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Industry scenarios · one business day in eight industries
These are fictional teaching cases. They show how to ask the right OSERP design questions; they do not promise that every industry variation is currently implemented or that any local law is automatically satisfied.
Scenario library
Each category below has three practice cases. Start with the primary case, then use the additional cases to test a different channel, payment pattern, product lifecycle, or control requirement.
Retail and distribution · replenish, sell, reconcile
Example: A grocery distributor receives 2,000 cartons into a regional warehouse, allocates 500 to three branches, and sells 80 cartons through POS and wholesale account orders.
Flow: purchase order → receipt and batch/expiry → branch transfer → POS/credit sale → payment settlement → stock and margin report.
Expected evidence: available versus reserved stock, transfer dispatch/receipt, price source, tax basis, customer balance, cash/card reconciliation, and branch margin. The consultant must explain why goods in transit cannot be sold before receipt.
Additional cases: (a) A wholesaler gives a quantity-break price, dispatches partial cartons, and issues a credit note for shortage. (b) A distributor recalls a batch, quarantines branch stock, traces affected sales, and records approved replacements.
Manufacturing · procure, produce, consume, finish
Example: A furniture maker buys timber and fittings, issues components to a work order for 100 tables, records labour and overhead, receives 96 finished tables and four rejects, then ships 20 to a dealer.
Flow: supplier purchase → material receipt → bill of materials/work order → component issue → labour/overhead allocation → finished-goods receipt → sales dispatch.
Expected evidence: component consumption, scrap reason, work-in-progress, finished quantity, cost roll-up, batch/serial traceability, and variance approval. The consultant must identify which costing method and production controls are actually supported in the target release.
Additional cases: (a) A bakery produces daily batches with expiry dates, wastage, recipe substitutions, and end-of-day write-off. (b) An electronics assembler builds serialised units, consumes alternative components, tests failures, and ships warranty replacements.
Professional services · sell expertise, bill time
Example: A consulting firm signs a SAR 120,000 implementation engagement, assigns three consultants, records approved time and expenses, invoices a milestone, and recognises an outstanding receivable.
Flow: customer and project → scope/budget → resource assignment → timesheet/expense approval → milestone invoice → receipt → project profitability report.
Expected evidence: billable versus non-billable time, cost centre, approval chain, invoice milestone, deferred or recognised revenue policy, receivable ageing, and margin by project. Do not infer revenue-recognition policy from a project status label.
Additional cases: (a) An audit firm manages annual retainers, monthly time caps, out-of-pocket expenses, and an overage invoice. (b) An agency routes supplier bills to client campaigns and reports utilisation and contribution margin by account manager.
Hospitality · reservations, consumption, settlement
Example: A hotel books a room and conference package, posts restaurant consumption to the guest account, accepts a deposit, checks out the guest, and settles cash/card with a corporate invoice.
Flow: booking → deposit → service consumption → room/restaurant charge → tax and discounts → checkout → payment or receivable → daily revenue close.
Expected evidence: service item versus stock item, package allocation, deposit liability, split taxes, no-show/cancellation treatment, folio balance, payment settlement, and shift close. Local hospitality taxes require specialist configuration and review.
Additional cases: (a) A restaurant handles table orders, kitchen wastage, delivery commissions, tips, refunds, and a split-tender close. (b) An events venue books a conference, consumes catering inventory, invoices a corporate customer in stages, and settles a damage deposit.
E-commerce · reserve, fulfil, refund
Example: An online customer in Oman orders three items. The Muscat branch reserves two, the central warehouse fulfils one, and the customer later returns one item for a partial refund.
Flow: catalogue publication → order → stock reservation → split fulfilment → payment capture → delivery → return inspection → refund and stock disposition.
Expected evidence: channel price, inventory reservation, fulfilment ownership, delivery charge, gateway reference, partial shipment, returned-good/quarantine status, refund linkage, and duplicate-event protection.
Additional cases: (a) A subscription store renews a monthly order, retries a failed card, pauses fulfilment, and catches up without duplicate revenue. (b) A marketplace seller receives an order, commission deduction, payout, customer return, and seller settlement statement.
Projects and contracting · control a long delivery
Example: A contractor wins an INR 8,000,000 fit-out project, raises a budget by cost category, purchases materials, certifies 30% completion, invoices the customer, and reviews committed versus actual cost.
Flow: project and contract → budget → purchase commitments → material receipt/issue → progress certification → invoice/retention → collection → cost-to-complete review.
Expected evidence: contract value, change order, retention, committed cost, work-in-progress, approval action, invoice status, and forecast variance. A consultant must document which values are operational estimates and which are posted accounting facts.
Additional cases: (a) A civil contractor manages subcontractor bills, site material issues, progress certificates, retention, and a change order. (b) A maintenance company schedules recurring service visits, consumes spare parts, bills a service contract, and tracks renewal profitability.
Education · enrol, bill, pay, report
Example: A training institute enrols 40 learners in a course, offers a scholarship to five, invoices a corporate sponsor in AED, collects instalments, pays an instructor, and reports revenue by programme.
Flow: learner/sponsor master → course and cohort → enrolment → scholarship/discount approval → invoice → instalment receipt → instructor cost → programme report.
Expected evidence: learner privacy scope, sponsor receivable, scholarship approval, attendance or completion dependency, refund policy, instructor expense, and programme margin. Personal data should not be copied into public Academy exercises.
Additional cases: (a) A university collects semester fees, waives a charge for an approved scholarship, pays visiting faculty, and reports by department. (b) A vocational centre sells a short course online, records attendance, issues completion evidence, and refunds a cancelled cohort.
Nonprofit operations · restrict funds, prove impact
Example: A charity receives a QAR 500,000 restricted grant, buys relief supplies, distributes them through two branches, records volunteer expenses, and produces a donor report by programme.
Flow: donor/grant → restriction and budget → purchase → warehouse receipt → programme issue/distribution → expense approval → fund report → donor evidence.
Expected evidence: restricted versus unrestricted fund, programme/cost centre, inventory issue, approval, donor reference, budget variance, and audit trail. The Academy must not present a generic fund field as a substitute for local nonprofit accounting advice.
Additional cases: (a) A relief organisation receives donated goods, distributes them after a flood, records damaged stock, and produces a donor-by-programme report. (b) A community foundation runs a grant-funded school project, pays approved vendors, tracks milestones, and returns an unused restricted balance.
Cross-industry consultant assessment
For any one scenario, the learner submits:
- A process map from source event to report.
- Company, branch, warehouse, currency, tax, and role assumptions.
- Master-data and field decisions with dependencies.
- Positive and negative test cases.
- Expected inventory, accounting, tax, and audit effects.
- Open questions where OSERP behavior or local policy needs verification.
This creates a consistent consultant method while allowing industry specialists to demonstrate genuine domain knowledge.