Repetitive patterns in sales and after-market response can be a great focal point when making crucial business decisions. Unfortunately, today’s ever changing business conditions prove that it is anything but repetitive. With business and economic leaders competing for a bigger share of the market, it is vital that you gain the upper hand by making more informed choices with the use of a reliable business analytical tool, such as Sage Accpac Insight.
When you talk about predicting sales patterns, it goes without saying that you also have to look at past performances. Analyzing key points in market behavior allows business owners to formulate a strategy, thus improving their chances of getting a bigger slice of the pie, so to speak.
This is where your reporting and analytical tool comes in. The ability to review and analyze metrics gives your business that much needed edge.
As such a tool, Sage Accpac Insight, for example, allows you to do just that. You can gather critical sales and operational data, customer and vendor information, product and marketing performances, and integrate them into any variable number of flexible reports that can be easily distributed all throughout your business organization. These operational reports are vital in making well-informed business decisions.
In today’s extremely competitive market, the ability to analyze and distribute sales and operational data quickly and effectively the way Sage Accpac Insight can is a definite plus. From capital investments to return of investments and even up to after-market evaluation, fast and efficient reporting through business intelligence solutions like Sage Accpac Insight can really make all the difference.
In addition, Sage offers business owners the ability to incorporate and streamline Sage Accpac Insight with Sage Accpac or any other related accounting software conveniently and effectively. This allows business owners to make financial reports and perform accurate budget analysis, which is of equal importance as managing their sales metrics comprehensively.
As the leading business moguls demand more insightful information about the competition and market patterns, the need for business intelligence software such as Sage Accpac Insight has become increasingly widespread. Knowledge through skilled information gathering and efficient reporting is the key to achieving a considerably huge advantage in today’s ever changing business and economic conditions.

Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) Compliance is crucial for any company wanting to win government contracts. However, there is a misconception about how and what DCAA software is and how to make yours compliant.

The myth that software developers have to submit their solution to DCAA for approval before they can sell it to the public is simply not true. Software systems don’t get a gold star or appear on the DCAA ‘list of approved software systems’ because such a process or list does not exist. 

The truth is that your accounting system will be reviewed by DCAA, usually before they award you the contract, and throughout the entire engagement. During these reviews they will determine the adequacy and suitability of your accounting process for accumulating costs. These processes can be integrated and automated by your accounting system or they can be manual. What DCAA wants to see is do you have these processes in place and are they reliable? 

Having a compliant solution that sufficiently records cost, tracking, allocation, billing mechanisms and internal controls will provide DCAA auditors with a sense of confidence in the record keeping and capabilities of the contractor. As a result of their level of confidence in your records and system, it is likely that the review will be nothing more than a cursory audit. Additionally, a software provider who understands the auditing practices of the DCAA will help you create the processes you need in order to be compliant.

On the other hand, if your software solution and record keeping abilities lack consistency and neglect adequate reporting of required information, a much more thorough audit may ensue, costing your organization further time, money and stress.

The choices available on the market for ‘DCAA compliant software’ are minimal and cost exorbitant amounts of money. However, SystemLink recently announced our solution for government contractors, offering them a cost effective way to achieve DCAA compliance.

Sage Project and Job Costing, used with its core software application, Sage Accpac ERP, provides a compliant accounting backbone for every project managed. Using a compliant solution that records cost tracking, allocations, billing and manages internal controls will provide DCAA auditors confidence in the record keeping capabilities of the contractor.  That confidence can result in a smoother project from start to finish – the goal of any project. 

 “Our customers’ ability to effectively manage their business, reduce costs, and make stakeholders happy is critical,” stated David Beck, President of SystemLink.  “Ensuring DCAA Compliance plays an important role in achieving that goal so we’re pleased to bring our DCAA expertise and a suite of sophisticated, financial, operational and customer service solutions together.” 

For more information on our DCAA compliance solution, visit http://www.systemlinkonline.com/dcaa.php

Like many of you I have been following with interest and astonishment the U.S. government’s efforts to manage the current financial crisis. $700 billion to help US banks rid themselves of bad debt after years of too much leveraging and bad loan practices. Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac awash with rotten assets with congressional oversight asleep at the wheel. Additional bailouts, for Citigroup announced just last week. On October 6th the US Federal Reserve announces plans to buy massive amounts of short-term debt from companies in an effort to unfreeze the money markets.  On November 25th the Federal Reserve says it is to inject another $800 billion into the US economy in a further effort to stabilize the financial system. About $600 billion will be used to buy up mortgage-backed securities while $200 billion is being targeted at unfreezing the consumer credit market. Today, U.S. automakers drew fresh skepticism from lawmakers in a rocky confrontation over their pleas for an expanded $34 billion rescue package they say they need to survive.

Whatever happened to management following best practices in good times and in bad? What has become of business risk management, internal controls, planning and budgeting, working capital and free cash flow management, aligning incentive and compensation systems with goal achievement, strategic cost management, quality management, and improvement principles such as Six Sigma? While I am, of course, oversimplifying, and fully realize that it is never possible to avert the next economic or financial crisis, surely, best practices in these important disciplines were not adequately followed.

Highly competent and skilled management accountants, are vitally necessary now more then ever to help organizations create growth, manage risk, manage and predict cash flows, design and implement quality improvement systems, design and implement strategic cost management systems such as activity-based costing, implement internal controls, and much more. They should be trusted business advisors to CEOs, in good times and in bad and management needs to wake up a leverage their skills.

by David Beck CPA.CITP

http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbeckcpa

I read an interesting article from Entrepreneur.com about how the “Economic Crises Call for Better Marketing Plans“. Specifically, the author quoted a well known small business marketer, John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, who suggested that, “the best thing to do in hard times is focus more and focus better. By narrowing your focus, you can concentrate on your best customers, your key market segments and the parts of your business that are most important to you.” The author felt like that seems like very good advice, and I agree (this is also supported by another great article I read recently about The Upside of Marketing In Uncertain Economic Times – more on that next time). The article went on to state, Don’t settle for just a conceptual review. Dig into your numbers. Open up your sales forecast and expense budgets and take a long, deep look into what parts of your numbers are most likely to fall off and why. Review and revise. Look at your expenses, and cut where you can. Then look back at your sales and imagine which of your customers, including how many, are doing the same as they plan for their business, therefore reducing their orders from yours.

Again, very good advice, but it made me wonder how many companies could actually access any of this information. Think about it. Do you know who your best customers are, what market segments they represent, and how that is important to your company? Could you look back at your sales and customers and figure out where your business is likely to dip? My guess is that you could, but not easily. It would probably be a painstaking, time consuming task. By the time you figured it out, the stock market would likely have recovered, but where would your business be.

Despite the doom and gloom you are seeing on the news, this is not the time to be hunkering down, saving your pennies. It is, however, a great time to be spending them wisely. The bottom line is that you need the best possible business intelligence – and you need it now. Once you have it you can develop a marketing plan that will carry you through the recession.

By: Kimberly Clark

Marketing Director – SystemLink

At a recent conference I attended, a colleague spoke of an emerging trend that often accompanies new technologies, it’s called Disruptive Technologies. The topic came up a number of times and I was intrigued, so I began to explore. I found an article titled, The Innovator’s Dilemma. The author, Clayton Christensen, observes that “disruptive technologies involve no new technologies; rather, they consist of components built around proven technologies and put together in a novel product that offers the customer a set of attributes never before available”. Regardless of whether it’s new, or newly packaged, it is important to understand the business implications and the impact they can have on your market. For example…

Japanese digital watches dramatically changed the market landscape and decreased the substantial advantage that Swiss watch manufacturers once enjoyed

Computer based cash registers captured 90 percent of the market within five years, leaving electro-mechanical cash registers at an extreme market disadvantage

More than a million consumers have discovered VoIP-voice over Internet protocol-to make local and long-distance calls over the Internet at a substantial cost savings. Verizon and MCI phone home and take note.

Because these technologies can render obsolete the way things were done, or displace existing products and services, history has many such examples of companies that failed to grasp the opportunities offered. I believe that somewhere along the way, someone forgot to mention that;

Disruptive Technologies can only be “disruptive” if we resist them.

If a company fails to grasp the implications of a technology and is left with a strategic disadvantage, does that mean that the technology can be termed “disruptive”? Or has the computer industry invented another term designed to ease the damage done to the egos of those who failed to fully realize the business implications of a technology.

To survive, we must be on the lookout for these technologies and be ready to use them ahead of our competition. We must constantly assess our business vision and our competitive markets, and examine our technology strategies for addressing both.

So what are a few of these technologies, and what impact can they have on our business?

I think that the first one, the one on everyone’s mind would have to be the Internet. This allows businesses to operate in “ultra real time” mode. We can know up to the second what’s going in our business. I’m sorry, but I don’t see that as disruptive.

A few other examples that come to mind are:

Ubiquitous Bandwidth – this means that anywhere, anytime digital services will become commonplace.

Knowledge Discovery and Exploitation – Corporate knowledge will become a tangible asset; decision making will be faster and more informed.

Digital Money and Electronic Micro payments – Programmable currency will reshape how we buy and sell.

Miniaturization – Microscopic machines will revolutionize our lives and the way work is done

Absolutely, these technologies can disrupt our businesses and our lives – if we allow them. Call me an optimist if you wish, and perhaps I stand alone on this one, but whenever I hear the term “Disruptive Technologies”, I prefer to think, “Opportunity Technologies”.

By David Beck, CPA.CITP

http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbeckcpa