Your Essential Guide to Fisherman Balance TransparenSEA
1. Keep Track
Track changes isn’t just for Microsoft Word! Between all the fisherman-related transactions it’s critical to keep track of the money as it moves. But simply tracking the moving money for accounting purposes isn’t enough because that doesn’t translate into clarity for your fishermen. Instead, be sure to keep track of all transactions and reprices to show your fishermen where/when/why they got paid and/or charged for repricing, transactions, loans, fisherman sales, tender sales, interest charges, payments, distributions from AP Invoices and/or Credit Memos, balance transfers, etc. It may seem like a lot to track but if you track the data in real time, you’ll always be able to find the answer to a question you or a fisherman may have or any of the data you’re looking for, which will save you time and stress in the long run!
2. Deliver Monthly Statements
Speaking of being able to find answers to questions and having the data you need, by tracking the aforementioned information, it makes it easier to provide accurate and frequent Fisherman Statements. We recommend delivering monthly statements to each of your fishermen because this open communication on a regular basis provides an opportunity to clear up any confusion or discrepancies swiftly, before it’s too late and the money is gone. Your Fisherman Statement can and should include all the transactions you track that affect each fisherman to provide complete transparency.
3. Communicate Early
If there are any questions when statements are delivered to your fishermen, you can proactively prevent as much confusion as possible by communicating early, before business has started and statements are sent. By communicating beforehand about what to expect and how you do business, you can prevent as many balance surprises as possible with your fishermen as they’ll know before receiving their first statement what your interest rates are for loans, what those loan procedures are, their ACH/direct deposit options, what premiums are available to them, your payment and repricing schedule, etc.
4. Use Integrated Systems & Processes
We’ve talked a lot about tracking transactions and different information in addition to providing nice snapshots of current balances in the form of Fisherman Statements, but what’s the easiest way to manage all these responsibilities? To manually manage all of this would be an absolute time suck – but, technically you could do it. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a system that could do it for you? We think so, which is why we built NorthScope. Using a system that understands your Alaska Seafood business and integrates with all aspects of your business – from Fish Tickets to your General Ledger to Sales and beyond – you can save a significant amount of time and rely on the data in your system because it’s accurate and automated. No more manually calculating balances or digging through files to find the information you’re looking for. Instead, let the balances update as your transactions are posted and use reporting and inquiries that drill-through to the transactions to find answers to fishermen questions about specific transactions or line items on their Fisherman Statement that the system generates. Let things get easier with the help of NorthScope. Book a free demo today to see how!