Alcohol businesses thrive with proper inventory and invoice management. These two procedures are important to help ensure your alcohol investment yields a positive return and keep your monthly P&L statements accurate and balanced.
Maintaining these important functions typically starts with someone manually entering alcohol invoice information into their back-office or accounting system. This process takes up a lot of time and leaves room for human error that erodes margins.
Alcohol business managers can optimize this process by switching to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) file integration that seamlessly inputs all your line-item invoice data fields into your back-office system or by receiving an electronic data file that you can then upload to your system yourself.
How do you receive this electronic file integration? By paying your alcohol invoices automatically with an alcohol management solutions provider like Fintech.
Benefits of EDI File Integration
Saving Time on Invoice Data Entry
Managers should not have to waste time with the slow process of manually entering line-item invoice data into their back-office or accounting system. They could instead use that time to interact with customers or help with other areas of the business.
EDI file integration automatically transfers all line-item data from your alcohol ordering invoices into your back-office system. There is no need to use the paper invoice from the delivery driver, sit down with the invoice in your office, and then slowly input all individual data fields into their respective categories.
Business owners save time with this automation. They can also save money by not having to pay for hours of work if the responsibility is given to another employee.
Eliminating Human Error
One of the biggest problems facing manual invoice data entry is human error. If someone accidentally enters a wrong number or somehow misses a data field, their results will be incorrect. Sometimes it is as simple as misplacing a paper invoice and not realizing it until you run the numbers and get an incorrect result. If this happens at night or on a weekend, you may not be able to contact your distributor rep and receive another copy in the timeframe you need.
EDI file integration captures all data fields and accurately inputs them into your back-office system without you having to lift a finger. You can also input your alcohol invoice data via an electronic file if you prefer. Electronic files are sent daily with any transactions that occurred.
By eliminating the risk of human error, managers can be confident in their margin reporting and have a clearer picture of how their business is running.
Automated GL Coding
Applying a General Ledger (GL) code is standard in any business. This GL coding keeps track of all financial transactions in your alcohol business by applying a string of alphanumeric characters to a recurring expense type.
These codes help with bookkeeping and make it easier to search for specific criteria without having to sift through each individual entry.
EDI file integration can automatically assign your business’s designated GL coding to the appropriate expense category so you can easily go back into your data and find what you need. This is particularly helpful when it comes time for an audit or if you notice a flagged transaction and need to find it quickly in your accounting system.
Take Advantage of Invoice Entry Automation to Improve Your Business
Why waste time with manual invoice data entry? Eliminate manual data entry with EDI file integration and optimize your business through automated alcohol invoice payments.
Why stop there? When you pay your alcohol invoice payments through Fintech’s PaymentSource, you gain more control over your online invoice management through detailed reporting that highlights price discrepancies, costly ordering habits, bank activity, and much more.
You can learn about the added benefits of paying your alcohol invoices through Fintech here.
