Swimming With Sharks 1

As a small manufacturer, getting your first order from a giant company like Walmart or Sears can be a dream come true.  But that dream can turn into a nightmare if you don’t have the right systems in place.

I worked with a company that landed a contract with an international department store chain.  One month’s order from them involved more of my client’s product than they had sold in the whole previous year.  It was a cause for celebration and the sales team threw a party.

Then the realities of all the logistical requirements hit home.  All of the skids had to include an RFID tag (radio frequency identification) to identify the contents of the skid to the department store’s computer system.  The truck had to show up at the receiving dock at exactly the right time.  All of the shipping documentation had to be sent electronically (by EDI – Electronic Data Interchange).  If anything went wrong, the department store would reduce its payment to my client by a pre-set penalty.

That may not sound like much.  Just a few extra steps with each shipment, right?  Wrong.  Another part of the agreement had the six different ways the company forecasts demand and replenishes stock.  They want to keep the minimum quantity on hand and avoid out of stock situations, meaning that suppliers have to be on their toes and respond immediately to new orders.

If my client had had a full featured ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system like Oracle or SAP, all of this would have been routine, but they were just a small operation.  So we modified Microsoft Dynamics GP to create special reports that could be downloaded from the accounting system and made a big list in Excel for the staff to follow.  But it would have been so much better, if the client could have had a workflow system that would have sent email reminders to all of the staff about what steps they had to follow for each shipment.

So, let’s stand back a little and look at the best strategy for your systems if you are a medium sized company swimming with sharks.  You have your toe in the door, but have no way of knowing whether this is a one-shot deal or the start of something big.  In the long run, you would like to be able to ramp up your sales, production and systems so that you move up, but in the short run, that strategy is time consuming and expensive.  A good starting point is to upgrade one piece at a time, making sure that anything new you add will work to meet the current demand AND grow with you as you upgrade.  In this case, a work flow system would keep the staff on top of the vendor requirements, as well as supporting the company’s operations regardless of what the future holds.

Reposted with the kind permission of iDatix:  http://www.idatix.com/insider-perspective-swimming-with-sharks-what-to-do-when-dealing-with-large-retailers/

Putting the Customer First - Really!

You, the software vendor, are making your pitch.  It breaks down into three sections:

1. Microsoft has amazing software,
2. You are an amazing Microsoft representative, and
3. Here's how you would address my needs.

It's very logical, isn't it?  The problem is that every vendor I see has the same pitch.  It's like Microsoft has pre-packaged the sales presentation (actually, Microsoft does do that, but that's a story for another day).  Another problem is that my eyes have glazed over by the time you get to the good stuff.

Really.  I'm stifling yawns by the end of the first section.  You see, I can predict what you're going to present, so I lose interest.  There's no way you're going to say that Microsoft is anything other than perfect or that anybody might have a better team than yours.

What if we turned the whole presentation around?  What if the presentation started with my problems?  What if instead of filling the screen with the logos of the other companies that use the software, it was filled with diagrams showing what I need?  You'd have my attention.

Really.  I'd be on the edge of my seat.

Then, once you've got my attention by showing me that you understand me, what if the salesperson stands back and lets the team speak?  That would show me that you have confidence in the people who are going to do the work.  YES, let the techie speak!  Coach him/her before hand.  Tell them it's OK to be nervous, but let them say something like, "I spoke to your technical staff about your current hardware.  We think you can continue to use your existing workstations and network.  All that will be required is a separate server for the Microsoft system."  Then, your implementation manager could give me a run down of a sample implementation for a company my size.  I would get a chance to assess the chemistry between my staff and yours.

After that, I'd be all questions.  Have you done this kind of implementation before?  Who are your other clients?  Can the Microsoft system handle my requirements?  You could then do the rest of your presentation, and get through all of your material without a single yawn from me.

Really!

Is Your A/P Clerk a Knowledge Worker?

Knowledge workers. The hype is everywhere, from Microsoft commercials to Gartner reports. This is the age of the knowledge worker. Just what does that mean? How has the job of the typical Accounts Payable clerk been transformed?

Let's take a little trip back in time to a retail operation I audited early in my career. Their accounts payable department took up one half of a floor in a small office building. The women (yes, they were all women and one of them actually tried to match me up with that nice young single credit manager) had large manual calculators called comptometers on their desks. Every day they would take the invoices received from the retail outlets for products received and check the calculations and the tax. They would then create batches of fifty invoices, attach an adding machine tape and send the stack off to the data entry department to be entered into the computer by another group.

Fast forward twenty years to that same department. There are far fewer accounts payable clerks and the data entry department is long gone. The clerks enter the invoices directly into the computer which does all the calculations so they can just check that the total on the invoice is correct. The system also compares the pricing back to the company's purchase order, another step that used to be handled manually. Have we reached the knowledge worker stage yet? Not quite.

Fast forward to now. There is about the same number of people in accounts payable, but they are handling a lot more transactions because the company has grown. There is no data entry because supplier invoices come into the system automatically via electronic data interchange (EDI). When accounts payable staff sit down at their workstations they see an icon to tell them how many documents are waiting for approval. As they open each document, information about the supplier pops up in a fact window. They can see statistics about the volume of transactions as well as being able to examine past transactions. If they see a large number of returns or problems with documentation, they are in a position to recommend that the supplier relationship be reviewed.

When I asked a Microsoft employee about their view of the typical accounting system user, his response was immediate, "Everyone sees the KPI's" (key performance indicators - i.e. the statistical analysis which measures progress). In this world everyone is a decision maker. Everyone is responsible for their goals. It isn't enough to just show up and put in your eight hours. Everyone is a manager of something.

Is that how you view your accounting staff? The more I think about it, the more I think that is the way to go. Things happen too quickly for all the decision making to climb up the chain of command. Besides, who has the time anyway? You just have to make sure that the internal processes and systems stay in synch. It's pointless to make all kinds of information available to someone who is not in a position to make any decisions. It just clutters the screen. Conversely, it's pointless to make people responsible for outcomes without giving them the information they need.

Does your company employ accounting clerks or knowledge workers? Please leave me a comment.

Why I'm Excited About Convergence

Convergence is Microsoft's annual invitation to all of its business customers to meet and talk about accounting software. Yep, that's right. It's a giant convention of computer geeks and accounting nerds. Being a bit of both, I feel right in my element, but that's not why I'm excited.

There is a whole raft of technical sessions. A bunch of them are about Dynamics NAV (the product I use now) and Dynamics GP (the other product I implemented). There are speakers about applying the product to specific industries, integrating it with Microsoft Office and more general topics such as Kevin Schofield talking about where Microsoft is headed, but that's not why I'm excited.

Convergence is set up to encourage us end users to find each other. You can set up a profile that other users can search so that you can link up with others in the same industry and/or geographic area using the same software. Several user groups will also have their meetings there and I'm helping with the Ontario users, but that's not why I'm excited about going.

Sure, all these things are important, but for me, the key is the direct connection between those who make the software and those who use it. Our system was built (well, acquired actually, but you know what I mean) by Microsoft. Then it was modified for charities by Serenic. Then it was implemented by Altus. Then we started using it. That's four layers. It's time that layer 4 talked to layer 1! I love to meet the people who are truly passionate about what they do. They can tell you where they are headed and what they were thinking when they wrote the system you have. They can often give you fresh insight into how to use the system more efficiently/effectively. Often level 1 feedback gives you reason to go back to levels 2 and 3.

Then there are the vendors, all those hardy souls who have built software to make your life easier. Many people will scan the convention material for the specific software they're looking for and limit themselves to those vendors. Not me. I can do that kind of search more quickly with Google. I'm looking for ideas. Since there's no telling where a new idea is going to come from, I talk to as many vendors as I can. Who knows? I just might see the perfect solution for a friend's system, if not my own.

If you want to follow my progress through Convergence, I will be tweeting it for AccountingWeb.

New From Microsoft (NOT Software!)

There's something new from Microsoft, and it's not software. It's a methodology called Sure Step.

Why am I excited about a methodology? Because Microsoft has recognized that the reasons that projects fail or customers are unhappy with their system rarely have to do with the software. Just Google "why projects fail" (e.g. here, here and here). You typically don't see "the software was missing important features" as the reason. Project management issues usually top the list: lack of planning, scope creep, poor communications, lack of a proven methodology etc. etc.

In the world of medium sized accounting packages that I work in, project management is often viewed by customers as an unnecessary frill. When creating project budgets, I stopped putting in time for project management because it was routinely removed in the price negotiations with the customer. Instead, I built in time to create a project plan as well as for status meetings and progress reports.

The consultants and the software companies only have themselves to blame. During the sales process we minimize the difficulty of implementing new software. We talk about how easy it is, how everything is menu driven and can be accessed with the proverbial one click of the mouse. We minimize the work that needs to be done by the customer: designing their chart of accounts, downloading history from their existing accounting system or putting thought into how they want the reports to look.

Unless customers see themselves as at least a 50% partner in the success of the project, I guarantee you they will not get full use of the system they invested in. I'm not talking about a dramatic failure here. The result will just be that staff will not abandon their tried and true spreadsheets or side systems and embrace the new technology. Microsoft measures everything (just ask any Microsoft employee what getting a yellow or red light means). They measured software success and came up with the mind blowing statistic that 46% of software licenses go unused. This means that only half of the people you thought would use the new system will actually do so.

So, what should customers do? If you do nothing else, insist on a weekly progress meeting throughout the project, so you can be sure that the whole project gets completed, not just the minimum necessary to go live. The meetings should be short and only the senior people on the project need attend. This meeting is not for solving problems, it just brings them to light. The agenda is:

• What was accomplished last week
• What is planned for next week
• Where we are in the project plan (you DO have a project plan, right?)
• New or changed risks faced by the team

Weekly meetings force people to actually DO something or face the embarrassment of having nothing to report. They let you know who is waiting for whom. They inform everyone of the issues faced by others. They allow you to be proactive instead of just reacting to issues.

Also, during the sales process talk to your consultant about how they implement projects. If it's Microsoft software and the words "Sure Step" do not come up in the presentation, ask why. Ask them about what you need to do to ensure the project's success. Ask them how much of your staff's time you should budget for the project. If the answer seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

We're All In This Together

The first accounting system I had to supervise was an IBM product called MAPICS. I was an inexperienced newbie and knew nothing, so I joined a user group. Every couple of months we would meet at someone's office and someone would bring donuts. We would talk about our experiences with the product and try to answer people's questions. I got some excellent advice about how to handle program patches from IBM as well as where to go for programming assistance. Joining the user group was the best $25 I ever spent.

If there is one piece of advice that I can offer to everyone, regardless of the size of your company, your industry or the type of software you use, it's to join a user group. There is no better source of unbiased, practical information than other users of the same software. If there is a feature you would like to see added, getting a group of users together to request the change is the best way to get a developer's attention. If you are looking for trained staff, another user may be able to point you in the right direction. If you want to change your consultant, what better way than to ask for references from other users?

Many user groups are organized by software implementation consulting firms. I have heard these groups dismissed as being no more than upselling by the consultant. Of course consulting firms are interested in selling more software and services, but the ones I know go to great lengths to put useful content into the sessions. They know that providing practical, useful information is the only way they will get users to come back the next time.

Traditionally, however, user groups are started, organized and run by users. Vendors are often invited to make presentations, but user meetings are not about sales. When my Microsoft rep suggested I start a Dynamics NAV (Navision) user group in my area, my first thought was about all the administration of running the group. Then he told me about Dynamic Communities. They take all of the work out of running a user group, so you can concentrate on the meeting content.

All Dynamic Communities does is manage user groups, whether for Dynamics AX (Axapta), GP (Great Plains), NAV (Navision) or CRM. They just need one local person to lead and they will set up a local chapter. They will even give you a list of their members in your area. If you work through your local Microsoft rep, you can get help finding other users. Microsoft will also provide speakers if you give them enough notice. There is a sliding membership fee depending on the size of your business.

The typical local chapter has 10 - 15 members at any given meeting, with larger chapters averaging 30 - 35 members. The typical meeting goes from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, with a networking lunch. The morning session is usually a formal presentation, with break out sessions after lunch. I asked about the split between technical and accounting members and Bonnie, the Member Services Manager, noted that chapters started by IT Managers tended to have more technical members, where chapters started by accountants had more user members. You need both.

One of the problems with user groups is their small size. A huge advantage of a centralized organization is that it's possible to put on a conference. Dynamics Communities is hosting a 2 day conference (The link is to the NAV conference. The others have similar pages.) in Las Vegas for $499 per person, with optional additional training either before or after the main conference. When you add that to the user forums available at mibuso and Dynamics' webinars, we've come a long way from a box of donuts after work!

The Most Advanced Accounting Software on the Planet

"Tally 9.0 has been dubbed the most advanced accounting software on the planet." That claim is obviously more marketing spin than carefully researched fact, but it points to a trap that we so frequently fall into: comparing accounting software as though there were some perfect system against which all others must be measured.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm a Microsoft fan. In my quarter century of accounting, I have spent a decade implementing Dynamics GP (Great Plains) and Dynamics NAV (Navision). But I still wouldn't claim that it's the most advanced accounting software on the planet. The issue is not how advanced it is, but how well it fits the client's needs and budget.

"Unlike other accounting software, Tally accounting software makes sure all data is protected and backed up automatically" (further on in the same article). If someone starts comparing two accounting packages, stop them right there. There is no standardized language in accounting software upon which to base a fair comparison. Two packages may claim to have advanced inventory features, multi-currency, role based security etc. etc., but when you investigate, you find that they have addressed these features in very different ways. Furthermore, there are hidden assumptions included in the words. I would challenge anyone who claimed that their system automatically backs up data. How can their system ensure that backup media are being properly rotated and taken off site? These are both critical aspects to the back up process. The word "automatic" sends up red flags for me, as do the words "easy", "user friendly" and "at the click of a button".

Frankly, we accounting software implementers have done ourselves a lot of harm by raising people's expectations to unrealistic levels about how easy it is to change accounting systems. Yes, the software installs quickly. Yes, everything is menu driven. Yes, the manuals are online and there's an extensive help system. All of those features do not change the fact that accounting is done very differently in different companies, even those in the same industry. The bulk of the time spent in an accounting implementation is in marrying the new system to the company's procedures and requirements, as well as migrating the historical data to the new system, not installing the software. One thing I admire about Microsoft is the way they insist that all customers work with a local firm ("Partner"), so that there is someone familiar with the customer's business environment on the ground to deal with specific issues.

Microsoft actually goes one step further. They design their systems in layers, the top layer being the changes needed to make the software fit the individual client. They don't claim to be the most advanced software on the planet. They claim to provide a set of flexible tools so that you and your Partner can make the system fit your needs.

Signs You Need a New Accounting System

The top 10 signs you need a new accounting system are:

10. The service technician keeps threatening to retire
9. “Reconciliation” is your middle name
8. You ask for “proficiency in DOS” when hiring staff
7. When calling Support you hear laughter in the background
6. Salesmen no longer call you about upgrades
5. You have to go for coffee whenever you click on “Post”
4. Your system came on diskettes
3. The last person to know the setup password retired to Florida
2. Nobody understands the reports

and the top sign you need a new accounting system is . . .

1. Your subledgers need counseling for “irreconcilable differences”

Quickbooks is one of the most popular starting systems in North America. In fact, a March 23, 2008 PC Magazine article shows Quickbooks having over 4,000,000 users.

As a Quickbooks user, you won't have any of the signs mentioned above, but you still might have outgrown your system (which is a wonderful thing, when you think about it). Here's what to look for:

1. Performance - The number one reason why Quickbooks users switch is that Quickbooks slows down. Data entry windows, menus and reports take too long to run.

2. Features - As you add such things as warehouse locations or complex customer specific pricing you reach the limits of an entry level system. A sure sign you need to upgrade is the number of spreadsheets you need to maintain because the information is not available directly from the accounting system.

As one of 4,000,000 users you have a lot of clout. Look for a system that not only has the features you need, but also has a way to upload all the Quickbooks history you have worked so hard to build up. That way you can continue to spot trends in your reports. You don't have to start over or compare reports from different systems. One example is Microsoft Dynamics.

Now, let's talk about those irreconcilable differences, shall we?

Where Have You Been All My Life?

Sometimes my job can be so gratifying. One of the accounting staff came into my temporary office today saying those immortal words, "Where have you been all my life? I have just entered a stack of wire transfers. In our old system that would have taken me all afternoon."

As part of the training for the new system, we had come up with a way for the wire transfers to be entered in one transaction which created an invoice and payment in Accounts Payable as well as updating the General Ledger and Bank Reconciliation file using Microsoft Great Plains' Quick Cheques. The solution will also work in any currency and the staff member can even override the exchange rate on the fly.

But the important part isn't the "gee whiz" of new technology, it's that this staff member now has an afternoon available for higher value activities because she no longer has to do all the mechanical tasks associated with the old system. Makes you think how much your old system is costing in terms of lost productivity, doesn't it?

Accounting Software Consultants - Get Agile!

Agile Software Development has been around since the mid 90's and is gaining acceptance. If you implement mid-range packaged accounting software, like Microsoft Dynamics, you really need to look at this methodology. It is characterized by:

• Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software
• Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)
• Working software is the principal measure of progress
• Even late changes in requirements are welcomed
• Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers
• Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication
• Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted
• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
• Simplicity
• Self-organizing teams
• Regular adaptation to changing circumstances

The reality is that however detailed they may be, specifications documents never deal with all of the actual requirements. For example, it is a very rare spec that includes how to handle data entry errors, yet these are an important part of every system. What you really need is a process that puts the customer, the implementer and the developer at the same table, each constantly helping the others understand the requirements on the one hand and the system capabilities / limitations on the other.

I would argue that this approach should extend to training as well. Classroom training set up in a generic, simple company with prepackaged exercises that always work has a limited usefulness in my experience. It is more useful for clients to deal with their own system and learn to solve their own problems. For example, one of my clients does an international consolidation of numerous subsidiaries. Instead of designing a training course around the consolidation, I chose one subsidiary and converted it in a test environment. Then I sat with the two analysts and we did one together. As we finished each step, one of the analysts took a screen capture and annotated it in Word for our documentation. Finally, the analysts each did their own companies, with me available for questions. As we hit setup, data and security issues, we solved them together. The analysts came away with a better understanding of the configuration of their system than they would have had it been a pre-packaged demo that ran perfectly.

What do you think?

When Accounting Software Firms Merge

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article about how expected synergies are not always achieved when accounting software firms merge. The authors use Oracle and Peoplesoft as an example of a situation where promised benefits have yet to emerge.

I'm surprised the authors ignored Microsoft. Maybe it's because Microsoft is actually slowly gaining the synergies of its accounting software portfolio. In successive versions of Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) and GP (Great Plains), the two packages I know well, Microsoft has moved the user interface closer and closer. Behind the scenes, they are acutely aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their packages and work with the partner channel to achieve the best fit between software and client. This isn't official, but my own view is that when Microsoft eventually releases one new package to replace all the former ones, it will LOOK like the user interface that people will have come to expect from Microsoft. But the programming will be 100% new. Personally, I don't believe that you can actually merge the programming code of two different packages. You have to build a new product from the ground up that takes advantage of the logic and features of its predecessors and the experience of the development teams.

Microsoft is rarely the first to market with software, but when they arrive, look out!

Specialized vs. Multipurpose Software

"Overseeing and managing costs on the construction of a new facility with eight buildings is much too complex for traditional accounting software," said Jerry Fye, deputy director of finance for the Austin Children's Shelter, in a release.

Foundation Software, a developer of customized software for construction contractors, donated software, training and support to allow the Shelter to manage its construction project.

This raises the question of when to go with "traditional" or multipurpose software and when to go with a system designed for a specific purpose or industry.

If I were developing software for a specific industry and I wanted it to link into an accounting system, I would NOT try to reinvent the wheel. I would build the links to one or more packages that are popular with the companies in my target market. Rather than build yet another general ledger for medium sized businesses for example, I would bridge to Great Plains or Navision (Microsoft Dynamics GP or NAV). That way I get to stick with what I know (e.g. construction projects) and take advantage of someone else's success.

This goes for custom development as well. One of my clients was in the entertainment industry and wanted to sell tickets to customers online. Part of the project design was to integrate tightly to the accounting system so they would not have to re-key the transactions. They also decided that they did not want to have to do the programming to calculate all the taxes when the accounting system (Great Plains) already did such a good job of it. So they had their web site pass the information to the accounting system once the customer had placed the order. The accounting system then calculated taxes and shipping charges and passed the information back to the web site so the customer could enter the payment information. The result: a system where every piece does what it's good at and the headache of updating the tax tables is left to the experts: the accountants!

M.E.S.S. Revisited

From my earlier post, you know that Manually Entered SpreadSheets ("M.E.S.S.") are my nemesis. Not only are they time consuming to create and maintain, but they are also difficult to audit. As anyone who has been through a Sarbanes-Oxley (Bill 198) review knows, spreadsheets represent a significant control risk because of how easily errors can be introduced without detection. For example:

At this point you should ensure that there are the appropriate backup procedures for the spreadsheet. Ideally you will have documentation to support the spreadsheet as well. Then on an annual or biannual basis spreadsheets should be revisited, comparisons run on the tested versions and the audit trail reviewed to ensure that it is still functioning as required. Needless to say, any significant changes made to the model should be carefully considered, documented and re-tested at the time the changes are made.

In short, spreadsheets need to be considered as a separate financial computer system and all the controls associated with a financial system need to be applied to the extent the spreadsheet is to be relied upon for financial reporting. All of a sudden your "simple" spreadsheet is expensive to audit!

Currently I am working on a project to eliminate financial spreadsheets for an international client. Significant areas include:

• Multilevel consolidations,
  
• Canadian & US GAAP adjustments, and
  
• Tax valuations.

Luckily, this project is part of a larger implementation so I was able to participate in the re-design of the chart of accounts. We have come up with a way to isolate the international subsidiaries' raw data from the different GAAP and tax adjustments, all within the same Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains) general ledger. When the client wants a US GAAP statement, they just add the US GAAP adjustments to the raw data using a pre-coded report in the FRx report writer. No M.E.S.S.!

Getting the Message Across

[source]

They say that confession is good for the soul. I have a confession to make: I never understood the value of graphics in financial reporting. I never created graphs in Excel. I even thought that it was all just window dressing for the published financial statements or sales presentations.

I missed the point.

Accounting is all about communications and, as an accountant, it is my responsibility to be sure that the message is understood. It isn't enough to expect that the users will look at my tables of numbers and draw the same conclusions that I have.

I attended a communications session by Eagle's Flight a few years ago. The trainer made the point that people tend to put their message out there and take the attitude "Well, I've done my part." If you want effective communications, you have to take responsibility for both the sending and the receiving of the message. You have to take into account how your stakeholders take in messages. Some people are just confused by spreadsheets. Take sales statistics for example. Rather than just presenting a list of customer sales sorted by city and decreasing amount, you can now plot your customers on a map of Canada with larger circles for higher sales and create a powerful visual that has an immediate impact.

Sometimes, it's just a question of presentation. I watched a demonstration of an Excel add-in for Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains) where the sales person showed how the sales table with last year comparison figures could be automatically uploaded from GP and summarized for viewing and querying. Then he turned it around and asked, "Which customers didn't buy from me this year?" He then showed a graph of all the customers where sales this year were less than last year. There were audible gasps in the audience because the impact of the graph was clear: send a salesperson out to each of these customers. I could be cynical here and say that the table and the graph said exactly the same thing, because they did. The difference was that the table was just statistics produced by accounting and the graph was a call to action.

So, if you are an accountant and you feel your message to management is not getting across, I highly recommend you try a graphical approach. You'll be glad you did.

Competitive Edge: Your Accounting System

The Toronto Globe and Mail ran a story about Analytics, saying that a company's statistics can be a powerful tool in the right hands. Harvey Schachter, the Globe's "Monday Manager" quoted from Competing On Analytics, a Harvard Business School book by Davenport and Harris, which highlights the need to have the right data and the right management support in order to reap the rewards of good analysis.

How well I know that story. Every time I implement Microsoft Dynamics (Great Plains or Navision), I offer the client the ability to integrate operational data in the accounting system, but I am rarely taken up on the offer. One glowing exception was a felt manufacturer where the President had a one page report of key performance indicators that he used to run his business. It was quite a challenge to make the new system fit the summary cash, balance sheet, income statement and statistics (with a separate column for each subsidiary) onto one page, but it was worth it!

Try this: picture your company as a sports franchise competing in the major leagues. What statistics would help you manage the team? Think in terms of:

• Output: How much do you really earn per unit, after all discounts?
  
• Input: How much waste is there, and at what stage does it occur?
  
• Human Resources: How many hours go into your product or service? How high or low is your utilization?
• Equipment: How long do your machines sit idle?

Often managers feel they know the answers to this type of question already. As the Production Manager of a tool and die shop said to me, "You're not going to replace me with a computer!" when I implemented a job tracking program for the General Manager. But that same manager was really surprised at how busy his plant turned out to be. He had been considering whether to replace his older drill presses with computer aided equipment, but he ended up keeping both the old and the new equipment when he saw the report of his order backlog.

Even if you have an older accounting system, you would be amazed at the quality of report that can be obtained from standard microcomputer software such as Crystal Reports or even Excel, when they have detailed financial and operational data to work with.

What Do You Use?

Remember the old saying that the shoemaker's kids go barefoot? I was reminded of that recently when reviewing my own accounting system. When I first selected it, in 1994, I narrowed the choice down to Quickbooks and Mind Your Own Business (MYOB). I chose MYOB because it had both a Mac and a PC version and I was a bit of a MacHead back in those days.

MYOB could continue to record my revenues and pay my bills, but I started thinking about hiring my son to do some of the mailings, particularly when I'm on the road. I'm currently looking at Net Suite because it is:

1. Accessible via the web,
2. Bundled with a web site interface and CRM, and
3. Aimed at small business and the mid market.

I can use it for myself and offer it as an alternative to Microsoft Dynamics GP and NAV (formerly Great Plains and Navision). I'll let you know what happens.

Great Plains Announces Workflow

Great News: In version 10 of Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains), the electronic approval of transactions has been significantly expanded. To quote from the What's New documentation:

The workflow approval process expands existing workflow functionality provided in both Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. This feature provides a consistent, comprehensive solution to the approval of purchases, credit limit overrides, sales quotes, and batch posting for payables, receivables and general ledger transactions. Integration with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server helps to ensure an efficient, centralized administration point, and allows the use of user roles to help you efficiently manage security of the approval process. The Workflow feature allows users to approve business processes, even if they’re not Microsoft Dynamics GP users.

So you can now set up a Purchase Order (for example) and have the system send it to a supervisor for approval or, if it exceeds the supervisor's approval level, have it go to both the supervisor and the vice-president.