Häufig gestellte Fragen
Is a standard ERP enough for beverage wholesale?
As a rule, not without adaptation, because deposit, empties and route logic are not cleanly covered in the standard scope of generic ERP systems. Beverage distributors need parallel deposit posting per line item, separate returnable and single-use deposit accounts, and inventory management that distinguishes empties by yard, route and customer. In practice, this depth is delivered by an industry ERP or a specialised extension of a generalist. The exact configuration depends on the assortment, size class and customising depth of the specific setup.
Which ERP vendors are established in the beverage sector?
In DACH beverage wholesale, specialised industry solutions such as GESOFT Handel, ORGA-SOFT INTEGRA, CSB-System, GRS-Systeme and DELOMA are widespread, bringing deposit, empties and route planning as standard. Generalists such as Sage, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and SAP Business One are also used, but then with a beverage industry extension. Which solution fits is decided by factors such as drop shipping, brewery connections and mobile delivery. Vendor selection should therefore always be aligned with your own processes rather than with market names.
How does an ERP correctly handle deposits and empties?
A suitable beverage ERP separates the accounting view of deposits from the quantity-based view of empties and keeps its own accounts and conditions for each container type. For VAT purposes, the deposit in Germany shares the fate of the delivered goods and is treated at the same tax rate as the beverage; according to the case law of the BFH (V R 37/19) and the BMF letter of 18 April 2022, this also applies to the single-use deposit, which is organisationally settled via the DPG clearing system. The single-use deposit is a uniform 25 cents nationwide, while the returnable deposit is not fixed by law and, depending on the container, mostly ranges from around 8 to 15 cents per bottle and about 1.50 euros per crate. For correct posting, separate deposit and empties accounts (such as account 8540 in SKR 03 or 4520 in SKR 04) and a traceable deposit payment run per customer are important.
What role does the German Packaging Act (VerpackG) play in ERP selection?
Among other things, the VerpackG requires a returnable-packaging offer obligation in retail and names a targeted, but not sanction-backed, returnable quota of 70 percent; for single-use PET beverage bottles, a minimum recyclate quota of 25 percent also applies. An ERP supports these requirements by cleanly separating returnable and single-use volumes and keeping them available for reporting analysis. Practically helpful are GS1-compliant EAN maintenance for returnable pools as well as evaluations of volume thresholds and quotas. Since the regulatory details can change continuously, the solution should be flexibly configurable, and the competent authority or your tax advisor should be involved in the specific interpretation.
Must the ERP handle e-invoicing and EDI for the beverage industry?
Yes, both topics are increasingly mandatory or standard for beverage wholesalers. Since 1 January 2025, domestic B2B companies must be able to receive and process e-invoices; the mandatory issuance takes effect in stages by prior-year revenue from 2027 (above 800,000 euros) and for all companies from 2028, with formats such as XRechnung and ZUGFeRD meeting the European standard EN 16931. For ongoing business with breweries and large suppliers, EDI based on EDIFACT or the retail subset EANCOM is also widespread, for instance for ORDERS and INVOIC messages. A suitable ERP should support these formats directly or via an EDI converter.
How long does an ERP implementation take in beverage wholesale?
A realistic project duration is 9 to 15 months, with data cleansing alone typically consuming 2 to 4 months. Master data from legacy systems is often inconsistent — for example customer-specific deposit conditions, unsynchronised returnable stocks or duplicate delivery addresses. Experience shows that a considerable share of projects overrun their original schedule if responsibilities and data quality are not clarified early on. The most important lever for staying on schedule is a dedicated internal project manager with decision-making authority and high availability.