Consignment Business Accounting
Consignment software 'accounts' for all of the variables involved in 'consigning' (the reselling of others' property for a share of the sales proceeds). The software program allows for these variables to be interconnected, so that a change in one aspect will automatically make a change in all other related aspects. (For example, when an item is sold, a consignment software program will automatically deduct the item from inventory and the consignor's account, and credit the consignor's and consignee's accounts for their portions of the sales proceeds.)
The common variables in a consignment software program are:
Consignor Records - who the owner (consignor) of the property is, and his/her contact information - phone & fax numbers, mail & email addresses, etc.
Consignor Specifics - the seller's current dollar balance, how many items remain in inventory, the agreed-upon sales split percentage, balance adjustments and credits, what to do with unsold items, dates for last update, last new item, last sale, last settlement...
Inventory - item #, description, date in, quantity, price, item category, details, bar code number and consignor %...
Settlements - settlement number, date, total amount, amount from sales, amount deducted, amount added... Learn how to Start a Consignment Shop.
Employee Records - employee name & #, address, e-mail address, phone numbers, number of items sold, account balance, commission percentage...
Employee Account Status - account balance, bonuses, subtractions, dates of hire and termination, last update, last sale and last commission payment...
Employee Current Sales - item #, description, sale price, quantity, commission % and commission amount...
Consignor Reports - for definable periods of last new item, last sale, last settlement, 'balance range from' and consignor status... Get listed in the Consignment Shops n Stores.
Inventory Reports - for definable periods of date in, last sale, date discounted, price range, item number, consignor and category...
Sale Reports - for definable periods of invoice date, invoice totals, payment methods, sales person, sales recap and invoices list...
Printing - of reports, bar codes, mailing labels, small and medium-sized price labels, detailed price labels, inventory lists, details lists...
All sections typically have a provision for making and keeping notes about consignors, their inventory and sales.
Most small consignment businesses, particularly those just starting out, can run their operations very efficiently with these features (less the employee tracking and bar-code capability) in a simple, consignment software program costing under $300.