This playbook sets out what we find in most trading and distribution businesses before they move to a single system, what we set up, and the reports owners use once it is running.
Where the money leaks
- Stock in the system never matches the warehouse
- Sales reps give discounts that erase the margin
- Customers exceed their credit before anyone notices
What we set up
- Multi-warehouse stock
- Main store, branches and vans, each with live quantities.
- Pricing rules
- Price lists and discounts by customer group, quantity and season.
- Credit control
- Limits and overdue checks before an order is released.
- Route sales
- Orders and collections taken on the phone, on the road.
- Landed cost
- Freight, duty and clearing spread onto the stock that carried them.
- Reordering
- Reorder levels that raise purchase requests on their own.
How a normal day runs
- Purchase order placed
- Goods received and costed
- Order picked, packed and delivered
- Invoice collected and reconciled
Reports owners use
- Stock ageing and slow movers
- Gross margin by product and customer
- Receivables ageing
- Sales by route and rep
Modules involved
Stock, Sales, Procurement, Accounting, CRM. They share one database, so every entry updates the accounts and the reports together.
Where to start
Most trading and distribution businesses start with stock, sales, procurement, then add the rest once the first phase is stable.
Questions we are often asked
- Can we run several warehouses and vans?
- Yes. Each store, branch and vehicle is a warehouse with its own stock, and transfers between them are tracked in transit.
- Does it handle import costs?
- Yes. Freight, duty and clearing charges are added to the cost of the goods they belong to, so margin is calculated on the real cost.