Every good superhero has a sidekick. When the going gets tough, the sidekick is always there to add extra muscle. Rebate Management software is the faithful sidekick, adding to the ERP muscle of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.
Here’s how to boost your rebate management powers in Microsoft Dynamics 365.
Be more precise with the rebates you offer
The Superhero: Each line in a sales agreement expresses a commitment to sell something and in general, there are two categories of commitment in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance. Value and Quantity. A Value commitment is when the customer agrees to buy products for a specific amount and Quantity is when the customer agrees to buy a specific quantity.
The Sidekick: However, what if you selected a specific group of products but needed to exclude a particular product within that group? Rebate management software can increase the depth to your sales agreement by offering an agreement tailored to the customer’s needs. You can add inclusions or exclusions depending on your business or customer needs. You can add inclusions or exclusions of products that are rebate driven or not depending on your business or customer needs. Or variable rebate accruals on different products or product groups, even across different time periods. Get precise with your rebates!
Apply the terms of a trade agreement during the ordering process
The Superhero: When creating a new sales order and a trade agreement is selected in Dynamics 365 Finance, the link between the agreement and the order is created. Following this, you can then select products and categories specified in the agreement, with the prices and discounts copied from the linked agreement.
The Sidekick: With rebate management software, the terms of any trade agreements associated with the customer are applied automatically without manually linking the trade agreement. This means your Sales team can be sure that all applicable discounts and rebates are applied, and gives your customers the best deal possible.
Go a step further and protect your margins before committing to the sale
The Superhero: In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, if the sales order qualifies for a rebate, claims are generated automatically for every order line as soon as an invoice has been posted. You are then able to review the expected rebates and see the impact of those rebates on a product’s cost and profit margin.
The Sidekick: Rebate management software that integrates into Microsoft Dynamics 365 goes a step further. A rebate management solution allows you to review the expected rebates and their impact on your margins before the invoice is posted. Why is this important? If a rebate has the potential for a negative impact on a product’s margins, you surely want to know about this dark force before you commit to the order.
Most Common Tasks of Rebate Programs with Microsoft Dynamics 365
Rebates are a powerful tool to grow sales and retain customers and suppliers. But the more customers and suppliers a business has and the more rebates they are offered, the more complex the process of managing rebates becomes. Especially if it is a (fallible) human poring over spreadsheets who is responsible for ensuring suppliers and customers are getting charged or paid the right amount.
Automating what has historically been a manual, paper-based process involves finding a rebate management solution that will handle the following necessary tasks:
1) Facilitate an efficient authorization process
2) Offer complete transparency into calculations
3) Provide traceable audit trails
4) Smoothly manage a plethora of pricing schemes
Common Practices of Rebate Programs
*Centralized Accounting And Reporting: A good rebate program will store all the relevant data in a cloud-based, centralized location where it can be monitored by all the relevant parties. It will also make it easy for individuals on the relevant sales, purchasing and finance teams to access timely and accurate information about purchases, and any rebates that have been applied to those purchases.
*Automated Management Workflows: A good rebate program will provide configurable workflow engines that make it straightforward to audit, process and approve agreements, and to easily amend agreements if required. Among other benefits, this should ensure sign-offs occur promptly and deadlines are met.
*Efficient Document Management System: Going paperless is not only good for the environment, there is also growing evidence it increases productivity. A good rebate program will allow your staff to quickly find any document they require on whatever device they have to hand.
*Analyze Impact of Supplier Rebates And Pricing Strategies: A good rebate program will have powerful deal-modeling tools that accurately predict the impact of reducing prices by X amount for Y period of time once a customer has purchased Z quantity of product. So, it will always be clear ahead of time what the financial impact of any individual rebate is likely to be.
Optimize Your Rebate Management With Flintfox
Flintech recommends Flintox’s rebate-management solution, which maximizes profits, minimizes wasted time, and provides a level of transparency that fosters trust with trading partners.
Book a free consultation with us today to find out how you can boost your rebate management capability through Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Flintfox.
