Financial Infrastructure Assessment for Equipment Distributors & Dealers
A financial infrastructure assessment scores the systems a dealership uses to see, control and predict money — absorption and department-level gross reporting, inventory aging and turns, floor plan and carrying cost, warranty recovery, technician time capture and the review rhythm around them — rather than the numbers those systems produce. This free 15-question assessment returns a FICS score out of 100 across five layers, benchmarks you against equipment distributors and dealers at your revenue stage, and names the gap costing you the most margin and cash. It takes about three minutes. You see your score before you enter an email, and there is no sales call required to get the report.
Fifteen questions on absorption, department gross, inventory, floor plan and cash. A FICS score out of 100, benchmarked against equipment dealers at your revenue stage, and the one gap costing you the most. Three minutes, no sales call.
What the assessment scores
FICS breaks financial infrastructure into five layers. Each one depends on the one below it, which is
why a firm with a weak first layer cannot forecast its way out of trouble.
LAYER 1
Execution Truth
FICS breaks financial infrastructure into five layers. Each one depends on the one below it, which is
why a firm with a weak first layer cannot forecast its way out of trouble.
LAYER 2
Financial Intelligence
Close speed, the true carrying cost of a unit including floor plan interest and reconditioning, and whether gross profit per technician and per bay hour is a managed number.
LAYER 3
Control Layer
What happens when a salesperson discounts a deal, how much warranty actually gets recovered and how fast, and whether technician efficiency is measured at the work order or reconstructed at week end.
LAYER 4
Forecast Engine
A 13-week cash forecast that includes floor plan curtailments and stock order commitments, inventory turns tracked against a target, and whether a large order or a rental fleet addition gets modeled before it is committed.
LAYER 5
Leadership Cadence
Whether department managers see their own P&L, and how often absorption, aging, floor plan exposure and department gross are reviewed in the same meeting.
What best in class looks like for a dealership
These are the marks the assessment scores you against. Nothing here requires new software — everyone of them is a reporting decision and a rhythm.
âś“ Service absorption above 100% — parts, service and rental gross covers total fixed overhead
âś“ Used equipment turning 2.5–3x a year with aging reviewed monthly against a written markdown policy
âś“ Department P&Ls for new, used, parts, service and rental — reviewed monthly with the managers who own them
âś“ Technician efficiency 90%+ with time captured at the work order, not reconstructed at week end
âś“ Warranty claims submitted within 5 days and 95%+ recovered, tracked to payment
âś“ 13-week cash forecast tied to floor plan curtailments, stock orders and rental capex
Frequently asked questions
What is a financial infrastructure assessment for an equipment dealership?
It scores the systems that produce your financial picture — absorption and department gross reporting, inventory aging and turns, floor plan and carrying cost, warranty recovery and technician time capture — rather than the financial statements themselves. A dealership can post a strong sales year and still have weak infrastructure if nobody can say which department earned the money.
What is service absorption and what should it be?
Absorption is the gross profit from parts, service and rental expressed as a percentage of total fixed overhead. At 100%, the aftermarket covers the cost of keeping the doors open and every equipment sale contributes to profit rather than to survival. Most dealers run well below that and cannot say by how much, because the departments are not reported separately.
How fast should used equipment inventory turn?
Two and a half to three turns a year is a common target, with aging reviewed monthly in buckets and a written markdown policy. Units past 180 days rarely improve with time — they accumulate floor plan interest, insurance and depreciation while the market moves underneath them.
Why does floor plan interest hurt more than dealers expect?
Because it is charged on units that are not selling, which means the cost lands hardest on exactly the inventory earning nothing. A unit carried past its planned turn accrues interest, insurance, reconditioning and depreciation at the same time, and unless carrying cost is tracked per unit per month, none of it shows up in the deal margin when the unit finally sells.
Does this assessment require sharing my financials?
No. It asks fifteen questions about how your systems work, not what your numbers are. Nothing is uploaded, the scoring happens in your browser, and you see your score before entering an email.
The assessment is a snapshot. FICS is the system.
This scores where your financial infrastructure stands today. The Financial Intelligence & Control System installs the missing layers — department P&Ls your managers own, inventory aging with a policy behind it, and a cash forecast that includes the floor plan— and leaves a rhythm your dealership runs without you.