The Business Workflow

Many business processes require a predicable sequence of documents. Customers often demand a quote and maybe a second quote after negotiation. If the quote turns into an order, an acceptance of the order should be sent, and finally, after the order is filled, an invoice is written. Kraft leverages information in earlier documents to simplify later documents: Once a quote exists, Kraft will use the information for later documents (such as acceptance of order or invoice). Once all the information is entered, all items in the quote are copied to the subsequent document, so creating an invoice from a quote is as easy as one copy and a quick check.

Kraft includes several useful document templates that are populated automatically from the address book. You are also free to create custom templates.

Kraft's calculation module allows the user to build a structured catalog of templates, including texts, units, and price calculations. The calculation module will consider time calculation based on different hour rates, fixed calculation parts, and also material that is used in calculations.

Tagging and Numbering

Documents like invoices often need a unique number for accounting and tax purposes. Kraft supports so-called number cycles for each document type. Kraft users can use the default incremental format or configure their own numbering format to include extra info, such as static text or the week or month number, in addition to a required unique counter.

Another feature is the ability to tag certain items in the document. For example, you could tag an item in an invoice as material or labor to allow for different tax or discount rates.

Your Own Logo

Kraft lets you add a logo to every document you send out. Templates [2] are stored in RML, an XML dialect. Listing 2 shows an excerpt from a template file, with the entries pageTemplate and pageGraphics adapted to show an individual logo. Listing 3 shows how to embed the signature of the company lead.