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Route Accounting - What is it?

There's accounting and then there's Route Accounting. So what defines a Route Accounting system, and why?

Many businesses require specialized features and reporting because of their unique mobility characteristics. These business types are often described as direct store distribution (DSD) and mobile sales. In Europe and the Caribbean, this is often called "Van Sales". In all cases, product is usually sold off the truck or van giving rise to special business activities not present in a fixed business. Some of these activities include:

• Mobile Inventory is carried on the truck making the truck or van a rolling warehouse. This inventory is not sold until an order is created at the customer's place of business. Often this place of business is a convenience store, restaurant, grocery store, or similar outlet. This gives rise to the need for mobile inventory control.
• Route sales staff stop at customer sites and stock shelves, sell product, and write invoices or orders. This gives rise to the need for a way to create invoices, orders, returns quickly, efficiently and accurately.
• When route sales staff return to administration, transactions need to be reconciled and posted to customer accounts and accounting.
• Managers need information about field activities in order to make business decisions.

In summary, a complete route accounting system includes specialized features and functions to designed to direct, control, and automate these business activities.

In 1992 , Solid Innovation was the first company to recognize these specialized accounting as a group. At that time, we coined the term "Route Accounting" Since then, we have seen wide adoption of this term.

In providing leadership to our route accounting clients, Solid Innovation continues to expand and develop business solutions to meet the specialized needs of the DSD industry.