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Rapha accounts integration

  • Client: Rapha Racing Ltd
  • Agency: Message Digital Design
  • Job: Integration with Dimensions accounting system
screen grab of Rapha accounts integration

We knew this project as "Accounts integration" but it was really two pieces of work - integrating the Rapha website with Dimensions Accounting from The Access Group and adding wholesale ordering functionality.

Integration with Dimensions

Dimensions is an accounting software package that had been installed on a server within Rapha's London office. It replaced the previous accounting system and was to be integrated with the website for live stock and ordering information. Following some extensive requirements gathering, I worked with a developer from The Access Group to define the web service that would interface the two systems. I then developed the PHP objects that would implement this interface.

The interface communicates all new orders, refunds and exchanges to Dimensions, updates the website with new products and stock adjustments from Dimensions and sends monthly stock audits to Dimensions in readiness for physical stock takes.

Preparation for the integration required that all orders, refunds and exchanges from the start of Rapha's financial year be batched and imported into Dimensions. It was also necessary to design a new SKU format and apply this to all existing product ranges.

Wholesale ordering

Wholesale ordering extended the Dimensions interface to allow the retrieval of client information from the accounting system. Wholesale orders for these clients could then be prepared on the website using new wholesale ordering pages. These are complex pages that needed to work in multiple currencies and calculate tax for differing client locations. The completed order resulted in a printable invoice and a posted order in Dimensions.

Skills utilised in this project

  • System design
  • WSDL .NET web service integration
  • Object-oriented PHP programming
  • XML reading and writing
  • MySQL database design and querying
  • XHTML template creation
  • CSS standards compliant styling
  • jQuery interactive interfacing
  • Client liaison