The Core Dolibarr Engine

Your Business CRM is powered by an industry-leading open-source ERP framework natively embedded within your dashboard. It strictly enforces Data Integrity, meaning your Customers, Invoices, and Project Timesheets are mathematically linked. You cannot magically delete an invoice a customer has already paid without triggering an unalterable accounting event.

Phase 1: The Sales Pipeline (Third Parties)

The entire system revolves around exactly one entity: The Third Party. A Third Party is any external business or person you interact with. It can be categorized as a Prospect, a Customer, or a Vendor.

Creating a Prospect: Navigate to Business CRM & ERP → Sales Pipeline → Third Parties. Click New Third Party in the main window. Fill in their legal name, address, and set their status strictly as "Prospect." Do not assign them as a Customer yet.
Converting via Proposals: Once a Prospect is in the system, navigate to Commercial Proposals. Draft a proposal and attach it to the Prospect. If they sign and accept the proposal via your online link, the system automatically elevates them to Customer status.
Managing Contacts: A single "Third Party" Company (e.g., Apple Inc.) can have 50 different Contacts working underneath them. Always create the Company first, then add individual employee contacts to that Company profile.

Phase 2: Building Your Service Catalog

Before you can seamlessly generate Invoices, you must establish what you are physically selling. Creating dynamic catalogs accelerates global checkout speeds.

Products vs. Services: A Product is a physical entity that decrements Stock capabilities in your Warehouses & Stock module. A Service is an intangible offering (like Consulting or SEO) that does not require inventory management.
Base Pricing & Taxonomy: When building a Service Catalog item, enforce the default Sales Tax rule and Base Unit Price. This guarantees that any account manager generating a Custom Proposal physically cannot undercharge a prospect.
Accounting Mapping: Ensure your Service Catalog items are mapped to standard Revenue codes in the Platform Engine to automate your Double Entry Ledgers.

Phase 3: Business Finance & Billing Operations

The Billing Module explicitly connects to your Service Catalog and Sales Pipeline. It prevents rogue billing and ensures total financial compliance.

Generating Standard Invoices

Navigate to Business Finance → Invoices. Select the target Customer. The engine will not allow you to invoice a "Prospect". You can instantly import lines directly from an actively signed Commercial Proposal to circumvent manual typing. Validate the Invoice to lock it into the system ledger permanently.

Executing Payment Collections

Invoices remain in an "Unpaid" state until manually or systematically cleared. To record a payment, open the validated invoice, click "Enter Payment," select the exact Bank/Cash account receiving the funds string, and apply the monetary amount. This completes the Dual-Ledger cycle.

Advanced Integrations: External Modules

Under the External Integrations menu, Superadmins can connect the CRM natively to external payment processors and API triggers to bypass manual entry forever.

Stripe / PayPal Native Checkout: Activate the Stripe integration. Provide your Live API keys. Once active, your PDF Invoices will automatically generate a secure Pay Online button. When the client clicks it and pays via credit card, Stripe Webhooks hit the CRM and instantly mark the Invoice as Paid in your Ledger.
LDAP / Active Directory Sync: Under Integrations, you can map your Microsoft Azure AD or internal LDAP server to synchronize Team & Culture users automatically, bypassing dual password tracking.
Webhooks (Zapier / N8N): Set up triggers. Example: WHEN "Invoice Validated" THEN Execute Webhook to N8N. This allows you to orchestrate external events (like sending a Slack alert or SMS via Mautic) the moment billing actions occur.

Business CRM & ERP Master Guide