From pipeline to cash: one record from first lead to final receipt
Ashish Chawla, Co-founder · Sales & Go-to-Market · LinkedIn
In most businesses, a deal starts in a CRM and ends in an ERP. A lead is created in the CRM. It moves through the stages of your sales pipeline. A salesperson sends a quotation. The customer accepts. Then someone re-enters the data in the ERP: a new sales order, a new customer master, a new invoice. The two systems do not talk naturally, and the handoff is where data gets lost, duplicated or delayed.
Kinnow keeps the whole path in one place. A lead becomes a customer. A quotation becomes a sales order. A sales order becomes a delivery note and then a tax invoice. A tax invoice becomes a receivable. A payment matches against the receivable and clears it. At every stage, the record carries its full history - who created it, who approved it, what changed and why.
The lead
A lead enters Kinnow from a form fill on the website, an import, a manual entry or an email forwarded to the system. A Lead Scorer agent reads the lead's details - industry, company size, source - and gives it a score. A Follow-up Scheduler agent proposes the next action and the timing. The salesperson works the lead without switching to another tool.
The quotation
When the lead is ready, the salesperson drafts a quotation. If the customer sent their requirements by email or WhatsApp, a Quote Writer agent reads the message and drafts the quote - matching items to the product catalogue, applying the correct price band for the customer's state, and flagging anything it cannot match. The salesperson reviews, adjusts and sends. The quotation keeps its versions: version 1, version 2, final.
The order and dispatch
An accepted quotation converts to a sales order with one action. If the order exceeds the customer's credit limit, it moves to credit hold and needs a sign-off. If the amount exceeds the salesperson's approval limit, it goes up to the next person who signs off. Once approved, the warehouse picks and packs. A delivery note is generated with an e-Way bill, through NIC, for shipments between states. Partial dispatch is supported - ship what is in stock, back-order the rest.
The invoice and collection
The delivery note triggers a tax invoice. For Indian businesses, Kinnow gets the IRN through the NIC IRP for e-invoicing, with a 24-hour cancel window. The invoice is sent with a UPI QR code and a payment link. A Collections agent watches how late invoices are: if one passes its due date, it drafts a reminder. The reminder waits for a person to approve it; larger amounts go to a senior person.
The cash
When the customer pays, the bank feed brings the credit into Kinnow. A Bank Reconciliation agent matches the credit to the outstanding invoice - or, if the customer paid a lump sum covering multiple invoices, proposes the allocation for the accountant to confirm. The receivable clears. The books update. The dashboard refreshes.
The whole path - from the first form fill to the final receipt - lives in one connected record. There is no handoff between systems, no re-entry, no gap to reconcile. The CRM does not end where the ERP begins. They are the same thing.
Frequently asked questions
Can different teams see different screens?
Yes. A person's role decides which screens and fields they see. A salesperson sees the pipeline; the accountant sees the ledger. Both are looking at the same record.
Does the quote carry over fully into the order?
Yes. Customer details, line items, pricing, terms and internal notes carry forward. Nothing is re-entered. Earlier versions of the quote are kept.
How does credit hold work?
When a sales order is created for a customer whose outstanding exceeds their credit limit, the order is put on credit hold. It needs an extra sign-off - typically from a credit manager or finance head - before it can go for dispatch.
What happens with partial payments?
A Bank Reconciliation agent proposes the allocation of partial payments across outstanding invoices. The accountant reviews and confirms the split. Kinnow tracks what has been paid and what is still due on each invoice separately.