How to Account for Sales from Vending Machines

English: Vending machine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For some, vending machines are known for dispensing snacks and some low price trinkets. But for others, this is one great source of income. People who take advantage of this business have control of their own time and have themselves as their boss. Diligently keeping the records as well as assessing prices of products accurately is their secret in discovering how much they are able to generate from each machine they have. Owners of dispensing machines will be able to calculate their gross profit for a specific accounting period by making an accurate tally of some essential number. If you are an owner and you are not yet knowledgeable on how to go about this, here are some tips which you might find helpful.

Foremost, if you have one or several machines, you have to make an accurate record of the money you will collect form each. Collection should be done each time that you will empty the machine and have it refilled again. The amount you will collect represents the total dispensing sale of your machine.

On a separate record sheet, make a calculation of the cost of those goods that you sold. From the result must be added to the opening stock value. The latter refers to those good already on your machine at the start of the accounting period. From the total amount, you must also add the price of the goods that you add in the machine during that same period. After you get the sum, you must subtract the closing stock value. The latter refers to whatever has been left on the machine as the accounting period ends. The number you will arrive at represents the value of the good that the machine was able to sold in a given accounting period.

The next thing to do is to subtract the total sales from the value of goods sold. This will give you the value of your gross period for that given accounting period. If you are owner of several machines, you also need to make accurate tallying of gross profits which each machine made. From the sum of gross profit, you need to subtract the entire expenses for that specific accounting period. The result is your vending machine net profit.

Owning vending machines is one lucrative way of earning money while you have the freedom of getting an employment elsewhere. It can even be an income generating business on itself. Owners of vending machine operate this business on different period of accounting. Some uses monthly or quarterly while others on a yearly basis. Whichever is the choice of accounting period being applied on the operation of vending machine, it is a must that one must do some accounting. By doing simple math, the owner can draw up his own accounting of the total sales as well as total profit of his business. This skill is necessary so that the owner will know if the business is still profitable or not.