Expense Management Software – Top 10 Reasons Why Companies Need To Implement Them

Still claiming your expenses via spreadsheets, outdated legacy or in house system. Is it time to look back on the traditional ways with nostalgia, as here are the top 10 reasons why expense management needs to be automated in the right way and you don’t have to be a big organization as the benefits are hard to ignore.

Saving your money in more than 1 way: Many business organizations fear of being trapped and continuing with their current system, as the organizations these days are more worried about the cost to change. The implementation of these pricing models are based on the usage could be done quickly and easily in such a way that it is no more a burden to the IT organizations. The ability to link your expenses with the credit tool and import data into the expense management software tool would mean that the data has been prepopulated in the claim. This would again help you reduce the cost of all the claims with 78% per transaction. This would also mean that the data credited into this software tool is in one place and the report is all set to go on, giving you the insights of where you have been spending money and would help you negotiate the discounts with all your regular suppliers.

Keeping your enterprise in order: Being aware of all the new rules and regulations and managing all the related changes to related is considered to be time consuming and costly. And to a large co - operations when you have your business operating in different countries the challenges continue to grow and turn out to be complicated. Expense management software system to this would eliminate all the risks around the regulatory compliances, where they could easily apply for the complex tax rules providing in built auditing capabilities capturing the data required reporting the expenses spent for cooperation and income tax purposes.

Checking where your money goes: Having decisions made without a relevant data is not an easy job. Having travel and expense information that is centralized would make it simple and easy to report on a multitude of the performance indicators. This insight is important for the ongoing refinement of travel and the business expenses, identifying the areas of where the best deals could be negotiated with the suppliers. This would also help you identify the trends by the mode of transport, through clients, employee or the organization minimizing the fraud and regulation breach.

Minimizing the fraud: Accuracy is the most important key to an efficient system that would help you decreasing the fraud. The solutions here ensure that fair and consistent rules could be applied across the entire company, ensuring that the employees do not have the right opportunity to enter into the incorrect and out of policy claims.

Flexible and Scalable: The expense management software makes the entire process easy to manage, having a low risk and minimal implementation project costs that could be recovered quickly through cost savings and greater efficiencies. And we are all living in an economy where the companies could buy other companies, merge and expand their business into different territories and regions. This entire system is scalable to support the business growth where the solutions could be easily rolled out into countries and whenever required would support the external regulations, local currencies and VAT and per diem rates.

Author Bio:
Indira Moola, Marketing Operations Manager at Expenzing, focused on growing expenses management software India product and communicates the value of identity to customers, partners, and the larger community by targeting specific markets through segmentation and analysis.

Make Money As a Software Reseller

Thinking about how to become an accounting software reseller? In this short article, we will not just look at what software reseller programs to join, but share ideas on how to thrive to make money by selling software amid the realities of low-margin in small business software sales.

Frankly, the days of being able to set up successful reseller business purely on the basis of re-selling accounting software is slowly fading away, but a few computer consultants I know, are still profiting handsomely from diversifying into new revenue streams such as installation, customization, training and ongoing service.

So, if you want to become a software reseller that focuses on small business accounting software, here is why becoming an accounting software reseller can be well worth the effort.

A reseller is free to choose and pick products

Your goal is to sell and make money. If a software product is not selling, you may choose to resell other products on the market. Every successful small business software reseller pays attention to new products but very mindful of the solutions that will work for his clients. This is the normal reseller role, you can add up small margins of profit.

As a Reseller you can provide technical support

Undeniably, most software developers look up to resellers to help provide technical support to customers they sell software to. As an accounting software reseller, you can set up your own forum to support the products you re-sell and develop a reputation of being knowledgeable about a specific application.

While some developers are hesitant to offer dealer prices for their products, there are always other developers who understand the critical roll resellers play in software sales and will be willing to establish workable reseller networks. This is more of a consulting role, you can charge for installation.
Software Resellers provide valuable training

A large number of companies usually have formal plans on software training for their accounting staff. Unfortunately, most small businesses rarely have this luxury. The only training they expect is from their software reseller. In fact consumers generally trust a resellers product recommendation. This is another stream of revenue.

In this short article, we have learned how to profit from being an accounting software reseller using other revenue streams. Be sure to leave your comment.

Where to Get Genuine Software Help

Today, I want to talk about accounting software help forums, and how you can almost always use them to get free and genuine help as an accountant.

As you probably know, a great way to achieve any goal in life is to look at people who already accomplished similar things, and then analyze how they did, learning as many lessons as possible

If you want to get the most from your accounting software, therefore, you should look for help from other software users that already are using it successfully, learning from their success story.

But where do you find other software users to help you with your problems?

That is where accountant software help forums come into play. Software help forums are a great place to start if you need accounting support. This is the only genuine place where software users can get help from other users. Many accountants already use help forums and more are moving into help forums every day. There you will find help from help desk staff, accountants and other experts.

One very good example is pastel software accountants help forum. Here you will find software discussion boards, users are free to discuss freely on this forum.

Admittedly, some of the software help offered in some help forums is not helpful, but i still find most software help forums to be very resourceful.

In fact, some of this help is given by very experienced professional accounting software experts willing to share their experiences and knowledge absolutely for free in order to help other users.

In other words, software help forums are a great source of information if you are willing to analyze a particular accounting program: the popularity, some of the problems users face and the amount of support provided online.

The big lesson I want you to learn is: wherever there is an accountant help forum, there is a genuine opportunity to learn and even help you get the most out of your accounting system.

A New Approach to New Software

Let’s face it, everyone is looking for New Accounting software, nobody wants to miss out the benefits of new ERP software upgrade or get stack to an old and outdated program. However, this does not diminish the value of having the ‘older’ working software version.

In this topic, we look at the factors you must critically consider before making a decision to upgrade to the new version of any accounting and ERP software.

The software world is an interesting place at the moment. The evolution in the software industry presents a new wave of technologies with new features.

Beyond the old versions, softline recently released version 6.50.85 upgrade described as “the most significant change to pastel evolution features since its launch.”

What is obvious is that a good number of businesses in the southern region of Africa is using the old module or the new pastel software version 6.5.85.

So, as software houses continue to deliver new "breeds" of cutting edge technology options, this is the challenge to all business owners; It is important that before moving from your old software version to the new one, know what software version you need to run your business more effectively and efficiently.

Once this strategy is clear, downgrade or upgrade to the available new software technologies to deliver your vision. These are some of the guidelines to consider when choosing new software version.

Secondly, remember that while it is exiting to have the latest accounting software version on the market, it may not add value to your business because when it comes to accounting programs, there is no “one size fits all.” Don’t waste time and money when you don’t have the analytical skills to use the product effectively.

I have said this and I will keep saying it again and again: “Too many choices bring confusion” It is not important to have new software without understanding the full benefits of using any new software version.

With this in mind, I strongly recommend that you take a new approach to software implementation.

What is the Most Popular Freeware?

Many enthusiasts regard freeware accounting software as their best software, of course favored by the completely lack of cost and free download in addition to lots of other features.

Let’s consider this question received from our reader, “Which is the best freeware accounting software I can use to manage my accounts?” So wrote this keen follower of this website.

Well, have you been plagued with similar eagerness or delight in a ‘freeware heaven’, let alone knowing the most popular freeware accounting software? If so, this article will be of great help to you

.

Freeware is a loosely defined category of accounting software. All freeware and other software licence questions are clearly explained in this article. In a nut shell, freeware is commonly used for packages which permit redistribution but not modification.

Most people love getting something for nothing. That is why freeware accounting programs are so popular in the web today. Worried about the reliability? Don’t worry freeware is a valid choice. Freeware accounting software is reliable that’s why I recommend it to you.

There has been much talk about this popular freeware Gnu Cash . It’s undoubtedly the most popular on the web though I have not used it before. If you search for software through search engines like google, you will agree with me that Gnu Cash is the most popular freeware accounting software.

The free edition of Quickbooks is also a very good choice of free software especially if you are starting and I have used it before, that’s why I recommend it to you.

Here is the site where you can find a wide selection of completely free accounting software on the internet.

http://www.freewarefiles.com/ You will find over 15000 freeware downloads which include ratings as well as reviews.

If you found this article helpful, feel free to leave your comment.

The Worst Loss in Business Today

The loss of Business data is one of the most devastating experiences any business can face. At times, this data loss may be unbearable.

For many years, accounting was just a manual process of hand written entries in journals and ledgers until the first “packaged” software -spreadsheet, word processing and database became available. Since then, data accounting systems and software have evolved at an ever accelerating pace and are increasingly used for recording accounting information.

Accounting information systems face various risks and lack of prevention can result in loss of data resources. If a system crush occurs, it can cause a major loss to the company. All or some information can be lost and there is a chance it may never be recovered if there are no measures to prevent data from getting corrupted or options to recover it.

Despite the various risks, electronic storage of accounting information is critical to many companies today.

That is why serious companies take precautions by backing up their files regularly and performing standard maintenance on all computer systems.

Statistics suggest that the loss of accounting information with the new technology can be caused by a variety of exposures: software malfunction 14% and manmade disasters such as computer viruses 7%.The good thing is that very simple security methods can be employed to limit the possibility of such losses.

Truly, Data loss is awkward for any business. If you have ever lost valuable data in an excel sheet or a word document you would understand how hard it is to come to terms with the loss.

In fact, when discussing business, even the gentleness of terms can do little to soften the intense sadness that is felt due to any type loss. It is the worst experience.

If you too lost your accounting data, here are the 10 simple ways how you can prevent data loss

Do We Really Need Software Advice?

If you are a Software genius, getting software advice probably isn’t such a big deal. When asked whether a named ERP software is valuable and sensible, I guess you would do your own evaluation without hesitation. But most software buyers still need outside advice regarding the value of any tailor-made accounting, networking and communication solutions.

In this article, I want to give you the key reason why it is important to seek software advice. Indeed, there are various other good reasons why people look for advice despite these impressive facts you are about to read.

Generally, we all face trade-offs in our purchase decisions. Our income is limited and the ERP software choices available today are numerous. In order to make the right software choices, we have no option but to combine our budget constraint (What software we can afford) and our preferences (What software we would like to have). This is exactly why it is critical that you get right advice.

Every serious investor is looking world-class technology to provide them with tools to make their vision a reality. Unfortunately, intangible things are hard to quantify. It is practically difficult to see the value in a software solution without a clear understanding of the system functionalities. That is why some self service buyers take software advice seriously in order to make informed purchase decisions.

You might be saying, “Well but I live in ‘wired’ world why ask for advice when I can do my own research on Internet?” Truly, as individuals, we all do a lot of research for our personal purchases on the internet comparing product prices and credentials of various software sellers. That is not enough! Michael LeBoeuf wrote in his book Working Smart that, “Jumping around and splashing in water doesn’t mean you are swimming.” Besides, there is no reason to pretend to be a genius.

Interestingly, investigators found that “some people seem to be genetically geared either to make compromises or take more extreme options by selecting sure gains or simply take gabbles.”

To put it simply, the reason is simple. We all need advice in one way or another. It is up to you to decide whether to seek advice or not. If you don’t see any value in advice or your organization does not take any outside advice seriously, I would advise you to give it a try.

The Easiest Way to Process Payroll

Few Accountants have to contend with more speedy demands on their time than Payroll Accountants do. Payroll accounting demands are innumerable. A payroll accountant must take care of calculating earnings of employees, calculation of payroll taxes such as NAPSA, keeping track of employeeleave taken and loans and advances availed as well as fridge benefits like paid vacations and insurance coverage.

Although automated payroll software solutions have become increasingly available and affordable, most small to medium businesses are still glued to processing their payroll manually.

Undoubtedly, Payroll processing is an error prone activity that requires proper tools and utmost accuracy. In this time and age, payroll software has made it easy to deal with the challenges of payroll accounting more efficiently and accurately.

A perfect payroll system can streamline your payroll functions, improve accuracy and make the entire payroll process enjoyable.

This is how payroll software can speed up your payroll processing

Submitting returns electronically

Every payroll Accountant is required to calculate NAPSA contributions and other payroll taxes in conformity with NAPSA regulations and subsequently file returns. A good payroll package can help you automate this activity for greater efficiency and accuracy. You can easily generate electronic monthly return from your Payroll system and submit to NAPSA by email or other electronic media.

Depositing Salaries Direct in Bank Accounts

Some payroll software systems allow users to print checks and pay employees through direct deposit. This is how it works; the software allows you to define unlimited number of different bank accounts for each employee and will then receive their pay via direct deposit of wages into their personal bank accounts.

Reporting

Most payroll systems provide access to a number of reports which can be viewed in various standard formats such as PDF and MS Word as well as the ability to export data into other formats as well as email reports.

There is a good number of payroll Accounting Companies in Zambia offering payroll accounting software solutions as well as payroll services among them is palmsoft payroll and Dove payroll but, here is what you must know when choosing payroll software.

Is Free Software Reliable?

The advantages associated with Accounting Software include efficiency, reliability and accuracy. Yet, many times, free software “lovers” disregard software reliability and focus primarily on the cost benefit. So, one might ask, ‘What is the reliability of free Accounting software?’ If you are here, it’s probably because you asked this same question.

Well, despite these concerns about free software reliability, it should not be a surprise to you. The high complexity of accounting system implementation is the major contributing factor to these software reliability concerns. Nevertheless, there are still very good reasons to believe that free accounting software can be as reliable as any commercial software.

Truly, free stuff is what most software users want, and more importantly failure- free software. The fact that many people use free software packages, is enough proof that it is reliable because more users are involved in working together to share ideas, provide support to each other and fix any problems through user forums.

Most importantly, the developers of these free packages really care about software reliability. Though free software packages do not always compete commercially, they certainly compete for good reputation, growth, speed, power and reliability. Besides, any free accounting software which is not reliable my not achieve the popularity that the developers hope to achieve.

One very good example of reliable free accounting software is the free edition of Quickbooks best known for its reliability and scalability. QuickBooks Simple Start is easy-to-use, free accounting software designed to help you manage your small business better.

At this point, you might be thinking “ok sounds intriguing. How do I find other reliable free Accounting systems other than quickbooks?”

That is exactly why you must know this free and unique way to find accounting software online.

But before you go ahead on a searching spree though, here is a remark, you’ll need to spend some time researching and evaluating free software. Some people have reported good as well as bad experiences about the reliability of some free accounting systems.

Access Better Business Ideas in 2015

If you struggled to get better results in your business in 2010, it might be helpful to ask yourself: Did I have access to better resources that could improve matters? How does access to information influence my financial and social well being and how can I transform my small business ideas into opportunities in 2011?

Well, the idea that business people need to access various sources of information to conduct successfully their affairs and make better business decisions is well established.

As a matter of fact, access to information technologies along with internet are key solutions for helping organizations to access accurate information and remain competitive in business.

Interestingly, research by experts indicates that a good number of small business managers have access to a number of informal as well as formal sources of better business information on a fairly regular basis.

However, a study conducted for industry Canada (Campus Inc, 2001) among small firms involving 1000 interviews, revealed that almost one third of small business owners do not consider themselves as active in accessing relevant business information. In addition, although one third of managers claimed to be aware of better business websites providing free access to business related information and support, almost half could not identify any sites and expressed very low level of internet usage.

Truly, more than half of us have never had access even to our own bank website and other very important government websites too. We view these sites as sources with little or no importance.

Thus, in spite of many efforts by business Authors and business coaches to deliver business information to small business managers, most of us still show a lack of knowledge about these sources where you can access better business ideas.

The fact that small business managers look most often to informal sources-clients, suppliers, gossip and colleagues is an area of concern often raised by business analysts.

Although these sources seem to be convenient for most business managers, they do not always provide an efficient access to better business intelligence and the strategic information needed to achieve better results in 2015.

It`s a somewhat complex process to access the right resources online, but Africa report is one site that is dedicated to provide support and guidance for entrepreneurs in Africa. You will definitely access better business ideas.

Leveraging Power of Software in Church

If you read any Church publication, you’re likely to find that it is dominated with terms such as outreach programs, fundraising and worship without much emphasis on church accounting issues.

By the way, have you ever thought of a as church system? Yes indeed! The church can be thought of as a system, it takes in inputs in form of offering, donations, member contributions and processes these inputs into outputs such as community service, outreach programs and various other church programs.

Therefore, if the church is a system, there is equally need to monitor the activities within the church system. For example the church must set targets, measure the output, compare with what was expected to happen and demonstrate the performance of the church easily in order to strengthen the church position when meeting donors and church partners.

Interestingly enough, while Accounting is considered a universal language both for profit and nonprofit organizations, little effort is made by the church to leverage the power accounting systems, which undeniably influence the future of the church.

It is practically difficult to gain a depth of knowledge, track church resources and foster communication among church members without a proper church management system. The bible in Ephesians 5 vs16 reminds all Christians that time is a precious gift from God and should not be squandered. Granted, church accounting software solutions can save time, help monitor church spending more closely and can help to communicate information to relevant church partners rapidly.

Yes, that is why, as a devout Christian and a “technology addict” I chose to put together this list of the available church software in no any order.

Servant Keeper A powerful yet easy to learn and flexible church management program used by many churches to simplify ministry work.

We gather is free, secure and advertising free software designed for churches and faith based organizations. This software is free as long as you your church is below 100 online users.

Church Tax is another free easy-to-use and flexible. This software can be downloaded and used for free by your church.

Fellowship one Web based software designed to help dynamic churches of any size or denomination become more effective-This software provides a unique single view of the family including individuals, their involvement in church activities and their needs.

Arena is browser-based software for faith based organization designed by Shelby systems for medium to large churches.

Reg online This is easy online management and event planning software to register church members for retreats, conferences, mission trips or any type of event.

Power Church online An online version of power church software for church contributions and event management

Five Talent Church Software is another web based church management and outreach program. A fully featured 45 day free trial is offered upon signing up and you can be able to management family profiles, contributions, events and mass mailing

Power Church this is a 2009 Campbell user satisfaction award winning church software. This software is designed to help churches organize membership contributions and accounting for church events.

Logos II Church Donor This is a data management tool, fully featured fund accounting system and community software with features like online giving and visitor information.

Church help mate another powerful church management system by help mate technology solutions. The software is designed to help save money and time, build unity, make better disciples and increase ministry participation.

Roll Call for easy management of church membership, attendance, donations, pledges as well as group activities.

Green Tree Church Software This is a user friendly; network ready church membership and accounting software by Green tree Applied Systems. Their trial version is free for 120 days.

Ichurch is a suit of three internet-enabled programs to help you gain greater insight into the health of your church through various reports.

Cahaba works is developed by a Christian-owned software development company. This is a complete church management solution.

Faithful Steward church management software is also designed for churches and nonprofit organizations to manage membership and donation records with ease.

Seeker Works is another ministry management software solution for tracking members, attendees, assimilating visitors, supporting volunteers and much more.

Church Growth Software a purpose driven church management software to help pastors and church leaders manage membership, visitors, follow-up, attendance, ministries, events, finances, child check in or pick volunteers.

RDS Advantage RDS Advantage© provides easy to use church management software for your active church. Just as good workmen desire quality tools, RDS Advantage can provide your ministries with state-of-the-art applications for every part of church management.

I really appreciate your feedback, If you think another church management software deserves to be on this list, please let me know using the comment box below. I will definitely add it to this list.

The Ugly side of a Software Consultant

The value of Software Consultants cannot be under estimated. However, with budget cuts sweeping across businesses, the thought of adding a high priced Accounting firm or a software consultant to a company’s budget is a thorny issue for most businesses today.

So, should you hire a software consultant or go it alone? Besides, what does it really take? As simple as installing or downloading software and if something goes wrong along the way, you simply erase everything and start all over again, Right? Well I would say, most of the times yes but not always especially when it comes to Accounting systems.

Allowing a certified consultant or a team of software consultants with deep industry knowledge in software training to help design, maintain or upgrade your software can help flip your business on the right track and improve productivity.

In the long run, you can save time, money and overcome your current business obstacles or even avoid costly mistakes in future.

In fact, it is estimated that those who invest 10% of their project resources in consultancy are most likely to save the remaining 90% while those who don’t are likely to lose 70% of their resources.

It is quite evident that, consulting Accounting firms in Zambia, particularly software consultants, is not a very common trend among business men and women.

What many companies fail to realize, however, is that the right software consultant can help minimize your project risk, accelerate the deployment process and educate your employees as to the proper use of the software product.

Besides, Statistics show that 65% of software consultancy market is based on software supply and consultancy.

Honestly, there are very few people if any, that can take a 2011 paged Accounting system manual and a terminal, then sit, practice and become fully versed with the new software product. Most of us certainly need presentation or a tutor, including various forms of assistance in learning.

We have a lot of accounting firms in Zambia including consultants who are ready to provide such help, of course at a fee that no serious investor small or big would consider too high.

But, hang on a second. Don’t rush out and hire a consultant just yet before you know the ugly side. Before hiring a software consultant, ask the right questions when interviewing the candidates and check up on their references. I know you cannot afford to be stuck with a software consultant that can’t deliver on their promises.

If you have had any ugly experience with software consultant feel free to leave your comment.

Using Software to Account for Climate Change

Unless you have been in a comma for the last decade, you have heard the story of Climate Change in Zambia. While the green issues are hot news with high public awareness, most company’s accounts fail to pay full consideration to climate change.
Only a few companies are worried and interested in “environmental accounting,” but they don’t necessarily feel that urgency to adopt more ecologically sustainable production methods.

In truth, many are still turning a blind eye to climate change management. However, Accountants can play a key role in the fight against climate change such as the use of climate change software. Generally, it’s a role of Accountants to provide information to support business decision making.
Software is a critical enabling technology that has helped the world solve very difficult issues. So does this mean that the answer to the problems of climate change lie in software in order to reduce energy consumptions? This is an answer that software experts must give us.

Therefore, the challenge to the experts in software technology and developers of future carbon accounting software tools and technology is to apply their knowledge and experience to the challenge of climate change.

Business-as-usual is not an option on climate change. Researchers, engineers, policymakers and educators are holding international workshops on software to create a climate of change based on collaboration to raise awareness and reduce energy consumption.

But for any society to manage its resources more effectively there is always need to improve understanding-I hope with reliable and timely information we can drive behavior and policies towards software that will bring a positive impact on climate change at both local and global scale.

Once we have this information, we can take direction and action that will help significantly reduce our current energy consumption patterns

In fact, the stern review concluded that, “rapid action against climate change could limit costs to one percent and create opportunities for new technologies”

The million dollar question is what are you doing about this fight against climate change?

Is Enterprise Software Blogging Doomed?

Be prepared to be surprised, very surprised. Software bloggers have this illusion about enterprise software that many of us are slowly thinking is true. Yet, it’s all illusory.

The phenomenon of blogging has fueled up a new wave of enterprise software bloggers looking forward to make a lifetime fortune within 24 hours. Impossible!

The fact that a blogger fails to make a tidy income by converting the page views into software sales makes a desperate blogger conclude that enterprise software is not worth blogging about.

However, you will be surprised to know that global enterprise software sales are expected to rise by 4.5% this year according to a report by a research firm Gartner. Therefore, it is not true that enterprise software doesn’t sell.

While that may sound like good news to a new enterprise software blogger, it doesn’t really explain it totally. The secret of finding fulfillment in enterprise software blogging can be summed up in one small word. Passion.

If your mind is pre occupied with high traffic and millions of page views a day try blogging about consumer software, perhaps music software.

Fortunately, when I worked for a multinational retail company, I got experience of working with enterprise software like SAP, Tally and Pastel. It had been a positive experience which taught me a lot about enterprise software.

Definitely, with that background, I can get right down to the enterprise software basics easily.

With respect to software blogging, you need to know exactly where your passion is and what you are going to do with it, which is the only strength that allows you to react positively when you hit a difficult patch as a blogger.

I chose to go full time ahead with this enterprise software blog, added advantage, I’ve amazing accounting experience over the past years, but business software solutions is where am comfortable.

My focus is both individuals and firms that are having difficulties implementing enterprise software and even the more successful ones that still need help to realize the full value of their enterprise software.

To be honest enough, talking about enterprise software, page views are quite difficult to deliver, but with hard work nothing is impossible. That is why the impatient ones easily fall off leaving the passionate ones.

Inventory Tracking Software that works

Inventory is a valuable part of a firm; two key factors build or break the system of controlling your Inventory, the tracking software used and the internal procedures you put in place.

For a start, most but not all retail businesses generally do not take Inventory Tracking with the seriousness it deserves.

Not too long ago, I received this question regarding Inventory Tracking from a keen follower of this website, and I sort permission to share this extract from the letter.

“I am an Inventory controller, my company has just acquired Pastel Software inventory tracking module in a bid to solve the inventory tracking problems we had with the previous system. I have been searching for training materials on how to generate management inventory reports as well as detailed operational reports until I came across your website”

Well, I will leave my response, for another post, but the simple lesson I want you to draw from this extract is that, tracking of inventory matters not a little, but a great deal.

Secondly, not all Inventory tracking systems available on the market today have the same functionalities to meet you inventory tracking needs.

However, the very basic principle for any worthy inventory tracking software, no matter how basic it may be, is to indicate stock availability without the need to inspect the physical stock. In addition, it should help you to ascertain the stock position of a particular inventory item at a click of a button in response say to a telephone inquiry. It should as well be able to show you the need to re-order when stocks run low, act as a deterrent to pilferage (stock loss) and allow the stock movements to review easily.

Unfortunately, not all accounting software meets all the inventory trucking needs such as serial number tracking and lot tracking.

Frankly speaking, most businesses today are very slow in catching up with technology and innovation. Perhaps, this is to some extent, the reason why they don’t find success in retail business.

Supermarkets for example have taken full advantage to make use of cash registers to computerize their checkouts so that inventory records can be updated automatically.

Success Secret in Design & Implementation

Accounting software implementation and upgrade is a confusing chore, not an exciting design adventure to many users. Every business wants the best quality, easy-to-use accounting software that installs instantly and costs next to nothing. Of course that doesn’t exist.

Developers in software industry are experts in software design and promising whatever it takes to get the product off the shelf while leaving the details of software implementation, training and support services up to others.

So, success in choosing new accounting software package is one thing, successfully implementing it is yet another process.

When implementing new software, successful implementation means everyone in the chain succeeds. The software design teams, software vendors, implementation partners and users.

Here are some valuable implementation tips and techniques I employ to avoid failure in the process.

Involve Other Users.

Unless you are the only user, always involve other users in the implementation plan. New technology requires that users alter the way they have always done things. In fact, research shows that people don’t like change; they tend to resist and often complain

Phase Out The Old System One Module After the Other.

This is best approach to take when implementing new software. Most users look at new software as “charm” that will fix all the problems they have had with the old system. So a negative impact on the day to day operations may increase resistance.

Know What You Are Doing.

If you choose to implement your accounting software without the help of an implementation partner or a consultant, be sure that you know what you are doing and not by try and error method.

When implementing new accounting software, chances are that you will be working with valuable financial data from another source such as your old accounting system.

If you are not sure about the implementation process, do not take chances; let the process be handled by professionals using proven software implementation methodology.

Prepare Users to Adapt to Change.

Change management is a process, not an event it should occur continuously throughout the implementation process. Be patient! You should never assume that everyone is going to accept the new accounting software without resistance.

Why People like Freelance Bookkeepers

Are you deciding on being a full-time or a freelance bookkeeper? Well, a significant number of People, particularly bookkeepers, for all sorts of reasons, now just don’t want to work full time. But others choose to work as part-time freelance bookkeepers as a way to bring in extra cash.

As a matter of fact, with the advancement in technology, it has seemingly become much easier for people to find a freelancer and specialists for much of the work that used to be done in-house, to address their short term as well as permanent placement needs.

Many people are starting to outsource bookkeeping work on a regular basis for one simple reason; it allows them to cut on overhead expenses, for example instead of having an office for a bookkeeper and pay salaries and other added benefits, people would rather outsource the service when need arises and negotiate a little bit. Oh yes, that is why people like freelance services.

Working as a freelance bookkeeper though is not as easy as people may think. The biggest challenge is getting out there to look for clients especially if you are a new freelance bookkeeper, fresh out of your training.

If you have ever tried searching for customers or clients who need freelance services, you probably found out that it’s not as easy as you first thought, right?

Now, if you are a freelance bookkeeper struggling to find clients, I have this very important tip I would like to share with you. First of all, just think of a place where freelancers and potential customers meet with one common need. “freelance services”. This must be a good starting point, right?

All you have to do is visit Pastel people recruitment and placements and register at a nominal fee, clearly specify your skills, experience your geographical location. You must take time and care in putting together your skills and experience, but please be honest do not give false information about your skills! this is important because the website automatically matches the skills to customer requirements and emails three freelancer contact details to a relevant customer.

Once clients begin hiring your services, you can start by working as a part-time freelancer to earn some extra cash and eventually graduate to a full-time freelance bookkeeper.

Free and Unique way to Find Software

Finding the right software is challenging enough, so how do you find that perfect accounting software-if that software exists at all?

This free and unique way is unlike that of most, they think if you shovel through more Accounting solutions you likely to find a better one. Maybe: but you also waste more time and frustrate yourself.

What about targeting one or two names you know better? As you know, targeting really matters in business. It saves time and money. Simply list down two to three accounting software brands and narrow down to one which is more suitable for your business.

Now here is something unique which you will appreciate if you are trying to find the appropriate accounting software for your business or client.

Frankly, there are a good number of individuals and firms that offer free “unbiased recommendations and information to help readers find “genuinely good” accounting software.

Of course there are plenty of scoundrels who will do or say anything to get the result they want but a few bad examples should not be allowed to undermine the faith in free services.

Lets consider this free service “ most firms” use to find accounting software. This is one of the unique ways available for finding your accounting software free of charge. Yes, I mean absolutely free.. Upon completion of a simple online software search form, a brief interview is done to determine your needs followed by a matching process and finally qualified firms can then contact you. Most importantly, a follow up is made to make sure that you find the software you need.

What more would you ask for? Free software requirement analysis, free “unbiased” recommendation? At least if you want to “dodge” consultation fees, try a free service.

Making Inter-Branch Transfers Simple

Business growth and expansion requires detailed planning. Honestly, you cannot just wake up the following day and decide you will open a Branch of your business in another location without carefully considering Inter-Branch Accounting issues. In fact, many entrepreneurs find their businesses crumble as a result of unplanned and uncontrolled growth.

It is clearly evident that many businesses today operate through branch networks but the fact that other business entities manage various branches successfully does not imply that managing a branch is that easy. The reality though is that managing remote branches requires a lot of accounting effort to operate effectively.

My focus in this article is to draw your attention to this topic of Inter-Branch Accounting, how it may affect your business if poorly handled and look at a Simple way to account for transfer of inventory and cash items to any branch in your business.

An effective branch accounting system can give you the ability to effectively control the operations of your branch as well as manage Stock movements and control expenses easily.

The outlining principles of Inter-branch Accounting require that you keep proper record of the cost of goods sent to your branch from the main warehouse or Head office and any goods returned back, keep proper record of all stock movements from time to time, keep a record of all expenses including totals of credit sales and amounts collected from customers at the branch you operate and also keep a record of all cash receipts and payments made by the branch before you can finally prepare the accounts of your business as a whole.

You will note that, operating business branches results in various general ledger accounts and a large number of inter-branch transactions which require proper processing and reconciliations. If any of the inter-branch entries are not processed and reconciled properly, they may give rise to financial irregularities which can affect the profitability and growth of your business.

But what is the better way to expand a small business into new potential markets and yet financially manage it effectively?

My answer to this question is this. Though it may be practically impossible to be in two places at the same time, with continued advancement in technology this is eventually “almost becoming possible.”

Automating of an Inter-Branch Accounting System greatly improves the operations of a business. It is therefore just common knowledge that most if not all businesses such as Banks and retail stores which operate branches worldwide continue to make investment in various Accounting Software for Inter-Branch Transfers (IBT) to enhance their Accounting system.

Before you think about opening a new branch of your business, consult an expert for advice on how best you can setup your accounting system to handle Inter-Branch Accounting in a simple way.

Easy Steps to Learn Bookkeeping

If you own a Business, it is important to Learn at least some Basics of Bookkeeping. When you have a Basic understanding of Bookkeeping you will find it easy to understand your financial statements. Without the basic knowledge of Bookkeeping, it will be difficult to understand the Accounting aspect of your Business.

You do not have to be a geek to Learn Bookkeeping all it takes is the desire to learn and total commitment. I will give you some easy steps of learning bookkeeping in quick and yet effective ways.

Learning Through a Coach.

When I got my first job as an Accountant, I was amazed. I found out that some of the Bookkeeping tasks which were so challenging during my Accounting course were actually so simple in practical terms. I also found out that the most important element of Bookkeeping is experience and the best way to gain experience is work along side an Accounting coach with the much needed experience. It is faster and easy to learn Bookkeeping along side an experienced Bookkeeper until you are ready to handle Accounting books on your own.

If you do not have any experienced bookkeeper near you, I would recommend AccountingCoach.com this site is specifically designed to help people without any Accounting background to learn Bookkeeping concepts free of charge. I recommend this site because it explains Accounting from its basics in a way that is very clear and easy to understand.

Learning Through the use of Software.

More companies nowadays use Bookkeeping software for their Accounting.Therefore, another way to learn Bookkeeping concepts would be to take a course for the most common Bookkeeping software used in your location. For example, it is estimated that about 80% of businesses use sage.If you took a self studyprogram such as sage Accounts,it can develop your understanding and skills in Bookkeeping which you can then apply on any other software.

Learning through online tutorials.

There are a number of Bookkeeping courses and resources available online. Resources such as Beancounter tutorial will offer you a free way to learn Bookkeeping and other aspects of Accounting. This site provides detailed Bookkeeping Tutorials on topics such as Software and taxes.

Taking a Professional Course

If your desire is to go beyond basic Bookkeeping, then you can take an Accounting qualification there are several Accounting courses for beginners up to the more advanced qualifications such as CIMA,AAT and ACCA.Check with your local institutes and find out the Accounting courses on offer.