Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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industry expert / accounting There are many ways to improve your office. One of the first things you can do is keep everyone who doesn't need to be in the office out of there. Constant interruption causes concentration to decline and it's not what you want to happen when someone is handling your money. Another thing you can do is review what paperwork the office staff is always cleaning up for the other departments. One of the gripes I hear most from the office staff is the condition of the car deals which arrive in the office. They seem to be missing some stip or signed document to get the deal funded in a timely manner. Most of this is due to either the sales or F&I; staff not doing their job as best they can. F&I; managers need to be good at selling and getting the deal closed for you to make money, but you also need to collect the contract proceeds in a timely fashion in order to stay in business and pay off the floor plan within guidelines to avoid audit problems. Your office can tell you when the service department is not closing their repair orders and not submitting timely warranty claims . There is normally a time frame to submit and obtain payment from the factory for the warranty claims. When you don't collect it, your office will charge it off to policy expense. You may not see this expense itemized on your financial statement be- cause it is normally buried among other expenses you don't study very closely. Writing off unapplied time or excess workâin-process can cost you "lost gross profits." Any time you write off could have been turned into labor sales, which would have produced gross profit for the service department. Any adjustment besides a small one should be reviewed each month to figure out why you have it. Doing so can increase your profits. Having your office manager run and review various reports for the parts department, which your parts manager doesn't have time to do, can alert you to problems early so they can be addressed and corrected. These may be prob- lems with overage inventory, excess inventory, excessive negative parts on hand, a large amount of non-stocking parts, and discrepancies between the parts counter pad and the general ledger, etc. Another problem I see frequently is the office continually having to answer phone calls intended for other departments. Again thisbreaks concentration fand can contribute to mistakes and inefficiency in the office. I know it sometimes can't be avoided due to the lack of adequate staff, the cost to hire a receptionist or the time of day, but you should take a hard look at what this is doing to your accounting department. It could be just as easy to make sure a salesperson or manager is available to answer the phones during heavy peak periods. I know I am partial to the accounting department, but someone has to tell their story. Use their abilities to the fullest to aid in increasing the profitability of your store. Let them know you care about their contributions toward your bottom line and your well-being. 15