ERP or accounting app at 100, 500 and 2,000 orders a month
What your books must track decides the system: stock across warehouses, purchasing and branches usually point to an ERP. Monthly orders decide the plan.
As orders grow in a Zid store, the bookkeeping question comes up. Is an accounting app still enough, or is it time for an ERP? It usually surfaces when keying in orders by hand weighs on your accountant, or when stock spreads across more than one warehouse.
The 100, 500 and 2,000 in the title are the monthly order limits of the app’s three plans. Choosing between an accounting app and an ERP depends mostly on what your books must track: stock across several warehouses, branches and purchasing. Order volume and warehouse count are signals, and the final call is yours, made with your accountant.
What you need before you start
- Paid orders for each of the last 6 months, plus your busiest season month, such as Ramadan or White Friday.
- How many warehouses ship your stock, and how many locations your Zid store has.
- A list of what your books must track today and over the next year.
- Your current system, if you have one, and your accountant’s notes on what the books are missing.
The decision, step by step
Count monthly orders
Work out your average paid orders a month and your busiest season month.
Count warehouses and Zid locations
How many warehouses ship stock, and how many locations your store has.
List what the books track
Invoices and tax only, or stock, purchasing and branches as well.
Pick the system type
An accounting app or an ERP, after reviewing the choice with your accountant.
Pick the plan
Starter, Growth or Business, by order volume and the features you need.
Setup and go-live
Our team sets up the connection, you approve a test report, then you go live.
1. Count your monthly orders
The number you need is paid orders per month. Ordinary and peak months differ, so note both.
This number decides the app’s plan. Starter covers 100 orders a month, Growth covers 500 and Business covers 2,000. Its effect on the system type is indirect. More orders mean more sales and return entries, and a stronger case for posting them without manual entry, in an accounting app or an ERP.
2. Count your warehouses and Zid locations
This step usually tells you more than the order count. A store that ships from one warehouse tracks its stock in one place. A store with stock across several warehouses or branches needs the quantity in each warehouse, shown at the right location in Zid.
With the app, stock flows from your ERP warehouses to each Zid location, then is read back to confirm it. Growth adds stock, and Business adds multi-warehouse routing: each order goes to the warehouse that serves the shopper’s ship-to city, from a city list our team sets during setup.
3. List what your books must track
This step carries the decision. An accounting app usually covers invoices, VAT, the general ledger, receivables and payables, and financial reports. An ERP usually adds stock across several warehouses, purchasing and branches, and sometimes manufacturing, in one system.
Four questions make the picture clearer:
- Do your books need to track stock quantities in each warehouse?
- Do you buy from suppliers on purchase orders that need tracking?
- Do you run branches that each keep their own stock or accounts?
- Do you make or assemble any products before you sell them?
If every answer is no, an accounting app usually covers what your books need. The more yes answers, the more likely you need an ERP.
4. Pick the system type
| Accounting app | ERP | |
|---|---|---|
| Invoices and VAT | Usually covered | Usually covered |
| General ledger, receivables and payables | Usually covered | Usually covered |
| Financial reports | Usually covered | Usually covered |
| Stock across several warehouses | Outside its usual scope | Usually covered |
| Purchasing | Outside its usual scope | Usually covered |
| Branches | Outside its usual scope | Usually covered |
| Manufacturing | Outside its usual scope | Covered by some systems |
| Live with the app | Wafeq | Odoo 18 and 19, Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, ERPNext |
A general comparison. Details vary from system to system.
The comparison is general. That is why order count comes after the books question, as this example shows.
| Example | Orders a month | Warehouses | Purchasing and branches | Usually closer to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Store A | 2,000 | One | None | Accounting app |
| Store B | 100 | 3 | Yes | ERP |
Store A sells more, but its books track sales and tax only. Store B sells less, but its books track stock in 3 warehouses, purchasing and branches.
The app works with Wafeq as an accounting app, with Odoo 18 and 19, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations and ERPNext as ERPs, and with any system that has a public API.
5. Pick the plan
Two things decide the plan: your orders a month and the features you need.
| Plan | Orders a month | What it adds | Fits a merchant who |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 100 | Orders and returns, plus AI analysis | Needs orders and returns posted to the books |
| Growth | 500 | Stock and the grow-sales tools; price sync set up on request | Needs stock from ERP warehouses to reach Zid locations |
| Business | 2,000 | Routing each order to the warehouse for its ship-to city, and priority support | Ships from several warehouses |
The full feature list of each plan and the current prices are on the app’s page in the Zid App Market. The trial is 7 days on monthly billing and 30 days on yearly billing.
6. Setup, test report, go-live
Our team sets up the connection with you on the system you chose. After setup, you review a test report before going live. You go live in about two weeks, after a test report you approve.
Common mistakes
Where the app fits
Once the system is chosen, the app takes over these jobs:
- Each paid order is written into the system with the customer, items, tax and shipping, then read back to check it.
- Depending on your ERP, the customer is linked to their ERP record or a new record is created, or orders post under one customer account chosen during setup. The same order never posts twice.
- Each return posts as one credit note with Odoo, ERPNext and Wafeq.
- Stock flows from your ERP warehouses to each Zid location, then is read back to confirm it.
- The ERP document number appears as a comment on the Zid order with every system.
- Updating the order status in Zid is available with Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, and is switched on during setup.
Questions merchants ask
Is there a trial?
Yes. The trial is 7 days on monthly billing and 30 days on yearly billing.
What if my current system is not named here?
The app works with any system that has a public API, as well as the systems named in this article.
How long does the connection take?
Our team does the setup with you, and you go live in about two weeks, after a test report you approve.
Where are the plan prices?
The current price of each plan is on the app’s page in the Zid App Market.
Once your system type and order count are clear, you can install the app and start the trial from the Zid App Market.
