Insights on Insights

Axis principles attended Sage’s annual partner conference, Insights, in May.  In an article posted on WebCPA, Manny Buigas, CPA and principal at Axis Global Partners, was quoted as being “encouraged by Sage’s renewed commitment to CPAs, and to the channel in general”. However, he was more pleased by its product strategy. "I really like what I saw with its Connected Services offerings and Sage Accpac ERP 6.0. Sage serves millions of customers in the SMB space and some of these offerings play well across their entire product lines, such as FAS, Sage Payment Services, Sage CRM, etc.," said Buigas. "I think we will see more of a focus on getting attachment in these types of products across all product lines. In addition, the ability to offer our customers marketing, recruiting and payroll services in the future will enable us to deliver ongoing value to our customers."  

The big product news was Sage Accpac ERP version 6.0 targeted for release in December 2010. The new features include:

  • A new personalized Portal – which makes it a lot easier for users to find and navigate to the screens they need.
  • Snapshots – which provide information on key performance indicators (KPI) for financial managers, such as income statement and balance sheets, aged payables and receivables, and days outstanding payables and receivables.
  • Inquiry – which allows any user of Sage Accpac to quickly create “ad hoc” queries to get lists of information out of GL, AR and AP (reducing the need to have to customize Crystal Reports!)
  • SageCRM Integration – designed from a sales person’s point of view, the SageCRM integration is now “seamless” and makes it much easier for sales people to create quotes and orders.
  • And, last but not least, the ability the lock fiscal periods by module. This is a highly requested enhancement by users.

You can now see the enhancements yourself in a "sneak peak" video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYUErIxYiPg .  This video is based on the alpha builds of Version 6.0 which was demonstrated at the Insights conference last month.

Overall, it was a very encouraging conference highlighted by Sage’s announcement of their global promise to deliver “Extraordinary Customer Experiences”. More on this coming soon.

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Is Your Company Prepared for an Emergency?

The earthquake in the Ottawa-Montreal region last month was a great reminder that disasters can strike anytime, anywhere.  Fires, storms, tornados, earthquakes and hurricanes can all be devastating to businesses, but they can be even more devastating if you don’t have a plan in place for resuming operations following a disaster.  Is your company prepared?  To help, we have posted several emergency planning documents on our ERP blog for your reference. 

  • An emergency preparedness checklist for business and personal use. Helpful tips – The Calm Before the Storm
  • A worksheet to identify critical business functions and the steps and team responsible for resuming operations following a disaster. Critical Business Functions
  • An emergency communications checklist and plan. Emergency Communications
  • A Hurricane Preparedness Checklist (for our Southern and Caribbean clients) to help you prepare for a hurricane’s effect on your business, employees and community by highlighting activities you should undertake before, during, and following the event. Hurricane Preparedness

http://axiserpexpert.com/2010/07/is-your-company-prepared-for-an-emergency

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PCI and PA-DSS Scrub Utility Available for Sage Accpac

As a follow up to the May newsletter article, “Credit Card Compliance: What You Need To Know”, July 1, 2010, marked the date that credit card processing companies must validate that their customers are using a PA-DSS-certified payment application. Although Sage ERP Accpac does not process or transmit credit card data, it does store data. To help our customers comply with PCI and PA-DSS requirements, Sage has created a scrub utility to safely remove this data. Failure to run the utility could result in fines and penalties, and it may include the risk of losing the ability to process credit card transactions altogether!  We strongly encourage you to implement and deploy the utility by visiting www.sageaccpacinfo.com/PCI.

Additional information regarding PCI compliance is also available at this website.

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Does Your Company Pass the Business Intelligence Test?

The primary objective of an accounting system is to "summarize transactional data into useful management reports that management can use to manage the business". In other words, the whole point of an accounting system is financial reporting, or to use today’s term, business intelligence. However, many companies seem to miss this most important point. Too often companies tend to view an accounting system primarily as a tool for getting money in and out the door. While invoicing and payables are important, they fall short of the more critical activity of monitoring and managing the overall health of a company through financial reporting. To read the common reasons that financial reporting is not properly performed in many companies click here / visit our blog.

  1. Lack Basic Financial Information – In order for financial information to be valuable to a company, it must be shared in a timely manner throughout the organization. For example, the sales manager and sales representatives should receive periodic sales reports. Accounts receivable clerks should be provided with an aged listing of invoices so that the appropriate collection calls can be made. Accounts payable clerks should receive a listing of bills that need to be paid, listed by due date in order to take advantage of early payment discounts. Management should receive financial reports by division, department, manager, product line, location, etc. Too often this information exists, but is not provided in a timely manner to the appropriate personnel.
  2. Lack of Sophisticated Financial Information – Each company should produce sophisticated analytical reports related to virtually each balance sheet, revenue, and expense item. Calculations such as days in receivables, days in payables, and days in inventory can instantly reveal problem areas or unfavorable trends. Creative calculations related to costs per unit, gross margins by item, trend reports, and statistical information is essential to properly managing a company. Often, these sophisticated calculations are never prepared and this critical information is not available to decision makers.
  3. Financial Information is Ignored – Even when basic and sophisticated financial information is prepared and shared with the appropriate personnel, often the recipients of this information either do not take time to adequately study this information, or they do not possess adequate skills to understand the information. In either case, preparing and presenting the information is pointless if the recipient refuses to use it.
  4. Inaccurate or Incomplete Information – The financial information prepared by many companies is either inaccurate or incomplete. In many cases, the recipients know that the data is inaccurate or incomplete and they have told me so. I’ve had bookkeepers tell me that inventory, cash, and accounts receivable balances are dramatically wrong. Usually, reasonable extenuating circumstances seem to explain these discrepancies. For example “customer returns have not been entered in to the system” or “the balance sheet does not reflect all consolidated divisions”. Yet the company continues to produce reports that for all practical purposes are completely useless.
  5. Lack of Comparison Data – In order for a number to be useful, it needs to be compared to another number. For example, if a company reports a gross margin of 22% – is this good or bad? You can’t tell. To answer this question, you need to know what was the gross margin was in prior periods; what is the budgeted gross margin; or what is the industry average? Only after you have compared this gross margin to the 20% gross margin in prior periods, 21.5% budgeted amount, and 19.5% industry average can you report that 22 % is favorable. Too often companies fail to include comparison data in their reports.
  6. Lack of Forward Looking Reports – Too often companies drive down the road looking in their rear view mirror at where they have been – this is known as historical cost accounting. Too infrequently do companies drive down the road looking out their windshield to see where they are going – this is known as projections. The problem is if you are constantly looking at where you were, you might run head on into an obstacle that you could have avoided. Reports such as cash flow calendars constantly predict cash balances for the upcoming three month period and can signal warnings in time to take corrective measures. Too often companies fail to produce projections, especially revised projections throughout the year.
  7. Lack of Event Triggered Reporting – Today’s accounting systems have the ability to crunch large volumes of calculations on a continuous basis and compare the results to predefined criteria. For example, today’s automated accounting systems can warn the appropriate people when cash balances fall too far, when inventory levels are too low, or when the gross margin for a specific item has declined below acceptable levels. These events typically trigger e-mails which are sent to the appropriate personnel in order to take corrective measures. Too often companies do not take the time to establish such criteria and set up trigger events notices.

The problems mentioned above are not isolated to small operations; larger corporations with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue are often just as guilty of poor financial reporting. In some cases the accounting systems utilized by these companies are simply unable to produce many of the reports described above. In other cases, the companies have not taken time to create these reports. Sometimes the company has this information but for various reasons has failed to share it with the necessary personnel. In most cases the company personnel are not adequately trained in the use of the accounting system, and the ability to properly read and interpret the resulting reports. For whatever reason, many companies would receive poor grades for their financial reporting efforts.

The key to solving these problems is fairly simple. First, install an accounting software system and financial reporting solution that is capable of meeting your needs. Next, identify, design, and prepare the financial reports your company needs and disseminate this information periodically. Finally, teach each recipient of these reports how to properly read and understand the data in those reports.

These measures sound simple, and they are. However, many companies still fail to specifically address financial reporting. Compare the above list of common financial reporting problems against your company’s normal procedures. If you fall short, perhaps you would benefit by conducting your own evaluation of financial reporting needs in an effort to identify the holes in your system.

Adapted from an article by J. Carlton Collins, CPA, posted on http://www.asaresearch.com/articles/financialreporting.htm

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Chief Marketers Rules for Success

The rules for success have changed dramatically. Today’s chief marketing officer needs to be a “test and learn” person relying on their CRM system for a strong infrastructure of data, tools, and analytics.  With an average tenure of twenty-four months, chief marketing officers need to move beyond historical, traditional issues and rise to a new set of five challenges–fast: Click here to continue reading. / Visit our blog for the rest of the article.

  1. Gain value by understanding real costs.
    At a micro level, understanding the ROI of a single marketing promotion or campaign is important, but it is also essential to see the forest for the trees and understand that the cost of the forest is not the price of each tree added together. A macro view of marketing costs helps CMOs understand the true cost of all the technology needed to run marketing, and then consider new advances such as software as a service (SaaS) which can dramatically reduce costs while providing bundled functionality.
  2. Get the most complete view possible, as it evolves.
    It seems like every day there is another new and powerful channel to communicate with customers. First there was the internet, then texting, and now Twitter–what next? The challenges these new channels represent are magnified by the fact that things happen in warp speed as opposed to the “boring” traditional channels such as direct mail, outbound telemarketing and even email. Again, to effectively market to suspects, prospects, and customers, a company has to be able to create a complete view of their constituents.
  3. Combine traditional programs with the new wave of campaigns.
    Traditional batch outbound campaigns are still very popular; particularly email campaigns where the costs are extremely low as compared to direct mail. Companies need to master the new wave of campaigns — including inbound driven, event-driven, online, and multi-channel — and combine them for maximum effect.
  4. Know which channels are making you money.
    John Wannamaker’s quote is relevant today: "I know half of my marketing dollars are wasted…I just don’t know which half!" Marketers today need to know which channels are more effective or less wasteful in terms of marketing spend; they need to allocate scarce marketing dollars to the most appropriate, highest return channels. How this is accomplished can dramatically improve an overall marketing program.
  5. Keep it customer-centric with the right metrics.
    CMOs must continue their customer-centric journey by focusing on the customer-access, industry-relevant metrics that provide a compass for future journeys, campaigns, and programs. Metrics need to be stated in terms of the customer, readily accessible at very frequent intervals, or in real time, such as “average revenue per customer” and “revenue per customer segment.” Most metrics can be anchored around three main goals: customer acquisition, customer development (cross sell/up sell), and customer loyalty (churn/retention). By laying out plans based on customer segments, CMOs can use these metrics for course corrections.

Adapted from CRMToday.com http://www.crm2day.com/content/t6_librarynews_1.php?id=50637

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Employee Self Service Demand is Growing

Employee self service (ESS) systems continue to be one of the most popular options with HRMS software and the demand is only growing. An EES HRMS system can drive costs out of your business by automating core HR, benefits, and payroll processes for increased efficiency and productivity using HR technology. It allows HR Managers to make the best possible decisions regarding the workforce with accurate, timely reporting and analysis.  It can also reduce the cost of compliance and risks associated with increasingly complex and burdensome regulations, including the avoidance of fines, penalties, and costly litigation.  Recruiting processes are improved, while helping to develop and retain people with the required skills and aptitudes to meet current and future organizational needs. Overall, an EES HRMS system will reduce routine administration and paperwork, enabling you to focus more business strategy.  For typical HRMS software ESS options click here / visit our blog.
 
Employee Access – In the most basic sense, employee access is the main purpose of ESS systems. Employees have the ability to view or update their own information without having to communicate with HR or their managers to do so. This access may include simple demographic data, emergency contacts, attendance details, benefits, training, payroll information, or insurance plan details. When an ESS product is setup, an HRMS software administrator will typically have the option to define field by field what information employees can view, not view, or update. There may also be situations where they can change data but that change must be approved by others before the change is live. This important capability will be discussed later in this article under the Work Flow Management.

Manager Self Service – With this option, managers are able to view or change data on their direct and indirect report employees. An indirect report is an employee who reports to the manager and also has employees reporting to them. In this example, the CEO or President of your company should be able to see all employees. Managers typically may be provided access to all the information employees are but they may also be able to run additional reports on their employees and managers.

Integration of HRMS and Payroll Information – If your HRMS and payroll application are integrated or you have an interface that can populate an HRMS software ESS option, employees and managers may also be able to see payroll data or payroll history. One example may be the ability for employees to print their own direct deposit advices.

Work Flow Management – With this option, you can designate an approval process for any changes that may occur in the system. For example, an employee requests time off, the manager then may approve or disapprove this time, if they approve it, the information may move to human resources to make a final approval. If the manager is out of the office, they will typically have the capability of designating a temporary approver while they are out.

Time off Management – Employees are typically able to view their time off history, balances, leave balances, and request time off. Managers are typically provided the ability to approve or disapprove this time and view reports relating to when employees are scheduled to be out or view attendance summary reports.

Benefits Open enrollment – Benefits Open Enrollment may or may not be an option included with ESS. Sometimes it is an extra option with its own price. Benefits open enrollments allow for the creation of a benefit setup wizard by the HRMS Administrator. The employees are often able to read details regarding the plans and compare the costs and coverage of multiple plans side by side. This allows employees to complete their benefits setup and changes at home where they can, perhaps, view their spouse’s coverage options to make the best decision for their family.

Training Management – If your HRMS software has a detailed training management system, you may also see a number of the following options included in your HRMS application: • Ability to register online for in house classes • View training history • View course catalog • Take online tests • View reports associated with programs requiring CEU’s or credits for completion or renewal.

In House Recruiting – If your company HRMS software offers a recruiting option, you may also be able to offer in house recruiting options to your employees. They may be able to view a job, the description and requirements or post directly for a job.

Company Information – If your company does not offer an employee intranet, an ESS application can also assist with this demand. You may typically place a variety of links within the employee or manager access portion of the ESS product that may include the following: • Employee handbook • Company policies • Links to benefit providers • On the first page of the employee or managers access, notes may be added on upcoming events such as benefits open enrollment or other company news.

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Sage CRM Online Community

Sage has launched the Sage CRM Online Community where you can connect with other users, read insightful articles, comment on blog posts, and stay current on support issues.  Plus you’ll find a wealth of tips and tricks that will help you become more productive and make the most of your investment.  You can visit the SageCRM online community at:

https://community.sagecrm.com

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Focused Sales Management with SageCRM

Sales are the lifeblood of any organization.  And even though your customers may not be spending as much as they did during a better economy, you can’t afford to sit things out and wait for a recovery.  It’s important that you maintain focus and discipline around your selling strategies to drive sales both now and when the upturn comes.  Let’s explore how SageCRM can help.

Workflow and Pipeline Management

Automating your sales workflow using SageCRM helps to eliminate unnecessary paperwork and ensure that your sales teams are optimizing their time while adhering to standard, company-specific sales processes.  With standardized workflow processes, you can prevent deals from falling through the cracks.  Plus, sophisticated pipeline management tools provide a real-time snapshot of sales opportunities and sales team performance to ensure that you’re directing resources to the deals that are most likely to close.

Lead Tracking & Reporting    

With SageCRM, leads are tracked from your very first contact to final closure so that no valuable revenue opportunities are missed.  You’ll also benefit from detailed lead reports and analytical dashboards that ensure leads are being captured and followed up on properly.

Personal Productivity

As a salesperson, all the information you need to boost productivity and close sales faster is available in the SageCRM interactive dashboard.  In this personalized workspace, you can manage your calendar, sales opportunities, contacts, and daily tasks from a single screen.  With a simple drag-and-drop approach, you can personalize your dashboard and include information from Sage MAS 90 or 200 (like inventory stock levels or customer credit status for instance) and even include links to frequently-used websites like LinkedIn or Google.

Sales Analysis and Business Planning

How is each department or sales team performing?  Are they taking advantage of up-sell opportunities?  Are you targeting the most profitable customers?  These questions and more are answered using powerful analytical tools and reports that are available in SageCRM. Sales directors, managers, and executives can analyze sales performance and emerging trends in various regions and market segments. And by combining that data with information from Sage Accpac ERP, you’ll have a 360-degree view of your business from the front- to back-office.

These are just a few of the ways that SageCRM provides the processes, structure and tools to help you achieve a focused sales management strategy and power through challenging times.

Contact us if you’d like to learn more or to see a demo of the latest release – SageCRM Version 7.

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SageCRM 7.0 Available in May

Sage has announced that beginning in May 2010, SageCRM Version 7.0 in both the standalone and integrated versions (via Accpac Extended Enterprise Suite) will be available to customers using Sage Accpac 5.6. Some of the new features of SageCRM 7.0 include:

  • Interactive Dashboards – customizable workspace to organize all your daily tasks and activities.
  • New User Interface – an enhanced design  offers greater personalization options
  • SageCRM Ecosystem – an online community offering tips, tricks, and apps for SageCRM customers.

Contact us to learn more about SageCRM 7.0 or Accpac Extended Enterprise Suite.

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Sage Accpac and Microsoft Excel Working Together

The Best of Both Worlds

While Sage Accpac provides some fantastic standard reports, you probably turn straight to Excel when it’s time to get your hands dirty, play with the numbers, and make important decisions.  That’s why we think you’ll like the new Sage Accpac Intelligence module – an Excel-based reporting and analysis tool that draws data directly from your Sage Accpac database.  Let’s take a closer look. Continue reading

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