AC C OUNTING
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return allowance very quickly,
which could spell problems for
those parts that are becoming
obsolete.
Special parts should be
stocked separately so they can
easily be tracked. Doing this
also helps you quickly calculate
the total dollars you have sitting on the shelves. You should
also try to obtain prepayment
on special-order parts as ofen
as possible to try to minimize
the parts return allowance they
use up.
4. USED PARTS
Where are all those used parts
your techs have removed over
the years? Did you personally
keep track of the $2,000 worth
of tires and wheels you took of
that three-quarter-ton pickup?
I don���t know many dealers
who can tell me the value of
their used-parts inventory. In
fact, most dealers don���t know
whether a removed part is still
in stock, has been installed on
another used vehicle or was
sold to a customer.
Used parts also should be
tracked on the parts counter
pad and have a price attached
to them. You should be able to
run a report of these parts to
physically check if they are still
in stock. Failure to track these
parts means they can easily disappear out the back door and
no one will ever know.
5. IDLE HANDS
How busy are your parts counter employees? You don���t have
to walk through the department to f nd out. Just look at
your f nancial statement, take
your total parts sales and divide
that by the number of employees you have in the department.
I have seen average sales of
$30,000 to $75,000 per employee, which is quite a range. Some
stores f nd themselves in the
predicament where sales aren���t
enough to add another person,
but they���re too much for the
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AUTO DE ALE R MONTHLY ��� APRIL 2013