Accounting Guidelines - Exhibit C - Canada

Published 10/15/2018, 06:52 PM
Last Update 09/22/2023, 08:52 PM

The following serves as a reference tool to assist our Partners in understanding how Best Buy Canada administers its trade inventory accounts payable. This includes general guidelines, notable information such as compliance requirements and important time limits and procedures relating to dispute activity. Please check this page regularly to ensure you have the current version (as exhibit will occasionally be updated.)


EXHIBIT C - ACCOUNTING GUIDELINES

 

1.0 Invoicing Activity

A. Invoicing Stipulations

  • Vendor agrees not to submit an Invoice to Dealer until such time the ordered merchandise has physically been shipped to, or is in possession by, Dealer.
  • Vendor agrees to use a unique Invoice number for each billing and will not submit additional Invoices with the same number.
  • Each invoice must correspond to only one singular packing slip and further, each packing slip can only reference one singular purchase order number. Invoices referencing more than one purchase order cannot be processed for payment.
  • For those suppliers participating in a Cross Dock arrangement with Dealer, it is understood that the ASN (Advance Ship Notice) number may be used by Dealer in place of the invoice number when making a remittance to the Vendor for a Cross Dock invoice. Vendor will ensure it has the ability to cross reference any differences between the ASN and the Invoice Number for its cash application purposes.
  • Any additional charges pre-approved by BBCL must be included in the product cost.
  • Freight charges that are pre-approved by Dealer and Vendor must be billed on a separate invoice.

B. Invoice Delivery

All Vendor invoices must be sent via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to Dealer no earlier than the Product shipment date in connection with each accepted and fulfilled purchase order related to products for resale. The following are the guidelines to follow:

  1. The vendor must send EDI 810 transmissions for testing until written confirmation is received from Accounting that the vendor has been rolled out on our Automatic Invoice Matching (AIM) Program.
  2. All EDI 810 data should be transmitted in a timely manner that complies with the BBCL EDI Implementation Guide. Additionally, our expectation is that you will, as the transmitting party, undertake the responsibility of ensuring that all EDI 810 invoices sent by your company have in fact been accepted by BBCL by virtue of your receipt of an EDI 997 functional acknowledgement.
  3. Late, unsuccessful, un-transmitted invoices or EDI 810 invoice data errors may result in delayed or non-payment. Consequently, it is your responsibility to correct and resubmit invoices which are unsuccessful or are received at BBCL containing errors and subsequently rejected.
  4. Payment will not be considered late by Vendor for purposes of calculating early payment discounts if payment is sent by Dealer within one (1) week of the due date or if payment is delayed because of an EDI communication failure or due to an indebtedness of Vendor to Dealer.
  5. The EDI 810 means of invoicing is an amendment to our purchasing agreement and supersedes any references to paper invoices. All invoices must now be sent via EDI 810. However, all credit notes must continue to be sent via paper to:
            
    Best Buy Canada Canadian Headquarters
    Suite 102, 425 West 6th Avenue
    Vancouver, BC, Canada V5Y 1L3
     
  6. Any changes made to the format, payment terms, content, or protocol of your EDI 810 transmission must be communicated in writing to and approved by BBCL’s Finance and EDI teams respectively 60 days prior to the change. See email addresses below:
    CASupplierInquiry@BestBuyCanada.ca
    EDI@BestBuyCanada.ca
  7. Any invoices not related to products for resale (i.e. service/warranty) must be e-mailed to: CANInvoiceScanning@BestBuy.com. It is the responsibility of the Vendor to ensure Dealer has received the invoices sent. Dealer will not be responsible for delays in payment due to missing invoices.

C. Invoice Requirements

All invoices should contain at least the following information:

  1. Invoice Date
  2. Dealer Purchase Order Number
  3. Unique Invoice Number
  4. Quantity Ordered
  5. Quantity Shipped
  6. Backorder Quantity
  7. Unit Prices
  8. Extension of Unit Prices to a Gross Invoice Amount
  9. All discounts available to be taken off of Invoice must be clearly identified.
  10. Applicable Taxes on Gross Invoice Amount.
  11. Net Invoice Total after applicable Taxes
  12. SKU number, VPN or UPC

Dealer cannot be responsible for advising on all non-deliveries.


2.0 Deductions From Payment

Dealer will undertake all reasonable efforts to ensure that it takes only those bona fide deductions that it is permitted to take pursuant to its purchasing agreement with the Vendor. For all types of Deductions (some which are listed below), the Vendor should issue credit notes to offset the deductions. The following is a list of the most common deduction types:

  1. Unit or Shipping Discrepancies - Dealer's Distribution Centre will do a detailed check on all incoming shipments from Vendor. All shipments unless otherwise stated by Dealer will be subject to inspection. Upon inspection, the Vendor will be notified of any discrepancies (concealed or otherwise) by dealers Distribution Center or Store via Notice of Discrepancy Form. Subsequently, dealer will pay the related Vendor invoice in full and simultaneously deduct from payment the value of the shortage.
  2. Pricing Discrepancies - All Purchase Orders must be verified by Vendor to have accurate prices prior to the merchandise being shipped. In the event there is a discrepancy between the Vendor invoice and Dealer purchase order, the prices on the purchase order shall be taken as correct except for in-transit goods that have recently been price protected where dealer would be entitled to pay the new lower price. Subsequently, dealer will pay the related Vendor invoice in full and simultaneously deduct from payment the value of the price discrepancy.
  3. Return to Vendor (Factory Fresh and/or Defective returns) - Dealer shall prepare a "Debit Note" for deduction upon confirmation of shipment from its Distribution or Returns Center. All deductions for Return to Vendor Debit Notes shall be taken by Dealer on the next applicable remittance to the Vendor. The Debit note information will be available on AP Visibility. In the event the Vendor identifies a discrepancy related to a return shipment, it must formally notify Dealer in writing of the discrepancy within 72 hours of its receipt of the merchandise in order to qualify for reimbursement. The vendor must then submit a dispute of the deduction through AP Visibility within 90 days from the cheque date.  
  4. Other Deductions - a) From time to time, Dealer and the Vendor may mutually agree on specific Deductions to be taken by Dealer. In this instance, Dealer shall prepare a generic Debit Note and deduct the agreed amount from the next remittance to the Vendor. b) Promotional and/or Special Advertising Deductions - Dealer's marketing department will complete and provide to the Vendor a Funds Authorization form ("Log") for all promotional and special advertising funds to be signed by the Vendor. Dealer will deduct the amount of the signed Log from its next regularly scheduled payment to Vendor. Vendor must specify on Log any requirements or reporting necessary in order for funding to be deemed eligible. Otherwise, the authorized amount will be deducted as per above. Proof of performance will not be supplied by dealer with its deduction.
  5. Volume Rebates and Co-op Advertising Programs - All authorized Volume rebate and Co-op advertising accrued programs will be deducted as and when they come due. Deduction amounts are based on Dealer calculations of accrual denominator (i.e. inventory receipts). Any disagreement of those calculations by Vendor must be resolved by using dealer claim process.
  6. Price Protection - All price protection issues are to be clearly spelled out in writing between Dealer and Vendor and should outline the number of units under protection, as well as the value to be reduced per unit. Dealer will submit a Price Protection Claim (“Log”), with supporting documentation, including a computerized listing reflecting all inventory on hand (if required) for the product(s) in question. This Claim will be submitted to the Vendors' representative for written approval and Dealer may rely upon such written approval without making any inquiries into the authorization of the Vendors' representative to approve such matters. When written approval has been received from the Vendor, Dealer will adjust the value of its on-hand inventory. All outstanding purchase orders will be adjusted to this new pricing. Goods in Transit will be treated as price differences if the Vendor has already sent an Invoice. Dealer will adjust for these price differences by issuing a Debit Note for Invoice Error as explained in b) above. Dealer will deduct the amount of the signed Price Protection Log from its next regularly scheduled payment to Vendor and   Vendor will grant Dealer full credit for approved Price Protection Logs.
  7. Post Payment Audit - From time to time, our post payment audit division will determine amounts due (according to the purchasing agreement or other program arrangements between Dealer and the Vendor) but not received or deducted by Dealer. In these instances, Dealer shall notify the Vendor in writing of its intent to deduct such items and will provide the Vendor with all relevant supporting documentation. The Vendor will be given a minimum of 30 days to investigate and respond in writing to Dealer at which time the course of action to be taken shall be mutually determined. In the event, the Vendor does not respond, Dealer will deduct the applicable amount from the next regularly scheduled payment to the vendor.

Dispute Resolution - In the event Vendor disagrees with any deduction taken by Dealer must read the Vendor Dispute Guidelines.

 

For more information, please see the Vendor Policies, Standards and Operational Guidelines section.