Resellers

Plenty of shops sell through other people. A trader from the next market takes ten phones on Monday, pays part now, sells them over two weeks and brings the rest of the money, or the phones he couldn't sell. It works on trust and a page in a notebook, and by the third reseller nobody is sure who has what.

A reseller in Tabs is a person or a company who takes your stock away to sell it on. They aren't customers and they don't use Tabs. You record who they are and their terms, give them stock on a reseller order at a price agreed for each line, and record their payments, returns and anything you ask back. Tabs keeps the count of what each one holds and owes.

Adding a reseller

Open Resellers in the sidebar, under Sales, and press Add reseller.

You can change a reseller's details and terms later. A change to the terms only reaches orders made from then on. Orders already made keep the terms they had.

Giving stock on a reseller order

Press New order on the Resellers page, or on the reseller's own page, which picks them for you.

1. Choose the reseller and the store the stock leaves from. One order takes stock from one store.
2. Press Add items. You can tick several sizes or colours of a product at once.
3. Each line has a quantity and a price each, starting at the item's normal price. Change it to the price you agreed. A changed line says "normally ₦…" under it.
4. This order, on the right, shows what the order comes to, what it would at normal prices, and how far below or above normal it is.
5. Enter what they pay now. A reseller who can't pay later must pay the whole order: the field is fixed at the total and says why. One who can pay later may pay anything from nothing to the total.
6. Add a due date if there is one, and notes.
7. They can return items starts on the reseller's own term. You can turn it off or on for this order alone.
8. Press Create order, or Ctrl + Enter.

The stock leaves the store's available count at once. It isn't sold and gone: it's with a reseller. While they hold it, nobody can sell it on a normal order, give it to another reseller or move it to another store. It comes back only when they return it or you revoke the order.

A worked example

Chidi sells phones from a stand in Computer Village and takes stock from you on terms: he can pay later and he can return what he doesn't sell. On Monday he takes ten Tecno Camon 20 from your Ikeja store. They sell for ₦150,000 in your shop, and you agree ₦135,000 each.

The order comes to ₦1,350,000, which This order shows as ₦150,000 below normal. Chidi pays ₦300,000 by transfer and you set the due date for two weeks' time. He now holds 10 and owes ₦1,050,000. Ikeja's available count of the Camon 20 drops by 10.

Ten days later he pays ₦650,000. He owes ₦400,000.

On the due date he brings back 2 phones he couldn't sell. You record the return: Ikeja's count goes up by 2, and ₦270,000 (2 × ₦135,000) comes off what he owes, leaving ₦130,000. He pays it the same day, and the order is paid. You mark the 8 he sold as kept, and the order holds nothing more.

The figures are an example.

A reseller order's page

Each order shows four figures: Total, Paid, Returned and Still owed, which turns red when the order is overdue. An order is overdue when its due date has passed and something is still owed.

Under them is What they took: each line with how many are still with them, how many came back and how many they kept. Then the payments, any returns, the order's terms, its tasks and its Activity.

Recording a payment

Press Record payment. It opens on what they still owe, and you can't record more than that. Each payment shows who recorded it and when.

If a payment was recorded in error, press Void on it and say why. The payment stays on the order, struck through, with who voided it and why, and what they owe goes back up.

Returns, kept items and revoking

The … menu beside Record payment holds the rest.

• Record return, on an order that allows returns. Each line they still hold, with a quantity each ("All of what they hold" fills them in). The agreed price of what comes back is taken off what they owe, and the items go back into the store's count.
• Record exception return, on an order that doesn't allow returns, for the day you agree to take something back anyway. It works the same way, needs a reason, and is labelled as an exception everywhere it shows.
• Mark kept, to close out what they won't bring back. No money moves, and kept items can't be returned or asked back later.
• Revoke order, to take back everything they still hold, whatever the order's terms. A reason is required. What they owe drops by the value of what comes back. A revoked order is marked Revoked and holds nothing, and if something is still owed, payments can still be recorded on it.

If a return or a revoke leaves them having paid more than they now owe, Tabs asks what happened to the difference: Refund it or Keep as credit. It won't save until you choose. Tabs records your answer. It doesn't move the money.

Asking for stock back

A recall asks a reseller to bring items back. Press Ask for stock back on the Holding now card of a reseller's page, which lists everything they hold across their orders. Or press it in an order's … menu for that order's lines only.

Choose how many of each line you want back, or "All of what they hold", add a Back by date if there is one, and a note. The button says how many you're asking for.

A recall has its own page, with a sticker for where it stands:

It shows Late once the Back by date has passed, and four figures: Asked for, Back, Still to come and Wanted by.

When items come back, press Record what came back on the order's card. It opens that order's return form with only the recalled lines, each capped at what is still asked for. On an order that doesn't allow returns, it is the exception return, with its reason. The recall's sticker and figures update by themselves.

A recall doesn't move stock or money on its own. Only the return does. If they returned or kept some of what you asked for outside the recall, the recall says so, and you can mark it They declined or Cancel recall.

The Resellers page

Three figures sit above the list: Stock with resellers (how many items, and what they're worth at the agreed prices), Owed by resellers, and Overdue, which is red only when someone is late. Each opens the list narrowed to it.

The page has four tabs:

• Resellers. Name, kind, phone, what they hold, what they owe ("Nothing" at zero) and their soonest due date, with an Overdue mark when it has passed. Search, a Show filter (Holding stock, Owes money, Overdue), and sorting by name, what's owed or due date.
• Orders. Every reseller order: number, reseller, total, paid, owes, a payment sticker (Unpaid, Part paid, Paid), due date and when it was made. A Payment filter shows how many orders are in each group.
• Stock with resellers. A row for each line still out: the item, who has it, the store it left, how many, the agreed price and its value, the order, and how long it has been out, oldest first.
• Recalls. Every recall, with its sticker, how much has come back, and its Back by date.

A reseller's own page has their terms, details and three figures (Holding, Owes, Next due), then Holding now, their orders, their recalls and Activity.

Amounts on the Resellers pages are in your business's currency.

Where else it shows

• Stock. A variant with stock out says "+3 with resellers" under its count. In stock history the reasons are "Out with a reseller" and "Back from a reseller".
• The dashboard. Reseller money counts as sales only when it's paid, on the day it's paid. A voided payment or a refund takes it off again. The Revenue card adds a line, "And ₦… from resellers, so ₦… in all", for roles that can see resellers. See the dashboard.
• Tasks. Add a task is in a reseller order's and a recall's … menu, and the task links back to it. A task about reseller work that goes past its due date is made urgent, and the owner is told in the bell. The roster has a Reseller visits duty. See tasks.
• Activity. Every new reseller, change, order, payment, void, return, exception return, kept mark, revoke and recall is in Activity, with who did it and the reason where one was asked for.

Who can do what

Resellers have their own permissions, set under roles.

The built-in Staff role can view resellers, add and edit them, give stock, and record payments and returns. Removing, revoking, voiding, exception returns and recalls stay with the roles the owner gives them to.

A reseller can't be removed while they hold stock or owe money. Tabs says which. Once they're clear, removing them takes them off the list, and their past orders stay in the record.

What resellers don't do yet

Resellers are new in Tabs and haven't been tried on a real shop's figures yet.

• Tabs doesn't contact a reseller. No reminders by text or email about a due date or a recall.
• No price lists or credit limits. The price is agreed on each order, and Tabs doesn't stop a new order because of what someone owes.
• Tabs doesn't track what a reseller sells. It tracks what they hold, return and pay.
• One store per order. A reseller taking stock from two branches needs two orders.

If something goes wrong

A new order is refused for stock. The store has fewer available than you asked for, and no stock moves. Stock already with another reseller isn't available.

Paid now can't be changed. The reseller can't pay later. Change their terms first if you've agreed otherwise. The change reaches new orders only.

There's no Record return, only Record exception return. The order doesn't allow returns. Only roles that may record exception returns see it.

The payment button is off. You've entered more than they owe. Record the balance, or less.

There's no Resellers entry in the sidebar. Your role can't view resellers. Ask the owner.