There’s no getting around it: ATF inspections are a fact of life for any business in the firearms industry.
But, keeping accurate records in your a&d bound book will help to speed up the process when inspection time inevitably rolls around.
As a Federal Firearms Licensee you probably have a lot going on. Not only do you have to make sure everything gets taken care of for your business to run on a day-to-day basis, but you also have to plan for the future to ensure you stay in business for the long run. Inventory, sales, marketing, maintenance, and managing staff – it’s a lot to deal with.
Unfortunately, with all that going on, things like keeping proper records tend to slip through the cracks. It gets put off until later, and we all know that sometimes later never comes. If you want to avoid putting your business at risk, then keeping an accurate firearms acquisition and disposition record book is something you need to get right.
No one wants to receive a warning letter, have an audit take longer than it needs too, or have their license revoked. Keeping bound books that are 100% accurate will keep you in compliance with the law and help you pass your inspections.
It’s More Complex Than Just a Transaction
The ATF is very clear on what information your a&d bound books must contain and how long you have to record that information before you are in violation. Your bound books must be consistently maintained to ensure that all of the information in them is accurate and entered in a timely manner.
In many cases, like bulk acquisitions or multi-item dispositions, ATF requirements create a fair amount of repetitive and redundant work (exactly the kind of work that busy people conveniently put off until later). However, the fact that it’s time consuming to record those transactions won’t get you off the hook – if you stray outside their boundaries, you leave your business open to citations.
You should review the entries in your bound books and make changes to any mistakes on a regular basis. If you want to minimize the amount of time required to do this, then consider giving FastBound a try today. Our clients know the #1 must have is a compliant, accurate A&D bound book.
It can be helpful to ask yourself the following question on a daily basis:
If the ATF showed up today for an inspection, is the information in my bound book current and accurate?
If the answer is no, then you have some work to do. Staying on top of your bound book is absolutely key because the most common violations that ATF inspectors find are all related to record-keeping. Avoid those and you’ve got a much better chance of a quick and painless inspection.
One of the easiest ways to keep timely, accurate firearms acquisition and disposition record books is to use FastBound’s electronic record book. Our ATF-approved software reduces firearms dealers’ ATF audit risk while saving your business time and money. If you want to keep accurate records, check out FastBound: See our plans.
