Forecasting rebates is essential for resource allocation and reducing unnecessary spending. However, forecasting rebates in-house has its limitations. Static spreadsheet documents and manual processes are a timely burden to any business. Let’s quickly discuss rebate management before we reveal some great tips on how to forecast rebates.
Rebate management is the organisation of processes involving partial refunds, or rebates. On the surface, it doesn’t seem that complex, however, once end-of-life, tier volumes, cross-department communications, and many other factors are involved, it is impossible to accurately forecast rebates without the need for specialist assistance.
Introducing rebate management software will help your organisation control and organise your rebates, but it will also drastically improve the accuracy of forecasts.
Here are the benefits of using specialised rebate management solutions for forecasting rebates:
No more spreadsheets
Spreadsheets are great for many things, but forecasting rebates is not one of them. The tools available are too basic and require manual input, which is labour intensive and can include human errors. They are also not fluid enough, whereas rebate management systems offer real-time adjustments. Spreadsheets are unable to provide businesses with appropriate information that can help them forecast rebates in the future.
Increased accuracy of forecasts
Predictions can be made with little, or even no, data. However, this does not mean these predictions will be accurate! It is key for businesses to be able to make predictions that can save them money and identify unexpected costs that may arise in the future. If your financial liabilities have too many unknowns, you cannot trust figures. Also, overreliance on individuals will lead to unstable foundations. Using rebate management software will enable you to calculate in real-time, providing visibility to all parties involved, reducing the number of queries, and therefore removing surprises.
Strategy formulation
The exceptional reporting of current data, as well as the forecasted data will allow your business to create appropriate strategies to help achieve your current business goals. Whether you are planning expansion, or merely survival, gaining a greater, in-depth understanding or rebate information for your firm will help you create more appropriate strategies to achieve your goals.
Improve reliability
As previously mentioned, human input always runs the risk of being inaccurate. Even the savviest rebate manager can have an off day. By automating the rebate process, and using our software, these individual errors are removed instantly. Accuracy is key for forecasting rebates, and we can help.
Cutting costs
Using rebate management software for forecasting instead of manually inputting data will help reduce costs for your business. Additionally, the opportunity cost of having an employee use their time well instead of wasting hours of time predicting the future will no longer be a potential option – it will become reality. Profitability is the most important thing for any business, and reducing costs is boost profits. You will also have an employee at the ready to be utilised elsewhere, instead of blankly staring at an Excel spreadsheet!
So if you’re sick of excel and want to find out how we can help you drop having to use it all together, cut your costs, improve reliability and more, (sounds like a no-brainer doesn’t it?) then contact the e-bate team today to streamline your rebate management with our intelligent management solution.
