This KB article is for anyone converting or considering converting from Synergy to webSAM. This article is constantly evolving, as we draw from the experiences of others who have made this transition.


In order to make the transition from Synergy to webSAM, two of the most important things we can suggest are:

1. Make sure your team are aware and prepared

    This might mean giving them access to your webSAM trial, showing them what it will be like and giving them some forewarning of the day you plan to make the change. Doing this will help ease the transition, especially with consideration to possible staff shortages or an otherwise busy day on the day of the changeover.


2. It WILL be different

    This might seem obvious, but Synergy and webSAM are different systems, built on different technologies, with different design concepts. There are big differences like Synergy being a Windows-based desktop application, and webSAM being a web-based solution, but even down to smaller things like how name fields are displayed, or how to log in. We definitely recommend spending some time with the demo, to familiarise yourself with these differences before the day of your changeover.



TABLE OF CONTENTS



How much data will be transferred to webSAM?


By default, the data converted from Synergy will be the last 3 years. This can be negotiated on request, however, we strongly recommend bringing through 3 years or less for the following reasons:

  • The shorter the timeframe, the tidier the data will be (the less data, the faster and more efficient it is to navigate and find the specific car/customer or part you're looking for!).
  • It will keep a tidy product list containing only products you have sold within this timeframe (no old/redundant products)
  • It will reduce the likelihood of carrying forward vehicles that have been sold and are no longer in possession of the listed customer (saving wasted time and money sending reminders for vehicles they no longer own)
  • You can keep a read-only copy of your Synergy system that you can continue to refer to for any history outside of the data transferred to webSAM


VEHICLES:
Empty Rego No: Any vehicles in Synergy, that have an empty rego number will have a dummy registration number automatically applied during the data conversion. webSAM requires a unique value in the 'rego' field. The dummy rego numbers applied during the conversion will start with "ZZZ/" e.g ZZZ/01.


STOCK: 
Your "Product Groups" from Synergy will be imported into webSAM as "Stock Analysis Groups". webSAM does not have "Product Categories" as you had in Synergy. 

Your webSAM system will likely also include a few additional Stock Analysis Groups that are a part of the default webSAM data set.


INVOICES:
Invoices are imported for the purposes of reviewing service history, and will only include invoices linked to a vehicle (and if a vehicle has been discontinued, the corresponding invoices will not be imported). They should not be considered as transactions records for financial history, for this purpose you should refer to your old Synergy system.


Can I tidy up my products before importing them into webSAM?


The tool we use to import your data allows us to input how much "history" will be imported, this allows us to only retain products that have been sold within a defined number of years, for example, if we enter '2' for the number of years history to retain, it will make your imported data much tidier as it will only include products you have sold in the last 2 years.


Can I tidy up any of my customer records before importing them into webSAM?


Our import tool allows us to set a date range for active customers to be imported into webSAM. For example, if you only want "2 years of history" this will also only import customers who have had invoices created for them within the last 2 years. This keeps things nice and tidy.


While we're at it you could even ask us to reset all of your customers to be "Cash Only" account terms, or ask for a specific credit limit to be applied to all customers. We can only apply this as a blanket rule against all customers, if we change this, we just do it programmatically during the data import process!



Can I use webSAM without maintaining stock (doing stocktakes and purchase orders etc)?


Absolutely, in fact, there are a few things we can do when converting your data that will make webSAM easier for you if you don't intend to maintain your inventory accurately. Just let us know prior to having your data converted if you would like us to do either of the following:

  • Reset all stock "Quantity on Hand" figures to zero when we convert it to webSAM
  • Change all products to "SUNDRY" (this means you don't really intend to keep this item in stock and maintain the qty for these products)


We should be responsible here and let you know that it IS considered best practice to run a tight ship around inventory control, this can help you manage and improve your profit margins, and we put a lot of effort into getting webSAM to make this job easier for you and help your bottom line; but we get it, some people just don't want to do it - and many Synergy systems we see have never used stock control and have the majority of their products showing huge negative stock on hand figures!


What happens to my Work in Progress (Saved Invoices) from Synergy?

These jobs will be imported into the Work in Progress jobs in webSAM. 


When these jobs are imported, any products/text will be imported into a Job Section on the job labelled "WIP was Imported from Synergy - Draft". This is so you have a reference to the components of the job that came across from Synergy. You may wish to rename this section, as section titles display on printed invoices. For more info on sections, see:

[webSAM] Job Sections


Jobs imported from Synergy will also not be assigned to a Technician, nor will they have Start and End times assigned, so to make the best use of webSAM we recommend you fill in these fields on the job. 


The reason for this is that the only place in Synergy with start and end times and technician fields is in the booking diary and over 90% of Synergy users do not use the Synergy booking diary addon.


As mentioned further below, labour is handled differently in webSAM compared to Synergy, so if you have work in progress converted from Synergy to webSAM, it might be worth removing any labour lines from these jobs and add them back in using the specific 'Labour' function within webSAM.


How do I manage my debtors' current & overdue balances?


Your customers will be converted from Synergy to webSAM, but your primary accounting and debtor management will be handled in Xero. The customers we import from Synergy to webSAM, can be uploaded to Xero using a tool available in the Xero interface settings screen. 


You should discuss with your accountant how to enter the opening balances for your customer accounts into Xero (for example they may do it themselves, or they may just show you how) you would do this based on a Debtors Aged Trial Balance report that can be printed from your Synergy program (available in the Reports menu, and month-end menu, of Accounts Receivable).


This should be done once your customers have been copied into Xero using the tool mentioned above.


Some Key Differences between webSAM and Synergy

Labour:

In Synergy, most people just have 'labour' as a non-stock product in their product list. In webSAM, labour isn't just another product in the product list, labour is something you add to jobs, either directly, or through time-clocking, that is handled differently and when you're adding details to an invoice, labour is a separate option to parts/text etc. 


To read more about setting up and using labour in webSAM, see here: 

[webSAM] webSAM Quick Setup Guide

[webSAM] Digital job card - Pt 2: Adding Parts, Text & Labour



Do I have to use Xero?


webSAM does not currently maintain full debtor accounts, and there is no function to send or print statements, as it is intended that any accounting requirements are covered by Xero and any other future accounting integrations we may develop. 


This said, there are a handful of users running webSAM without Xero, but without statement printing this is only really possible if most/all of your customers are "Cash Sale" customers, and not running charge accounts.