How do I check an auto parts store’s commercial accounts with garages?

Get the customer list in a form you can sort. You want the sales for each garage over the same period, along with the date each started buying. A long list of small buyers is a different business from three big shops that happen to account for most of the volume. Ask too about price arrangements. Some garages receive agreed discounts, and those terms can quietly lower margins on the best accounts. Learn how the store sets and reviews them, and whether any are only verbal.

Look at the receivables next. Ask for the aging report and see which garages pay on time and which stretch their terms. Ask whether any have credit limits, and whether the store has ever written off a garage account.

Find out why they buy. Garages often choose a counter because of a particular person, a delivery run or a hard-to-find part in stock. If the answer is the owner’s relationship, plan for the day the owner leaves. If the seller allows it, speak with a few of the larger accounts after you have a signed agreement to keep things confidential. Ask the purchase agreement to cover what happens if a major account leaves soon after closing.

Key takeaways

• Rank garage accounts by sales and spot any that carry most of the volume.
• Review the receivables aging report for slow payers and past write-offs.
• Find out whether loyalty belongs to the store or to the owner personally.