A full chronological record of the engagement from first contact through April 2026, including key deliverables, integration milestones, and gaps.
Sep 17, 2025
🏁 Bank of Hours Agreement Signed — 30 Hours
VanBoxel Building Supplies signed a 30-hour Bank of Hours agreement with Mirror Advisors, officially beginning the engagement and funding Phase 1 discovery and implementation work.
Sep 23, 2025
📞 Meeting — Reverse Demo & System Audit Call
Mirror Advisors conducted a reverse demo of VanBoxel's existing Zoho environment. Discovered critical broken setup: no sales pipeline in use for over a year, inventory deducting on unpaid invoices, CRM and Books completely disconnected, Andy locked out of Zoho for ~one month due to 2FA issue, and reps sharing leads via Google Chat. Mirror Advisors tagged as Zoho partner on the spot.
Sep 24–25, 2025
Task / Requirement — Discovery & Documentation
Cheyne completed Needs Analysis document, High-Level Requirements document, and Lucidchart business process flowchart. Sales process deep dive conducted internally to map current vs. future state, deal stages, and ROI case.
Sep–Oct 2025
🎫 Support Tickets — System Access & Stuck Issues (3 tickets)
Early-project teething issues submitted by VanBoxel team. Issues related to Zoho system access problems, user permissions, and existing broken configurations from prior vendor. Submitted via email and phone.
Oct 3, 2025
📞 Meeting — Phase 1 Scope Approval (BA Docs Review)
BA documents reviewed and formally approved by Andy on call. Phase 1 scoped: CRM pipeline rebuild, lead management, CRM↔Books integration, dashboards, and training. Phase 2 (inventory deep-dive) identified as follow-on work. Andy confirmed team has ~25 existing hours invested, proposed expansion. Phase 1 approval recorded.
Oct 4, 2025
🎫 Support Ticket — Appointment / New Requirement
VanBoxel submitted a formally tagged "New Requirement" ticket. Appointment scheduled and requirements captured from this submission.
Oct 13, 2025
📞 Meeting — CRM Process Optimization & Training
Working session focused on CRM process design: deal stages, lead queue strategy, stage history tracking, sales rep activity monitoring, and email integration planning. Andy discussed wanting to monitor John Marino's daily call activity. Unassigned leads queue strategy confirmed — manual assignment preferred by Andy for now.
Oct 14–15, 2025
Task / Requirement — Flowchart, Questions & Scope Documentation
Aadrika completed process flowchart, question log, and recording documentation (1.5 hrs). Cheyne completed training session recap, internal requirements polish, and drafted follow-up email to client (1.25 hrs).
Oct 17, 2025
📞 Meeting — Clarifications Call
Follow-up call to address outstanding scope questions. Email provider confirmed as Google Workspace. Lead-to-contact conversion logic discussed. Deal pipeline stages finalized for build. Core automation approach confirmed: CRM is the single interface — reps should never need to open Zoho Books directly.
Nov 4, 2025
📞 Meeting — Zoho Books Sales Automation Discussion with Andy & Kyle
Kyle demonstrated the fulfillment pain point live: manually scrolling through all Sales Orders looking for tiny green "paid" dots — orders regularly being missed. Mirror Advisors identified that Zoho's native status "Invoiced" ≠ "Paid" and designed the custom paid-status field solution. Walk-in customer Sales Receipt process confirmed by Andy. Packing slip and shipping workflow documented.
Nov 4–6, 2025
Task / Requirement — CRM Core Build Begins
Lead, Contact and Deal modules built in sandbox. Auto-conversion on "Qualified" status configured. Packing slip for paid invoices feasibility checked and implemented. Lead-to-Deal basic field setup and conversion logic built (2 hrs each task).
Nov 6–14, 2025
Task / Requirement — Deal-to-Invoice Automation Built
Deluge scripts written to auto-create Sales Orders and Draft Invoices when Deal moves to Invoicing stage. Six (6) custom Sales Order views built. Full automation suite: SO creation, Invoice creation, invoice status on SO, salesperson mapping, 2 months of invoice records updated. Total: ~8 hrs development.
Nov 18, 2025
🎫 Support Ticket — Lead & Contact Owner Assignment Bug
VanBoxel reported that contacts and leads were being incorrectly assigned to Kyle even though he never created them. Investigated: confirmed the records were bulk-updated by Kyle at one point. Issue traced and resolved — records corrected (0.5 hrs).
Nov 18–19, 2025
🎫 Support Ticket — Invoice Template Customization
VanBoxel reported customers had difficulty finding the payment button on invoices. Invoice email template updated — "Pay Now" font size increased for improved customer visibility. Template fix completed same day (0.17 hrs).
Nov 24, 2025
📞 Meeting — CRM Setup, Automation & Integration Demo
Full demo of Deal→Sales Order→Invoice automation flow with Andy's team. Discount logic confirmed (both % and USD supported). Tax default (Ohio) confirmed by Andy. Walk-in customers via Sales Receipts confirmed. Books automation flow shown end-to-end — team confirmed they will no longer create invoices or sales orders manually in Books.
Nov 26, 2025
Task / Requirement — CRM & Books Full Sync Validated
Sales Order creation flow updated to auto-create customers in Books on Deal conversion. Layout rules and mandatory field setup reviewed. Integration sync tested and confirmed. All salespeople verified to have no reason to open Zoho Books (1.67 hrs).
Dec 2, 2025
🎫 Support Ticket — Email From-Address Fix (Round 1)
Invoices and notification emails were sending from Paul's ID. VanBoxel requested emails come from whichever salesperson sends the invoice so customer replies go to the right rep. Default from-address updated for Invoice Paid notification and all email automations (0.67 hrs).
Dec 10–11, 2025
🎫 Support Ticket — Email From-Address Fix (Round 2 — Full Overhaul)
Issue persisted — VanBoxel reported emails still showing other people's names. All email templates systematically updated across the entire system, replacing "Created By" field with dynamic User field. Four exploration rounds required. Full resolution confirmed (3 hrs).
Dec 16, 2025
📞 Meeting — Zoho CRM & Books Integration Review
Andy and Kyle reviewed full system state. Kyle surfaced Books data integrity issues inherited from prior vendor — misclassified expenses (salary entries linked to customer invoices), incorrect account structures throughout Books. Andy stated goal: 100% team adoption of Zoho CRM in 2026 with nobody needing to touch Books directly. Agreed to address Books cleanup in Phase 2. Mirror Advisors committed to step-by-step team training and a post-implementation guide once flow is finalized.
Jan 5–6, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Custom View: Paid/Partially-Paid Sales Orders
VanBoxel requested a custom filter on the Sales Orders for Packaging view — should only show paid or partially paid orders. Mirror Advisors requested the client share the specific view for configuration. Ticket remains awaiting client input (0.25 hrs logged).
Jan 16, 2026
📞 Meeting — Full Team CRM Walkthrough (Andy, Kyle, Melissa, Samantha, John, Claire)
Comprehensive walkthrough with Andy's entire team. Covered: Leads module, lead status flow, auto-conversion, Deals pipeline, product line items, invoice editing, cross-user access for contractors, deal forecasting module, lost-deal reason tracking, and managerial activity monitoring. Andy confirmed: "We are absolutely not going to be using Books for invoices anymore." Team asked multiple questions about daily workflow. Key new requests captured: activity dashboard, cross-user record access, dynamic invoice editing, Spanish lead routing to John Marino.
Jan 18, 2026
🎫 Formal Requirements Submission — 10+ New Requirements
VanBoxel team submitted a formal structured "CRM Revisions" email with 10+ documented requirements: location-based tax automation (Chardon vs. Streetsboro), record visibility/multi-user access, dynamic invoice modification, deal module for sales forecasting, mandatory notes for lost leads, simplified lead status flow, staff resources and communication (SOP + Zoho chat), automated lead task assignment, direct CRM invoicing, inventory protection for walk-in customers, RingCentral call logging, and managerial activity monitoring dashboard.
Jan 19, 2026
Mirror Advisors — Requirements Response & Task Creation
Mirror Advisors formally responded to the Jan 18 requirements submission, created tasks for each item, and categorized into: items requiring client input before proceeding vs. items Mirror Advisors can build immediately. VanBoxel replied with a follow-up (1 solution follow-up ticket logged).
Feb 3, 2026
Task / Requirement — RingCentral Call Logging Integration
RingCentral integration configured by VanBoxel's team; Mirror Advisors resolved follow-up issues and shared screen recording confirming click-to-call, call logging with timestamp/duration/result, and caller pop-up from CRM records (2.5 hrs).
Feb 3–9, 2026
Task / Requirement — Jan 18 Requirements Batch Implementation
All items from the Jan 18 formal requirements submission have been addressed and implemented in sandbox: mandatory lost-reason field (layout rule + validation), automated lead task assignment, simplified lead status and conversion flow, direct CRM invoicing, Sales Order and fulfillment synchronization, and walk-in customer inventory protection consulting. The completed batch has been shared with the client for final review, approval, and their input on any remaining decisions. Status: Pending Client Approval.
Feb 3–10, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Bills Creation Blocked (Critical)
Kyle reported: "I can't make any bills right now... I need this resolved ASAP." Critical system blocker — inability to create any bills in Zoho Books. Investigated and resolved within the week (1 hr).
Feb 3–10, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Contact Address Not Populating on Invoices
VanBoxel reported: contact billing/shipping address entered on the Contact record was not appearing on invoices upon creation. Existing setup reviewed and resolved — also linked to Ticket 301 (2 hrs).
Feb 9, 2026
📞 Meeting — RingCentral & Invoice Troubleshooting Call
Samantha raised two issues on this call. Invoice recreation: Samantha was unable to delete or void invoices — this was system/automation behavior. Because the Deluge automation is tied to the Sales Order, voiding an invoice triggers it to be recreated. Mirror Advisors investigated the process and applied a manual trigger for edit and delete scenarios, giving the team a clean way to handle those cases. Phone/RingCentral issue: Samantha's RingCentral line was dropping all calls to 0 seconds. An alternate workaround was initially suggested. The following day, a custom phone option process was shared with Samantha via email. Ticket resolved.
Feb 9–17, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Admin Access for Andy
Request submitted: "can we also make Andy a super admin?" Kyle had raised the ticket (Kyle already had admin). Super admin permissions granted to Andrew; org admin option and screenshot guidance provided (1 hr).
Feb 10–17, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Inventory Fix: Deducting on Unpaid Invoices
Original critical issue from project initiation. Stock reconciliation method was changed to Manual to prevent immediate stock deduction. Under this approach, accounting stock is affected on invoice creation, while physical stock only reduces after order fulfillment is confirmed. A fulfillment restriction was also applied to prevent unpaid Sales Orders from being processed — however, this restriction was subsequently removed per Andy's direction, as some orders need to be processed even when unpaid (3 hrs).
Feb 20, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Mobile CRM App Access (Open)
VanBoxel reps requested Zoho CRM mobile app access to manage leads and deals on the go. Ticket opened Feb 20, 2026. Currently open — Mirror Advisors working on configuration.
Feb 24, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Importing Leads (Duplicate Prevention)
VanBoxel asked: when importing lead lists from trade shows, how do we prevent assigning a lead that already exists as another rep's contact? Mirror Advisors proposed two options: (1) validate against existing Contact email and auto-assign to existing owner, or (2) auto-convert matched leads to Contacts/Deals. Awaiting client input on preferred approach (0.33 hrs).
Feb 26 – Mar 5, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Outbound Email Deliverability Fix
Andy's team reported customers not receiving invoices and vendors not receiving Purchase Orders. Domain authentication and email configurations verified and corrected across the system. Issue resolved (2 hrs).
Feb 28, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — CRM Reporting & Activity Dashboard
VanBoxel requested management-level CRM reporting enhancements. CRM dashboard was configured to support daily, weekly, and monthly activity management — including comparison charts for calls, tasks, deals, and leads per rep. Analysis and comparison charts added. Andrew was informed and confirmed receipt. Ticket resolved.
Feb 28 – Mar 6, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Location-Based Sales Reports (Reporting)
Andy submitted: "I need a report for each store where we actually are. Right now it bulks all sales into one." Required: inventory with cost, monthly store reports, and third store (Middlefield) to be added. Location-based sales reports built in Zoho Books. Middlefield location added to system. Ticket closed (2.5 hrs).
Mar 10–17, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — State-Wise Sales Report (On Hold)
Andy requested: "Can we get a report for sales per state?" Determined this is not natively possible in Zoho Books. Requires Zoho Analytics. Mirror Advisors requested client enable Zoho Analytics and grant admin access to proceed. Ticket on hold awaiting client action (3 hrs logged including research).
Mar 24 – Apr 2, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Package Phone Field Missing
VanBoxel reported: packages created from Sales Orders were not showing the customer phone number even though it was entered in the shipping address. Default address format updated in settings; Sales Order and Package PDF templates updated and tested. Resolved and confirmed with Andy (3 hrs).
Apr 2–9, 2026
🎫 Support Ticket — Invoice Auto-Creation Bug (Permanent Fix)
VanBoxel requested: "Can you please disable whatever function automatically creates an invoice from a sales order? It's becoming a problem whenever a sales order needs to be edited." Trigger condition adjusted and a new action added to prevent the Deluge script from firing on every save. Test entries deleted. Process fully documented and communicated to Andy (2 hrs).
Apr 2026
⚠️ Sandbox Approval Still Pending — Critical Blocker
All core CRM and Books automations (Deal→Sales Order→Invoice pipeline, auto-conversions, fulfillment views) remain in sandbox environment. Production go-live is blocked on VanBoxel's formal sign-off from Andy. SOP, user guide, and team training cannot be delivered until go-live is confirmed. This is the #1 critical open item.