When it comes to financial management, many entrepreneurs immediately focus on expense control. And, although this is essential, does just managing costs guarantee the financial health of the business? There is another equally important aspect: ensuring that what was sold is being effectively received.
Payment inconsistencies: a more common problem than it seems
Recently, a franchisee in the footwear sector reported an unexpected situation. Upon reviewing your operations, you noticed that not all sales made were being deposited into the company's account. But how was this possible? Although the transactions were recorded in the point-of-sale system, the amounts did not appear on the card payment report. The task of manually checking the large volume of daily transactions was unfeasible, leading her to seek a technological solution.
The response came with the implementation of a card reconciliation software, which automatically identified recurring discrepancies between what was sold and what actually entered the bank account. It was discovered that some sales, although recorded in the store's system, were not included in the acquirers' reports, which meant that amounts simply went unpaid.
After eliminating the possibility of internal problems, thoroughly reviewing the store's operations with the receipts from the card machines in hand, the franchisee found that the problem lay in operational failures by the acquirer itself.
Cases like this are more common than one might think. To give an idea, between 2022 and 2023, F360, through its card reconciliation feature, helped clients recover R$159 million in amounts that might have otherwise been lost.
Automation: the key to avoiding financial losses
In addition to identifying unpaid sales, reconciliation systems also detect improper charges on the applied fees, which may differ from the amounts negotiated with the card brands. This represents another significant source of losses for retailers.
In retail, where sales volume is high, manual reconciliation is almost impossible. Technology, in this context, becomes a great ally, allowing discrepancies to be quickly identified and values not to be lost amidst the complexity of the financial flow. Even seemingly small inconsistencies, such as 0.1% of sales, can result in significant losses over time. There are cases of retailers who recovered thousands of reais by correcting errors detected through the use of software.
Although credit and debit cards are considered secure means of payment, the merchant must be attentive to all stages of the process. This includes not only the verification of sales made but also the applied rates. Franchisors, for example, often negotiate special conditions with the brands for their networks, but it is crucial to verify if the agreed-upon values are being correctly charged on a daily basis.
Automating financial reconciliation is an essential strategy. Small daily mistakes, if ignored, can accumulate and have a significant impact on year-end closing. Imagine a poorly calculated rate applied to each installment of a installment sale: without a tool to identify these discrepancies, the retailer would hardly notice the problem, but the impact on revenue would be real.
Therefore, do not let money slip away due to reconciliation errors. In retail, every cent makes a difference, and ensuring that all sales are properly received is essential for the business's sustainability.
