Ideal accounting and reports

The books inside the DMS

Ideal lists accounting and reports in its outdoor power product. When accounting lives inside the DMS, a part sold, a ticket closed, and a unit delivered each become accounting entries without re-typing. For a single store, that can mean the difference between doing the books nightly or dreading them monthly.

Reports an OPE dealer should ask for

• Gross profit by department: sales, parts, service, rental.
• Aged inventory: units and parts sitting too long.
• Tech hours paid versus billed.
• Open quotes by rep and by age.
• Seasonal comparisons: this April versus last April.

The rekeying audit

If your office exports data to spreadsheets to build seasonal comparisons or charge-account reports, count that time. Hours per month times the loaded hourly cost is real money. Use the tool below. Built-in accounting and reports should make most of that labor go away.

What to ask

• Which reports come standard?
• Can I build my own report without a support ticket?
• How does our outside accountant get what they need at tax time?
• Can I schedule a report to email itself every Monday?
• Does accounting handle charge accounts for commercial customers?

Honest limit

Public pages list accounting and reports but do not show the report catalog. Ask to see the five reports above with your own eyes before you sign.

A worked task: the charge-account aging

OPE dealers often carry charge accounts for commercial mowing crews. Suggested demo test: pull an aging report for charge accounts — who owes, how much, how old. Inputs: your commercial accounts. Expected output: a list sorted by age with balances, ready for collection calls. The exception to ask about: how your outside accountant gets data at tax time. Ask for the exact export or report they would receive, because a system your accountant cannot read moves the work instead of removing it.

Do this week

Total your charge-account balances older than 60 days. That number is why this report matters, and it is the first thing to check in the demo.