Most companies today employ automated business information systems to help with business management. The systems typically keep track of money on hand, bills outstanding, and resources used. They monitor vendors, suppliers, and what is owed or collected to or from whom.
The goal? Tracking liquidity .
Liquidity, or accessible cash flow, is vital to the survival of any...
With the US economy working it's way through inevitable recovery, we hear stories every day about the overall health of the Manufacturing sector. We constantly hear of high tech manufacturers challenged to handle compressed product lifecycle, global visibility and constantly changing regulatory compliance. Here's one we don't hear enough: The US leads the world in manufacturing output....
The clients I work with frequently ask me this question once we are deep into the implementation. I never give a straight answer. You see, I believe you should know if you are ready and with the right preparation you will. So let's take a high level look at what must happen before you will be confident enough to go live.
Successful project teams have a leader...
There are many reasons executives at growing companies resist upgrading to the comprehensive ERP software that their organizations desperately need. Some are worried about costs, some about the time-intensive nature of implementation, and some, realizing that most big-name ERP solutions are created for Windows-driven PCs, just will not sacrifice their beloved Macs in the name of business...
There is a plethora of business management software providers out there. And once a company has sifted through the brochures, reviews, and websites, there is still work to be done. A product’s list of features can look perfect on a glossy pamphlet, but will those features work with your data subsets? Can your unique system requirements be integrated as easily as the website explains? Will your...
There is much ado about security and information technology these days. As many businesses consider moving data to the cloud, thereby eliminating the need for expensive hardware and costly IT staff, the resonating question is always is our data safe and secure in the cloud?
And truthfully, the answer to that question is not always what one hopes to hear. Choosing a software provider...
Technology's great! When you started your business it was a simple (and cheap) decision to begin running your accounting and invoicing with QuickBooks. Intuit does lots of neat things and is responsive to it's small business base. One of those things that Intuit does is provide payroll services. Note this is a "service" not "functionality". As a service Intuit prepares checks, direct deposits...
A study by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Business Success: Factors Leading to Surviving and Closing Successfully , by Brian Headd, Center for Economic Studies, found that:
"Major factors in a firm's remaining open include an ample supply of capital, the fact that a firm is large enough to have employees, the owner's education level, and the owner's reason for starting the firm in the...
Joe McKendrick at Forbes dives into a pretty interesting angle on the whole phenom of "cloud computing" — what happens when you want to leave ?
He maintains, with some justification, that a number of popular cloud platforms might actually end up being worse for customers, "erasing the gains we’ve made in terms of vendor dependence lock-in."
There is a whole ecosystem of vendors...
Lot's of people dream about owning a business. A mantra stated over and over again in the US is, "Figure out what you love to do and get paid for doing it!" So, the entrepreneur goes running off with an idea, begins building a business only to discover the many aspects of business that did not fall under "love doing" which includes keeping track of the endless operational details of a business...
In a do-it-yourself economy, with a do-it-yourself product, it's maybe a little too easy to talk yourself into trying work through software implementation challenges on your own. But before you go down that road, think about what economists call "opportunity cost" — what is all that time you're spending really costing you? And how much better off would you be, if you could just plug into an...
Entry level accounting applications have all improved greatly in the last few years. They have expanded their user limits and beefed up the underlying databases in order to hold onto growing businesses longer. The trouble is, the basic concept is still a checkbook on steroids.
With xTuple PostBooks edition, there's no need to settle for entry level, even when you are just starting out...
Boy - you'd have to be living under a rock - or at least have skipped some football on TV the past year or two - to not have heard the term "cloud computing." All the ads from technology companies are promoting "the cloud"...like it was the 2nd coming of sliced bread....and most non-techies haven't got the slightest idea about the cloud.
What is it anyway?
In it's simplest form...
Stories abound about business improvement and ERP systems implementations going terribly wrong. Research shows that it normally is not the ERP system at fault, but rather some other factor not well considered during implementation. Lack of executive support, faulty process definition, inadequate training, a lack of organizational readiness or misunderstanding the workflows across the value...
This is a time of economic difficulties, frustration and uncertainty. We see Wall Street going up and down like a yo-yo, small business people feel very uncertain about how to conduct business in times like this and financial institutions not as willing to lend. Consumers are holding on to their hard earned cash only making necessary purchases.
I recently received an email from an...
Business accounting software sure has come a long way. When you look back at the history of enterprise software you see a gigantic downward curve when it comes to the prices. Accounting (or financial) software specifically is a great case study. I had friends during the '70s and '80s working for some of the early big financial software companies including McCormack & Dodge, MSA, and Dun...
So you’re considering the cloud. You’ve heard about the benefits, reduced costs, and the absence of cumbersome hardware. Across the industrial landscape, the cloud is being called the business management and accounting vehicle of the future. But resonating in your head is the old adage look before you leap, and you should. Following are the top four questions every CFO should ask before...
One of the most common mistakes of implementing projects is not putting together the right team. Typically, all things software fall squarely on the lap of IT professionals with the expectation they will install the system, configure, train users, and switch it on. Computer project for the computer guy, right?
When it comes to small business accounting software , this is an unrealistic...
It's finally your turn to run the family business. You've been there full-time since graduating college. You worked hard and earned the job — and now it's yours. The torch has passed to the next generation. You don't want to rock the boat, but with this economy you need to get creative. That's why you're looking to expand globally, and you need business software that will support international...
As large corporations continue to freeze hiring or lay off workers, more and more people are opting to forge their own path as entrepreneurs. Starting a business is not a cakewalk; even the most modest of start-ups require some very basic tools. Typically, one of the first items on the list is a computer with business accounting software to track activities such as customer info, expenses and...