Products and Services U.S. Bank Advent Business Systems provides a complete suite of software solutions that fulfill the needs of petroleum marketers. Our full array of financial management and reporting tools help fuel wholesalers and retailers, cardlock and fleet fueling operators and lubricant manufacturers and marketers discover new potential inside and outside their current businesses. The Advent software as a service (SaaS) model enables clients to manage their costs and business more efficiently and effectively. Clients subscribe to the software and outsource their back-end infrastructure operations to Advent, resulting in a significant savings within their total IT budget. Wholesale Fuel Management Advent Wholesale Fuel Management solutions streamline the wholesale fuel order entry pricing and purchasing process. Easy-to-use online product interfaces take the guess work out of taxation, supplier pricing and freight, allowing quick access to customer quotes and best-buy decisions. Advent contains date/time-sensitive pricing by an individual customer and/or customer group, as well as by a product and/or product group. Additionally, Advent help clients manage pricing by importing automated price updates from fuel suppliers, the Data Transmission Network (DTN), OPIS and Platts indexes. Advent clients can track and maintain their fuel inventories at bulk plants, service stations, cardlocks and pipeline terminals, and view their current and past fuel costs at any time using FIFO (first-in, first-out), LIFO (last-in, first-out) or cost average inventory methods. With Advent Wholesale Fuel Management solutions, clients have immediate access to: Transport and bobtail delivery information Single data entry for direct deliveries Bill of lading (BOL) resolution and reconciliation Supplier pricing and invoice imports Client quote notifications Gross and net gallon buy and sell options Date-sensitive tax exemption calculations Single-entry, date-sensitive taxation rates On-line fuel orders (in real-time) Automatic and manual fees and deposits Mileage and volume sensitive freight tables Supply department profit and loss
Lubricants and Packaged Goods For the lubricant sales and service market, Advent provides inventory controls, specialized pricing, accurate product costing and superior sales reporting. Advent Lubricants and Packaged Goods solutions enable clients to link together the same products sold in different package sizes, in order to track total sales and profit, while maintaining the ability to break down sales by each individual package size. With Advent Lubricant and Package Goods solutions, distributors can: Rebrand products and create and split packaged goods Blend products based on pre-set percentages or sales orders View individual inventories at multiple sites Track drum deposits and inventory Update supplier prices electronically Create percentage or margin-over pricing based on supplier price Create percentage or margin-over/under pricing based on internal posted price Integrate client online orders without additional data entry Record inventory codes shared by all warehouses, while providing individual profit and loss statements Price products based on an individual customer, a customer group or a customer s ship-to locations Price products based on an individual product, a product group or a product package size Fleet Fueling and Cardlock Advent Fleet Fueling and Cardlock solutions allow clients to create, maintain and manage fuel cards across multiple card types and cardlock networks, including Voyager Fleet Systems, Network Fuels, Commercial Fueling Network (CFN), Pacific Pride, T-Chek Systems, Mannatec and NBS Transaction System. Additionally, Advent supports 16+ different proprietary networks, including Gasboy, AutoGas, efueling, Excentus and Petro Vend. With Advent, clients can accept transactions from any provider they choose, regardless of card type, network or mobile fueling provider, without specialized programming. This allows Advent clients to grow their existing business; have greater control over customer purchasing activities; provide better customer service and deliver a single, simplified invoice. With Advent Fleet Fueling and Cardlock solutions, petroleum marketers can: Upload transactions from multiple networks and site controllers Integrate with single-, dual-cardlock and driver-applied PIN systems Interface with truck automation devices for mobile fleet fueling Validate transactions for pricing, taxing and preparation for reporting and invoicing Set aside (in an error batch) invalid transactions for corrective actions Apply tax exemptions by customer or card With Advent Fleet Fueling and Cardlock solutions, providers can maintain transaction controls based on: Hard- and soft-stop customer credit controls Time-of-day and day-of-week Number of transactions and gallon limits Day, week and month dollar limits Card, vehicle, driver and manual inputs Product type limitations
Transportation/Routing/Dispatch Clients can organize and manage deliveries with Advent Transportation/Routing/ Dispatch solutions. Clients can also set up an unlimited number of customer routes, as well as assign truck, warehouse and shifts to individual delivery routes. The three-step process for dispatching products enables clients to efficiently and accurately make pull decisions and get the needed delivery information into the hands of their drivers. Once an order is entered, Advent automates the freight, pricing, taxes, special handling, truck/carrier dispatch requests and rack and supplier selections. With a simple point and click of the mouse, the dispatcher can quickly assign products to trucks/carriers for each sales order. Best-buy screens let the dispatcher pull products from locations with the lowest available price. Advent even factors in all of the needed freight information. Advent then faxes and/or emails the delivery tickets and pull-sheets to company trucks or hired carriers. Delivery tickets can include the necessary cards, PIN numbers and shipper identification information required to load at the rack and supplier. With Advent Transportation/Routing/Dispatch solutions, dispatchers can: Provide routing directions and reports Interface with truck automation devices Identify product and client deliveries Schedule deliveries by day or keep-fill criteria Assign temperature criteria for home heating oil deliveries Create sales orders based on estimated deliveries Store loading information for common carriers and company trucks by rack/supplier View and print sales profit analysis based on delivery reports Executive Management and Information Systems Up-to-the-minute company performance information is critical for petroleum distributors. With Advent s date/time-sensitive Executive Management and Information Systems solutions, clients can set thousands of business filters designed to help analyze company performance and trends. Clients can pinpoint performance by department, product, product group, site and customer, to identify opportunities and head-off problems before they occur. Clients can export data for further analysis or to create ad hoc queries. Advent provides clients with hundreds of pre-defined reports with additional filter choices to track operational, financial and clerical performance. With Advent Executive Management and Information Systems solutions, petroleum marketers can generate the following: Real-time sales and margins reports Current and historical tax reports Site analysis in multiple formats Equipment tracking and history Inventory movement Tax reports and schedules Warehouse and product profitability Trend analysis and comparatives Credit status and aging Sales representative performance Dealer reimbursements Customer variances Truck and driver profitability User logs and verification
Equipment Manager Providing leased equipment is an essential part of petroleum distribution. Using Advent Equipment Manager solutions, clients can track equipment (tanks, hose reels, propane bottles, etc.) from the time it is purchased through the time it is sold, leased or removed from inventory. When equipment is received into inventory, the client enters the equipment serial number and warehouse location. As the equipment is sold, leased or moved to different customers, Advent can track the equipment, its location and usage. With Advent Equipment Manager solutions, clients can: Manage leased and sold equipment Set customer inventory levels Track leased and customer-owned inventories Manage equipment sales profitability Integrate call controls with tank inventory devices Bill leased equipment monthly or annually Manage equipment sales profitability Assign specific truck, supplier and rack deliveries based on equipment ecommerce Petroleum distributors need to set themselves apart from the competition and bring a higher level of service to their customers. Differentiators such as ecommerce and online B2B tools can help achieve a higher level of service the petroleum distributor s clients will appreciate. With Advent ecommerce solutions, your clients have complete online access into the Advent suite of accounting and information solutions. With Advent ecommerce solutions, jobbers can: View, reprint or download their own online invoices Place order requests 24/7/365 and receive email confirmation from dispatch View, print or download fleet fueling/cardlock transactions Validate or invalidate cardlock cards and modify driver PIN setups Customize their own routine product/package/bulk ordering pricelists Document Archiving Advent Document Archiving is an electronic filing cabinet which stores all documents sent to customers or printed internally. Any document can be saved to an image file within the system, allowing it to be archived and then referenced at a later date. Clients can also print the archived documents on-demand, and then fax or email them directly to clients from the computer screen. With Advent Document Archiving solutions, petroleum marketers can: Reduce response time for client invoice or statement copies Archive original communications sent to clients Reduce invoice and statement run times Eliminate the storage of paper copies Eliminate the use of non-carbon reproduction or carbon paper
Document Distribution Advent Document Distribution solutions can prepare and send invoices, reports and other documentation in an electronic format (email or fax). Advent also helps petroleum marketers manage the document distribution process. When a document run is generated, the document can be sent out immediately; held in a queue of a client s choosing or sent out at a predetermined time, and to an unlimited number of customer-specified locations and contacts. Marketers can view archived documents or reports online, and then print, fax or email these documents from the computer screen. This allows marketers to deliver information to their customers how and when they want it. With Advent Document Distribution/Archiving solutions, petroleum distributors can: Cut down paper, postage and handling costs Distribute documents electronically Distribute documents at predetermined times Increase cash flow via quicker invoice distribution Inventory Control & Costing Accurately account for fuel, package, equipment and other product inventories with Advent Inventory Control and Costing solutions. The Advent intelligent product setup minimizes redundant inventory receipt routines and employee errors. Inventories can be tracked by LIFO, FIFO or average costing methods by product, which correctly manages cost inventories and measure performance. Through online viewing and reporting, clients can even analyze FIFO/LIFO layers, as products are received, sold, transferred or adjusted. This allows immediate identification of real costs, in lieu of producing financial statements. With Advent Inventory Control and Costing solutions, jobbers can: Separate product groups for reports, taxation and general ledger reporting Determine individual product costing methods, such as LIFO, FIFO or average Manage receipts, transfers, rebrands, blends, adjustments and physical inventories Track inventory transactions by type (wholesale, fleet fueling, retail) View continuous inventory levels continuously online Manage negative inventory costing for hedging and pipeline activities Simplify month-end physical inventory reconciliation with date/time sensitive inventory management
Accounting With Advent Accounting solutions, general ledger, accounts receivable and accounts payable functions are all fully integrated with all of Advent s applications. Powered by single database architecture and date-sensitive transactional information, the Advent Accounting solutions eliminate the need for traditional hard month-end close processes. Clients can move from one month s transactions to another without interruptions. The Advent general ledger stores all client transaction history in detail, available in either print or online formats. Advent centralizes account receivables information for multiple aging brackets and product lines, thus providing the credit and collections personnel with accurate account information. The Advent account payables process gives clients complete reconciliation of BOLs and packing slips with supplier invoices. Easy point-and-click interfaces handle multiple BOLs per invoice. Automated dealer and company location credit card settlements are available through DTN and supplier imports. With Advent Accounting solutions, clients can: Manage multiple year budgets Customize financial statement formats Integrate government taxes Manage open-item receivables and payables Provide electronic bank reconciliation Perform electronic price imports and BOL reconciliation Process credit card transaction imports and automated reconciliation Run cash receipts, lock box, credit card and electronic funds transfer (EFT) transactions Credit/Collections In today s tight economy, cash flow management is critical. The Advent Credit/Collections solutions are designed to help clients manage receivables; increase cash flow and reduce credit risk. Advent consolidates the client s credit across multiple product lines, and then integrates it within a dynamic collections module. Clients can automate the scheduling of collection calls, warning notifications and credit suspensions. With Advent Credit/Collections solutions, clients can: Create and issue warning notices based on pre-set client credit limits Set notification criteria regarding client credit level plateaus Disable fuel cards automatically when credit limits are reached Track billed and unbilled purchases against a client s current credit limits Receive warnings or lock-sales order notifications if credit limit is exceeded Set up customer grace days prior to placing a customer in collections status View past due accounts and collection history with detailed summaries Store date and time sensitive notes, including promise-to-pay dates and amounts Assign credit limits and define customer-specific payment terms based on day of the month, predetermined date from product purchase or predetermined date from invoice generation U.S. Bank Advent Business Systems 901 Mariners Island Blvd., Suite 475 San Mateo, CA 94404 650-572-8866 For More Information To find out more about U.S. Bank Advent Business Systems, contact (650) 572-8866; adventsales@usbank.com or visit.