How a Modern ERP System Mitigates Retail Compliance Regulations

In the retail industry, adherence to diverse government, industry, and consumer-driven retail compliance regulations is very important for success and profitability. From tax management and workplace safety to accounting and consumer data protection, compliance spans various crucial areas. Retailers also bear the responsibility of ensuring their suppliers’ compliance to prevent fines, penalties, and legal issues.

Acumatica Retail and eCommerce Edition offers a solution to gain control over compliance activities, providing industry-specific features, templates, automated workflows, and customizable forms. This free eBook outlines common retail compliance requirements in the retail sector and demonstrates how an ERP like Acumatica effectively addresses them. Learn ways to integrate compliant workflows into your technology and incorporate business processes that follow regulations.

Examples of Compliance Requirements

Accounting and Financial Documentation

Financial reporting is not exclusive to publicly traded companies. Private businesses, as mandated by provincial and local municipalities, often need to generate annual reports and accounting disclosures resembling income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.
Your business software should inherently comply with widely accepted accounting standards and also be flexible enough to facilitate the creation of on-the-fly financial reports as required by regulatory bodies and internal auditors. Acumatica provides support for 250 standard reports right from the start, encompassing the most commonly used financial statement formats.

Tax Collection and Reporting Requirements

Handling taxes can be a compliance challenge on its own. Apart from the stringent and intricate sales tax regulations that vary by municipality, there are additional reporting rules for duties and tariffs (applicable to cross-border sales), excise tax, VAT, GST taxes, and even environmental taxes like plastic bottle deposits and surcharges for plastic bag use, among others. Acumatica Tax Management streamlines and automates tasks related to configuring, collecting, managing, and reporting taxes.

Advertising and E-Mail Marketing Documentation

Retailers in Canada are bound by advertising laws to prevent the misrepresentation of goods and services. This includes ensuring accuracy in health claims on nutraceuticals, environmental statements for sustainable or “green” products, and adherence to minimum requirements when claiming products as “Made in Canada.” Additionally, Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) regulates commercial electronic messages, requiring senders to obtain consent from recipients, provide accurate identification information, include an unsubscribe mechanism, and comply with content requirements. Non-compliance with CASL can result in significant fines for organizations.

Acumatica’s native CRM application includes marketing automation tools to govern what and how you send e-mails and alerts to mobile devices, scan for violations of online advertising legislation, and keep your campaigns and promotions legal and professional.

Three Steps for Improved Compliance

Step 1: Review Current Practices and Software

Entry-level accounting and legacy applications provide little support for compliance initiatives. Set the right foundation for safety and compliance with a modern ERP software built with open connectivity and native tools for automation and control.

Start by reviewing your current practices.

• Where are your compliance documents stored?
• Are they processed manually or electronically?
• Do all relevant parties have access to the compliance information at any time from anywhere?

Step 2: Identify Compliance Wants and Needs

Research and document different safety and compliance technologies to prioritize your wants and needs. Review the detailed readiness assessment section to identify all potential compliance issues.

• What capabilities are available in the market, and what are your needs?
• What are your top priorities in a compliance application?
• Do you need mobility and role-based functionality?

Step 3: Develop a Formal Compliance Plan

Create a list of current compliance issues and rank them based on cost and benefit. Then, develop a plan that defines the end goal with the supporting technologies that

fit those needs. Finally, include a timeline and process for the compliance system and implementation from start to finish.

• Goals and outcomes – note which processes will have the most significant impact across the organization.
• Timeline – How long will the transition to a new platform take?
• Workflow – Ensure all current workflows are addressed with the new solution.

Retail Compliance is Simplified with Acumatica

The retail industry’s diverse compliance requirements can be challenging when managed manually. Acumatica addresses these issues by offering merchants efficiency gains and a comprehensive suite of software applications for seamless compliance processes, including financial, tax, shipping, data privacy, advertising, and employment. Customized workflows and permissions ensure timely and accurate information dissemination, particularly in financial compliance. Acumatica Retail Edition, a cloud solution with advanced mobile technology, provides full operational visibility from any device.

If you’d like to learn more about how to be compliance-ready with a modern ERP system like Acumatica, we invite you to download this free eBook, “Compliance Risks for Retailers and How a Modern ERP System Mitigates Them”.

Have Questions? Ask one of our experts today.