Making a Tough Job Easier

If you answered Yes to any of these questions you need to consider SouthWare’s Return Authorizations module. In conjunction with other modules in SouthWare’s Excellence Series you can get a complete system to confidently manage both the process of customer returns to you and the process of your returns to vendors.

Return Authorizations is designed as an add-on module to SouthWare’s Inventory Control. This lets you manage your inventory in conjunction with items being returned from customers and items being returned to vendors. Other processes such as receivings and sales returns integrate seamlessly with Return Authorizations so your return information is always as current as the last related information entered anywhere in the system. And if you sell/service equipment, Return Authorizations integrates the information from the Service Management Equipment Tracking module and Service Orders module for such situations as exchanges.

With Return Authorizations, you can:

• Easily record each item you return to a vendor
• Handle complex situations such as exchanges, warranties, and advance swaps
• Track the status of returned items to identify situations that need follow up attention
• Know whether you’re expecting a vendor repair, replacement, credit, or refund
• Automatically close your vendor returns from other modules
• Track the items you’ve authorized your customers to return
• Know what you’re supposed to do when you receive a particular customer return
• Keep track of labor reimbursement amounts owed to you by a vendor
• Automatically create the appropriate inventory and general ledger adjustments as you process returns
• Inquire and report on the status and handling of customer/vendor returns
• Be confident that your return situations are under control

Key Features of Return Authorizations

Comprehensive Vendor Return Records
• Authorization Info
• Numerous return types
• Link to customer return and service order
• Requested handling info
• Problem description
• Customer/contract info
• Item/serial#/equipment info
• Estimated cost
• Return status info
• Labor reimbursement
• Optional vendor return label printing

Simplified Creation of Vendor Returns
• Automatically Create Vendor Return from:
• Service Order Exchange
• Defective Receiving
• Receipt of Defective Customer Return
• Automatically Create Customer Return from:
• Sales order return
• Service order return
• Unexpected customer return

Up-to-the-minute Status Info Always Availabe
• Vendor return status is updated by:
• Receivings
• A/P credits
• A/R cash (refunds received)
• Customer return status is updated by:
• Receivings

Flexible Vendor Return Handling
• Create purchase order for return items
• Return for repair, replacement, credit, refund
• Option to track labor reimbursement charges to vendor
• Option to manually close an RA when the vendor handles it differently than you requested

Customer Return Records
• Authorization info
• Item/serial# info
• Customer instructions
• Requested handling
• Status info

Inquiry and Analysis Reports

Types of Return Situations you can handle include:

• Returning a defective product to the vendor for replacement
• Purchasing an item needed to replace a defective item while also returning the defective item (such as an advance swap)
• Recording and receiving labor reimbursement payments due from a vendor
• Receiving a repaired item and adding the repair cost to inventory cost
• Authorizing a customer to return an item and then giving credit when the item is received
• Exchanging an item with a customer on a service order, giving credit for the trade-in, and charging the cost of the exchange based on vendor exchange cost