The Fintech platform was designed to simplify, automate, and ultimately improve the processes involved with beverage alcohol management…but what does that really mean? Today, we’ll focus on one of the most valuable and top utilized areas of the Fintech platform, online invoice management. Switching from paper invoice records and manual excel spreadsheets to a single, consolidated invoice history view online can significantly reduce the time spent searching for invoices and provides you with the ability to view invoices from all your alcohol distributors in one place. In addition to having all your invoice data available in a digital library, Fintech empowers you to view and manage your upcoming invoices before they hit your bank account, improving accounting operations and allowing you to better monitor your cash flow.
Transitioning to automated invoice payments has countless benefits for your business. Not only do you have the instant perk of eliminating manual payment methods at the time of delivery or collection, but you see downstream effects that will ultimately change the way you do business behind the scenes.
One of the immediate benefits of switching to Fintech’s electronic payment solution is the way distributor transactions will come through on your bank statement. When handling manual payment methods like writing checks, or preparing money orders, there is a 1:1 relationship between invoices and the resulting debits on your bank statement. Any credits you receive from your distributor will come through as an additional deposit.
When automated payments are implemented, your distributors have the ability to consolidate the frequency at which they’re hitting your bank account. When you see a lump sum that is debited from your account, it might not match any single invoice that you have. Enter: Fintech’s Bank Activity Report. The Bank Activity Report gives you a breakdown of the total amount seen on your bank statement, by invoice(s) and credit(s) – with the ability to drill down into each invoice and view line-item detail.
The transactions on this report also act as a confirmation of another major benefit of electronic payments: regulatory compliance. Invoices listed on this report were paid on time, according to the due date listed, ensuring you’re able to continue purchasing alcohol for your business. This report is extremely user-friendly and provides summary data on what’s been spent – this can be broken down by date, distributor, division, and more, with the ability to export any view.
While the Bank Activity Report gives you a snapshot of what invoices have been paid, you might be asking yourself “how do we manage our term invoices?” Fintech’s Pending Activity Report was designed for any retailer that has to manage term invoices. As mentioned, a major benefit of electronic payments is the ability to completely automate the management of regulatory compliance laws. Fintech client Ichicoro spoke to us about the challenges that can arise when managing term payments.
Often times at Ichicoro, term invoices would be paid when a distributor representative visited the location. If accounting personnel weren’t on location at that time and other employees fulfilled the actual invoice payment, more than once, this resulted in the same invoice being paid twice.
With Fintech, as invoices are uploaded, the payment date will be set according to the invoice due date. This process allows you to receive your full payment terms and keep those funds in your account as long as possible. The Pending Activity Report offers visibility as to exactly when those funds will be moved from your bank account to your distributor’s. Similar to the Bank Activity Report, you can organize this group of upcoming transactions by distributor, division, a specified date range, or sort by any column heading.
In a time where we’re all keeping an extra close eye on the cash flow of our business, the ability to ensure you’re receiving the full payment terms allotted by your state and know exactly when those invoices are going to hit your account has proven invaluable to Fintech clients. Marry this with the peace of mind that comes with eliminating duplicate payments, and you’ve just built a better, more efficient alcohol operation.
Fintech knows the cumbersome, manual processes that are associated with maintaining an effective and profitable alcohol category, and these reports are only two of the many valuable management assets available to you in the Fintech portal. Have questions about the Bank or Pending Activity Reports, or want to learn what else Fintech can do to benefit your alcohol business? Contact us today!
