Watch this webinar to see a review of 2018 and a look forward into 2019. It covers updates from the different teams within Ibcos and looks at manufacturer and supplier integrations, key product initiatives and core enhancements. Beneath the webinar link, you’ll see a list of the questions that were raised during the webinar, with the answers that were given at the end.

Questions and Answers

What are the views of Ibcos on planning for Brexit and the impact it may have on VAT?

With regards to Brexit planning, if we have an orderly exit we’re not anticipating any immediate need to change our Gold software. If we have a disorderly exit, there are a few factors that may come into play. One of the things that we would anticipate is that there is likely to be an exchange rate impact and the value of the pound could plummet. If you listen to Barclays, it is their view that the value of the pound could drop by up to 10%. Whilst there are no particular impacts as far as Gold is concerned, it is something to consider if you are a business that is dealing with exchange rates.

With regards to VAT, there are some guideline papers on the HMRC website, which talks about areas to consider in the event of a disorderly Brexit. Our Product & Development Teams are currently reviewing these guidelines and then we’ll be able to advise you as to whether any changes are needed to our Gold software as a result.

From an import/export perspective, and regardless of whether it ends up being an orderly or disorderly Brexit, it is likely that the UK will end up moving to World Trade Organisation rules, which would mean that additional tariffs would be applied. In Gold, the Imports module gives you the ability to add any extra tariffs that are needed.

Although not system related, another thing that is likely to have an impact is the ability to transfer funds from the UK to EU countries. If this is something that affects your business, you should talk to your bank to understand whether you need to make provisions for this.

Can we have an option within Payment Practices reporting to tag a Supplier account as a direct debit account and ‘ignore’ them from the Payment Practices KPIs?

There are 2 viewpoints on this.

If you want to exclude a Supplier account from Payment Practices reporting, you can set the ‘exclude’ flag on the Terms tab on the Supplier screen. Whilst not specifically relating to direct debit, it is a way of excluding a Supplier account from the Payment Practices KPIs.

However you could say that for a Supplier account that is direct debit, this is 100% paid on time and would therefore fall into the category of % of payments made in less than 30 days.

Is the list of bug fixes and small enhancements available on the Ibcos website and are these lists maintained on an ongoing basis?

Every time we do a release, we send out an email containing a link to the Release Notes document saved on our Customer Portal on the Ibcos website. Each document contains a list of the bug fixes and small enhancements related to that specific release. To find them retrospectively, enter the word ‘release’ into the search area box on the Customer Portal – all the release notes communications will appear and on each page you’ll find a link to the Release Notes document.

With regards to the training videos, how are these categorised?

Access the Customer Portal, then click on Training to see the videos. They are ordered by module first of all but we also have a section specifically on v7, which is also broken by module. Each video is numbered and follows the order of the Gold 7 course notes. In the future, we are planning to publish ‘Make The Most Of’ and ‘Did You Know?’ bite sized videos that will help you make better use of Gold.

Has Ibcos considered doing a Dealer summit?

This is something that we are very interested in as we’d like the opportunity to provide more detail about the product launches we are doing and even provide training on specific areas of the system. We are in discussion with our Marketing team to decide on what type of format is should be presented in, where it should be located and when it could be done. As soon as we’ve made a decision, we’ll send a marketing email out with details.

As an enhancement to ideas@ibcos.co.uk, have you considered an ‘ideas wall’ on the Customer Portal?

We would see this as a way of displaying ideas that people can view, comment against and even vote on. We do like the idea and will explore this further to see whether we can make something like this work for us and our customers.

Are CNH happy to accept paperless warranty claims from Ibcos?

Currently, there is a requirement for a paper job card with some manufacturers however they are all are moving towards being digital and therefore beginning to embrace the paperless approach. For Gold Service, we have worked hard to think how our mobile app and web portal can work for warranty jobs and we are having conversations with our manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that it meets their needs. Ultimately, we are looking to get an endorsement of Gold Service from each manufacturer as this will build even greater confidence in our product.

CNH eBilling has been discussed for many years but in reality are we any closer to seeing this developed and implemented?

In 2018, we had high hopes that this project would be done during that year. Unfortunately this didn’t happen due to CNH funds being diverted elsewhere. However it is a hot topic for us and still very much on the agenda as we know it will be a popular integration. We are in continual conversations with CNH about integrations and we remain optimistic that this will be developed at some point in the future.

Are you planning on providing a mobile system for parts that can be used when a user is out of the office on weekends to check what items are in stock?

The idea of a Parts App, including this feature amongst others, was put to the Customer Advisory Board last year. However the responses we got back were very mixed and so we diverted our attention to other initiatives like the Machine Inventory Portal and Dashboards. The idea hasn’t completely gone away but there are no plans to do a parts app this year.

Are you looking to hold training sessions for updates?

Classroom training is something that are planning on doing this year. We had previously tried this about 12 years ago and we feel that the time is now right to try this again with a new approach. We have already developed some courses and the initial focus is on new user training to try and raise standards and the level of knowledge that is out there. Once we have more details we’ll let you know, so look out for updates.

Will the Knowledgebase lead to a forum for dealers where users can interact with Ibcos to answer questions or search for a problem and find the answer?

This is an interesting point. We are certainly looking to have a centralised area where knowledge can be shared and accessed by everyone. However a forum is not something that we have looked into.