Article #344 Solid Multi-Vendor Setup for QuickBooks

What is Solid Multi-Vendor™?

The Solid Multi-Vendor™ feature for Solid Route Accounting™ for QuickBooks, also referred to as ‘Third-Party Billing’, is an optional licensed feature that allows invoices created by a DSD company to be paid to a supplier, who will then, in turn, reimburse the DSD company. For more information and licensing options, please contact a Solid Product Specialist.

Although that billing cycle is generally well understood, how to correctly set up Multi-Vendors and assign Customer records to them is a bit less clear.

This guide has been created to assist with configuring the QuickBooks company file to use the Solid Route Accounting™ Solid Multi-Vendor™ feature.

QuickBooks Company File Setup

Definitions

Solid Multi-Vendor™

• Allows distribution companies to supply products under a different company name, automatically generating a separate invoice for each Solid Multi-Vendor™ account. The system also provides:
  • 3rd party inventory control;
  • accounts receivable (A/R) and payable (A/P) handling;
  • specialized GL accounting.
• Several Solid Multi-Vendor™ accounts may be created in the system. We recommend reading this guide before setting up your first account.
  

Super Vendor

The vendor account corresponding to items managed under the Solid Multi-Vendor™ feature for this vendor.

Super Customer

The customer account that corresponds to the Super Vendor account above.

Super Items

The items that are handled by the Solid Multi-Vendor™ feature for a particular Super Vendor.

Super Vendor (Supplier) Record Configuration

To designate one or more vendors as a Solid Multi-Vendor™ supplier, you need to add a custom field to the vendor record:

1. Select the Vendor Center from the Navigation menu
2. Add a new vendor or edit an existing vendor you want to designate as a Multi-Vendor™
3. Click on the Additional Info tab
4. Click on the Define Fields button
5. Enter "MVCode" as the label of the custom field. Note the spelling and capitalization.
6. Put a check mark on the Customer and Vendor columns
7. Then click OK
8. Now assign this vendor a code that uniquely identifies this Solid Multi-Vendor™ (Note: you can use a combination of characters and numbers; however, no special characters, e.g. MV01)
   Note: The vendor’s Billed From address is the address used in the mobile invoice’s pay-to field. If you need any special designation in the pay-to field, then add it to the Billed From address.
9. Next, remaining on the Additional Info tab in the "Categorization and Defaults" section, set the Type field to "Super Vendor". Note, you may need to add this type if this is the first time you have set up such an account.
10. Select the Account Prefill tab, and fill each of the 3 pre-fill account options in this order:
    1. Accounts Payable (A/P).
    2. Purchases (Cost of Goods Sold) (COGS).
    3. Vendor Refunds.

Super Customer Record Configuration

Now that we have one or more Multi-Vendors™ defined, you need to specify which customers will use this Solid Multi-Vendor™ feature.

To assign your customer records to a Solid Multi-Vendor™ group, you must enter the MVCode in the custom field for your customers:

1. Select Customer Center from the Navigator Menu.
2. Add a new customer or edit an existing customer
3. Click on the Additional Info tab
   Note: The user-defined field of "MVCode" should already be present from the vendor configuration
4. Enter the uniquely identifying Solid Multi-Vendor™ code. If this customer needs to be associated with more than one Solid Multi-Vendor™, separate the codes with a comma, e.g., MV01, MV02.
5. Next, remaining on the Additional Info tab in the "Categorization and Defaults" section, set the Type field to "Super Customer". Note, you may need to add this type if this is the first time you have set up such an account.

Super Item (Inventory) Record Configuration

For the Solid Multi-Vendor™ feature to work correctly, the items supplied by a specific Solid Multi-Vendor™ must have the "Preferred Supplier" field set to that specific Solid Multi-Vendor™. To do this:

1. Click on [List] in the menu, and select [Item List]
2. Add a new item or edit an existing item
3. Ensure that the Solid Multi-Vendor™ is listed in the "Preferred vendor" field.
4. Accounting Optional: Please see the next topic, "Accounting Configuration and Management," for additional, recommended accounting treatment.
5. Items for the Solid Multi-Vendor™ account group:
   1. Type: set to "Inventory Part" if you wish to track inventory quantities for resale.
   2. Item Name/Number: give a clear, abbreviated part number. Optionally, make it a sub-item of a group of items from this particular Super Vendor.
   3. COGS Account: select the Purchases (Cost of Goods Sold) (COGS) account for this Solid Multi-Vendor™ account group. You can either select an existing COGS account or add a new COGS account at this time.
   4. Inventory Site Info: if running a Multi-Warehouse type setup, please assign the inventory to the correct supply warehouse, and not to the mobile computer.

Solid Sales Pro™ Sample Mobile Invoice

Accounting Setup & Operations

Note: This is an advanced accounting topic. You should have a strong understanding of accounting principles, and you should read this carefully before beginning. You may also do a trial configuration by copying your QuickBooks company file and then testing the work.

Note: There can be several ways to set up the Chart of Accounts (aka General Ledger) to achieve different approaches to viewing results. Shown below is one approach that provides a comprehensive audit trail.

Chart of Accounts

For each Super Vendor, add the following accounts to QuickBooks’s Chart of Accounts. Please note that each added account should be shown as a sub-account to the heading in the next 6 lines:

1. Accounts Receivable account (A/R)
2. Inventory Asset account
3. Accounts Payable account (A/P)
4. Revenue account (Sales)
5. Vendor Refunds account – needed only if this Vendor will be paying a commission on your sales.
6. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for purchases

Set up for each Super Vendor

You may begin adding items for a Solid Multi-Vendor™ group by working only from step 1, Items. Steps 2 to 4 are presented as a reference to be used either on its own or during step 1. We recommend you read this thoroughly before beginning work.

Sales Operations

As transactions are created in Solid Sales Pro™, the route salesperson simply opens a transaction (customer order or invoice) as usual. They proceed to select whatever items to sell on this visit, without regard to separating items by Super Customer. When [Save] is selected, Solid Sales Pro™ automatically performs the separation, creating separate transactions, optionally assigning references to special invoice numbers, paying to the super customer, and selling to your company as the distributor.

Submission to QuickBooks

As transactions are returned to the office and subsequently to QuickBooks, a few changes are made:

1. SolidRouteAccouonting.com:
   1. The original invoice, including the delivery customer designation and customer signature, can be reviewed or reprinted exactly as it appeared in the field.
2. Solid Fusion™, when submitting the transaction to QuickBooks, several key changes are made:
   1. Accounts Receivable – The customer is designated as the super customer account. This results in the transaction being recorded against the Super Customer. 
      1. The accounts receivable statement serves as the summary document to begin reconciling sales to the Super Vendor's approved accounts.
   2. Delivery Customer – The transaction’s audit trail is maintained by inserting a line item at the beginning of the transaction. This line item describes the delivery account.

Accounting Transactions for a Solid Multi-Vendor™ Account Group

Different types of transactions are required, and both A/R and A/P may need to be affected; therefore, we recommend working out the amounts in advance using a spreadsheet and then applying them in QuickBooks. As usual, a paper trail should be maintained to preserve your audit trail.

1. Payments from a Super Vendor:
   1. After splitting the receipt outside of QuickBooks, apply the correct amount to A/R to retire the appropriate amount.
2. Commissions from a Super Vendor:
   1. Apply the commission portion to the appropriate Vendor Refunds account.
3. Payments to a Super Vendor:
   1. Apply the amount due to the Super Vendor account.
4. Balancing Differences between the Super Vendor and Super Customer accounts:
   1. Ensure the account balances and payment amounts are in balance.

Reports for Solid Multi-Vendor™

1. Statement of Sales:
   1. Use the Customer Statement for the Super Customer.
   2. Reprint the transactions if necessary. As noted above, the first line item on each invoice represents the actual customer to whom the product was delivered.