How to Unwind Deals – AutoManager

The term “unwind” is often used to describe any deal that has fallen through. You may also think of this as "canceling a sale".

There are many different reasons and stages at which a deal might fall through. Perhaps the customer pulled out of the deal before making the first payment. Or maybe the customer had a lapse in payment later down the line and the vehicle needs to be repossessed.

Since there are many different reasons, stages, and circumstances to consider when a deal falls through, there are different ways of handling these situations in DeskManager Online. In the sections below, we will cover the various methods available and when you might choose one over the other.

Unwinding a New Deal

If a deal has fallen through before the customer has driven the vehicle off the lot and only the down payment has been collected (and perhaps needs to be refunded), we will want to use the designated Unwind Contract feature.

To unwind a contract in this state, first navigate to the deal itself.

Since the account is marked as Closed, you will likely appear in the Accounting screen when first interacting with the deal. Click on the customer’s name in the top-left to access the deal from this screen.

From here, click on the Contract tab.

Then click Unwind Contract. Doing so will reverse any collected payments, mark this deal as Pending, and return this vehicle to the available inventory.

Unwinding an Established Deal

If the customer has already made several payments on the deal, we’ll want to close the account to preserve the payment history.

To close an account, first navigate to the account from the Accounting list.

In the top-right, click the More drop-down menu, then click Close Account. A window will appear.

In the Reason drop-down menu, there are multiple reasons you may close this account. To unwind the account, select either the Buyback, Repo, or Contract Cancelled reason.

If you are purchasing the vehicle back from the customer who longer wants it, select Buyback.

If you are repossessing the vehicle due to nonpayment, select Repo.

If the customer is terminating the contract early and you are reclaiming the vehicle, select Contract Cancelled.

When you close the account with one of these selected reasons, the vehicle will be added back to your inventory with a new stock number designated with an “R” suffix.
The current stock number will remain marked as “Sold,” attached to this unwound deal.
Adjustments will be added to this account to bring its balance to zero. The breakdown of these adjustments can be seen under the account’s Adjustment History.
You’ll be asked to include the Vehicle Market Value. The Vehicle Market Value will become the purchase cost for the new stock number.

Once you’ve selected a reason for closure that best fits this account, designate the date the account should Stop Interest Accrual.