Choosing modules: start small, grow without migrations

Why start small

A business system is easiest to adopt when each team gets something useful quickly. Turning everything on at once means configuring everything at once, and training everyone at once. Modulix is built so you do not have to: each organization enables only the modules it needs, and adding one later uses the records you already have.

What a module is

Every business capability in Modulix is a module: Contacts, Leads, Sales, Accounting, Inventory and so on, 24 in all. Modules share one database, one set of roles, one audit log and one API. Enabling a module for your organization:

• enables the modules it requires first, if they are not already on;
• adds its pages to the sidebar and its widgets to the dashboard;
• gives its default permissions to the built-in roles (Administrator, Member and Read-only);
• adds its section to the organization settings, if it has one.

Disabling a module hides its pages, menus, settings and API for your organization. Its data is kept: enable it again and everything comes back as it was. You cannot disable a module that another enabled module needs; disable the dependent one first.

Dependencies worth knowing

• Leads needs Contacts.
• Opportunities needs Contacts, Product catalog and Pricing.
• Sales needs Contacts, Product catalog, Pricing, Taxes, Opportunities and Inventory, so enabling Sales alone turns on all six.
• Purchasing needs Contacts, Product catalog, Inventory and Taxes.
• Accounts receivable needs Sales and Accounting; Accounts payable needs Purchasing and Accounting.
• Banking, Financial reporting and Tax management need Accounting; Tax management also needs Taxes.
• Expenses needs Accounting and Workflow automation.
• Notes, Documents, Forms, Activities and tasks, Notifications, Custom fields and Organization structure stand alone.

A four-stage path

Stage 1: know your customers

Start with Contacts, Leads, Activities and tasks and Notifications. Import your customer list, set up lead capture from a form or a spreadsheet, and let the sales team log calls and follow-ups. This stage is about getting everyone working from one list.

Stage 2: sell

Enable Sales. It brings the product catalog, pricing, taxes, opportunities and inventory with it. Before the first quotation goes out, set up your products, price books and tax rules, so every line is priced and taxed correctly from day one. If you only sell services, you can leave inventory unused: services never track stock.

Stage 3: keep the books

Enable Accounting, Accounts receivable, Banking, Financial reporting and Tax management. Before posting anything, set the organization's default currency and the month the fiscal year starts. Check that each account role (receivables, sales, bank, tax collected) is held by an account; the starting chart of accounts has them.

This is where "no migration" pays off. On the receivables Postings tab, Post what is missing posts every invoice and payment that is not in the books yet, including the ones recorded in Sales before Accounts receivable was enabled. The books catch up with what already happened.

Stage 4: buy and automate

Enable Purchasing and Accounts payable to order from suppliers, receive goods into stock and turn receipts into vendor bills. Enable Workflow automation for approvals and reminders, and Expenses for employee claims.

At any stage, Documents, Forms, Notes, Custom fields and Organization structure can be added when someone needs them.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Custom roles get nothing automatically. When a module is enabled, only the built-in roles receive its default permissions. Review your custom roles and add what they need.
• Taxes before quotations. Rules choose taxes from the customer's location and the product's tax class. Fill in customer countries and product tax classes before you send the first quote.
• Settings before postings. Change the currency or the fiscal year after entries are posted and you will spend a day explaining it to your accountant.
• Opening balances. Decide your go-live date, record opening balances as of that date, and give each bank account its opening balance and date so reconciliation starts in the right place.

Where to go next

Each module's page in the documentation lists what to enable first, the permissions involved and its settings. If you want a second opinion on your plan, book a walkthrough.