Agriculture Retailers

Sales counter (in agricultural product trading business) is the busiest, dynamic and most happening area. Number of actions and activities happens inside the sales counter and outside the sales counter. Day starts with farmers (located in near by villages) calling over the phone inquiring for products like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, advice, etc. Sometimes farmers also visit the shop to buy and/or to enquire about products. Representatives from producing companies (like seeds, fertilizers and pesticides) and distributors office or  wholesalers office also visit the retail outlet asking for orders and/or educating retailer about new products and their benefits. Delivery staff from stockiest or from distributor or from wholesaler also visit the retail outlet to deliver the products. Payment collection staff from stockiest or from distributor or from wholesaler also visit the retail outlet asking for payment or offering credit notes for purchase return or for some sales scheme.

District agriculture officer visit retail sales outlet to find out how government scheme for farmers is doing or asking detailed information about schemes offered by government on seeds, on fertilizers and on pesticides. Keeping the counter pleasant, neat, clean, smiley, presentable and automated is the need of business. Using Windows based computer, printer, UPS, Inverter, etc. is the need of business. Using Acme’s Insight BAP (Business Application Processing) software on this computer adds sugar in milk. Acme’s Insight BAP (Business Application Processing) software in 8 (modules) in 1 (product). Acme’s Insight software saves (huge) time, human efforts and business money. Acme’s Insight software helps agriculture business to grow by providing accurate business intelligence data ( information alias knowledge ) to business owner through number of features and reports. Let us read about each feature to find out how Acme’s Insight software helps agriculture retail business.

• Create, save and print 10 bills at a time
  Generating sales bill is the foundation stone of every retail business. Generating sales bill for every sale creates & generate meaningful business data (about product, about producing company, about quantity, about price, about packaging, etc.) that empower of the business to business owner.  Acme Infovision understand this aspect of business since day one and in turn Acme Infovision provides one of the best sales billing user interface for retail business. Current user interface of Acme’s Insight software allows business owner to generate 10 bills at a time in one single window. Acme Infovision appeals every business owner to use sales billing feature every day and for every product being sold from the retail outlet.
• Number of item names to be printed in one sales bill
  This function is available in the form of settings. This feature allows business owner to decide number of item names to be printed in one sales bill. This feature is useful to the business since the type of printed stationary used by business owner changes from city to city and from state to state.
• Auto Select Batch In Sales Bill
  This feature automatically selects the batch number of the selected agricultural product in sales bill.
• Select Sales Return Batch First While Auto Selecting Batch
  This feature helps sales bill creating user to select that product which arrived back in shop under sales return document. This feature helps business owner to reduce saleable stock immediately by reselling it again.
• Set default memo type In sales bill
  This function helps business owner to decide what type of sales bill to be prepared as default. Choices are cash bill, credit card bill, credit bill or multiple payment mode bills. This feature is available from settings.
• Add Multiple Batches Automatically For Entered Quantity
  This feature is useful when farmer orders for large quantity of same product and ordered product is available with business owner in multiple batches. Agricultural business runs on batch number, batch date & expiry date. This feature automatically selects multiple batches of selected products.
• Flash alert message for product and for credit over due from farmer
  This feature is available in the form of settings. Acme’s Insight software alert & flash message when the product is out of stock, expired and reached to minimum quantity level. Flashing of alert message on computer monitor is also linked with the farmer name database (in case farmer buy products on credit) and sales billing. Whenever farmer (having pending balance to be paid to the business) visit the shop to buy more products, While making sales bill, as soon as farmer name is selected in Insight’s sales bill window, Insight software alert billing user about payment due from selected customer. This feature helps business owner to keep tight control on outstanding.
• Use Itemcode, Item name or Barcode while creating sales bill
  Acme’s Insight software allows sales billing user to select item name or item code or barcode label while selecting the product for sales bill process. Similarly Acme’s Insight software allows to select customer name or customer code while preparing sales bill.
• Show customer balance in pick list
  This feature helps billing user to get accurate information about outstanding payment when customer visit the shop to buy more products. More over, when user click mouse button on each visible outstanding amount! Billing user can also see more information about each pending bill and products bought in each sales bill.
• Alert on Sales Bill UI (User interface) for shortage of products, near to expire products and expired products
  This alert automatically appears as soon as create new sales bill function is used by the user. This alert empower and educate billing user about products that are not available in stock as well as products available in stock whose expiry is already over. This alert allows business owner to take a decision about reordering products that are in short supply and to return products (to stockiest or to wholesaler or to distributor) that are already expired. This feature is the need of agriculture retail business. Acme’s Insight also use different colors for this alert. Red color used for expired products. Orange color used for the products that are blocked. Yellow color used for near to expiry products. Khaki color used for block batch products.
• Show items in sales bill rack wise
  This function helps billing user to print sales bill location wise. Delivery staff can use printed bill to remove products from respective racks for actual delivery.
• Take Different Series According To Memo Type In Sales Bill
  In Acme’s Insight software there is a provision to create different series of sales bills for cash payment and different series for credit bills. This function helps business owner to select accurate and appropriate billing series when sales bill is generated. This function also helps to print daily sales report according to series namely daily cash sales report and daily credit sales report.
• Save and Print Bill Immediately After Entry
  This feature in the form of settings allows billing user to save & to print bill instantly or only to save the bill without printing.
• Rounding sales bill and its method
  This feature allows business owner (or staff) to decide how rounding to be done for the final sales bill and the method to be used for rounding. Formula function is available for this feature. This feature is available from settings.
• Enter cash received from farmer
  This feature allows sales bill user to enter cash received from farmer. Billing software capture the total sales bill amount, cash received from farmer and exchange cash returned to the farmer.
• Multiple taxing
  Acme’s Insight handles multiple tax rates in single sales bill namely 5% VAT ,  5.5% VAT, 12% VAT or 14% VAT and CST.  Acme’s Insight software allows billing user to bill various types of taxing products in one sales bill. Billing user can also define whether tax to be shown in sales bill or not and/or sales rate to be shown inclusive of tax.
  
• Multiple payment collection
  Acme’s Insight allows automobile business owner to collect multiple payment collection for single sales bill namely cash, credit card and cheque.
• Sales return / exchange in same sales bill
  Sales return or exchange is unavoidable attribute of business. Acme’s Insight offers sales return in same sales bill or sales return by separate document.  Business owner can decide the process.

Agriculture retail business generates great profits when business works smoothly, seamlessly, smartly and that too when saleable stock is available to bill it to farmer. So entering stock, entering every supplier bill, updating stock, monitoring stock, tracking stock, entering every sales return and purchase return, etc. are the key task in hand for business owner. Acme’s Insight offers meaningful & productive features for stock entry, stock update, stock maintenance, etc.

• Import computerized purchase bill
  Entering purchase bill consumes huge time of business owner or staff. To save time, efforts, avoiding mistakes & errors, Acme’s Insight software allows business owner to import supplier’s bill generated on computers. Please contact Acme’s office or Acme’s Business Partner’s office to understand how to use this feature.
• Inward stock with bill or with delivery challan
  Using this feature business owner can enter item master records using supplier’s bill or using delivery challan.
• Enter products Batch Wise and Category wise
  Acme’s Insight software maintains agriculture product data batch wise and category wise. This process helps business owner and billing user while making sales bill, while taking sales return and while returning products to stockiest or to wholesaler or to distributor.
• Expiry Warning Start Before “N” number of Days from the date Of Expiry & Lock Batch Before “N” number of Days from the date Of Expiry
  This feature allows business owner to decide when Acme’s Insight should warn business owner and billing staff about expiry of products. “N” number can be entered by business owner or by staff. This function is available from settings. Second feature will help business owner or staff to lock the batch of products that are already expired. This function is also available in the form of settings.
• Raise Expired Product Warning While Starting Program
  This feature display agriculture product list that are already expired or near to expire. This alert appears on computer screen as soon as Acme’s Insight software is started. This alert helps business owner to take quick action on expired goods. Business owner can immediately return the products to stockiest or to wholesaler or to distributor.
• Validate purchase price and sale price while entering stock
  Acme’s Insight software allows business owner to validate purchase rate and sale rate while entering agriculture product data. This feature empower & educate users to validate accuracy of price factor that is utmost important to business.
• Multiple stocking locations (racks) within business premises
  Acme’s Insight software allows business owner to store (to keep) agriculture products in multiple locations (racks) within business premises. Each location (rack) can be given a unique number or unique name. By doing this, business owner can actually get accurate information about stock data available in respective locations (racks) where agriculture products are stored.
• Minimum order level quantity and reordering quantity
  While entering product master data, business owner can enter minimum order level quantity and reordering quantity for fast selling agriculture products. This feature helps business owner while reordering these products. Alert function is also available where by user is alerted as soon as stock level reaches to minimum level. Automatic reordering feature is available in Acme’s Insight if activated by business owner.
• Formula function for Item Master Entry
  This feature is available in the form of formula. Once the formula is set by business owner, Sale price and MRP of each item can be automatically calculated by Acme’s Insight software when purchase rate is entered for each product.
• Add multiple attributes or properties to each item
  Acme’s Insight software is completely driven by stock data. Acme’s Insight software allows business owner to add multiple attributes or properties for each item that are familiar to business owner or to staff.
• Maintaining stock in multiple units and in multiple packs
  This feature allows business owner to maintain stock in multiple units and in multiple packs. e.g. Fertilizers are bought in bags of 25 kg. or 50 kg. but sold to farmers in grams or in kilograms. Pesticides bottles are bought in box but sold in bottles.
• Define default rates and user definable rates
  Both these options are available in the form of settings. Setting default rates for regular customers can help sales billing user to create quick sales bill. User definable rates helps sales billing user to type different sales rates for walk in customers who are not regular customers. These customers are called as one-off customers.
• Lock sales rates in sales bill
  This function is available in the form of settings. This function helps business owner not to allow billing users to play (to change or to modify) with sales rates. This function is utmost important where business owner is having more than one billing counters.
• Lock the batch
  Acme’s Insight software allows business owner to lock a particular batch of agriculture product.

• Getting skill, low cost & low overheads worker for retail business is becoming difficult.
  Now-a-days getting skill, low cost & low overheads worker for retail business is becoming difficult day by day. Indian (& Multinational ) seed producing firms or fertilizer producing firms or pesticides producing firms are already using barcode, labels when they produce respective products. Barcode label product is easy to bill to farmer using barcode gun & computers. Acme offers barcode software module. This module allows business owner to use company own barcode labels as it is. Moreover, retail business owner can also design, generate & print barcode label on his own for the local products that are sold by retail business.

CRM means customer relationship management. It is also called as PR activity. PR means Public Relation. Now-a-days (in the era of Mobile phones, Smartphone, Web sites, Web Portals, Internet, TV, etc.) CRM or PR has become an utmost important activity for every business owner since competition is increasing beyond imagination, thinking and speed. Acme’s Insight software offers CRM for various PR (public relation) activities to be done with actual customers. Those are as follows:-

• Send transactional messages on mobile phone via text message
  Using this function business owner can send text messages on customers mobile phones as soon as sales bill on credit is generated.
• Send personal greeting messages
  Using this function, Acme’s Insight can send personal greeting messages for entire farmer database. e.g. Happy Birthday, Happy Wedding Anniversary, etc.
• Create mailing list and generate mailing labels
  Acme’s Insight can generate & print mailing list of all farmers who are buying agricultural products from retail outlet. Acme’s Insight can also generate & print famer’s information in mailing label format. These labels can be used by retail business owner to send them information about new products, about new scheme (if any), etc. by post or by courier.

Accounting is an integral part of every business. Acme’s Insight offers complete accounting on click of mouse button. Read below about features that are available under accounting feature group namely:-

• VAT accounting
  Every month, every business owner is forced to submit VAT report to government. VAT accounting is an important business task. Acme’s Insight software handles this part very systematically. When supplier’s bills are entered in to Insight? VAT paid on purchase bills is automatically added in to VAT paid register. When sales bill is printed on farmers, VAT collected from farmers is automatically added in to VAT collection register. When expired products or damaged products are returned to stockiest or to wholesaler or to distributor using purchase return document,  Difference of VAT is automatically calculated by Acme’s Insight and posted in to VAT register for purchase return.
  Whenever farmer returns products for damaged packaging or expiry of products, Acme’s Insight automatically calculates VAT on sales return and posts it in to VAT register on sales return.
• Bank reconciliation
  Bank reconciliation is one of the most tedious tasks for every business owner. Acme’s Insight software offers a feature by which bank reconciliation happens in lesser time. Kindly contact Acme’s office or Acme’s Business Partner’s office to see how this feature helps business owner and save owners time.
• Interest calculation
  In agriculture business, stockiest or wholesaler or distributor charge interest when bills are not paid in time. This feature calculates the interest charged by these parties. More over it is also been observed that many business owners keep FD’s with banks. Bank gives them interest. Interest received from the banks can be rechecked by business owner using this feature available in Acme’s Insight.
• View and print Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss and Trial Balance
  Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Trial Balance, Creditor’s list and Debater’s list are the important documents that display health of the business. These reports are available on click of mouse button. The best thing about Acme’s Insight is! Business owner, accountant or staff does not have to have accounting knowledge to generate these reports. Acme’s Insight is developed in such a way that if business owner, accountant and staff enter every purchase bill, sale every product via Insight, enter every payment + receipt + expenses in Acme’s Insight, enter every sales return and purchase return using Acme’s Insight. These reports will be automatically updated as soon as these entries are recorded in Acme’s Insight.
• Create Daily/Monthly Series For Cash And Bank Vouchers
  This feature allows business owner to have series of cash & bank vouchers generated by the system. This feature is made available via settings.
• Export financial accounting data to Tally including tax data
  Many agriculture retailer business owners in India still avail or prefer the services of CA or professional tax consultant. In India, many CA’s or professional tax consultant use Tally Accounting Software in their office. Insight's export accounting (only financial) data to Tally feature allows business owner to share accounting data with such professionals. Having said this, business owner can also generate accounting reports on their own namely balance sheet, P&L statement, trial balance sheet, creditor’s report, debater’s report, etc. on their own. In addition, business owner can also print various accounting registers like sales register, purchase register, stock register, bankbook, cashbook, customer register, receipt register, expense register, payment register, credit register, debit register, etc. on click of mouse button.

• Sales return and purchase return, these are the two unpleasant activities that happens in retail business.
  Sales return and purchase return, these are the two unpleasant activities that happens in retail business. No one likes it. However, they are unavoidable. If these two activities are controlled tightly & systematically! It helps agriculture business to grow and to sustain. Acme’s Insight software understand these aspects correctly and offers value for money features that helps business to grow, business to sustain and helps business owner to make less losses or nil losses.

Printed reports give an opportunity to business owner to work out various strategies to increase business (top line, bottom line, suppliers, products, consumers, etc.). Printed reports (somehow) got more impact that is emotional to every Indian mind than seeing the same report on computer monitor. Acme’s Insight provides standard reports. In addition, Acme’s Insight also provide Report Writing module. Using this module, business owner can generate customized reports as per the need of business. Following reports are namely:-

• Stock report
  Opening stock, closing stock, fast selling stock, slow moving stock, expired stock, damaged stock, etc.
• Accounting Reports
  Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Trial Balance, Sales Register, Purchase Register, Bank Book, Cash Book, Expenses Book, Creditor’s Register, Debtor’s Registers, General Ledger, Bank Statement, Profitability Report, Cheque Book Maintenance, Bank Reconciliation report, etc. Generate automatic credit and debit note report.
• VAT report
  Acme’s Insight generates 4 types of VAT reports namely VAT paid via suppliers bill, VAT collected via sales bill generated on farmers, VAT difference on sales return and VAT difference on purchase return.
• Print Date & Time on each report
  Acme’s Insight print date & time on each report so that trailing on each report becomes easy. This function is available in form of settings.
• Expired product report item wise, manufacture wise or storage location wise.
  This report helps the business owner when purchase returns activity to be conducted and when quick business analysis needs to be done.

There are many things (task in hand) that happens in every agriculture retail business before business hours starts for farmer and after business hours are closed for farmers. These activities (task in hand) fall under the category of back-office task. Listing down features of Acme’s Insight that falls under Back-office category namely:-

• Business Analysis and Intelligence
  Acme’s Insight got built-in dashboard UI (User Interface) module. This module display selected & important business data in the form of graphical charts. Graphical charts are more appealing in terms of understanding the data. e.g. Supplier wise sales, product wise sales, counter wise sales, profitability of the business, etc. These reports are instantly available and they are updated as and when actual transaction happens in Acme’s Insight like entering of purchase bill, selling products to customers, entering bill payment, giving payment to suppliers, undertaking sales return, entering expenses for staff or for business, etc.
• Multiple firms
  Acme’s Insight software allows business owner to use this function in case business owner wants to maintain business separately from tax (turnover and income) perspective. This feature helps business owner to reduce tax burden. This feature helps business owner to find out on how to grow business, when, where, etc. Switching from one firm name to another happens only by pressing one key on computer keyboard. Business owner can also keep last year and last to last year data in computer. Switching to earlier financial year data is also smooth, seamless and easy.
• Supplier data entry linked with manufacturing firms
  Acme’s Insight allows business owner to add manufacturing company names while creating supplier database. Efforts invested in data entry actually help business owner when purchase order is created on these suppliers. Acme’s Insight software shows only those product names that are linked with supplier produced by concerned producers. This feature speed up the computer performance by showing limited product names than showing entire product names produced by countless firms.
• Scheduler & task manger
  Acme’s Insight software offers another powerful feature that can be used before or after business hours. Business owner can also add various important business task like VAT return date, IT return date, VAT payment date, IT payment date, Business License Expiry date, etc. in Acme’s scheduling software. Acme’s scheduling software sends an alert text message on mobile phones used by business owner.
• Auto text message to district office
  This feature automatically send HTML text message when seeds or fertilizers or pesticides are sold to farmer.
• Software security for users
  Acme’s Insight understands the security aspect. Acme offers user-friendly security features that can be used using mouse button clicks. Business owner can create users based on duties to be performed by the staff. e.g., User is allowed to create sales bill. Now this user will not be able to see and use features and functions of accounting, stock, purchase, accounting, etc. Acme’s Insight allows business owner not to allow sales billing user to have access to any other functions & features available in Acme’s Insight.
• Automatic back-up of Insight
  Acme’s Insight offers this most important feature to every buyer of Insight. This feature automatically takes back up of data created & generated via Insight. Back-up data is stored in computer hard disk in day wise folders. Each folder is given day name like Monday, Tuesday, etc. Each customer is requested to copy daily back up outside the computer. May be on pen drive or USB hard drive. Nevertheless, copying daily back up out of computer is must. In India, power conditions (supply) are not healthy and consistent. Sudden spike in power supply can ruin the entire computer setup available in automobile spare part shop. This is must activity.