Stockflow V3 is here. Billing, stock and salesman orders for FMCG stockists.Stockflow V3 வந்துவிட்டது. FMCG ஸ்டாக்கிஸ்ட்டுகளுக்கான பில்லிங், ஸ்டாக், சேல்ஸ்மேன் ஆர்டர்.See prices →விலையைப் பாருங்கள் →

A free book

Business Training

Accounting, operations and FMCG trade practice, for the people who run FMCG distribution. Four parts, short chapters, one idea each, with a stockist's bills as the examples.

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68 of 68 chapters written. Free to read, no sign-up.

Stockists and owners

See why the month-end numbers don't match, and which missing document caused it.

Office and accounts staff

Debit and credit, GST, claims and closing, explained with bills from a stockist's day.

Salesmen and supervisors

Schemes, beats, collections and incentives, and why the company asks for what it asks.

Contents

  1. How to use this book
  2. Introduction: why the books go wrong

Part 1Keeping the books

Every rupee that moves in a business leaves a trace on paper — a bill, a receipt, a payslip. Accounting is the habit of turning those papers into a few simple records that never disagree with each other. This part builds

  1. 1.1Why keep accountsThe scorebook
  2. 1.2Every entry starts with a documentThe four kinds of documents
  3. 1.3AccountsThe family's finances
  4. 1.4Debit and creditThe two tanks
  5. 1.5Postings and journal entriesThe bill is the entry
  6. 1.6Parties and cost centresThree questions: what kind, with whom, for which part
  7. 1.7The journal and the ledgerSame lines, sorted twice
  8. 1.8The trial balanceThe level scale
  9. 1.9Profit and loss, and the balance sheetThe movie and the photograph
  10. 1.10Sales, purchases and returnsThe eraser that leaves a trace
  11. 1.11Money in, money outTwo diaries
  12. 1.12Who owes whomThe expiry date on money owed
  13. 1.13Stock and marginCash on the shelf
  14. 1.14Fixing mistakesReplace, never patch
  15. 1.15GSTThe relay race
  16. 1.16Income taxThe sleeping partner
  17. 1.17TDS and TCSThe tax postman
  18. 1.18Are the books right?The five link rules

Part 2Running the business

Part 1 was the record. This part is the work that creates it: taking an order, buying stock, collecting money, paying people, filing returns, closing the day. Each chapter follows one chain of documents from start to fin

  1. 2.1Order to cashCash is the finish line
  2. 2.2Buying and payingThe restaurant check
  3. 2.3Stock on the shelfFirst to expire, first out
  4. 2.4Cash and the bankThe leaking bucket
  5. 2.5Credit and collectionsThe limit you can afford to lose
  6. 2.6Filing GSTThe monthly exam
  7. 2.7Salary and incentivesRent and harvest
  8. 2.8The compliance calendarThe household bill calendar
  9. 2.9Registrations and licencesThe driving licence
  10. 2.10DeliveryThe signed receipt
  11. 2.11Controls and daily reportsTwo keys and a dashboard
  12. 2.12Closing the day, the month and the yearPulling down the shutter

Part 3FMCG trade practice

This is the part the first two were preparing for. A packet of biscuits passes through five or six hands before someone eats it, and each hand has its own targets, margins and paperwork. This part walks the chain from th

  1. 3.1What FMCG isPennies, fast
  2. 3.2The chainThe packet's journey
  3. 3.3Big brands and small brands
  4. 3.4How a brand's sales team works
  5. 3.5Appointing a stockist
  6. 3.6The price ladderThe price ladder
  7. 3.7Three sales of one packetThree sales of one packet
  8. 3.8Targets and trade spend
  9. 3.9What brands measure
  10. 3.10Launching a product
  11. 3.11Ordering from the company
  12. 3.12Schemes and margins
  13. 3.13ClaimsThe claim is a bill to the company
  14. 3.14Damages, expiry and returns
  15. 3.15Credit and collection on the beat
  16. 3.16Salesman incentives
  17. 3.17Many brands, one stockist
  18. 3.18Beats and routes
  19. 3.19Kinds of retailers
  20. 3.20Words from the field

Part 4Using software and AI

Everything in Parts 1 to 3 can be done with a register and a calculator — that is how most stockists started. Software does not change the rules; it does the repetitive steps without getting tired and keeps the records l

  1. 4.1Register, Tally or app
  2. 4.2What to automate first
  3. 4.3Clean masters firstClean masters first
  4. 4.4Order to cash in software
  5. 4.5Stock in software
  6. 4.6Accounts and tax in software
  7. 4.7Payroll and incentives in software
  8. 4.8Reports to read every day
  9. 4.9Choosing software
  10. 4.10Going live
  11. 4.11Keeping data safe
  12. 4.12What AI is and isn'tThe new trainee clerk
  13. 4.13AI for office work
  14. 4.14AI reading documents
  15. 4.15Speaking instead of typing
  16. 4.16Asking questions of your data
  17. 4.17Checking AI's workAI proposes, a person approves
  18. 4.18Data privacy with AIThe never-paste list
Teaching a session?

The book comes with slides for live sessions. The building blocks of accounting (PDF).