Exact Synergy Enterprise · TIPP 1.3.0
TIPP User Manual
A quickstart from a finished installation to your first real case, followed by worked use cases your team can copy. TIPP is a productivity pack for Exact Synergy: workspaces, lenses and boards work on their own, and AI adds to them when you switch it on.
How the TIPP documentation fits together.
- The installation manual gets TIPP onto your Synergy server.
- This user manual is the journey: what to do first, what comes next, and how a task looks from start to finish.
- The Knowledgebase explains every TIPP screen in detail. It is the same set of articles the Help widget inside TIPP uses. Each step below links to the matching article.
TIPP 1.3.0 · Contents
Contents
- Before you start
- Quickstart
- Use cases
- Troubleshooting: common messages
- Where to go next
- 1Check or update your licence
- 2Set up Backoffice Connections
- 3Add your AI provider and API keys
- 4Switch on your first workspace
- 5Run a first real case
TIPP 1.3.0 · Section 1
1. Before you start
This manual starts where the installation manual ends. Before you begin, check that:
- The TIPP installer has finished and its warnings have been reviewed.
- A Synergy administrator has run System → Database → Update to apply the TIPP solutions.
- The people who will use TIPP have Synergy role 93, Enabling Add-On, and are covered by the licence.
- You know which Synergy divisions belong to which Exact Globe (or Macola) database, and you have a SQL login that can read them.
The quickstart steps are done by a Synergy administrator. TIPP setup pages are under Modules → TIPP → Setup, grouped into General, Connections, AI, and Menus and security. Try everything in a test administration first, and pick a small pilot group before you open TIPP to everyone.
Quickstart · Step 1
2. Step 1: Check or update your licence
The installer normally applies your licence, so in most cases this step is a quick check. You come back here whenever TICE-IT sends you a new licence file, for a renewal, a replacement or an edition change, or when another TIPP page says the licence is not valid.
1.
Open Modules → TIPP → Setup → General → License. The page is called License Management.
At the top, the TIPP Version section shows the installed version. “TIPP is up to date.” means you have the latest. If a yellow banner says “A new version of TIPP is available:”, its link opens the update instructions.
2.
Look at the Current License card. The badge should say Active. Check the Type, Max Users and Expires lines, and the Status line, which shows the days remaining. If fewer than 30 days remain, a yellow “License expires in N days” warning appears.
A healthy licence: the installed version at the top and an Active licence card. The customer name is an example; identifiers and dates are concealed. 3.
To apply a new licence file, go to Upload License. The blue “Required License Number” box shows the Exact licence number your file must match. Click Choose File, select the .lic file from TICE-IT, then click Upload License. The button stays greyed out until you choose a file.
Upload the .lic file TICE-IT provides. The required licence number is concealed in this illustration. 4.
A green “License activated successfully for” message, followed by the customer name, confirms it. If you see “License number mismatch”, the file was issued for another Exact licence number: ask TICE-IT for the right file and do not edit the file yourself.
Screen details: License Management
Quickstart · Step 2
3. Step 2: Set up your Backoffice Connections
TIPP reads your ERP data straight from the back-office database of each division. This step tells TIPP which database belongs to which division and deploys the database objects the TIPP workspaces need. Without it, the workspaces show a connection message instead of data.
1.
Open Modules → TIPP → Setup → Connections → Backoffice Connection. You need to be a Synergy administrator, and the licence from step 1 must be valid.
2.
Under SQL Server Credentials, enter the SQL login TIPP should use (SQL Username and its secret) and click Save. One login is used for all divisions and it is stored encrypted. Type it straight into this page, never into an email, chat or screenshot. Because TIPP uses this login to read your data, keep it limited to what TIPP needs.
3.
Under Division Database Configuration, fill in Server Name and Database Name for each division you use, and choose the Type: Exact Globe, Macola or Other. Click Save.
4.
Click Test Connection on each row and read the Status column. “Failed: cannot open database” usually means the login has no access to that database: run TIPP_GrantBackofficeUser.sql from the kit’s SQL folder in that database. “Failed: server not reachable” means the server name is wrong or the server does not accept remote connections from the Synergy server.
5.
When the divisions you want show Connected, click Setup Workspaces and confirm. TIPP deploys the workspace objects to every connected Exact Globe or Macola division. The Status changes to “Connected, workspaces deployed”. It is safe to run again later: existing views are replaced in place.
After Test Connection, Status reads Connected when the login can reach that database. Server names are concealed. When you then click Setup Workspaces, the Status becomes Connected, workspaces deployed.
Using TIPP PRO? The TIPP Transactions service is set up during installation. Under Modules → TIPP → Setup → Connections → Engine Settings, click Check Running Service to confirm it runs. The page reloads, and the result appears in the green banner at the top of the page, beginning “TIPP Transactions OK at”. Changes to most service settings only apply after you restart the TIPP Transactions Windows service.
Screen details: Backoffice Connection · Engine Settings
Quickstart · Step 3
4. Step 3: Add your AI provider and API keys
TIPP is useful without AI: workspaces, snapshots, lenses and boards all work on their own. Adding an AI provider switches on the TIPP Assistant chat, the AI buttons on workspaces, Build it on the lens page and, with TIPP PRO, features such as Create Sales Order from PDF. You use your own account and API key with the provider you choose.
1.
Create an API key with your AI provider. TIPP supports Gemini (Google), Grok (X.AI), ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), Mistral AI (Mistral) and Azure AI (Microsoft).
2.
Open Modules → TIPP → Setup → AI → AI Settings. The page opens read-only: click Edit.
3.
In your provider’s section, paste the API Key. Click Load Models and choose a model from the list, or type the model name. For Azure AI, fill in Endpoint, API Version and Deployment Name instead. Click Save.
Keys are write-only: when you reopen the page, the field is empty and a label shows “set, last changed” followed by a date, or “unknown” if the key was saved before dates were kept. Leave the field empty to keep the stored key.
4.
Optionally, in AI Context, cap Max Number of Documents Included and Max Number of Workflows Included, and tick “Show AI buttons on cards (Account, Resource, Project, Opportunity, Item, Document, Request)” if you want those buttons on the cards. Without them, people open the chat from Synergy’s top bar: when the TIPP Assistant agent is On, an unlabelled TIPP logo icon appears there. The input placeholder is “Ask TIPP Assistant”.
When a key is already stored, the API Key field stays empty and the label reads set, last changed. In this illustration the date is unknown, because the key was saved before dates were kept. AI Context sits under the provider settings. 5.
Save does not prove the provider answers. Test it from Synergy’s top bar. When the TIPP Assistant agent is On, an unlabelled TIPP logo icon appears there; click it and ask a simple question. The input placeholder is “Ask TIPP Assistant”.
With no card open, the TIPP Assistant opens as a general chat. Open a customer or project card first to chat about that record.
Teach TIPP your database
Open Modules → TIPP → Setup → AI → Knowledgebase Setup. Under Schema documentation, click Install or Update for each product. Under Rules the AI must follow, a consultant can add notes of the Kind “Relevant for us”, for example that a certain selection code means intercompany and must be excluded. This makes generated queries, such as those from Build it, fit your company.
Screen details: Knowledgebase Setup
TIPP Assistant agent (TIPP PRO)
Below the provider settings on AI Settings is the TIPP Assistant setup. Choose Off, Read only or On, which AI services people may use, who can use the agent and which Synergy lists it may read. A good start is Read only for a pilot group. Without TIPP PRO, people get the plain chat, which reads one record and never changes anything.
Screen details: TIPP Assistant setup
Screen details: AI Settings · TIPP Assistant
Quickstart · Step 4
5. Step 4: Switch on your first workspace
The workspaces were deployed in step 2. Now decide who sees them and check one with real data before you invite the team.
1.
Open Modules → TIPP → Setup → Menus and security → Page Security. Every TIPP workspace and Transactions page is listed, and by default every page is public. To limit a page to a role, choose it in Required Role and click Save. After an update, click Rescan Pages: new pages are added as public.
Every TIPP page is listed under Page Access Rules. Choose a Required Role to limit a page, then click Save. After an update, click Rescan Pages. 2.
Open Modules → TIPP → Reports → General → Workspaces. This opens the Springboard, a personal start page with your recent accounts, documents and items, your workflow summary and your favourites. Check the Division field.
The Springboard is a personal start page. Check the Division field first. Demo and test records are shown; some names are concealed. 3.
Open a workspace that fits your pilot group, for example the Customer Service Workspace for customer service, the Purchase Workspace for purchasing or the Finance Workspace for finance. Where they appear in your menus depends on your TIPP menu configuration, which you manage under Menus and security.
4.
Check the Division, then compare one figure you know, such as an open order or a customer balance, with the same record in Exact Globe. Then sign in as an ordinary pilot user and check that they can open the same page.
Seeing a connection or licence message on a workspace? Check both the licence (step 1) and the Backoffice Connection (step 2). A broken connection and an invalid licence can look similar on workspace pages.
Screen details: Page Security · Springboard · Menus · Customer Service Workspace
Quickstart · Step 5
6. Step 5: Run a first real case
Finish the quickstart with a question your team answers every day: a customer calls and asks where their order is. They give their own purchase order reference, not your sales order number.
1.
Open the Customer Service Workspace and check the Division. Keep the View on “Open Orders”.
2.
Type the customer’s reference in Customer PO No. Part of it is enough. The list refreshes as soon as you leave the field. The list includes a Promise Date column.
With View on Open Orders, type part of the customer’s reference in Customer PO No. The list includes Order #, Customer PO, Customer and Promise Date. 3.
Click the order number in the Order # column. The menu for that order shows AR VISUAL TRACE and SETUP. Choose AR VISUAL TRACE to follow the order through shipments, invoices and receipts. The page title is Sales Order followed by the order number, for example Sales Order 66; there is no separate AR Visual Trace heading.
Click the number in the Order # column to open the menu for that order. In this example the menu shows AR VISUAL TRACE and SETUP. 
Choosing AR VISUAL TRACE opens the order. The page title is Sales Order followed by the order number, for example Sales Order 66. Header, Lines, Shipments & Invoices and Cash Receipts are on the same page. 4.
Click the note icon at the end of the row to leave a short, factual note for your colleagues, for example what you promised the customer. Save it in the window that opens, then click Refresh.
5.
If an AI provider is set up, use the workspace’s AI button to ask a question about the orders you are looking at, for example “Which of these orders are past their promise date?”. Check the answer against the list.
That is a complete loop: from a customer’s question to the right order, the evidence behind it and a note your colleagues can see. The workspace itself never changes an order. Repeat it with one person each from sales, purchasing and finance before you widen access.
Screen details: Customer Service Workspace · AR Visual Trace · Order Comment
TIPP 1.3.0 · Section 7
7. Use cases
Each use case is a worked example with a business situation, the steps and what you see on screen. They are illustrative examples, not customer case histories: use your own records and business rules.
Use case 1: Build a lens for open sales orders older than 30 daysTIPP CORE
The situation
Sales and finance keep asking the same question every Monday: which sales orders have been open for more than 30 days, and for which customers? You want one saved view that both teams open, with a filter on customer, and the same list on the customer’s account card.
Step by step
- Open Modules → TIPP → Reports → General → Lenses. The page is called Lenses and boards. As a Synergy administrator, click New lens. The Data lens page opens.
- On the General tab, under The basics, type a Name without spaces, for example
open_orders_30d, and a Title such as “Open sales orders older than 30 days”. - Fill in Database with the division number of your Exact Globe administration. Leave it blank only when the data is in Synergy itself.
- If an AI provider is set up, go to Describe what you need and type the question in In a sentence, for example “open sales orders older than 30 days, by customer, with the order value”. Click Build it. The page writes the query, tests it against the database and works out the columns. Without AI, write one SELECT statement yourself under The query.
- Click Test query. A message such as “The query runs. 5 columns, 1 question to ask the user.” appears, and the Columns and Advanced tabs become available.
- To let people filter by customer, make sure the query has a named value such as
(@Customer IS NULL OR c.Cmp_name = @Customer). An empty box then shows everything. After Test query, it appears under Questions to ask the user: fill in Ask the user for, for example “Customer”, and the Type. - On the Columns tab, set friendly headers in Shown as, choose the amount Format for the order value and tick Total. Optionally, in Clicking it opens, use pick a target to open a TIPP menu for the order.
- Choose Show as: Table, or Chart with the chart type set on the Advanced tab. On the Advanced tab, add a Highlighting rule, for example colour the row Red when the age in days is greater than 60.
- Under Security, keep Minimum security level at 10 or pick a role in Only for role. To show the list on each customer, choose Account card in Show the rows on, and choose the customer value in Card’s key goes into.
- Click Save + Open. The lens opens as users will see it.
What you see
The lens page shows the title, a parameter bar with the Customer field and an Apply button, and the table or chart. People can type in “Filter rows…”, sort by clicking a heading and click Refresh to run it again. On an account card, the same rows appear for that customer only. A lens only reads data: the page refuses INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE and EXEC.
Why it helps
A recurring question becomes one maintained view with one agreed definition of “open”, instead of a new spreadsheet every week.
Screen details: Data lens · Lenses and boards · Lens page · Knowledgebase Setup
Use case 2: Combine lenses on a board for the weekly reviewTIPP CORE
The situation
The weekly operations meeting looks at three lenses: open sales orders older than 30 days, all open sales orders and open sales order lines. You want one page with all three, where clicking an order number narrows every tile that shares that column.
Step by step
- Build and test each lens first, as in use case 1. Give the shared column the same name in every lens, for example
OrderNo. Linked filtering only works on columns with the same name. Only active lenses can be added. - On Lenses and boards, click New board. Type a Name without spaces and a Title such as “Weekly operations review”.
- Under Lenses on this board, choose a lens in Add a lens and click Add. Repeat for each lens.
- For each tile, choose Width (Quarter, Third, Half, Two thirds or Full width), Height and Show as. Show as lets one lens appear as a single number here and as a table elsewhere. Use Up and Down to change the order.
- Keep Linked filtering ticked. Optionally set Refresh every to a number of seconds (30 is the minimum) and choose a role in Home page for, so that people in that role can land on this board when they sign in.
- Click Save + Open.
What you see
The board shows the tiles side by side in a twelve-column grid. Clicking a bar or a row filters every other tile that has a column with the same name. A Filtered by chip, for example Filtered by OrderNo 67, shows the active filter. A tile whose column name does not match is dimmed and is not filtered. Each tile has an Open link to the full lens behind it.
Why it helps
The meeting works from one shared page instead of three separate reports, and everyone sees the same filtered picture.
Screen details: Board maintenance · Board · Lenses and boards
Use case 3: Prepare a customer call in five minutesTIPP CORE
The situation
A sales coordinator is about to call a customer about a repeat order. The customer also has an overdue balance and an open service request, and the coordinator wants the facts in front of them before dialling.
Step by step
- Open Customer Snapshot, check the Division and type the customer’s code in Customer Code. Often it opens from a customer link or menu, which fills these in.
- In AR Summary, read Credit Line, Payment Condition and Total Outstanding, and the past-due buckets PD 0-30 to PD >90. In the Scorecard, review Open Orders and the sales totals.
- Review the open sales orders and the recent workflow requests and documents on the same page.
- Open the customer’s account card in Synergy’s main window. When the TIPP Assistant agent is On, an unlabelled TIPP logo icon appears in Synergy’s top bar. Click it to open the Assistant. Check that the chip shows the customer, then type in the box (the placeholder reads “Ask TIPP Assistant”): “Summarise the open points for this customer before my call. Separate recorded facts from suggestions.”
- Open the specific order, request or invoice before you promise anything.
What you see
The snapshot gives the commercial and financial picture on one page. The TIPP Assistant answers about the record it was opened on, with your own Synergy rights.
Why it helps
You go into the call with the same facts sales, finance and customer service use, instead of a remembered conversation.
Screen details: Customer Snapshot · TIPP Assistant
Use case 4: Turn a customer PDF into a sales orderTIPP PRO
The situation
A distributor receives a customer purchase order as a PDF. The descriptions are familiar, but some lines use the customer’s own item codes. Sales administration wants the order in Exact Globe without retyping it.
Step by step
- Check the prerequisites: an AI provider is fully set up on AI Settings (step 3), the division’s Backoffice Connection works (step 2), the customer exists in Exact Globe as an active customer and the items exist as sales items. The page never creates customers or items.
- On the Sales Orders page (the list title is Sales Orders), in the right division, click Create Sales Order from PDF. The dialog is called Create Sales Order from PDF.
- Check that AI PROVIDER shows Ready (for example Claude (Anthropic)), then click the upload area (“Click here or drag and drop your PDF file”) or drag one PDF onto it. The dialog also has Clear and Cancel.
- Click Create Sales Order. Do this only when you intend to create the order. The Progress list runs through its steps: Preparing your document, Reading your purchase order, Identifying the customer, Matching the order lines, Creating the sales order in Globe, Attaching the PDF and Opening the new order.
- If TIPP cannot decide, a pick list appears. For an unmatched line it asks Which item is “…”? (with the wording from the PDF) and shows the hint “Pick the correct item, or search all sales items.” Pick or search for the correct item. A similar list can ask “Which customer is this PDF for?”. Click Cancel in the pick list to stop without creating anything.
- When the new order opens, the page title is Sales Order followed by the new number. Compare customer, reference, dates, items and quantities with the PDF before you authorise, confirm or fulfil it. The attached PDF appears under Related documents and in Document preview, which has an Enlarge button.
What you see
After matching, TIPP creates the sales order in Exact Globe directly and attaches the PDF; there is no editable review before the order is created. If the attachment step fails, use Retry attach or attach the PDF under Related documents on the order. If the creation result is unclear, use Try again: it never creates a second order.
Why it helps
No retyping, the source PDF stays attached to the order, and you check the result once, before it moves on to confirmation and delivery.
Screen details: Create Sales Order from PDF · Sales Order · Sales Orders
Use case 5: Enter a sales order by conversationTIPP PRO
The situation
A customer phones in a small order. The coordinator knows the customer and the parts and would rather type one sentence than open several entry fields.
Step by step
- Open TIPP Transactions. Choose an AI provider if asked, then choose the Exact Globe company. Use Switch company later if you need another one.
- Type the order in plain language, for example “create a sales order for ABC, item A qty 2”.
- Answer the follow-up questions. If a customer or item name matches more than one record, pick the right one.
- Read the review card: customer, lines and the Customer PO # field. What you type in Customer PO # goes into the order’s reference.
- Click Post it to create the order, or Cancel to discard it.
What you see
While it posts, the card shows “Posting to Globe…”, followed by a green confirmation. Nothing is sent to Exact Globe until you click Post it. The same chat can also answer read-only questions about your data, receive purchase orders and record deliveries.
Why it helps
The conversation collects the details for you, and the final decision stays with the person who clicks Post it.
Screen details: TIPP Transactions · Sales Order
TIPP 1.3.0 · Section 8
8. Troubleshooting: common messages
- “No Valid TIPP Licence found. Please validate your license via [Modules, TIPP, Setup, License].”
- Open License Management (step 1). Check the badge says Active and the licence has not expired. Upload a new .lic file if needed.
- A workspace shows a connection message or no data
- Check the Division first. Then ask an administrator to check the row on Backoffice Connection (step 2). “Connected, workspaces not deployed” means Setup Workspaces still has to run.
- “Access denied. Administrator privileges required.”
- The setup pages are for Synergy administrators. For workspaces, ask the administrator to check Page Security. For lenses and boards, check the lens’s own Minimum security level and Only for role.
- Build it is missing on the lens page
- No AI provider has an API key yet. Add one on AI Settings (step 3), or write the SELECT query yourself.
- “Could not load models:” on AI Settings
- The provider refused the request or could not be reached. Check the API key, then ask whether the server can reach the provider.
- “License number mismatch. Expected: X, Provided: Y”
- The file belongs to a different Exact licence number. Ask TICE-IT for a file issued for number X.
Every Knowledgebase article ends with a “Messages and what to do” section for its own screen.
TIPP 1.3.0 · Section 9
9. Where to go next
Need a screen detail?
The Knowledgebase has an article for every TIPP page, with its controls, messages and common questions. It is the same text the Help widget inside TIPP uses.
Installing or updating?
Use the installation manual. License Management shows when a new version is available. See the release notes for what changed.
Usage statistics
Under Modules → TIPP → Setup → General → Settings an administrator can turn usage statistics on or off and click Show what is sent to preview the report. Read more on the usage statistics page.
Questions about TIPP?
Visit the TIPP page, or email tipp@tice-it.com.
TIPP resources
Some of this content was drafted with the help of AI. We aim to keep it accurate, but it may contain errors or become outdated as Exact Synergy and TIPP change. It is general guidance, not advice for your specific setup, so test changes in a non-production environment first. Spotted a mistake? Let us know at tipp@tice-it.com.