Managing a vehicle program as a beverage distributor comes with a lot of challenges. Not only is there the business risk and IRS compliance to manage, but there's also the high cost of the program to factor in, the administrative burden, inaccurate mileage records and more.
If you're feeling those challenges within your company's vehicle program, then tune into our 45-minute webinar to learn everything you need to know about vehicle programs as a beverage distributor.
Find all the highlights below. Have specific questions? Jump to answers about:
Vehicle Program Challenges (6:23)
Vehicle Program Options (9:12)
FAVR Programs for Beverage Distributors (14:48)
Minimizing Risk for Vehicle Programs (23:30)
Benefits of Mileage Logs for Beverage Distributors (29:29)
How to Decide if Everlance is Right for You (34:39)
We chatted with Kary Shumway and Caitlin Collord.
Kary’s a CPA, a CFO, a former CFO for a beer distributor in the Northeast in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and currently a partner and CFO at WormTown Brewery in Worcester, Massachusetts.
He also founded Beer Business Finance to shorten the learning curve so you can create a financially successful beer business.
Caitlin is a sales manager and account executive at Everlance. She was a speaker at NBWA last year, discussing the increasing presence of electric vehicles.
Of the beverage distributors surveyed, there are three big challenges associated with vehicle programs:
Other challenges mentioned include the administrative burden of running the program and inaccurate mileage.
62% of beverage distributors surveyed are still using some sort of fleet program, providing company cars to employees.
In general, there’s three basic options:
Which vehicle program is right for you? Get the guide:
More and more beverage distributors are switching to FAVR programs, and Caitlin and Kary zoom in on these programs to discuss why.
In the webinar, Kary and Caitlin discuss 4 main benefits of a FAVR program:
There’s a few main reasons why beverage distributors are leaning more and more towards FAVR programs, aside from the benefits listed above.
Curious about a FAVR program could benefit your company?
While over 60% of beverage distributors surveyed already used mileage logs to minimize risks, only 7% of beverage distributors surveyed used other means of risk management, such as auto insurance, driver’s licenses and MVR verifications.
When it comes to managing risk factors with vehicle programs, there’s four important categories to keep in mind:
If you’re not currently managing these risk factors, or if you’re considering making a change to these vehicle programs, consider adding a compliance checklist to your vehicle program in the future. Even these small steps can make a huge difference in minimizing your risk.
Of course, there’s a variety of ways to keep track of your employees mileage. You can use a pen-and-paper mileage log. You can have employees email their manager at the end of each day or week to submit logs.
Or you can use a modern technology or software to automatically track miles, such as Everlance.
Whether your reimbursement program is a FAVR reimbursement, a CPM reimbursement, vehicle allowance program, or even a company fleet program, it's important to make sure that you're keeping accurate mileage logs with mileage tracking apps.
Tracking mileage via a mileage tracking software is really going to help save your company time, be more cost-effective, and give you greater accountability with your vehicle program. Automatic mileage tracking software uses GPS to calculate exact mileage and routes for trips logged.
In the webinar, Caitlin broke down a few reasons why mileage tracking software really helps with these:
When it comes to choosing a vehicle program, there’s a lot to consider. Caitlin shared a bit about how Everlance can make things easier for you as a beverage distributor.
Everlance Business is an end-to-end vehicle reimbursement provider. With Everlance, there are three main benefits, or services, that really support beverage distributors:
Over 70% of beverage distributors surveyed had not made changes to their vehicle programs in the past five years, despite only 37% feeling mostly satisfied with their current program.
Curious how Everlance can help take your company to the next level?
Everlance helps beverage distributors track mileage accurately, ensure IRS compliance, save time and reduce vehicle program costs, even with changing industry landscapes.
Please share a few details about your business and we'll be in touch with more details.