2010 February Edition

Message From Doris: Focus on the positive for 2010

Personally it’s easier on my psyche to NOT be in the negative mode. I am beyond worn out with fearful messaging by government and/or corporations. Being a decisive personality by nature and enjoying leadership, making oneself chronically "frightened" and "scared" makes no sense. So for 2010, when people throw you the urgent ball it does not mean you have to catch it. The less I go into overdrive, the easier decisions business and in life become. So let me share all the great things that happened this past year and why I look forward to next year. And honestly, forget the screamers and move on as their intentions can be debatable.

Business Trends:

We serviced new businesses so there are still great people seeking to start up companies (retail and spin off A&E firms).
It’s worth keeping a well knit set of employees, as well as hold regular meetings on where our business stands and what we are working on.
Not all businesses did poorly in 2009; we are seeing significant turnarounds and lessons well learned concerning credit, bonuses and spending.
Firms still crave for good relationships with people they know and can call on; we added 25 new clients and renewed relationships with about 10 clients we had not worked with in 8 years.
Employers suing employees under non competes can backfire. Employers need to review overly restrictive contractual conditions that result in enforceable claims.
Cloud Computing: it’s just too expensive to run infrastructure...outsourcing MS Office, Google mail and storing/backing up data in the cloud are becoming reality. Many new businesses are not purchasing complicated infrastructure and those up against replacing equipment should consider the same.
Smart phones got very smart alleviating opening my laptop; however accounting applications need to catch up fast and develop phone app technology for reasonable cost.
Movie Entertainment had its best revenue in 5 years...why it’s still relatively inexpensive, it’s a fun activity.
There is an increase in firms looking for local banking services to replace their existing large bank relationships.

Personal Greatness:

In 2009, we gave more to charity in both time and money in a time where things have been less.
Spent significant time with my family as life is short and this makes most people happy including me.
Traveled more for leisure and less for business.
Reconnected with those friends, I had lost touch with.
Improved managing relationships by trying to avoid conflicts.

In so many ways things were not optimal for many people this year and whether public or private, the negative seems to be out of balance in how we make decisions and conduct our daily live. There were plenty of good things to think about in 2009 and work towards in 2010.

All my comments are based on colleagues sharing thoughts, actual field work with clients and events. This issue is dedicated to my colleagues who seem to have endless patience to provide thoughts and input. Thanks for the respect.

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A Successful Event By Guillaume Deflers

Earlier this month, Doris and I went to the Apple Store on Boylston Street to present CheckOut and Accountedge from Acclivity (www.acclivitysoftware.com/products)to Apple customers. This event was definitely a success.

For many years now, DMC has been partnering with firms from various industries that compliment our services. Specifically, we have a long 13 year plus relationship with the folks at Acclivity the makers of great small business accounting solutions on the Mac.

In partnering with Apple and Acclivity, the goal is not only to reach out to new clients but to provide better services to our existing clients by combining knowledge. In association with Acclivity (formerly MYOB), we presented their software to the business partners’ staff at different Apple stores in the North East. Our involvement with both vendors established a necessary local presence. As certified consultants for Acclivity on both Account Edge and Checkout and our knowledge on Mac accounting, we were a match for both firms.

During the months that followed, those Apple stores reached out to us to help on several occasions regarding accounting software on Macs. That initial contact generated new opportunities for us and giving them additional information/ options to give to their customers. It was a great opportunity for us and we returned, in early February, to present CheckOut: Point of Sale for Mac (http://checkoutapp.com)on the first floor of the Boylston Street Apple store.

The reasons this event went well are that the three companies came together to provide the best possible answers to potential clients. It also generated a buzz/ brand awareness as each firms promoted this event on their website and sent email invitations. We are very thankful that Acclivity and Apple trusted us and we hope that we will be able to continue those events.

If you did not have the chance to participate to one our event check out the event section of our website(www.dmcsystems.com/About/Events.aspx) and come learn more about your software and/ or share your tips and tricks. Thank you for your support and see you soon.

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Custom Invoices on Deltek Vision 6.1 SP2.

I recently produced several custom invoices for a client using Deltek Vision 6.1 SP2. The work was challenging, but enjoyable, and we were able to successfully provide a specialized invoice that isn’t included in the standard templates for Vision. In order to create a custom invoice for Deltek Vision, you should be familiar with Business Intelligence Development Studio, Visual Basic, XML, SQL, and general XHTML editing. Ever since Deltek dropped Actuate and started using Microsoft SQL Reporting services, reporting within vision has become much easier, faster, and more informative. We not only produce custom reports for invoices, but for client, inventory, opportunity, marketing, billing, and payroll reports, to name a few. If you are looking for a low-cost solution for generating new custom reports, contact us and we can help.

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Accounting and Bookkeeping Matters By Doris Cahill

I have spent the better part of my life explaining to business owners why recordkeeping matters. Focusing on sales is definitely important, as market savvy sales people need to drive the top line and IPOs. What I said time and time again is that business failures usually happen when the company is running out of money, not just sales. Three key reasons that explain failures are: conditions changed, Murphy’s Law and denial on some basic math. Denial being the worst condition as that can exacerbate or influence additional poor money decisions.

For instance, you may know you are losing money but have not translated that to lack of cash. Changing conditions can be just as severe where one fails to react swiftly. Good recording and timely accounting is intended to do is provide you with information on how the business is doing. Are you healthy when it comes to money now? Not 3 months from now.

I could go so far as to say many principals have trouble valuing the accounting of the business due to the increase of tax/regulatory conditions and the seemingly long length of time one dedicates to it. If you do not possess a natural skill set to manage figures then get a professional. That time is well spent and is integral to good decisions. The accounting professional should be part of the team in any business; this professional should be preemptive in thought, timely in reporting financial information and suggestive for immediate correction. He or She works for you and with you to meet your goals, but will tell you if the ship is in trouble. They are schooled in the profession and little can substitute that skill set.