Technology - July 2008

Make Your Business Better

With Business Management Technology

by Shari Farkas

Business technology can be the key to a well-run office, or technology can be its Achilles heel. Most use some kind of business management system whether it is QuickBooks or a more sophisticated system which combines accounting, inventory management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), point of sale, or an industry specific processing system. The key to getting the most from this system is to make processes that are systemized and require minimal decision making and leave time for normal operations.

Spreadsheets are great for calculating interest but they are not an effective way to generate reports – use your software. Today every business management software package has a custom report writer available, yet businesses of all sizes are ignoring these features by creating their business critical reports using Excel. Learning the system’s custom reporting tool and creating reports using these tools will provide companies with huge return. When all transactions are completed for an accounting period, reports are generated at the touch of a button with data populated.

Software integration is easier than it has ever been – do it. Most companies have more than one business-critical service or software application. The most common are payroll services and point of sale software. Both have the ability to provide an electronic export that can be automatically imported into financial software.

Widely available for almost every business application is software that will print reports to Acrobat files, standardize naming conventions, and catalog and provide a search tool which makes files available from your computer.

Use your financial statements as a management tool. Make sure they are timely and accurate. The Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet are not just for accountants, they are a business owner’s best gauge. When a company’s processes are healthy, financial reports are easy to generate and are available with budget and historical data to compare immediately.

Always calculate the “cost of the problem” before considering a solution. Before a business decides to change or implement a new business management solution, determine what the problem is costing the company. The most important factors to consider are time (management and staff), mistakes (multiple data entry points increase probability of error), loss (inventory control and bank reconciliation control) and integrity (can calculations and data be altered).

Do not shortcut on training, implementation and support. All programs are highly sophisticated, even entry level, and include many additional features for their market. Success is in the process of implementation and the selection of the people who do the work.

Shari Farkas
Shari Farkas is president of Acuity Solutions.