Why You Should Streamline Your Alcohol Purchases

Managing alcohol purchases is notoriously difficult business in the highly regulated liquor industry. Alcohol payment and credit processes are often over-complicated with complex, paper-heavy billing and invoicing processes. An automated system can transform the way you process payments and can be a major help to your staff and customers.

How? By automating beer payments to occur through a centralized platform that handles every EFT transaction, or through mobile devices that can initiate, request, and process invoices using industry-leading payment applications.

This new way of transacting removes much of the human error from incumbent systems and merges billing information in a way that allows you to interrogate it for operational, financial, and other business insights.

The benefits of an electronic payment system

Generally, an electronic payment system replaces paper-based payment processes, which are dependent on labor-intensive manual tasks. EFT systems improve day sales numbers for suppliers since they receive and process payments from commercial customers electronically.

Processing time and costs are reduced thanks to the speed with which EFT systems initiate and process payments. Electronic systems can also accelerate credit and collections by providing greater visibility into payment status for all involved parties. Disputes are addressed promptly thanks to improved data accuracy and automated disbursement, receipt, and payment processing.

An electronic payment system simplifies compliance practices and security management with far better control over access to sensitive data, while giving owners transparency over how cash flows through their business. Lastly, electronic payment systems enable improved decision-making and process improvement with smart business insights based on business-wide metrics.

SEE ALSO: One Simple Way to Improve the Alcohol Payment and Credit Process

Developments in secure online payment technology

Cash flow is a challenge for small retailers, which makes it crucial to process customer payments swiftly. Recent developments in secure online payment technology are making this significantly easier. Many of today’s secure online payment systems make the often tedious transaction process considerably more efficient. These systems allow funds to be freed earlier, making it possible to prevent out-of-stocks by placing new orders sooner. PayPal is probably the most well-known online payment system, but it has been joined by a plethora of new platforms that offer smart ways for businesses to transact.

Getting ahead with electronic payment systems in the liquor industry

Apart from the aforementioned general benefits, there are numerous other key advantages to automating payment systems for alcohol purchases. After all, it’s an industry where retailers have to comply with various regulations and often have inefficient payment and credit processes in place.

Because many state regulations require that full invoice amounts be paid within 24 hours, regardless of the accuracy of the invoice, retailers are often required to issue credit requests when invoices contain errors. An automated system proactively ensures the accuracy of invoices. It uses cost variance reporting to make sure that product costs are synchronized between retailers and distributors. Credit amounts can be tracked to show which payment adjustments are still pending, before you reconcile the invoice.

An automated system also simplifies line item matching, thereby eliminating discrepancies and pricing errors. You can be rest-assured that pricing matches what is in your database and normalize unit quantities without having to consult multiple sources or enter data manually.

Automated systems also offer product cost forecasts, which help you to make informed and proactive business decisions. Moreover, automated product cost dashboards compile information from all distributors in a given market, enabling you to determine the best price range for products based on time and location. This keeps customers happy and optimizes your sales.

SEE ALSO: 4 Signs You're Ready To Remove In-Store Payments

Let iControl transform your alcohol payment processes

iControl’s automated payment solutions offer you the best in automated payment systems to save you time and paperwork. It is fully compliant and conforms to all regulations. It is also a secure system that speeds up the processing of transactions and entirely eliminates the need for cash – no more late payments, bad checks, fraud, and product loss. This proprietary technology can also identify and eliminate errors automatically that may have been missed under a manual process of reconciliation.

Contact us to learn about our SaaS software with numerous automation systems to help you master the finances of your business.