Axis Global Partners

It’s that time of year again when most of our clients are closing their books.  We often get questions about how to handle specific closing tasks in Sage ERP Accpac so we have put together a webinar that reviews the steps and procedures to prepare your Sage ERP Accpac system for the New Year. Join us on December 7^th at 10:00 AM CST to learn the steps common to all modules.  This session will be most beneficial for the program administrator. You will walk away with a helpful checklist to ensure a successful year end closing. To register please click here.

Note: This session will not cover third party products.  Please contact your Axis Global Partners consultant if you have questions or concerns. injectable steroids

Axis Global Partners, a consulting firm specializing in the implementation and support of Sage business management software solutions for small and medium sized enterprises, has just been recognized among the top 100 resellers in the country.

“The Accounting Today VAR 100 list is comprised of top accounting and ERP software resellers throughout the country, ranked by revenue,” says Seth Fineberg, Technology Editor of Accounting Today.

“It has been an exceptionally challenging few years and this select group represents those in the world of accounting software resellers that are truly ahead of the pack and we are pleased to honor them in this special report.”

“We are thrilled to be counted among Accounting Today’s top accounting and ERP resellers,” states

Manny Buigas, Principal for Axis Global Partners. “We believe this achievement is a direct result of our clients putting their trust in us to assist them in identifying new revenue streams, increase operational efficiency and decrease costs in order to become more agile, competitive and profitable. We are thankful for their support and would like to share this latest accomplishment with them.”

Tony Chiodo, Principal for Axis Global Partners adds, “Being included among this elite group is an honor.

We continuously strive to provide the best possible return on software investment along with outstanding customer service to our clients and believe that making Accounting Today’s VAR 100 list is a sign that we are reaching those goals”.

We have all been in the situation when a customer calls and needs a copy of a document.  We put them on hold to dig through the filing cabinet where it “should be” and end up empty handed.  It’s never a good feeling to have to tell a customer that you will call them back with the answer but things are not always put away correctly.  Even if they are, it can mean digging through piles and piles of paperwork to find the exact document you need.  Document management is a technology that can help you eliminate that problem.

Document management software (DMS) rests in a central place that can be accessed right from your desktop.  Documents are scanned in then indexed so that you can search for the document in any way that you may need.  For example, if you are storing signed contracts you may want to index the sales order number, the customer name and the product purchased.  This would help you to immediately find a copy of the contract with the customer on the phone.   Most DMS systems have built in indexing options but you always have the option of customizing the indexing prompts to meet your company’s specific requirements.

DMS takes accessibility a step further by making any phrase in the document searchable.  If the field you need to find has not been indexed, you can type in the information you do know and the DMS will search through the text to find it.  This search method is not as fast as indexing but it is extremely powerful.

Many times a document cannot be found because someone else in the organization has it in their personal filing cabinet or worse, sitting on a mess on their desk.  When documents are stored electronically they can be accessed by multiple users simultaneously.  The document won’t ever be lost because the final copy is online.

Document management systems are a huge advantage to companies that have piles of paperwork to manage and struggle to organize it all.  It essentially takes the guesswork out of organization by storing everything in a central location and making all the content easily searchable.  To learn more about how document management may help you, view our video, “Armed and Paperless”.

Market cannibalization is a critical business topic for organizations that are continually upgrading and improving their product offerings.  Investopedia explains market cannibalization with this simple example.   “If a company is practicing market cannibalization, it is eating its own market. For example, say Coca Cola puts out a new product called Coke2, and customers buy Coke2 instead of regular Coke. Although sales may be up for the new product, these sales may be eating into Coke’s original market, in which case the overall company sales would not be increasing.”  So how do you introduce a new product without it negatively impacting existing sales?  There are two important factors to always monitor: Timing and Pricing.

Timing
If customers learn that a new product is coming with more features or addresses problems that exist in the current product, you will inevitably slow down sales.  It can be difficult to control the release of information to the public but try to wait until a month before the product will be available.  This will minimize the impact of people waiting for the latest and greatest.  Apple chooses to announce a product release the day it becomes available and avoids addressing any rumors that circulate about product enhancements.  Because consumers are never sure when the new product will come, they continue buying at the same rate.

How do you know if you have chosen the right time to let the news of a new product out?  Business Intelligence (BI) is often used to monitor product sales (or lack thereof) in a dashboard format.  BI can be set-up with a graph that represents your existing product as well as the new product.  You can see product sales in real-time and know immediately if there is an issue that must be addressed.

Pricing
Pricing strategy involves science as well as art.  Once the costs have been covered and the profit margin determined, marketing must sell your consumers on the product’s value.  Proctor and Gamble has recently released several lines of men’s razors that all compete against one another.  Their latest release, the Fusion ProGlide, is at a higher price point than their existing brand leader, the Mach3.  This commercial for the Fusion ProGlide directly addresses the Mach3 as a competitive product even though they are both P&G brands:

As you review your pricing strategy, understand that you may need to directly compete against your existing brand in order to increase sales of a more profitable replacement.  You can use BI to see if the strategy is paying off.  You can monitor profit percentage daily to see if the new product is beginning to take hold and increase your company’s overall profitability.

Product cannibalization can be necessary as you increase your product offerings and, hopefully, your profit margins.  Monitoring the impact of the strategies you have chosen make it possible for you to react quickly when a change needs to be made.  Business intelligence can give you that visibility to ensure that every product release is a great success.

To see BI in action, take a look at this self running demo: http://www.axisgp.com/opt_in.php

Managing multiple entities can become cumbersome when transactions need to apply to separate entities simultaneously. Many companies struggle with keeping their General Ledger balanced when they allocate a receipt to a customer in one company and have the receipt go into a bank account in another company.  Accounts receivable can be troublesome as well when a payment is processed against a vendor in one company but the payment comes out of a bank account in another company.

Inter-company transactions can also require a heavy amount of data entry.  If an organization engages in activities such as distributions to various partners, transfers of funds, or payments made through operating companies on the behalf of subsidiary entities, they are required to enter the same transaction in accounts receivable and accounts payable across all entities.

Brewery Works, a commercial development firm focused on preserving the Schlitz Park area of Milwaukee experienced many of these issues.  Each building is set-up as a separate entity within Sage ERP Accpac but many of their transactions span more than one entity.  The Brewery Works staff previously entered each transaction into each entity that was involved, and separately tracked the due-to / due from balances in Excel to keep inter-company balances reconciled. The Inter-Entity module automated this time-consuming practice by enabling them to input a transaction once, which then simultaneously updates each individual entity’s financial record. Even better, it manages the due-to / due from process between entities so they no longer have to track it outside of the system; saving time and reducing overtime expenditures.

Click here to read about the complete Brewery Works experience.

Tony Chiodo, Axis Partner, attended the Sage Leadership Academy Alumni Association (SLAAA) Fall Retreat in Estes Park, Colorado on October 3 – 4, 2011.  SLAAA is an association of professional service firms that sell and service ERP systems and who are committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards and sustaining professional growth.  Membership in the alumni association is extended to all firms that have graduated from the Sage Leadership Academy or Upstream Academy’s Blueprint for Excellence. SLAAA members are consistently recognized both nationally and in their local markets for leadership, client success, and revenue goal achievement.

“SLAAA provides a unique opportunity for Sage business partners. We meet twice a year for retreats focused on various leadership topics led by topic experts. Members also benefit from networking with other members, access to executives in a small group setting, and staying current with the latest trends affecting our business and customers” stated Tony Chiodo of Axis Global Partners.

“I am honored to be a part of this elite group of leaders,” comments Tony who is also a SLAAA Board Member. “This allows us to tap into even more resources that Sage has to offer and benefit our customers with a higher level of service.”