Part 3 · FMCG trade practice · Chapter 3.15
Credit and collection on the beat
Draft: the wording may change.
The idea
Every retailer gets a credit rule that the salesman can say in one line: cash, bill-to-bill, or so many days. Money collected on the beat belongs to a specific bill and must reach the office the same evening. At the end of a van-sales day, the stock and the cash must both add up — and any gap is found that day, not at month-end.
Credit rules on the beat
| Rule | What it means | Who gets it |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | Pay on delivery | New shops, shops that have bounced a cheque |
| Bill-to-bill | Pay the last bill before the next delivery | Most small kiranas |
| 7 or 15 days | Pay each bill within that many days | Regular, larger shops |
The salesman carries a collection list for the day's beat: shop, bill number, date, amount, days outstanding. He collects against those bills, not "on account". He writes a receipt from a numbered receipt book, or on his phone, for every rupee, and the shop keeps a copy.
Ravi Stores is bill-to-bill. Today's list shows bill 2451 for ₹1,180, eight days old. Kumar collects ₹1,180, writes receipt 0347 against bill 2451, and takes the new order. Had Ravi Stores not paid, the new order waits — that is what bill-to-bill means.
A van-sales day
In van sales, the salesman carries the stock, bills on the spot and collects at once. Kumar's van on Tuesday:
Stock
| Product | Loaded (cases) | Sold | Back to godown | Short |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cream biscuit 75g | 20 | 16 | 4 | 0 |
| Glucose biscuit 200g | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| Marie 250g | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
Loaded = sold + back to godown, for every product. If a case is missing, it is either an unbilled sale or a loss, and it is found tonight while Kumar still remembers the day.
Money
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Van bills today | ₹14,860 |
| — paid in cash | ₹9,200 |
| — paid by UPI | ₹3,100 |
| — on credit (two bill-to-bill shops) | ₹2,560 |
| Old bills collected in cash | ₹3,000 |
| Old bills collected by cheque | ₹1,350 |
| Diesel paid from cash (bill attached) | ₹600 |
| Cash to hand over (9,200 + 3,000 − 600) | ₹11,600 |
The cashier counts ₹11,540. The ₹60 gap is written on the day sheet with Kumar's signature, and the UPI ₹3,100 is checked against the bank app before he leaves. Cheques go into the bank the next morning; a cheque is not money until it clears.
Common mistake
Rotation. A salesman collects ₹5,000 from shop A, keeps it for a few days, and later shows shop B's payment against shop A's bill to cover it. Every shop's balance is slightly wrong, the total looks fine, and nobody notices until a shop says "I paid that in March". Stop it with three habits: receipts against named bills only, cash handed over the same day, and a balance confirmation with each shop every quarter (chapter 1.18).
Where you'll use this
In Part 4, the collection list comes to the salesman's phone with each shop's open bills, and the receipt he enters is matched to the bill at once (chapter 4.4). The van's load, sales and return close into one evening settlement screen, and the outstanding list ages itself (chapter 4.8).
Check yourself
- Ravi Stores is bill-to-bill and has not paid last week's bill. What should the salesman do with today's order?
- Loaded 20, sold 16, returned 3. What does the van sheet show?
- Why should a receipt always name the bill it pays?
Answers
- Collect the old bill first; the new delivery waits until it is paid.
- One case short — an unbilled sale or a loss, to be explained the same evening.
- So every shop's balance is right bill by bill, and money cannot be moved quietly from one shop's account to another's.