Epicor Survival Guide

company configuration setup currency fiscal calendar tax system setup foundation

Tip #1

Company Configuration: Your Foundation

The Company Configuration screen (found under System Setup > Company/Site Maintenance > Company Configuration) is the first place you should visit in any new Epicor environment. This single screen controls dozens of system-wide defaults that every other module inherits.

Key tabs include General, Modules, and Allowed Regions. On the General tab, set your base currency, fiscal calendar, and default country. Getting these wrong early causes cascading problems in GL, AP, and AR that are painful to unwind later.

Take special care with the 'Apply Tax When' setting. This determines whether taxes post at order entry, shipment, or invoicing — a choice that affects every sales transaction in the system.

plant site warehouse cost method standard cost FIFO LIFO average cost manufacturing inventory

Tip #2

Plant and Site Maintenance: Where Work Happens

In Epicor, a Plant is the manufacturing or distribution location where jobs are created, inventory is held, and shipments originate. Navigate to System Setup > Company/Site Maintenance > Plants to define or edit your plants.

Each plant has its own cost method (Standard, Average, FIFO, or LIFO), warehouse assignments, and production calendar. Changing the cost method after transactions have been posted requires a full revaluation — plan this before going live.

The 'Transfer Order' settings within Plant Maintenance control how inventory moves between locations. Enable 'Require Ship from Plant' if your operation needs tight traceability between sending and receiving sites.

security roles permissions users groups menu security access control audit admin

Tip #3

User Account Security: Roles and Permissions

Epicor's security model uses a combination of Security Groups and Menu Security to control what users can see and do. Find these under System Setup > Security Maintenance. Resist the temptation to give everyone admin access — it creates audit and compliance nightmares.

Security Groups bundle permissions together so you can assign a role (Accounts Payable Clerk, Shop Supervisor, etc.) rather than individual rights. Create groups that mirror your actual job functions, then assign users to groups instead of to individual permissions.

Use the 'Menu Security' option to hide entire menu trees from roles that don't need them. A cleaner menu reduces training time and prevents accidental data entry in modules the user doesn't own.

chart of accounts GL general ledger segments COA accounts GAAP IFRS books division department

Tip #4

Chart of Accounts: GL Setup Done Right

Your Chart of Accounts (COA) lives under General Ledger > Setup > Chart of Accounts. Epicor uses a segmented account structure — typically Company, Division, Department, and Natural Account — which means the same natural account can roll up differently depending on which division or department is paired with it.

Before adding accounts, finalize your segment structure. Adding a new segment later is possible but requires remapping all existing account combinations, which is a significant effort. Work with your accountant or CFO to design this upfront.

Epicor's 'Book' concept allows multiple accounting books (e.g., US GAAP and IFRS) to coexist. If your company has multi-currency or multi-standard reporting needs, set up your additional books before posting any transactions.

part part master inventory UOM unit of measure part class product group GL raw material WIP finished goods

Tip #5

Part Master: The Heart of Your Data

Every manufactured, purchased, or sold item in Epicor flows through Part Maintenance (Inventory Management > Setup > Part). The Part record is the single source of truth for how an item is tracked, costed, purchased, and sold.

The Part Class and Product Group fields are critical for reporting and GL mapping. Part Class drives the inventory GL accounts (Raw Material, WIP, Finished Goods), while Product Group is used in sales analysis and sometimes in pricing rules. Set these consistently from day one.

The UOM (Unit of Measure) settings on the Part record — and especially the UOM Class — control how the item is bought, sold, and stocked. Epicor supports multiple UOMs per part with conversion factors, but mismatched UOM setups between purchasing and production are a common source of inventory discrepancies.

customer ship-to billing tax accounts receivable AR sales invoice terms credit

Tip #6

Customer and Ship-To: Avoiding Billing Chaos

Customer Maintenance (Sales Management > Setup > Customer) stores your billing address, terms, tax settings, and default salesperson. Each customer can have multiple Ship-To addresses, which is essential for customers who receive deliveries at different locations than where invoices are sent.

The 'Bill To' relationship on Ship-To records is frequently overlooked. If you have a parent company that consolidates invoicing for multiple child locations, set the Ship-To's Bill To field to the parent customer record. This routes all invoices to the right place automatically.

Tax settings on the customer — specifically Tax Liability and Tax Region — drive whether and how sales tax is calculated on orders. Make sure these are configured before entering your first sales order, or you'll spend time manually adjusting invoices.

supplier vendor purchasing AP accounts payable PO purchase order payment terms price list

Tip #7

Supplier Maintenance: AP Setup Essentials

Supplier Maintenance (Purchase Management > Setup > Supplier) is where you configure your vendors for purchasing and accounts payable. Like customers, suppliers have a primary address plus multiple remit-to and purchase-from addresses, so a single supplier can have different physical shipping locations and payment destinations.

The Payment Method and Terms fields on the supplier record default into every purchase order and AP invoice for that supplier. Getting these right saves time and prevents payment disputes. Epicor supports ACH, check, wire, and EFT payment methods natively.

Supplier price lists and purchase contracts are linked to the supplier record. If you negotiate volume pricing, set up a Supplier Price List here so Epicor can automatically apply the correct cost when buyers create POs — reducing manual price lookups and errors.

production calendar scheduling capacity shifts resources resource group holidays shop floor manufacturing due date

Tip #8

Production Calendars: Scheduling That Actually Works

Production Calendars define when your shop floor is available to work and are the backbone of Epicor's scheduling engine. Find them under Production Management > Setup > Production Calendars. Each resource group and individual resource can be assigned its own calendar.

Calendars define shifts, days off, and holidays. If your facility runs multiple shifts with different crews, set up shift-specific calendars and assign them to the resource groups that correspond to each shift. Scheduling will then properly account for capacity across all active shifts.

A common mistake is forgetting to mark company holidays on the calendar. If December 25th is not marked as a non-working day, Epicor will schedule jobs to finish on Christmas and your due-date promises will be wrong. Review and update calendars at least once a year.

system agent scheduler task queue automation MRP background recurring service account period close batch

Tip #9

System Agent and Task Queues: Automate the Routine

Epicor's System Agent (System Setup > System Agent Maintenance) is the built-in scheduler for recurring background tasks — things like closing periods, generating pick lists, sending email alerts, and running MRP. Think of it as Windows Task Scheduler, but deeply integrated with Epicor's data and business logic.

Each task runs under a specific user account, so create a dedicated 'Service Account' user with just the permissions needed to run scheduled tasks. Avoid running agents under a real user's account — if that person leaves and their account is disabled, all scheduled tasks break silently.

Monitor the Task Queue (System Setup > Task Queues) regularly, especially after go-live. Failed tasks sit in the queue with an error message that tells you exactly what went wrong. A full or stuck task queue is one of the most common causes of 'Epicor is slow' complaints from end users.

alerts notifications global alerts BPM email credit hold PO approval automation workflow events

Tip #10

Global Alerts: Proactive Problem Notification

Global Alerts (System Setup > Global Alert Maintenance) let Epicor send automatic email or in-app notifications when specific business events occur. Examples include: a PO over a spending threshold, a job going past its due date, a customer order placed on credit hold, or a part falling below its minimum quantity.

Alerts are driven by BPM (Business Process Management) directives behind the scenes, but Global Alert Maintenance provides a simpler UI for the most common scenarios. For more complex triggers — like multi-condition logic or data transformations — you will need to go directly into BPM Method Directives.

Start with a small set of high-value alerts rather than enabling everything at once. Alert fatigue is real: if your team's inbox is flooded with low-priority notifications, they stop reading them entirely and miss the important ones. Prioritize alerts that require human action within 24 hours.

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