[01]Store credit (fiado)
Fiado is money you lend
In a Venezuelan bodega, fiado is part of the relationship with the neighbourhood: the regular customer who takes the harina and the coffee and pays on Friday or at the quincena. It keeps customers loyal. But each sale on credit is goods that left the shelf and money that hasn't come in, money you can't use to restock.
The problem is rarely one customer who doesn't pay. It's the sum of many small debts that nobody looks at together, written in a notebook in bolívares that lose value every week. These rules work in a notebook or a spreadsheet. A system does the sums and the reminders for you.
[02]Store credit (fiado)
Write it in dollars, with a name and a date
Keep one page per customer, not one page per day. On it, every purchase on credit: date, what they took and the amount in dollars. Under it, every payment. The balance is always the sum of one minus the other.
Why in dollars: suppose a customer takes goods worth Bs 3,600 when the rate is Bs 200 (an example rate). That's $18. If you write "Bs 3,600" and they pay two months later when the rate is at Bs 240, those Bs 3,600 are now worth $15. You lost $3 without anyone noticing. Written as $18, they pay what they took.
[03]Store credit (fiado)
Limits and dates, agreed beforehand
[01]
A limit per customer
A ceiling on what each one can owe, for example what they usually buy in a week. A new customer starts low and goes up as they pay on time. Once they reach the limit, they pay something before taking more on credit.
[02]
A day to pay
Agree when: on Friday, at the quincena, at the end of the month. Write it next to the debt. A debt without a date has no due day, and nobody feels late.
[03]
A limit for the whole shop
Add up what all your customers owe each week. Decide how much of your money you can afford to have out on credit, and when you get there, stop giving new credit until some comes back.
[04]
When credit stops
Decide a rule and apply it to everyone the same way: for example, whoever owes for more than 30 days doesn't take more on credit until they pay. A rule for everyone is easier to say than a no to one person.
[04]Store credit (fiado)
Partial payments (abonos) at the day's rate
Most fiado is paid in parts, and often in bolívares. The rule: convert the payment to dollars at the rate of the day it's paid, and take that off the balance.
| Bolívares | Dollars | |
|---|---|---|
| Balance owed | $18.00 | |
| Pays by Pago Móvil | Bs 2,000 | $10.00 |
| Still owes | $8.00 |
Write the payment with its date, the amount they handed over, the rate and its value in dollars. Tell the customer the new balance right away, or send it to them in writing. And if they pay by Pago Móvil, check that it arrived before you write it off.
[05]Store credit (fiado)
How to collect fiado without losing the customer
Most people who owe aren't hiding: they forgot, or they're waiting for someone to bring it up. A reminder in time, in a friendly tone, collects more than a tense conversation at the counter. A ladder that works:
- At 7 days, a friendly reminder: "Hi María, this is Bodega Luz. Just a reminder that you have a balance of $18. Let us know when you can. Thanks!"
- At 15 days, firmer: the balance, how many days it's been, and a request to settle up this week.
- At 30 days, a call or a talk in person, to agree on a day and an amount. Write down the promise and check it on that day.
Send the reminder by WhatsApp, with the balance in dollars and what it comes to in bolívares at today's rate. Once a month, look at the oldest debts. What won't come back is better written off as a loss, with its reason, than left to inflate what you think you're owed.
[06]Store credit (fiado)
How Arodeni Panel does it
In Arodeni Panel, fiado comes with the Básico and Premium plans. At the register you leave part or all of a sale on the customer's account, and the Panel keeps the rest:
- Each customer's balance in dollars, what they took, their payments and how long they've owed.
- "Cobrar hoy" (collect today): who's due a reminder, at 7, 15 and 30 days or when a promised pay day arrives, with the message ready to send by WhatsApp. You can change the wording.
- A credit limit per customer, and credit that pauses on its own for whoever has owed for more days than you decide. You can also pause or block a customer by hand.
- Partial payments in bolívares or dollars, at the day's rate. A Pago Móvil whose reference was already used is flagged, and the receipt goes out by WhatsApp.
- A link to the customer's statement, by WhatsApp, where they see their credit purchases and payments and can report a payment, which waits for you to verify it.
- To start, import your customers from Excel with what each one owes, since when and their limit, so the notebook comes in with its dates.
See the plans, how fiado works for bodegas and abastos, and how to price in dollars and charge in bolívares.