ibs Deals, a business process-oriented solution, could be analyzed in 4 main steps:

• Simulation preparation
• Negotiation and contract management
• Invoicing
• Profit analysis

PHASE 1: SIMULATION

ibs Deals is used in order to prepare new negotiations with an efficient simulation tool, based on accurate information and several indicators, such as:

• Profitability analysis
• Historical analysis
• Simulations for negotiation

And to define the target/supplier objective, with prior possibility to create an unlimited number of scenarios, either optimistic (introduction of new items, promotional growth, market trends…) or pessimistic (costs increase, promotional decrease, market regression…) for example.

“ibs deals makes needed information available to prepare an effective negotiation”

The solution will calculate purchasing forecasts, and automates all profits calculation. ibs Deals also offers a wide library of reports, with comparisons on different levels using quantitative and qualitative indicators (tracing historical information between several suppliers and over several number of years…)

Simulations can be realized according to several condition types and costs: purchasing price, discounts on invoice, discounts off invoice, logistic costs… according to several application criteria to obtain simulations and calculations of Net Costs (Net, 2Net, 3Net, 4Net…) and landed costs (including or not warehouse costs) Other information such as sales, markdown, competitor positioning can be added too.

The entire prices line and profitability analysis at each level is calculated to maximize the negotiation.

Simulation part - objectives:

• Prepare y+1 negotiations
• Define negotiation strategies and scenarios according to market evolutions
• Control 3Net profitability according to negotiation levels (Group, Country, products groups, product…)
• Define and validate y+1 target (CA, margins, profitability…)

PHASE 2: NEGOTIATION AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

The main objective is to reference purchasing conditions and contract general conditions.

Negotiation and referencing of purchasing conditions:

• By product group
• By product filter (and marketing characteristics: brand type, promotions, collection, support…)
• By item
• By location

Users have the possibility to work on pre-defined product groups corresponding to the client's negotiation levels (category, brand type, brand…). The possibility to follow-up comparing to historic data and realize comparisons based on homogeneous scope.

“ibs deals offers a complete library of conditions types and sub-types”

A few examples:

Types	Calculated on Gross TO, net TO, with VAT, without VAT, included returns or not …
Discount on invoice	Unconditional Conditional	Value / % / Unit / Slab
End of year rebates	Unconditional Conditional	Value / % / Unit / Slab
Commercial cooperation and promotions	Unconditional Conditional Recurrent or not	Value / % / Unit / Slab
Opening Rebates	Unconditional Conditional Recurrent or not	Value / % / Unit
Other conditions and penalties	Marketing, store funds, Penalties (payment delays, claims, damaged merchandise, etc) Manual or automatic calculation	Value / % / Unit / Slab

All conditions can be created manually or automatically with begin date and end date, recurrence or not, and negotiated at each level of the structure:

• Purchase center
• Group of countries
• Country
• Geographical areas (regions)
• Group of stores
• Stores

Negotiation phase allows to:

• Create and formalize negotiation types and levels
• Master 3Net analysis strategies
• Monitor gaps in comparison with objectives and historical information
• Automate conditions and related gains calculation

Status management and Contracts
Our solutions are based on a dynamical status management, used to respect and control steps and actions of business and application processes.
Status management is entirely configurable.

For instance, we can consider a global view of the negotiation process as follow:
Simulation Target Temporary Negotiation Validated Negotiation Signed Negotiation Temporary Reconciliation Validated Reconciliation.
Each status corresponds to possible users' actions.

From each status depends business and functional rules (invoice planning creation, real turnover integration, invoicing beginning, declarative turnover use…)
The retailer's negotiation business process will determine the transition from one status to another.
Status transition can be done manually or automatically depending of the retailer's needs.

Some workflow can be implemented to support the validation cycle, and to control and inform impacted actors (example of a contract internal validation cycle)

• Time optimization for users
• Timelines respect
• Process respect

The main benefits of ibs Deals for contracts management are:

• Management of contributions and general conditions linked to contracts
• Automatic/manual validation cycle managed by status
• Creation of all contract types based on pre-defined templates (logistic, returns, marketing…)
• Contracts and amendments management (appendix) with possibility of edition and re-edition
• Rationales management for commercial operations
• Contract versions back-up
• Legal consistency insurance

“standardize the contract validation cycle respecting internal norms, and national and international legislation”

Negotiation follow-up
Throughout the year, buyers have to follow-up their contracts and negotiations, and thanks to several performance indicators provided by the application (reports, charts, alerts…), they have the ability to realize modifications and corrective actions to reach their annual targets and objectives.

• Negotiation profits follow-up
  • Visualization of conditions linked to suppliers, to negotiation groups and to items
  • Commercial agreements follow-up
• Analysis of the item price rate
  • Follow-up and comparison of the item price and margins evolution
• Consolidating the calculated Bonuses
  • By element levels of the merchandise hierarchy
  • By supplier
  • Multi-banners
• Turnover comparison and follow-up

“real time follow-up and performance of suppliers negotiations”

Invoice planning: complete vision of the negotiation process
Once the contract is created and according to its status, a manual or automated invoice planning is generated by condition or grouped by condition type. It is created according to different conditions features like payment frequency; conditions' begin and end date, selected turnover, calculation type…
The invoice planning also depends on several pre-defined characteristics like payment conditions, payment types, number of days for payment to define planned edition date, or invoicing date and due date.
In accordance with the condition type invoiced, specific template is created (debit/credit note, balance invoice…) with its reference number.
All templates are stored in the system.

• Invoice planning – objectives
  • An accurate control for invoicing and cash flow throughout the negotiation process
  • Anticipation of corrective actions in order to guarantee the profitability throughout the negotiation process
  • Monitoring and update the invoice planning according to the evolutions of suppliers' turnover
  • Reconciliation and balances management
• Invoice planning – Benefits
  • Improve profitability by avoiding any loss of information (unsent invoices, wrong amounts, unapproved amounts…)
  • Control consistency between final negotiations, achievements, and impacts
  • Provide a complete view of the cycle: targeted – negotiated – realized – invoiced – paid

PHASE 3: INVOICING – AUTOMATIC FINANCIAL EXECUTION

Invoicing is managed through ibs Deals. Invoicing can be manual, semi-automatic, or fully automatic, depending on the invoice planning created. Invoices can be edited, sent by email to suppliers, or loaded on an exchange platform under different formats. Several controls and information alerts take place to monitor the invoicing process and check gaps.

Invoicing module allows invoices edition, re-edition and follow-up; as well as payments and balances management, and retail.

With management of:

• Different turnover types depending on client's needs: simulated, negotiated, forecasted, real…
• Invoicing frequency: day, week, month, trimester, semester, year, and fiscal year-end management
• An automatic scheduled sending (by date) for accounting documents and invoices
• Accounting documents: installments, invoices, credit note, debit note…
• Mass edition and re-edition of accounting documents and invoices
  • Applicable for supplier invoicing and store redistribution.
• Payment keyboarding and retrieval
• Payment allocation on invoices
• Calculation and reconciliation of expected, invoiced and cashed amounts
• Gap management
• Supplier's invoices follow-up (with follow-up letters at several critical levels 1,2,3…)
• Bonus redistribution towards retail outlets
  • Performance and follow-up of the financial execution.

PHASE 4: DECISIONAL AND PROFIT ANALYSIS

ibs Deals offers a complete library of reports, which are at the users' disposal. All these reports allow users to better analyze their negotiations results, and also better prepare and improve their future negotiations. Theses reports are available according to users rights, and are downloadable under several formats. They provide users with quantitative and qualitative information, with possible comparisons between other supplier's negotiations on different years.

• Reports will help decision makers for:
  • Analysis of negotiation results
  • Supplier profits analysis
  • Gaps analysis against objectives
• A few examples of reports available:
  • Supplier profits analysis at negotiation groups and items
  • Buyers performance analysis
  • Negotiation history (1,3,5 years…) and hits
  • Suppliers score card
  • Progressive rebates follow-up
  • Follow-up of commercial operations
  • Treasury synthesis reports
  • Gaps follow-up reports
  • …

“macro and micro analysis, reporting for negotiation preparation”

• Some treasury reports are also available:
  • Overpayments / underpayments
  • Settlements follow-up
  • Payment tracking sheet
  • Sales reports
  • Suppliers profits and losses
  • …

“treasury analysis and reporting for an accurate accounting control”

Decisional – objectives

• Analyze and monitor the key performance indicators throughout the purchasing process
  • Real time update of information
  • Multi-level visibility of the organizational structure
• Provide an optimal profitability throughout the negotiation process
  • Anticipation / reactivity on corrective actions and adjustments, in order to ensure the respect of objectives

ibs Deals solution answers Business and Financial challenges in managing vendor trade funds. It allows the distributor to optimize and to realize an accurate follow-up of its negotiations. All negotiation relating information is stored in a unique tool, guaranteeing a complete financial and juridical control.

ibs Deals allows users to optimize their work and to realize a complete profitability analysis from the highest level of their negotiation to the product. ibs Deals is the solution to provide discipline, homogeneity and control of the whole purchasing process.