The Back Page
(for the back office)                Page last updated 7/7/09

Answer...
Yes, it's true!  The Credit Office system (CMS) has been updated and upgraded so that invoice detail is just a keystroke away. We also now have the ability to email or e-fax invoices directly to customers, in addition to being able to email interim statements that we've had to print and fax in the past. This is a great improvement in customer service!

Bonus: 
This not only gives us a faster method of getting the invoice/statement into the customers' hands, enabling them to pay it sooner, but it saves on the expense of paper in Credit. 

Other new features include the ability to look up invoices by customer PO# and access a list of pending invoices that have not yet been transmitted to Credit from Sacramento. 

Question...
We received a check from a vendor to reimburse expenses from Comp Dollars. How do I process it? Do I need to run an invoice? 

Answer...
It's wonderful that we have programs established with our vendors to share certain promotional expenses. When they reimburse those expenses with a check, handling it is quite simple. 

All you need to do is write the GL# of the original expense on the top of the check, make a copy for your files, and send it to the  Service Center in Sacramento. They will deposit it and apply the credit to your expense account. You do not have to process an invoice.

It's a good idea to keep the check copy with your expense batches for easy reference. 

Question...
I know there are many reasons customers may delay paying on their invoices, but is there anything I can do to help? 

Answer...
In this difficult financial market, each of us needs to do whatever we can to encourage customers to make timely payments. In the Credit Office, we see many reasons customers withhold payment, but the most frequent and easily solved is simply putting the correct Purchase Order number on each invoice. 

Many customers require a PO# on each invoice before they will approve them for payment. In most cases, merely the name of the person picking up the merchandise is not adequate. When a customer notifies your PC that a PO# is going to be required, please verify with the customer what kind of PO# will be acceptable, then be sure that you do not release any invoices for billing without a good PO#. If an invoice comes to your desk without the PO#, return it to the person who wrote the ticket and have them follow up with the customer to get the proper number.

Anything you can do to be sure that the invoices are released with correct and complete information will help the customers to approve their invoices for payment more quickly. Thanks for doing everything you can!

Question...
How can I get a Certificate of Insurance for one of my customers? 

Answer...
Call Jean in CED's Westlake office at 818-597-3089 with the information on your customer. She will need the customer name and address, along with any specific coverages the customer has requested. She will forward the request to our insurance carrier, who will issue the Certificate and send it directly to your customer. If you would also like a copy, you can request to have it emailed to you at the PC. 

If your customer requires a Certificate of Insurance from one of our vendors or manufacturers, please visit CED’s Intranet site and click on the link for Vendor Insurance Certificates.

Question...
How can I set up CEDNet to send my Daily Sales Summary to the Division / District Office via e-fax? 

Answer...
This answer has two parts: First, set up the Division / District Office fax number in File Maintenance, then set the DSS report to AUTO SEND when you complete it daily.

To set up the Division / District Office to receive e-faxes, log on with a User ID that has the proper permissions set up (usually a manager), then go to File Maintenance, Maintain Email Address/Fax Number File (option 12). Use F10 and select the recipient type "Division" to enter or change the information to include the fax number for Division or District. (See CEDNet procedures on the Intranet site for more detailed steps.)

Then, when you are printing your Final Daily Sales Summary for your files, you will be prompted to AUTO SEND (Y/N) the billing day. Selecting Y will launch your email service, which forwards the fax to the fax provider and on to the Division / District Office.

Question...
What should we be doing differently now that the Rainier District is no longer an entity?  

Answer...
Most of what you do will remain the same - especially those of you whose PCs were not part of the Rainier District! For those who were part of Rainier District, it's really very simple. Anything you would have sent to Tom Meade in the Kent PC will now need to be sent to him in the Division Office. The address is 24909 104th Ave SE, Suite 202, Kent, WA 98030. The phone is 253-852-1618, and Tom's fax# is 253-852-7220. You can also reach Tom via email at tmeadeced@msn.com. The only other change is that the PC# 9680 will no longer be used for payables.

If you have any questions, just call Tom in the Division Office!

Question...
How do we submit questions?

Answer...
Email Sue - she'll track down the answers!

Question...
What do we do if someone who is a customer of a different PC brings a payment to our PC?

Answer...
Take it! 
Always take money from whoever wants to give it to you, whether it be  check, cash or credit card payment. Just fax a copy to Credit as you would for a payment from your own customer, then include it with your next envelope. If the customer gives you a statement stub or other form of remittance information, be sure to include that as well. When running a credit card for another PC, be sure to notify Karen in the Credit Office, and she will post the processing fees to the appropriate PC. 

Note: You should also give customers a receipt (your customers or another PC's customers) when you take a payment from them, according to the SPI. You can use any type of receipt you pick up at a local office supply store, or make & print your own.

Question...
I would like to visit the Sacramento Service Center. Are there any plans in the works to send another group of clerical people to California?

Answer...
Wil Bergkamp, manager of the SSC has invited us to send more people to visit their facility and learn how their job intermeshes with ours - in groups of about six. The schedule is to arrive on Sunday and check into the hotel, then go to the Service Center first thing Monday morning. The tour and educational program will last all day Monday and Tuesday morning. Then travel back home Tuesday afternoon.

As soon as the next dates are set, we will send out a note to all PCs. This valuable training will continue to be offered from time to time.

Question...
How does Online Bill Pay work for our customers? What are the costs and benefits for CED?

Answer...
Our new Online Bill Pay service is available 24/7 for our customers to use to pay their bill. They can pay either by invoice or by statement month. The first step is for them to log on via our website by clicking on the logo in the header, then fill in the self-explanatory registration form. After they are registered, they can log on any time and submit a payment.

CED pays a nominal fee (less than credit card processing fees) on each payment, which is then charged to the appropriate PC. The payoff is that we post funds from the customer days sooner, reducing the PC's overhead.

We have had inquiries from several customers as to when we will be able to take credit card payments online, and when they will be able to view their statements/invoices over the internet. These services are not currently available for us, though we hope our systems department will work on integrating our programs in a way that will securely allow these services to be offered. 

Question...
Why didn't my customer get his statement? I updated his address in my system last month!

Answer...
Did you send a 1035 to the Credit Office so they could update their system with the new address information? Customer statements are printed at the Service Center, whose information comes from the data in the computer at the Credit Office. (Your invoices are processed daily by Sacramento, then transmitted to the Credit Office.) At 2pm on the last business day each month, outstanding balances are sent to the Service Center for customer statements. If the Credit Office hasn't received your 1035 updating the customer address by the cutoff, the statement will be mailed to the old address.

So please remember to fill out a 1035 and send it to the Credit Office as soon as you get updated contact information from your customer - addresses, phone and fax numbers and contact names are all important! If you have any questions about how to fill out the 1035, talk to Karen in the credit Office.

Question...
How much should I be paying for Cashiers' Checks for cash sales?

Answer...
Nothing - if you have access to a Bank of America. Our account is set up so that fees are charged directly to the statement. If you use Bank of America for money orders or cashiers' checks, and they charge you a fee, please notify them that our account is subject to 'analysis fees' and have them call Nicki in Credit if they have questions.

Question...
I just finished our annual Inventory Reconciliation - the SPI just says to retain the documents. Don't I need to send them somewhere?

Answer...
The short answer is - Yes. Copies of all your Inventory Reconciliation documents should be sent to Internal Audit. It seems the SPI is out of date in this regard. At one time, someone from Internal Audit participated in each Inventory Reconciliation, and could then take copies with when they went back to Corporate. This is no longer the case, but of course, they still need the documentation. 

All SPIs are constantly under review for revision, and several have recently been updated. SPIs are now available on the Intranet site, which is accessible through your CEDNet Main Menu. In addition, many forms have been added to the Intranet site in an electronic format for easy and legible completion. Take advantage of this resource!

Question...
It can be costly to send so many big envelopes to Credit. Why do we need to send the funds so often?

Answer...
Every day an invoice remains unpaid, your PC pays an investment charge for the uncollected funds. The customer's payment cannot be applied to an invoice until the money is actually received and deposited by the Credit Office. So, it can cost more to hold onto payments than to send them.

Answer...
The Unprocessed Documents Report lists invoices and credit memos that have been opened in CEDNet, or hand-write tickets in an opened "book," but not released for billing as of the date of the report. This is a tool used for tracking missing invoices.

Research each invoice on the report and note the status in the provided space. If the ticket has been released, note the date as well. If it has been voided, note the date of the void batch. It is helpful to attach copies of voided tickets and paid freight claim tickets to the report for clarification.

Please do not write "delete" on the status line and do not make notes in the "To Be Dropped" column. This column will have stars in it when the item has been on the report for too long, and will be dropped by the Service Center the following month. If a viable ticket is starred, it may be a good idea to void it and re-write the order on a new ticket.

It is helpful to note that if you release three or more tickets from an old, closed "book," that book will be reopened and even the processed tickets within that series will reappear on the report. Simply note the date these items were closed and they will be removed again. 

When completed, send the report to Sue in the Division Office. You may fax the report to 253-859-4463 or just tuck it into your next mailing to the Credit Office.

If you have any questions, contact the Sacramento Service Center or call Sue in the Division Office.

Question...
I keep hearing about gooey terminals. What the heck is GUI anyway?

Answer...
Though it may sound like someone melted a chocolate bar on top of your car battery, GUI ("gooey" in geek- speak) is just an abbreviation for Graphical User Interface, and has nothing to do with being sticky. A GUI terminal is a workstation that runs on a Windows^© platform, meaning you can point, click and drag with your mouse instead of just typing selections from a menu. Like most Windows- based programs, there are still some key combinations you can use to navigate the menus when it's more convenient than removing your hands from the keyboard.

Question...
How often should we send funds to the Credit Office?

Answer...
All funds received in the Profit Center should be sent to the Credit Office at least twice a week, or sooner when you have over $100 on hand. At the end of the month, you will be directed when to send all funds overnight to be posted before the month closes.

Question...
I recently received a notice from our Tax Department telling me to process an invoice for tax on an old register. After doing some research, I found I had already made the correction. What's the best way to keep track of Sales Tax adjustments I've made? 

Answer...
This is an easy one - the answer is right in the SPI manual: Procedure #847, page three reads, in part "If the deduction is authorized, issue a Credit Memo. ...You must also write the Credit Memo number and date on the Posting Copy of the original Sales Invoice, Form 1000. This information is necessary to support sales tax audits."

By going back to the original paperwork and making notes there, you create an audit trail that can be followed by anyone. To be sure, make notes in CEDNet as well so you can quickly cross-reference the Invoice and Credit Memo to each other, but the best way to track the Sales Tax adjustment is to go back to the beginning and make your notations there.

Question..
If I receive a large check for a customer account payment, should I take it to the bank right away?

Answer...
No, please don't deposit any checks locally unless directed to by someone in the Credit Office. 

The correct process is to immediately fax a copy of the check (along with any stub, remittance advice and/or statement) to the Credit Office at 253- 859-4463. Please do this with all open account payments received, whether by check or credit card. Feel free to make a follow-up call to be sure Karen has seen the payment come in, especially if the customer is on credit hold. Generally speaking, you will only be asked to make a remote deposit on the last day of the month, if you get a large payment after sending your overnight package - but not always. Wait for the instructions from Credit.

Question...
How do we set up a customer to get a flat discount rate?

Answer...
Our system default allows customers a variable discount based on how much is given to CED by vendors, which is set in CEDNet. 

In order to override the default, you must go to the customer set-up screen. You'll see a checkbox that reads "override cash discount." The default setting is "NO," which means the customer will get discount based on the vendor default for each item purchased. Change the setting to "YES," then select your percentage. You can set the value to "0" for no discounts (your COD accounts should all be set up this way.), up to a maximum of 2%. This discount amount will now show on all invoices processed from this point forward.

If you only want to allow discount on certain line items on specific invoices, at the very end of the line listing that item on the register, change the value, again, from 0 to 2%. Be careful, however - if the customer has been set up to override cash discount as explained above, that amount will supercede the line adjustment.