A wholesale account application is the form a new store, café or distributor fills in before its first order: who the business is, its tax details, who to call for orders, bills and deliveries, how it orders and when it can receive, what shelf life and labels it needs, the payment terms it's asking for, and a couple of trade references. For a small food maker it does two jobs. It's the credit check before you hand over product on terms, and it's every detail you'll need to serve the account, collected once instead of over a dozen emails. In the example below, a grocer asks for net 30 and a $1,500 limit, and gets its first order on delivery, then 15 days from delivery with a $1,000 limit, to be reviewed after three orders paid on time. Below is what a wholesale account is, what to ask, how to decide on terms, setting the account up, and a free template.
The short version
- Send the application before the first order, with your price list and terms.
- Collect the business, tax details, and three contacts: buyer, accounts, receiving.
- Ask how they order, when they receive, and what shelf life and labels they need.
- Ask what terms and credit limit they want, and for two trade references.
- Decide: terms, limit, and when to review them; start new accounts on short terms.
- Set the account up once, with everything on the form.
- TaroStack keeps each customer's terms, shelf-life rule and contacts, and applies them to every order. More below.
What a wholesale account is
A wholesale account is a business that buys from you to resell: a grocery store, a café, a gift shop, a distributor. It pays wholesale prices, orders by the case, often on payment terms, and expects the same things every time: its PO number on the invoice, delivery in its receiving hours, and enough shelf life left to sell what it bought. The application is where you learn all of that before the first delivery, not after it goes wrong.
What to ask
| Section | What to ask | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The business | Legal name, trading name, billing and delivery address, type, stores, years trading | Who you're invoicing, and where you're delivering |
| Tax | Seller's permit or resale certificate, if your state uses one | Whether to charge sales tax |
| Contacts | Buyer, accounts payable, receiving | Who orders, who pays, who signs for it |
| Ordering and delivery | How they order, PO numbers, delivery days and receiving hours | Orders and deliveries that fit their routine |
| Shelf life and labels | Minimum shelf life on delivery, barcode needs | What you can send them, and from which lot |
| Payment | Terms and credit limit requested, how they'll pay | The credit you're being asked for |
| Trade references | Two suppliers, with contacts | Whether they pay others on time |
| Agreement | Signature, name, title, date, agreement to your terms | A record that they accepted them |
Tax forms and rules differ by state; ask your accountant once what to collect, and keep a copy of it with the application. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
A filled-in example
Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, sends the form to Mānoa Grocer before its first order:
| Asked | Mānoa Grocer's answer |
|---|---|
| Type, stores, years trading | Grocery store, 1 store, 9 years |
| Contacts | Pua, the grocery buyer; accounts; the receiving desk |
| How they'll order | Order form by email, with a PO number every time |
| Delivery days and receiving hours | Tuesday to Thursday, before 10 am |
| Minimum shelf life on delivery | 60% of shelf life left |
| Labels | UPC on every unit |
| Terms and limit asked for | Net 30, $1,500 |
| References | A local coffee roaster and a local bakery |
And the decision, in the form's last section:
| Decision | |
|---|---|
| References | Both checked; both say they pay on time |
| Approved | Yes |
| Terms given | First order on delivery, then 15 days from delivery |
| Credit limit | $1,000 |
| Review | After three orders paid on time |
Starting shorter than asked, with a review date, is a fair way to open a new account, and a store that pays on time gets longer terms in a few months. What net 30 costs you in cash is in net 30 terms, and the order form that comes next is in wholesale order form template.
Deciding on terms
- Check the references. Ask each supplier how long they've sold to the store and whether it pays on time.
- Start short. Prepaid or on delivery for the first order, then short terms.
- Set a limit. How much can be owed at once before the next order waits for a payment.
- Write down the review. "After three orders paid on time" is easier to keep than a feeling.
- Send the decision in writing, with the terms, the limit and the review, so nobody has to remember a phone call.
Setting the account up
Everything on the form belongs in the customer record before the first order: the terms on the invoice, the PO rule, the receiving hours on the delivery schedule, the shelf-life rule at picking, the barcode on the label. A detail left on the form and not in the system is a detail someone forgets on a busy Thursday; the minimum shelf life is the one that costs most, as in minimum remaining shelf life.
Get the template
Download the wholesale account application form. One sheet, laid out by section, filled in with the example: send it to the store to fill in the shaded cells, and use the last section for your decision. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The application is filled in once and filed. Then the store's 60% shelf-life rule lives in a PDF, the receiving hours live in the driver's head, and the terms you gave live in an email. A case with too little life left goes out on a Friday, arrives after receiving closes, and comes back with a credit note.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack turns the application into the customer record that every order uses.
Each store, with its rules. Customers carry their own terms, shelf-life requirements, ship-from site and contacts. A customer's minimum days of shelf life is applied when an order is picked: for Mānoa Grocer's chips, 60% of 90 days is 54 days, and a case with less left isn't picked for them.
Orders that know the stock. Sales orders show whether the stock to fill them is on the shelf while you're still typing, delivery notes print with each line's lot and best-before date, and a warning shows when an order you promised hasn't shipped.
And what the account earns. Margins are reported by product and by customer, on what things cost, so the review after three orders can look at what the account earned as well as how it paid. Customers can be imported from a spreadsheet, or from your QuickBooks or Xero lists.
| On the form | Filed away | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Terms given | In an email | On the customer |
| 60% shelf life on delivery | In a PDF | 54 days on chips, applied at picking |
| Who signs for deliveries | In the driver's head | The customer's contacts |
| Is the account worth it? | A feeling | Margins by customer |
Customers with their terms and shelf-life rules, sales orders, picking, delivery notes and margins by customer are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.