FinancialForce.com Tackles Rebate Revenue Management
Closed-loop business processes, even ones that directly impact the bottom line, are relatively rare in supply chain management. Instead, many businesses cobble together information with tools like spreadsheets and email. Cloud ERP provider FinancialForce.com is targeting one such process, by adding rebate revenue management capabilities to its supply chain management (SCM) application.
Despite the fact that manufacturer rebates are a key source of revenue for many distributors and resellers, processing rebates is typically a time- and labor-intensive process. Most manufacturers deliver rebate program information to distributors and resellers via emails or snail mail, and those in channel sales often track rebate details manually with spreadsheets. Without an automated way to manage rebates, the reconciliation process becomes inefficient and inaccurate, making it tough to substantiate rebate claims against manufacturer rebate reports.
“Distributors and resellers today are, at best, estimating revenue from rebates. It is a long known issue in the channel as existing rebate management solutions only tackle the problem from the manufacturer’s perspective,” said Mike Flanagan, general manager of SCM applications at FinancialForce.com, in a statement.
Rebate Revenue Management proactively notifies sales online of available rebates at the quote level, tracks available rebate programs from manufacturers, and captures rebate revenue for more accurate forecasting. The capability also flows seamlessly across procure-to-pay processes, offering visibility of current rebate levels and enabling distributors and resellers to make procurement decisions at levels that will trigger rebates.
According to the company, FinancialForce SCM is a module within its larger cloud ERP solution, which features an integrated CPQ (Configure, Price and Quote) tool that supports both recurring and non-recurring revenue models and enables the analysis of procurement, sales and margin history down to the serial number level. Other modules include financial management, human capital management (HCM) and professional services automation (PSA) apps.
Drew Robb is a writer who has been writing about IT, engineering, and other topics. Originating from Scotland, he currently resides in Florida. Highly skilled in rapid prototyping innovative and reliable systems. He has been an editor and professional writer full-time for more than 20 years. He works as a freelancer at Enterprise Apps Today, CIO Insight and other IT publications. He is also an editor-in chief of an international engineering journal. He enjoys solving data problems and learning abstractions that will allow for better infrastructure.
