Our friends at BDO Automotive recognise the challenging trading conditions Dealers are currently experiencing, and have compiled a checklist to help ensure you are doing everything you can to maximise your returns.

While the items on the following short checklist should be regularly reviewed, now is an opportune time to review the dealership’s attention to the following FAST 15.

We encourage you not to just tick the boxes but to be proactive and honest in your evaluation; that is, you should critically evaluate whether there may be opportunities for improvement in the following areas:

• Claiming back the GST on bad debts written off
• Comfortable that the process of claiming and recovering factory incentives (KPI money/back end money) is generating all the income to which you are entitled
• Considering the dealership’s ‘footprint’ by brand to identify if there are opportunities to increase throughput by site (reduce sites)
• Attentive to the sales opportunity that has come from the wave of service customers (some of whom you have not seen before or for a long time) due to the airbag recall
• Minimising and getting payroll tax, stamp duty, workers compensation, GST and FBT right
• Sure you are recovering as much of your NITCs as you are entitled to
• Communicating with management as to how to maximise the finance income under the new plans in this post flex environment
• Convinced that your remuneration structures are engaging staff, optimising financial results and encouraging good behaviours
• Minimising floorplan interest by paying out sold vehicles and clearing vehicles transferred
• Measuring and incentivising return on investment on your parts, new and used vehicles
• Conscious of your cyber risk and taking steps to address this
• Aware of the fraud risks in your dealership and setting an appropriate tone from the top
• Evaluating the impact of the new accounting standards for leases and revenue (where applicable)
• Contemplating the consolidation and disruption trends and what you can do to participate and prepare
• Reviewing your expenses, particularly the ‘big 4: employees, rent, advertising and interest. Are you leveraging scale?

Please contact Mark Ward, BDO Automotive National Leader (by email mark.ward@bdo.com.au) or your usual BDO advisor, if you would like to discuss, or need assistance to evaluate the above or any other opportunities.

Mark Ward
Partner,
BDO Automotive.