftware to get started
- Download our pricing strategies checklist