Trade account software

The problem with credit

Trade credit is a competitive necessity. Customers expect it, and a merchant that will not offer it loses the accounts worth having. But credit is also an interest-free loan you are making to somebody whose business you cannot see inside.

The failures are predictable. Goods go out to an account that is already over its limit, because the person serving had no way to know. Payments arrive and get applied to the oldest balance instead of the invoices the customer actually intended, so the statement never agrees with the customer’s records. Limits get set once and never revisited as a customer’s trading grows.

Each of those is a software problem before it is a discipline problem.

Setting up an account

An account in PlanIt EPOS carries the things you need to make a decision at the counter.

• Payment terms — 30 days net, end of month, or whatever you have agreed
• A credit limit, with a live balance measured against it
• The trade band or contract pricing that applies to the account
• Named contacts for orders, deliveries and accounts
• Delivery sites, where the goods go somewhere other than the office
• Notes that the whole counter can see

Enforcement at the point of sale

A credit limit that is only visible in the accounts screen is not a control — it is a report. In PlanIt EPOS the limit is checked as the sale is put on account. If the sale would take the customer past their limit, the till says so, shows the shortfall, and stops.

Overrides that are visible

Sometimes you will release the goods anyway: a long-standing customer, a payment already on its way, a job that cannot wait. So an override is available to users with the right permission. What it is not is silent. The override is recorded against the sale and the user who authorised it, and appears in reporting.

That distinction matters. A system that blocks absolutely will be worked around by staff who need to serve a customer. A system that records the exception keeps the flexibility and the visibility.

Projected exposure

The balance you care about is not only what is invoiced. It is what will be invoiced once outstanding orders are delivered. PlanIt EPOS can show that projection alongside the current balance, so a large pending order does not surprise you a fortnight later.

Allocation: the detail that removes arguments

When a payment arrives, most systems apply it to the oldest outstanding balance. That is convenient and it is the single largest source of month-end disputes, because customers pay specific invoices and then receive a statement that says otherwise.

PlanIt EPOS allocates payments against the invoices they actually settle. A payment can cover several invoices, part-settle one, or sit unallocated on the account until you decide. The result is a statement that matches what the customer believes they have paid — which turns a phone call into no phone call.

Aged debt and statements

Every account shows an aged balance across current, 30, 60 and 90+ days, and the same view rolls up across all accounts so you can see where your money is.

Statements are produced monthly or on demand, showing invoices, credit notes and allocated payments, and are emailed from your own business address. Because the underlying allocation is correct, the statement is a document you can stand behind rather than the opening position in a negotiation.

Credit notes and returns

Returns against an account raise a credit note linked to the original invoice, with a reason recorded and the stock movement handled at the same time. The credit appears on the statement and can be allocated against an invoice or left on the account.

Linking the credit to the original document matters for two reasons: it prevents a return being credited at a price the customer never paid, and it gives you a record of what is actually coming back and why.

The customer portal

A large share of the calls an accounts office takes are customers asking for a copy invoice or a statement. PlanIt EPOS can give account customers portal access to their own documents — invoices, statements, credit notes and payment history — so those calls stop happening.

Reviewing limits as customers grow

Limits set at account opening and never revisited cause two different problems: exposure that has grown beyond what you would accept, and good customers constrained by a limit set when they were smaller.

Reporting shows spend over time against limit, so a periodic review is a short task with the evidence attached rather than a judgement call. A task on the customer record makes it something that actually gets done.