Managing a dealership without Business Intelligence (BI) or Management Information Systems (MIS) is like sailing a ship without navigation system. It’s difficult to see where you came from, and even harder to set a clear course forward.
In many cases, executives in single- or multi-rooftop dealerships are utilizing generic and customizable reporting tools with graphical overviews that come with their Dealership Management Systems (DMS) or Customer Relationship Management modules (CRM). Dealers use CDK Drive XL Executive Desktops (former ADP Dealer Services), Reynolds and Reynolds R&R General Manager Exception Reporting, R&R Advanced Reporting 2.0, R&R Dynamic Reporting, Dealertrack Advanced DMS Reporting, Auto/Mate AMPS Advance Report Generator, Autosoft Reports and DOCs, or others.
Today’s trend is for dealership decision-makers to employ independent reporting toolkits. These executives want a holistic and yet granular perspective on their key performance indicators (KPI). In order to understand current business sensitivities and to anticipate future performance dealers need sophisticated analysis tools and real-time alerts. Listed below are the solutions of four (4) independent providers of dealership intelligence reporting tools that most frequently come up in conversations with our over 7,000 dealer partners. It is important to note that the Gillrie Institute is totally independent. We have no business interest in nor do we sell or endorse any products or solutions.
NCM Axcessa (by NCM Associates / ReverseRisk)
NCM Associates has been serving dealerships for over 60 years with 20 Groups, software tools, educational programs and consulting services. The NCM Axcessa reporting system strives to help dealers reduce expenses and increase profitability by discovering and focusing on high-value opportunities. The technology is provided by ReverseRisk of San Francisco.
NCM Axcessa, a web-based tool accessible from anywhere, extracts data from the dealer’s DMS and pulls data elements from fixed, variable and accounting sectors. The system offers automated reporting, forecasting, benchmarking, and built-in activity monitoring and communications tools designed to create transparency and accountability to enhance effective decision-making in dealerships.
NCM Axcessa offers over 80 preconfigured reports including summaries for New and Pre-Owned, Service and Parts, or Inventory; reports for Daily Fixed and Variable, Open Repair, CIT; or analyses for Aging, Team Performance, Wholesale P&L and much more. One unique tool is the NCM Benchmarking approach with KPI ratio analysis to automatically compare the dealer’s performance to the equivalent metrics of its peers.
Website: ncm20.com/ncm-axcessa
Email: axcessa@ncm20.com
Phone: (877) 361-4961
Crowe Navigator (by Crowe Horwath LLP)
Crowe Horwath LLP, one of the largest public accounting and consulting firms in the United States, has more than 3,000 employees. The company offers independent accounting and advisory services in the US and internationally. Crowe Horwath also offers clients technology-driven solutions and support.
Like all other reporting tools in this article, the Crowe Navigator is an online technology solution which aims to simplify access to critical information from sales, F&I, expenses, profitability, cash flow, and operations. The comprehensive view provided should allow dealers to manage and monitor dealership performance in real time and manage risk more effectively. The data is extracted from the dealership’s DMS.
Crowe Navigator users can create group-wide views, side-by-side comparisons, trend views, automatic alerts, graphs and charts, drill down to journal entries, and export data and manage outputs.
Website: crowehorwath.com/industries/retail-dealer/crowe-navigator
Phone Ted Balanda: (800) 599-2304
CDK Performance Tools (by CDK Global– formerly ADP Dealer Services)
CDK Global Performance Solutions (formerly Performance Inc.) offers consulting services to dealers of virtually all automobile franchises in Canada and the U.S. The company provides an array of dashboards and reporting tools that help dealers understand the most critical areas of their businesses.
The six (6) dashboard tools provided extract data from the dealer’s financial statements. The software offers a concentrated view on defined areas of the enterprise’s units and assists in forecasting future performance. By identifying mission-critical and underperforming operating areas, dealers the goal is to gain more insight about the dealership’s business and improve profits.
The Performance webComposite (Snapshot) application is an online tool that provides a clear perspective on the KPI. Besides CDK’s long-term experience and expertise, one of the biggest differentiators in comparison to other tools is the ability to compare the dealer results against similar operations or industry averages. These industry benchmarks are not available with DMS or CRM reporting tools.
Most of the performance tools are compatible with the major DMS platforms. The information in the dashboards is updated monthly as financial statements become available for the system to process.
Website: cdkglobalperformance.com/performance-tools
Email: info@performanceincorporated.com
Phone: (800) 327-4332 ext. 6425
Executive Eye (by Dashboard Dealership Enterprise)
Dashboard Dealership Enterprise (DDE) focuses on providing auto dealers with dealership management reporting tools and business analytics applications. Based in California has built and sold several reporting tools to the Tier 1 DMS vendors and some of the largest groups in the US.
The Executive Eye is the company’s premier product that will alert dealers to operational and accounting issues. Users can easily drill down from a group perspective into a rooftop view for dealership reports, analysis, and journal details. Dealers will also have access to a library of custom and client-built reports.
Besides the Executive Eye, DDE offers a solution for automatic internal financial controls, which. will constantly examine all journal transactions and review misappropriated accounts or questionable transactions. Custom Reporting packages for any sized dealer group are available as well.
Website: dashboardonline.com
Phone: (925) 558-2790
