Rivhit or Hashavshevet: The Signs It Is Time to Move

Rivhit and Hashavshevet are not two equal options you choose between once - they are two stages. Rivhit is a product family for running a business and its bookkeeping; Hashavshevet H-ERP is an ERP with modules for purchasing, inventory, production floor, costing, service labs, rentals and HR. The move happens when operations break, not when bookkeeping does.

What Hashavshevet presents that an invoicing system does not

Alongside these, Hashavshevet also presents an additional product layer - H-WEB, H-BI, H-MOBILE, H-BPM and others - and a documented interface layer. That is a difference in character: a system expected to have things connected to it, not a closed one.

What are the signs, in practice?

Not turnover. These are the signs:

1. Inventory that stopped being a list. Bills of materials, components, periodic counts, warehouse locations.
2. Manufacturing or assembly. Even simple assembly from components counts here.
3. Several branches. Different price lists, per-branch permissions, and a report that has to break down.
4. Costing. The question "how much did we make on that job" with no answer in the system.
5. Payroll and HR managed in three places.
6. Several users working in parallel on the same data, needing real permissions.
7. Reports somebody rebuilds in a spreadsheet every month from the same two files.

The seventh sign is the most reliable of all. A monthly spreadsheet somebody maintains is a shadow system, which means the official one does not meet the need.

What costs more than it looks

Moving to an ERP is not a software swap but a project, and these are the components that surprise people:

• Data. Cleaning customer, supplier and item records before loading. This is almost always the long phase.
• Implementation and training. A deep system needs someone to learn it. A business that does not invest here returns to spreadsheets.
• Customisation. Reports and documents adapted to what the business actually does.
• Interfaces. Connections to the store, to clearing, to payroll and to the bank - each a job of its own.
• Your professionals' time. The accountant and bookkeeper need to be in the process, and that is hours.

Hashavshevet presents detailed interface documentation - import from an ODBC table, import from a text file, bank statement import per bank, item and bill-of-materials import, stock counts, and an e-commerce interface. That is a good planning starting point, but the planning itself still has to happen - the technical side is in the Hashavshevet API guide and what breaks on import is documented in Hashavshevet import errors and reconciliation.

What not to do in a migration

• Do not migrate mid tax year if you can avoid it. Starting at the beginning of a year simplifies balances, numbering and reports, and is worth waiting two months for.
• Do not migrate and adopt a new module in the same week. If operations move and the production module goes live for the first time, you will not know what broke.
• Do not switch the old system off immediately. You need it readable at least until year-end closing, sometimes longer.
• Do not let the project run without an owner inside the business. The implementation vendor brings expertise; deciding what matters is yours, and no vendor can decide it for you.

The first point is the only one hard to fix afterwards, so if you are reading this in September, planning for the start of the year beats pushing now.

What to do before deciding

• Write the seven signs down and mark how many are true for you. Three or more is a real discussion.
• Ask your bookkeeper and accountant what they work against and what would make their life easier.
• Ask for a demo on your own process, not a generic one. Bring a real document and a real order.
• Establish what happens with allocation numbers, the uniform format and the VAT report in the new system - basics, not extras.
• Check what can be exported from the current system before you start.
• Decide what does not move. Ten years of history does not have to enter the new system.

That last item saves most of the time. History is kept in a readable archive; the new system needs opening balances and live data, not a decade of transactions.

That last line deserves emphasis: a good implementation vendor will ask you questions you have no answer to, and that is a good sign. A vendor who asks nothing and promises everything will work exactly as today is selling you an installation, not an implementation.

Sources

• Hashavshevet H-ERP - modules and interface documentation, company site
• Rivhit - business management solutions
• Israel Tax Authority - Israeli invoices