Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Presents
Heather - what tag do you want here?
MPIBA Supports Our Booksellers
Text here - one to two paragraphs of your choice. Sample text could be: We are delighted to provide you this free access to a collection of PBS classes. We know you'll find information to help you and your staff improve your skills.
Accessing Classes
Bookseller Tools & Resources
Returns
Basics of Bookstore Financing plus Batch
Budgeting for Buying
Bookstore Financial Literacy
To begin each video, click the blue "play button." If classes have handouts, you can download them from links under the video.
If you have any problem with these videos or handouts, please e-mail PBS.
Bookseller Tools & Resources
Entering the world of independent bookselling is exciting, and can also be disorienting - so many new terms, buzz words, acronyms, and industry groups to get to know. This class from our Basic Bookselling Course will introduce you to the major companies and organizations, introduce you to industry vocabulary, and help you see the world through booksellers' eyes.
Download Bookseller Tools & Resources Handout
Returns
This class from our Inventory Management Course helps you build systems for determining what to return, and when, as well as walking you through the process, from pulling to packing to receiving credits.
This class also has three short videos to help you master returns skills. You'll find them below the class recording.
Download Handout: Colgate Bookstore Trade Returns Information
Download Handout: Fiction Addiction Business Review
Download Handout: Ingram Open to Return Calculation
Download Handout: Reporting Ingram Discrepancies
POS Hacks for Returns
Packing a Return
Using Pubeasy to Check Returnability
Basics of Bookstore Financing Plus BATCH
This class from our Store & Operations Management Course will give you an overview of the financial tools necessary for understanding how your store is operating, including:
-
Chart of Accounts
-
Profit & Loss Statement
-
Cash Flow
-
Balance Sheet
There is also a presentation from Nathan Halter from Batch for Books.
Download Handout on Financial Dashboards
Batch for Books Slide Presentation
Batch for Books Bookseller FAQ
Budgeting for Buying
How many of us fly by the seat of our pants when it comes to budgeting for inventory?
In this session, Candice Huber, Dean of Bookstore Finances for the Professional Booksellers School, will present practical and actionable steps for budgeting for buying, even if you're starting from scratch.
This session is inclusive of a variety of business models.
Download Handout: Budgeting Steps
Download Handout: Budgeting Tricks and Tips
Bookstore Financial Literacy
These 3 mini-classes were created by Bookstore Finances Dean Candice Huber as the best way to begin to understand your store's finances and how to manage them. The topics are:
-
Understanding Profit & Loss
-
Cost of Goods Sold
-
Managing Cash Flow
Understanding Profit & Loss
Cost of Goods Sold
Managing Cash Flow
-
Donate to Support PBS
Booksellers Say:
Audrey Beatty
River Bend Bookshop
The Basic Bookselling Certification Course is truly anything but "basic!" The material covered is comprehensive and the instructors were invaluable fountains of knowledge and experience. I've been a bookseller and shop manager for over three years--I both wished this course was available to me when I started AND I felt like I gained so much from the coursework even though I'm no longer brand new to the business! I couldn't recommend it more highly to anyone that is a frontline bookseller, regardless of the number of years under your belt.
Amani Jackson
The Ivy Bookshop
The Inventory Management class I took through PBS made me confident enough to take on a managerial role at my bookstore and introduced me to career booksellers from across the country. I hope more and more booksellers have the opportunity to take classes and open their minds to what a career in books can look like.