The proposal arrived as a twelve-page PDF: licenses, "turnkey" implementation and support "included". Six months later, electronic invoicing breaks twice a week, nobody knows who built the collections report and every question gets quoted separately. The software was the right choice. The SAP Business One partner in Chile was not.
SAP doesn't sell Business One directly. It only sells it through its partner network, so your partner is the one who sells you the licenses, configures the system, adapts it to Chile's tax authority (SII) rules and, if things go well, stays with you for years. That's why choosing a partner matters as much as choosing the ERP. Below: what to separate in a proposal, what a good SAP B1 consultant looks like, and what to do if you already have one and you're not happy.
Four services that usually come in one package
Most SAP Business One proposals bundle four things with different costs and risks. If you don't separate them, you can't compare two offers.
| Component | What it is | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing | SAP B1 user licenses and the annual maintenance paid to SAP through the partner | Which user types are included? How is annual maintenance calculated? On-premise or cloud? |
| Implementation | Process discovery, configuration, data migration, training and go-live | Fixed price or hourly? What's out of scope? Who validates the opening balances? |
| Support | Incident handling, functional questions and patches or updates | Are response times committed? What counts as an incident and what counts as a new request? |
| Development | Reports, add-ons, integrations and changes for your own processes | Who owns the code? Is it documented? Will it survive a version upgrade? |
When everything comes as a single number, you can't tell what you're paying for each part or what happens once implementation ends. Ask for the breakdown. A serious partner will give it to you without fuss.
Chilean localization is where partners differ
SAP Business One is a global product. SAP publishes a localization for Chile that covers things like the RUT (tax ID) and the difference between a document's internal number and its legal folio. Having the Chilean localization doesn't mean your installation already issues valid documents to the SII, though. This is where partners differ the most.
- Electronic tax documents (DTE). To turn an ERP invoice into a DTE you need to load the authorized folio ranges (CAF), stamp and sign the document with the digital certificate, send the XML to the SII and process the response. In SAP B1 this is usually handled by a local partner's add-on or by integrating an e-invoicing provider. Ask which one they use, which DTE types it covers (invoices, dispatch guides, credit and debit notes, receipts if you need them) and who is responsible when the SII rejects a document.
- Tax books and reports. The purchase and sales register reconciled with the SII and the reports for the monthly tax return. Ask to see them running at another client, not in a demo.
- Chart of accounts. Cost centers, dimensions and how accounting closes the month should be designed with your accountant. Copying them from a template gets expensive later.
- Integrations. Banks, e-commerce, payroll, warehouses, Power BI. Each one is something somebody has to maintain when the system on the other side changes.
A partner with real experience in Chile will walk you through all of this in the first meeting. If every answer is "we'll sort that out during implementation", take note.
What a good SAP B1 consultant looks like
The logo and the client count in the slide deck tell you little. These tell you more:
- They ask about your processes before quoting. A proposal written without knowing how you buy, sell, invoice and close the month is a guess.
- They have functional and technical people. You need consultants who understand finance, inventory and sales, and developers who can work with the SAP B1 SDK or Service Layer for reports, add-ons and integrations.
- They document. Configuration, development, integrations and design decisions should be written down and handed to you. Without that, you depend on the specific people who did the work.
- They have a defined support model: channels, hours, response times and someone who knows your instance. "Just message us on WhatsApp" doesn't count.
- They talk about upgrades from day one. SAP keeps releasing version 10 feature packs for both SQL Server and SAP HANA, and custom work built without the next version in mind turns every update into a project. We cover this in SAP Business One support, upgrades and roadmap.
- They let you talk directly to clients like you, in your industry or of your size.
Common mistakes when choosing a partner
- Choosing on implementation price. A cheap implementation with a vague scope gets paid back later through extra hours or support billed separately.
- Not agreeing on what happens after go-live. The real problems show up in the weeks after launch, so support for that period belongs in the contract, not in a vague "warranty".
- Accepting custom development without knowing who owns the code. If you switch partners tomorrow, you need to be able to hand the source code and documentation to the next one.
- Treating support like a generic help desk. Support only works when the person answering knows your configuration. For how a service with clear service levels is put together, see Managed IT services: what they include and when they pay off.
If you already run SAP B1 and you're unhappy with your partner
Switching partners is more common than people think and doesn't require reimplementing. The usual path:
- Assess the instance: version, database (SQL Server or SAP HANA), add-ons, custom development and integrations.
- Inventory what nobody documented: reports, saved queries, stored procedures and customizations nobody remembers anymore.
- Stabilize. Start with recurring incidents, especially the ones affecting invoicing and the accounting close.
- Roadmap: what gets fixed, what gets simplified and when it makes sense to upgrade.
Transferring license maintenance from one partner to another involves its own paperwork with SAP. Plan it ahead and avoid doing it in the middle of year-end close.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy SAP Business One licenses directly from SAP?
No. SAP sells Business One only through partners, who manage the licenses and annual maintenance and almost always handle implementation and support too.
How long does an SAP B1 implementation take?
It depends on the number of companies, modules, data volume to migrate and integrations. Be wary of a fixed timeline given before anyone has looked at your processes.
Can I switch partners without losing what I already have?
Yes. Your data and configuration belong to you. What matters is getting the documentation and source code for custom development, and having the new partner assess the instance before committing to changes.
Let's talk about your SAP Business One
At Disrupsoft we work with companies that already run SAP Business One: support, migrations and upgrades, documented custom development and integration with Azure, Power Platform and Power BI. If your system isn't working the way it should, we start with an assessment of your instance. More on our SAP services page.
