The Limit Is Checked Before Anybody Packs
A call comes in for eight cartons. What he owes, and how long he has owed it, used to sit in the accountant’s ledger and not on the order screen.
Packed first, checked later
The boy taking the order cannot see the ledger, so the cartons are strapped before anybody asks a question. By then refusing the load costs you a relationship as well as a lorry. The check belongs at the start, where it is cheap.
What sits on the order
Limit, outstanding, overdue
All three are on the screen as the order is being placed, whether the dealer is typing it himself or your sales officer is keying it for him.
Held, not blocked
Past the limit, the order waits. Most wholesalers prefer that to a hard refusal, because the decision usually depends on a conversation the software knows nothing about.
Released with a name
Whoever lets it through is recorded, with the time and the reason he typed. In March, when the party has gone quiet, that record answers a question people otherwise argue about.
Ageing that matches the ledger
Outstanding is bill by bill with the days each has crossed, the same figures your accounts assistant reads and the dealer downloads.
What the owner reads on Monday
- Orders held on the limit, and who released each one
- Dealer outstanding with ageing, oldest bill first
- Parties regularly running past their terms
- Dealers who have not ordered this month
Frequently asked questions
Does it decide who deserves credit?
No, and it should not pretend to. It holds the limits you set and records who released an order past them. Which party to trust is a judgement built on years of knowing him, and that stays with you.
Can we block a party completely?
Yes. A dealer can be stopped outright rather than held, which is what most firms do with a party in dispute. Stopping and restarting him are both recorded acts.
Who is allowed to release a held order?
Whoever you say. In most firms it is the owner or one senior person, and the order desk can see that an order is held without being able to let it through.
Tell us what you need.
Send a short brief and one of our engineers will come back to you — usually the same day.
- No obligation
- We reply the same working day
- Your details stay private