Customer self-service portal guide

1. Overview & Business Value#

This comprehensive operational guide details the architecture, business workflows, configuration parameters, and execution steps for Customer self-service portal guide within SmartERP.

This reference document explains capabilities available on the SmartERP Customer Self-Service Portal (https://smarterp.et/my).

{screenshot:customer-portal-guide-overview-dashboard}

2. Prerequisites & Security Access Groups#

• Required Modules: sale_management, crm, point_of_sale, smarterp_payment_telebirr
• Security Groups:
  • Sales User (Technical ID: sales_team.group_sale_salesman)
  • Sales Administrator (Technical ID: sales_team.group_sale_manager)
  • POS User / Cashier (Technical ID: point_of_sale.group_pos_user)
• Master Data Dependencies: Customer partner registry, selling pricelists, product inventory balances, payment providers (Telebirr/CBE Birr), and POS terminal sessions.

3. Step-by-Step Configuration & Execution#

Step 1: Navigating to the Module Interface#

1. Log into your SmartERP instance at https://smarterp.et/odoo.
2. Open the main App Switcher (grid icon in the top-left corner).
3. Select the Sales app icon.
4. From the top navigation bar, open Sales → Orders → Quotations / Orders; Point of Sale → Dashboard.

{screenshot:customer-portal-guide-app-switcher-navigation}

Step 2: Creating and Parameterizing Records#

1. Click the New button in the top-left control panel.
2. Complete the mandatory fields in the record form:
   • Customer Name (Mandatory): Registered partner record with complete invoicing and delivery addresses
   • Product Lines (Mandatory): Saleable items with approved commercial pricelist rates and VAT classification
   • Payment Terms (Mandatory): Immediate settlement, milestone advance, or agreed commercial credit terms
   • Salesperson (Mandatory): Account executive responsible for the customer commercial relationship
3. Configure optional operational parameters and localized tags as required:
   • Analytic Account (Optional): Revenue center or project allocation for commercial tracking
   • Customer PO Reference (Optional): External purchase order number issued by the client
   • Shipping Policy (Optional): Deliver all products at once or allow partial dispatches
4. Click the Save icon in the control bar to commit the record.

{screenshot:customer-portal-guide-record-creation-form}

Step 3: Validating and Processing Transactions#

• State Transitions: Execute operational state progression (Quotation → Sent → Confirmed Sales Order → Delivery Done → Invoiced → Paid).
• Ledger & System Impact: Generates customer tax invoice, posts accounts receivable debit and sales revenue credit, and updates inventory valuation upon delivery.
• Audit Verification: Automated recording of author ID, timestamp, and immutable revision history.

{screenshot:customer-portal-guide-transaction-processing-state}

Portal Capabilities#

Authenticated customers can:

• Quotations & Orders: Review active proposals, accept terms, apply digital signatures, and download quotation PDFs.
• Shipment Tracking: Track delivery progress in real time (Picked → Shipped → Delivered).
• Invoices & Statements: Download official 15% VAT invoices (Form 3.10) and view running account statements.
• Online Payments: Settle unpaid invoices using Telebirr SuperApp QR, CBE Birr, or Chapa e-commerce checkout.

Security & Verification#

• Protected by Two-Factor Authentication (2FA via SMS/email OTP).
• Customer portal users access only documents where their partner record is explicitly set as the customer.

4. Advanced Configuration Points#

• Automated Actions & Scheduled Tasks (Crons):
  • CRM: Lead auto-assignment (crm.ir_cron_lead_assign): Runs hourly to allocate unassigned leads across sales teams
  • Sales: Expire overdue quotations (sale.ir_cron_expire_quotes): Runs nightly to mark stale quotes as cancelled
  • POS: Close abandoned register sessions (point_of_sale.ir_cron_session_cleanup): Runs nightly to alert managers of open cashier terminals
• Custom Print Templates & Reports:
  • Customer Sales Quotation / Pro-forma Invoice
  • Commercial Tax Invoice (Model 85 Compliant)
  • POS Cash Register Receipt with QR Validation
  • Customer Credit Limit & Receivables Aging Statement
• Multi-Company Rules: Record-level security isolation under Company 1 (Ashewa Technology Solutions S.C.), preventing cross-company ledger leakage across parent and subsidiary legal entities.

5. Comprehensive Troubleshooting Matrix#

Next#

• Reports: Sales cockpits and revenue reports.