Promax » Accruals, Claims & Terms

In Promax PX, what data fields are captured to keep track of my Deductions Management?

promax — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:48:42 +0000

Claim Date
Entry Date
Payment method
Deduction Date
Amount
Reference Number
Transaction type
Payee code
Payee name
Product
Tax Type

Controlling Trade Spend

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:54:59 +0000

So you have done your promotional planning, does that mean no more problems? Unfortunately not. It is still quite easy to end up with a severe overspend situation. This is because most promotions have no limit on the amount the chain may wish to buy. Why this should be so is one of those things that has become ‘part of the way we do business’, and has no basis in logic. It is just as illogical as extended buy periods, for businesses where there is perpetual motion and a pipeline of product! But it causes very real problems. Even with the most careful of planning, unless you monitor the trade spend during the year, you will almost certainly get a big surprise at the end of the year. Planning alone will not control trade spend. In this section we are not concerned whether the trade spend is worthwhile, only with keeping the total costs within predefined boundaries.

Download the full Controlling Trade Spend Case Study PDF

Composition of Incremental Lift

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:46:03 +0000

This is a precis of a research paper entitled ‘The Decomposition of Promotional Response: An Empirical Generalisation’ by David R. Bell, Jeongwen Chiang and V. Padmanabhan, published by Marketing Science.

This very interesting paper based on research conducted in 1999, studies 173 brands in 13 categories in the USA over a 52 week period, based on the household expenditure of 250 families and 3 stores. The overall conclusion is that the percentage of promotional lift attributable to brand switching is an average of 75%, which is somewhat below previous studies. In 1988 Gupta measured this at 84%, and A.C.Nielsen more recently (precise date unknown, but published in 1996) at 80%.

Of even more interest is the category by category variance. Categories were selected to encompass both those that are known to expand consumption, as well as those that are ‘storable’ or ‘necessities’.The balance of the lift not attributable to brand switching was also analysed into the two components of category expansion (genuine additional incremental volume) and accelerated purchase (reduction in expected inter-purchase interval). A determination was also made of the relative impact of brand factors, category factors and consumer factors to identify which is the most significant. All in all, they are able to explain 70% of the actual promotional response. One of the significant findings is that category effects are more significant than brand effects, and consumer effects (i.e. demographics) are quite minimal.

Download the full Composition of incremental lift Case Study PDF

Can Promax provide full and easy access to interrogate audit trails?

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:18:43 +0000

The Promax PX is a transactional solution, and changes to core information are recorded and date stamped – thus providing an audit trail. The solution also adopts double entry accounting principals – meaning that transaction changes are tracked through a series of corresponding debits and credits.

Does Promax allow calculation of accruals for retrospective payments?

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:18:24 +0000

Many promotions are based on deferred terms. Promax has extensive functionality for the calculation of accruals and the ability to deal with retrospective payments. The extensive range of transaction types or trade spend within Promax deals with the vast majority of trading conditions that FMCG customers experience. Discounts that are given off the invoice and those that are paid on performance based on retail sell-out data or point-of-sale are all dealt with within the Promax PX environment. Promax PX is notable for its flexibility of transaction types, accrual methods and payments/ Deductions.

Does Promax enable different Payment Methods?

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:18:02 +0000

Promax PX allows for different payment types to be set up per Promotion defaulted by the type of deal that the user has selected. Promax PX will automatically assign the appropriate payment type based on the promotion planners input when the claim is being processed. The claims processer has the ability to over ride the payment type providing that the system has been set-up to allow this choice.

Promax PX has the option of paying by:

Cheque
Deduction
EFT
Credit Card
Off-Invoice Adjustment

Anything that is paid by deduction will automatically be treated as an adjustment note. Tax Invoices will be handled by the other methods.

All claims processed within Promax PX will be interfaced with the ERP system to ensure no double entry / duplication of effort.

3rd Party customers or Vendors (as defined in Promax PX) can be paid by the system using the Vendor list. This allows promotions to be set up one level and paid to another. E.g. The promotion is given to all customers under a specific level in the hierarchy, however payment needs to be made to the individual store or banner.

This element of Promax PX functionality can be deployed alongside the rest of the solution as part of the initial scope of the implementation (for relatively little additional effort) or during a subsequent phase.

What is the accrual frequency within Promax?

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:15:55 +0000

Promax PX will accrue daily, weekly monthly or on an ad-hoc basis.

Does Promax do accrual adjustment (when something under-accrues)?

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:12:33 +0000

Promax PX allows for accrual adjustments via the Accrued Amount Adjustment tab whereby you can enter a new accrued amount, select a Data Source or Date Range which will allocate the revised amount to all SKUs within that promotion. The Adjustments History tab will allow you to keep an audit trail and track your adjustments.

What is the Terms accrual rate capability of Promax?

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:11:56 +0000

Promax PX allows different accrual rates for different products on a term. The accrual rate can be changed on an active term.

The accrual rate options are:

Calculated off Gross – The terms are calculated of Sales, Gross or Net, depending on the GL Type Tax Position.
Calculated off Customer Price – The term rate for forecasting and promotion purposes is calculated off the customer price, where the customer price is list price, less any account discounts
Calculated off Promo Price – The term rate for forecasting and promotion purposes is calculated off the promotion price, where the promotion price is customer price, less any case discounts

In Promax, are Terms created at Product Hierarchy, with new SKUs added automatically?

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:11:39 +0000

Promax PX allows trading terms to be created at a product hierarchy or multiple product hierarchy levels. A nightly interface job automatically identifies and adds any new SKUs to the terms. This ensures that new products are not missed in the trading terms calculations and eliminates the need for manual user actions.

Terms created for accounts that are not at the lowest level, are calculated based on the sales of the selected Product Hierarchy.