Exhibitors buying extras on account at the show
How exhibitors can buy extras at the show office on account through Achekam's till, with credit limits and holds, and settle the balance after the show.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Events businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
On the morning a trade show opens, the show office is the busiest place in the hall. Exhibitors arrive needing an extra extension lead, two more chairs, a second badge for a colleague who turned up unexpectedly, a delivery of ice to the stand. Very few of them want to stop and pay by card for each item, and their company may not want them to.
Letting exhibitors buy on account is good service. Done loosely, it is also how organisers end up writing off a stack of small unpaid amounts months after the show. This article explains how to sell extras on account through Achekam's till, keep each exhibitor within a limit, and collect the balance afterwards.
Account sales at the till write a receivables invoice
With the Point of Sale add-on, the show office can run a till like any other serving point. A till sale can be charged to a trade customer's account instead of being paid at the counter. When it is, Achekam writes a receivables invoice to that customer for the sale.
That detail matters. Each extra charged on account becomes a proper invoice in receivables, in the exhibitor's name, rather than a note in the office's exercise book. It shows on their account, it ages like any other invoice, and it appears on their statement.
Take a worked example in words. On the first morning, an exhibitor's representative collects extra chairs and a second badge. The show office rings both up on the till and charges them to the exhibitor's trade account. Two receivables invoices now exist in the exhibitor's name, each listing what was taken, and the representative leaves with the items and a receipt, without paying at the counter.
Ring up each extra as its own product, such as chair hire, extra badge, power point, or ice delivery, so the exhibitor can see exactly what they took.
Trade customers on the Wholesale screen
Account sales need a trade customer to charge. Trade customers are created on the Wholesale screen, which comes with the Wholesale add-on. With it, a business keeps trade customers with credit limits, terms and a hold, as well as price lists with quantity breaks.
Set each exhibitor up as a trade customer before the show, ideally when their booth is confirmed:
- the company's invoicing name and address;
- a contact for accounts;
- a credit limit for show extras;
- payment terms, such as payment within a set number of days after the show;
- a price list, if larger exhibitors receive different prices for bulk extras.
Doing this in the weeks before the show avoids the worst moment: an exhibitor wanting to buy on account at opening time, and nobody able to set them up.
Credit limits and holds
Each account sale checks the trade customer's hold and credit limit. If the account is on hold, or the sale would take it over its limit, the sale is not charged to the account.
Use both controls deliberately:
- Credit limit. Set it at what you would be comfortable chasing. For most exhibitors, show extras are small, and a modest limit protects you from an unusual order.
- Hold. Put an exhibitor on hold if their booth invoice is still unpaid, or if they have an old balance from a previous show. A hold stops further account sales until someone deals with the underlying problem.
ACCA's article on accounts receivable management explains how a business manages what it is owed, including monitoring with an aged analysis. The same discipline applies to a three-day show as to a year-round trade account.
Overrides by a supervisor with a reason
Sometimes an override makes sense: a major exhibitor needs a large order of extras urgently, and their booth invoice payment is known to be on its way. In Achekam, a supervisor or manager can override the hold or the credit limit, and must give a reason.
Keep overrides rare and visible:
- Agree before the show who may override in the show office.
- Ask them to write a reason a stranger would understand, such as "booth invoice paid, confirmed by bank, awaiting allocation".
- Review all overrides after the show, before statements go out.
The cashier at the till is the signed-in user, and refunds, voids and cash paid out also need a supervisor or manager, so the show office's supervisor is effectively the person in charge of everything that leaves the counter without immediate payment.
Statements after the show
When the show closes, every exhibitor who bought on account has one or more receivables invoices. Their balances appear in the ageing, where receivables are aged into 0-30, 31-60, 61-90, 91-120 and over 120 days, with overdue totals.
Within a few days of the show:
- send each exhibitor a statement of account, a PDF the server produces and can e-mail, with the screen showing whether it was sent;
- check that each statement lists every extra the exhibitor took;
- answer queries quickly, while the show is still fresh in everyone's memory.
Credit control, on for new workspaces, then e-mails overdue reminders and a monthly statement to customers with a balance. It never charges anyone; it reminds.
If an exhibitor cancels altogether, the booth invoice and any extras are handled as described in an exhibitor cancels a booth. For the related job of invoicing companies for tables and ticket blocks, see invoicing companies for tables and ticket blocks.
Before your next show, set up every confirmed exhibitor as a trade customer with a limit, and tell the show office team, in writing, who may override.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
