BROWN BOX SOFTWARE
SMRP
Small/Medium Resource Planning System
SMRP is a complete business management suite for small and medium businesses, built by Brown Box Software. Accounting, customer management, supply chain, manufacturing, HR, expenses and stock counting live in one system, behind one sign-in. For you as an accountant, the point is simple: the work your clients do every day is captured once, at the source, and flows into books you can trust.
SMRP at a glance
- One login, nine applications. Accounting, CRM, Supply Chain, Stock Take, Manufacturing, HR, Expenses, Business Intelligence and Admin.
- Connected banking and payments. API links to Mercury Bank, PayPal and Stripe.
- Documents that process themselves. A built-in document system with AI-assisted data extraction, plus a direct mail system so vendors can email invoices straight in.
- Payroll, expenses and stock counts reach the ledger. Payroll posts to the general ledger, expense claims create journal entries, and stock take differences are approved into inventory and the ledger.
- Audit-ready by design. A permanent audit log, financial records that are voided rather than deleted, and role-based access for every user.
- Mobile-ready. Stock Take and Expenses run on the web today and are ready to load to Google Play and the App Store.
The suite at a glance
Every user signs in once and sees only the applications their role includes. The launch screen is the front door to the whole suite.
| Application | What it does |
|---|---|
| Accounting | Invoices, bills, banking and reconciliation, the general ledger and financial reports. |
| CRM | Contacts and companies, sales pipeline, email campaigns, support tickets and scheduling. |
| Supply Chain | Suppliers, inventory, purchase orders and shipping with live carrier rates. |
| Stock Take | Count stock across locations on the web or on a phone, then approve the differences into inventory and the ledger. |
| Manufacturing | Work centers, bills of materials and work orders. |
| HR | Employees, departments, leave requests and payroll through Gusto or ADP. |
| Expenses | Snap receipts, submit expense claims and approve reimbursements, on the web or on a phone. |
| Business Intelligence | Dashboards and saved reports across the whole business. |
| Admin | Users and roles, company settings, integrations, audit log and deleted items. |
Accounting: your primary workspace
The Accounting application is organized the way an accountant thinks: receivables, payables, then the accountant's own tools for the ledger.
What is in the menu
| Area | Includes |
|---|---|
| Accounts Receivable | Receivables, Invoices and Quotes. |
| Accounts Payable | Payables, Bills and Expense Claims. |
| Accountant | Chart of Accounts, Opening Balances, Bank Accounts, Credit Cards, Assets, Liabilities, Bank Reconciliation and Journal Entries. |
| Shared tools | Documents, Companies, Contacts and Reports. |
Banking and payment connections
Accounting connects through APIs to Mercury Bank, PayPal and Stripe, so the ledger is linked to where your client's money actually moves. Further APIs can be added to meet a client's needs.
Vendor invoices: from inbox to Accounts Payable
SMRP includes a built-in document system with AI-assisted data extraction, together with a direct mail system. Vendors email their invoices to the business, and each one is captured, read, reviewed and moved into Accounts Payable, with no re-keying along the way.
| 1. Vendor emails Invoice arrives through the direct mail system | › | 2. Document stored Kept in the built-in document system | › | 3. AI-assisted extraction Key data is read from the document | › | 4. Approve and post Processed, approved and moved into AP |
The result for your practice: invoice data entry shrinks to a review step, and every bill keeps its source document attached.
Controls and audit trail
The Admin application is where an accountant will spend time confirming that a client's books are protected. Four features matter most.
Role-based access, system by system
Each user is given an access level for each application, for example Accounting: Admin alongside CRM: Viewer. A salesperson can see customer records without ever touching the ledger.
A permanent audit log
The audit log records every change to every record: who made it, when, from where, and what the value was before. Entries cannot be edited or deleted. It can be filtered by date, user, record type and action, and exported to CSV for your own working papers.
Financial records are voided, never deleted
Records deleted anywhere in the system are held in a Deleted Items area until they are restored or permanently removed. Financial records are never deleted at all: they are voided, so the trail stays intact. The retention setting can keep deleted items forever or purge them after a chosen period.
Live and Sandbox data
A Sandbox switch in the header, and a matching Live and Sandbox filter in the audit log, keep test activity distinguishable from live records. That makes it safe to train staff or trial a new workflow before it touches the real books.
A worked example: expense claim to ledger
The demo company's audit log shows how an operational event becomes an accounting entry without anyone touching the ledger. A $100 Travel and Entertainment claim, paid on a personal card, was approved and then reimbursed:
| Step | What happens | What the books and audit log show |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Claim submitted | The employee records the expense in the Expenses app. Status filters include Drafts, Awaiting approval, More info needed and Approved. | The claim is created as an expense record. |
| 2. Claim approved | A reviewer approves it. | The system creates a journal entry and a payable, and links both to the expense. |
| 3. Employee reimbursed | The reimbursement is paid. | The payment is recorded against the payable, the amount due falls, a second journal entry is created and the claim shows as Reimbursed. |
The Expenses app on a phone (see Mobile apps) shows the same claim as Reimbursed.
The rest of the suite
Beyond Accounting, the other applications give your clients one system for running the business, and give you one source for the numbers.
- CRM manages contacts and companies, the sales pipeline, activities, scheduling, campaigns, mail, mail groups and support tickets.
- Supply Chain covers suppliers, inventory, purchase orders and shipments, with low stock alerts against reorder points.
- Manufacturing adds work centers, bills of materials and work orders for clients who make what they sell.
- HR handles employees, departments, leave requests and payroll, and payroll posts to the general ledger.
- Stock Take lets staff count stock on the web or a phone. Differences go through an approval step before they reach inventory and the ledger.
- Business Intelligence provides dashboards and saved reports across the whole business.
Integrations
SMRP connects to the services your clients already use. Credentials are stored encrypted and are never shown again after saving.
| Area | Connected services | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Banking and payments | Mercury Bank, PayPal, Stripe | API links between the ledger and the accounts where money moves. |
| Payroll | Gusto, ADP Workforce Now | HR runs payroll through the provider and posts it to the general ledger. |
| Shipping | ShipStation, FedEx, UPS, DHL Express | Rating, buying labels and tracking from Supply Chain. Each carrier has a test mode, so practice labels are not billed. |
| Vendor mail intake | Built-in direct mail system | Vendors email invoices in; the document system extracts the data for approval. |
| Anything else | Additional APIs on request | More APIs can be added to meet a client's needs. |
Mobile apps
Two SMRP tools are built for people who are away from a desk. Stock Take and Expenses both run on the web today and are ready to load to Google Play and the App Store.
Suggested path for setting up a client
The Accountant menu is laid out in the order most setups follow. A sensible sequence for a new client:
- Set up users and roles in Admin, giving each person the right level for each application.
- Review Company Settings and build the Chart of Accounts.
- Enter Opening Balances so the books begin where the client's previous system ended.
- Add Bank Accounts and Credit Cards, and connect Mercury Bank, PayPal or Stripe where the client uses them.
- Turn on vendor invoice intake so suppliers can email invoices directly, and review the first few extractions together.
- Connect payroll and shipping (Gusto or ADP, and the client's carriers) if they apply.
- Run Bank Reconciliation and review Reports, then use the Audit Log to confirm who is doing what.
Next steps
- Ask Brown Box Software for a walkthrough of SMRP using a sandbox company.
- Tell us which banks, payment providers or other systems your clients rely on. More APIs can be added to meet your needs.
