Landmark Cash & Carry Ltd

“…the software itself is superior to Sage
in more ways than I can mention.”

Landmark Cash & Carry is a non-profit making collective with over 25 years of trading experience. Its 30 members have a combined turnover of more than £2 billion, giving them the power to negotiate enhanced buying terms from suppliers to the cash and carry trade.

The main function of Landmark’s Accounts Department is to collate invoices from suppliers and, on a monthly basis, invoice its member companies. From the supplier’s perspective, this arrangement justifies additional discounts – payments are received promptly (via Electronic Data Interchange or ‘EDI’) and the credit risk is almost negligible.

Choosing a new system

After three years of persistent technical and support problems with Sage Line 100, Landmark decided to look for a new accounting system. They visited exhibitions, to gain an overview of the accounts software marketplace, and drew up a shortlist of possible solutions.

Access Accounts Dimensions quickly emerged as the front runner and was subsequently installed in May 2001.

Daily use of the software has confirmed that Access was the right choice. “Access is much easier to use than Sage Line 100,” says Dale Maltby, Management Accountant. “Having a Windows package, rather than DOS, certainly makes life easier. We can finally use a mouse to navigate… and the software itself is superior to Sage in more ways than I can mention.”

Integration and other major benefits

Access has enabled Landmark to achieve complete integration between its back-office accounts, EDI payment system and database of trading statistics. In addition, it has significantly enhanced a number of core business processes.

Management Reporting

When it comes to reporting, Dale prefers to use the familiar functionality of Microsoft Excel. He takes advantage of the ODBC links built into Access, exporting current accounts data straight into his chosen spreadsheets without any re-keying. This enables him to concentrate on the important part: analysing trends and planning future activity.

Sales Order Processing

The SOP module is used to process all sales orders, except those handled by EDI. Because it acts on behalf of so many member companies, Landmark frequently needs to raise multiple invoices to cover a single purchase, project or service. The ‘Price Records’ feature within SOP makes this potentially time-consuming task quick and simple, as Dale explains.

“Price Records saves us a great deal of time. For instance, I routinely need to raise 30 separate invoices to reclaim marketing costs from our members. All I need to do is set up one price record for the campaign itself. This can then be pulled through onto each of the individual invoices, saving me a huge amount of re-keying. I simply select the relevant price record code and all the information I need, including costs, appears on the invoice automatically.”

Invoice Register

This facility is used to control invoices for Landmark’s overheads. Departmental managers are responsible for authorising their own invoices and making sure that they are analysed to the correct cost centres. The register allows this to be done quickly and accurately, with predetermined pathways for each invoice and an option for compulsory costing.

Invoice Register therefore provides a strong but not inflexible framework for approval, as Dale explains. “The Access system provides a more straightforward and neater method for controlling unauthorised invoices and deleting those approved in error. This saves us from numerous problems. The powerful reporting capabilities built into the register are also very useful.”

Stock Control

Although Landmark does not physically hold stock at any time, it does use the Stock Control module to help maintain a list of products. This information is also held on a separate database, but Dales prefers to use Access as the first point of reference. He says, “Access allows us to quickly view any information we need. And because this data is held in one central location – the accounts – we do not need to waste time logging on to other systems during our busy working day. The external database can also be a little temperamental, so Access also serves as a reliable back-up.”

And an increased sense of security that comes with purchasing Access is certainly one of the big plus points for Landmark. “Now we have excellent, reliable software support,” Dale concludes.