Stephen Battle- Operations Director, Subaru and Isuzu (IM Group)

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"We've had a very long association with the people within apd, dating back to Mitac in Bath and on through the Polk organisation, to the setup of the new Composite.

This business is very much a people business and the continuity which we have enjoyed as a result of that association has been very worthwhile from our point of view. Our dealer network are very well acquainted with people like Brian Green ... includes not just training but also a business consultancy service, which has worked extremely well for us.

The transition and setup was extremely smooth, and our colleagues at apd business management were very very dilligent at making sure that, when that first output went live, we had a very accurate piece of information. Moreover, we have developed the content, made it more user friendly, and also perhaps more meaningful from the dealer principal point of view. We do have a lot of expertise within our network, but it is important to provide information that is understandable at all levels within the dealer business, and that's what apd have achieved for us with this new system which we have in place.

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Anthony Brooks BSc FCA - Finance Director, Yeomans Limited Group

"My involvement with the retail motor trade covers a period exceeding thirty years.  A variety of roles over the years, variously as Accountant, Financial Controller, Finance Director and the first incumbent to occupy the role of National Business Management Manager at Jaguar Cars, have required my close attention to both financial accounting and business management data.

At Jaguar Cars I designed and launched the first Jaguar composite across the dealer network as it existed at the time. In my current role as Finance Director at Yeomans Limited I supervise an accounts function that provides composite data for five franchises across fourteen dealerships.

During my period of association with the motor trade, composites have developed considerably as data processing technology has advanced and online data submission developed.  New composite providers have entered the scene, others have evolved through acquisition by other companies and some have just disappeared.

In spite of labour saving techniques afforded by the data export facilities provided by the leading Dealer Management Systems, one major chore remains in the world of composite submission!  It is of course, the mapping process.

In my assessment, out of all the composite systems I have seen, apd business management provides the most superior mapping approach.  Theirs is not that of “drop and drag”, but of a much more efficient type whereby composite lines and nominal codes are highlighted and a link button used for clicking on by the mouse. In my experience, the apd method considerably reduces the propensity to incur mapping errors and facilitates a much swifter mapping process overall.  Unlinking existing mappings is just as straight- forward and quick.

However, the advantages offered by apd do not end there.  It is essential that in testing any composite mapping made from a trial balance import, a function exists whereby reports can be viewed or printed to show all nominal codes mapped to a particular composite line and similarly, to which composite line a particular nominal code has been mapped.  The apd system provides two well laid out and easy to read reports, showing a line by line mapping of i) composite to nominal and ii) nominal to composite.

I have seen composite systems that make no provision for checking of the nature described in the last paragraph.  This renders them impossible to fathom once mapping errors have been made and it is nigh on impossible to make a comparison with the dealership management accounts.  Such composites give the appearance of having been developed by manufacturer’s staff with little or no experience of composites or retail motor trade accounting.  Manufacturers would do well to note this aspect when choosing an appropriate composite system provider.  A strong and experienced partner such as apd can provide some measure of compensation for the lack of awareness on the manufacturer’s side when specifying a new composite."