Invoicing software for car sales

The car sales business suits any type of company structure. You can start out alone, with partners, or with employees. In every case, you must set up your company and meet the tax authority’s legal obligations. Invoicing software for car sales lets you centralize all your accounting, along with vehicle certificates and your customer and supplier files, so you can manage your business more effectively.

The car sales market

The European market is favorable to the development of car sales. You benefit from legislation that supports import and export trade, as well as price differences between countries that allow for significant margins when crossing borders. You can naturally extend your business beyond the European market as well.

Legal statuses and car sales invoicing software

You can launch your car sales business under the sole trader (micro-entrepreneur) status. This gives you simple procedures and doesn’t require large investments. You may also be eligible for certain schemes, including the ACRE (start-up and business takeover support). As soon as you exceed the thresholds for sole trader status, you must switch to a different legal structure. To choose your new status, you need to think ahead and decide whether you want to take on partners, hire staff, or remain a sole owner.

Whatever your decision, from the moment you set up your company you should select versatile car sales invoicing software that adapts to the main legal statuses.

The legal statuses most favored by car dealers are:

• micro-entreprise;
• sole proprietorship (entreprise individuelle);
• SARL;
• EURL;
• SAS;
• SASU.

Car sales invoicing software like Bizyness is designed to grow alongside your business. When you move from one status to another, you keep your history, and the software adapts to the new accounting rules that your new status requires.

Which activity should you choose in car sales?

The choice of your legal status and your car sales invoicing software depends on the exact activity you plan to carry out. It determines your investment and staffing needs.

The car broker

The car broker is hired by their client to find the model that fits their needs and budget. They negotiate prices and earn a commission.

The huge advantage of being a car broker is not having to hold stock (so no premises needed) or advance any money. They can work alone.

Buying and reselling

The buy-and-resell activity corresponds to the dealership business. You buy vehicles at a low cost, then resell them at a higher price. You can resell them as is, with a general “refresh,” or buy vehicles in poor condition and restore them to increase their value.

For the buy-and-resell activity, you need a spacious location to store vehicles, a showroom to display them, and a garage for servicing and repairs.

This activity is more complicated to run and you’ll find it hard to manage alone.

Reselling cars on consignment

A consignment seller receives vehicles — from individuals or businesses — to sell, and displays them to potential buyers. They don’t have to advance money for the purchase. They earn a commission on the sale and on renting out their space. They therefore need premises and can hardly work alone.

The garage owner

A garage owner can add sales to their range of services, alongside maintenance and repair. You can run a small garage alone, but it quickly becomes complicated.

For all these activities, you can specialize to stand out from generalist competitors: classic cars, foreign brands, and so on.

Insurance for car dealers

Your insurance budget needs to be studied carefully depending on your activity, as it can quickly become substantial. You must take out professional liability insurance that covers damage caused to a third party during your business activity or after delivery. Vehicle insurance may be your responsibility or that of the original owner, depending on your role (reseller, broker, etc.).

Legal protection insurance is not mandatory, but since disputes are common in car sales, it is strongly recommended.

For your premises, garage, or showroom, you must protect yourself against losses by taking out multi-risk insurance.

Legal obligations specific to car sales

You need to distinguish between the administrative obligations tied to your company and the formalities specific to car sales. The car trade is subject to recurring checks, as theft and trafficking are common. You must be able to prove your good faith at any time.

All the documents below may be required during an inspection. Ideally, you should centralize everything in your car sales invoicing software and assign each document to its vehicle. In the event of an inspection, you can simply export data by selecting the right criteria and respond instantly to authorities’ requests.

Keeping a police register

The police register (or secondhand goods register) lists your sales and records various pieces of information:

• identity of the vehicle’s owner;
• description of the vehicle;
• origin of the vehicle;
• market value of the vehicle.

This register can be inspected at any time by the police or the mayor of the municipality where your company is registered.

The information you collect about vehicles for sale is carried over onto various documents, including the invoice. It’s important that your car sales invoicing software can synchronize and automate the transfer of this data. Bizyness offers extensive automation between sales documents. To extend its capabilities, you can connect it to the Zapier tool, which will save you considerable time on administrative tasks.

Vehicle purchase declaration

Your car sales invoicing software should also include supporting documents, such as the vehicle purchase declaration. This certificate is reserved for professionals: it lets you avoid the registration formalities when purchasing each vehicle, while still officially becoming the provisional owner until you find a buyer.

The vehicle purchase declaration must be filled in, signed, and stamped by both you and the person selling you the vehicle. You must then register it with the Vehicle Registration System (SIV). You will then receive a purchase declaration receipt, which you’ll hand over to your future buyer at the time of sale.

Downloading this declaration and the receipt should be automated within your car sales invoicing software, as is the case with Bizyness.

The vehicle registration certificate

Every vehicle seller must hand their buyer the vehicle’s registration certificate, crossed out and signed, along with proof of your status as a car sales professional. This can be your SIRENE registration statement, your chamber of trades registration extract, or your Kbis extract.

Try out your car sales invoicing software

Take your time choosing car sales invoicing software that lets you streamline administrative formalities. That way, you can devote the time it saves you to growing your business.

Don’t hesitate to take advantage of Bizyness’s free, no-commitment trial period to test the features of the car sales accounting software and check that it truly fits your business.