The A-Team Teaches Us These 3 Financial Lessons




The A-Team was fantastic. They were the coolest, in my opinion—even the van was fantastic! They collaborated better as a team, which was ultimately what made them great. It is simple to apply the “better together” principle to a separate A-Team, the “Accounting Team.” Simply put, gathering your team and switching to centralized accounting makes financial and operational sense.

 

Right now, organizing your home and gathering everything under one roof can help you withstand industry ups and downs. Nobody knows when things will return to “normal” (if that even still exists! ), the coronavirus is still a concern, and several manufacturers have lately declared production halts.

 

More logical advantages come from a hub-and-spoke approach for your accounting team, where the majority of office workers are in one place and each store has one accounting support system.

 

Consistency and effectiveness

 

Nothing brings joy to a controller’s heart like a smooth and swift month-end close. Operating locally at each dealership places you at the whim of the manager of that location. You may put the same time-saving procedures in place at each location by working centrally. By eliminating duplication, processes like payroll, accounts payable, and inventory management can be expedited.

 

Because everyone uses the same procedures, you obtain consistency in addition to time savings. Less likely are operational mistakes and the possibility of things being “swept under the rug.” Centralization makes it easier for employees to accomplish their duties, which boosts morale and lessens employee attrition.

 

Document management that is exact

 

To comply with requirements and safeguard you in the event of an audit, each store’s month-end data, reports, and physical documents must be preserved properly. The COLDing process is more consistently followed in a centralized accounting office since staff members collaborate more closely.

 

The accurate scanning of sales and service records is also essential for breezing through audits. It can be challenging to manage entry-level workers who scan at each location. Inaccurately combining papers, leaving something out of a deal jacket, or producing unintelligible scans can all directly affect your revenue and your dealership’s responsibility. You have more control over the procedure and the assurance that important data is being protected by a skilled professional when you consolidate scanning in one location. Why not take the effort to scan it because the majority of this information must go via accounting in any case (think about warranty processing and deal postings)?

 

efficient administration of vendors

 

The hundreds of vendors become one of the more challenging things to manage as you scale. If you allow each local retailer to have control, it can become nearly impossible to keep track of each agreement. Additionally, you can expect that your vendor list will become redundant or that your price structure will change.

 

By centralizing vendor management, you may increase your negotiating leverage, eliminate duplications, and get the information you need to identify and fire contractors who aren’t delivering the goods. The irritation of a store automatically renewing a contract that you are now bound to for another year is also eliminated by centralization. Better protection and higher profit margins will result from all contracts in the group going through the same approval procedure.

 

Do not forget to bring your DMS. Your DMS bill could be significantly reduced as a result of consolidating your general ledger.

 

The A-Team has shown in several episodes that they could do more together than on their own. Your accounting team can apply that lesson. Accounting can be centralized in one place, which boosts productivity, accuracy, and financial savings.