We are covering the eight steps to conducting a Business Process Assessment in this blog series.  Learn how to unleash profits by finding ways to work more efficiently.  In previous blogs we covered; how to compare current ERP systems to new goals, how to create a business process project management committee, who to nominate as the business process project management committee leader, how to develop a comprehensive business process anlysis document to measure and assess the existing business processes, how to define your milestone and project projections and how to prepare a project time line.

In our sixth part of this series we will cover how to determine if your business process challenges are human related or software related.  We will take into consideration technology, people and company organizational goals.  This part of the business process assessment targets results and goals of organizational tasks.  

First, we consider the current company technology business processes within each company department by reviewing the following 5 bullets:

1. Business Process Automation Design
2. Business Process Execution
3. Business Process Integration
4. Business Process Documentation
5. Business Process Measurement

Selecting an accounting system is no small task.  There are so many accounting systems available which one is right for your company?  Today we'll discuss common accounting system selection mistakes and how to avoid them.

Accounting Systems Selection Mistake #1:  Failure to establish a solid technology project management committee.  Establish a manageable technology project management committee where each company department is represented.  It is important the needs of every part of the company are considered.  Try to keep this team under 7 members.

Accounting Systems Selection Mistake #2:  Failure to perform a detailed needs assessment with a qualified local accounting systems expert. Needs assessments can reveal performance needs, instrumental needs, conscious needs, unconscious needs, organizational needs, individual needs and causes for needs.

Accounting Systems Selection Mistake #3:  Failure to develop a comprehensive business process assessment.  This process documents the measurement and assessment of the existing business processes.  This can come in the form of a checklist defining a weighted value of importance to the individual business processes critical to the company.

Accounting Systems Selection Mistake #4:  Failure to define your milestone and budget projections.  It is important for the technology project management committee to prepare a project time line and prelimminary budget.

Accounting Systems Selection Mistake #5:  Buy on emotion instead of fact.  Everyone has opinions.  It is important to make a rational fact based decision based on your needs assessment and business process assessments.

Accounting Systems Selection Mistake #6:  Too much focus on the ERP initiatives and lack of focus on other important business initiatives.

According to a 2011 study conducted by Panorama Consulting Solutions titled: ERP Failures and Lawsuits: It's Not Just For the Tier 1 ERP Vendors, ERP failures for Tier II and Tier III ERP implementations are just as likely to fail as Tier 1 implementations from SAP or Oracle.  The reasons for failure can be related to employees having trouble acclimating to the new system, versus malfunctions in the software itself.  So the goal is simple:  choose the right local accounting systems expert and the right accounting system by matching company needs to the software capabilities and including every department in the fact-based decision making step-by-step accounting systems selection process.

Picture available on Hiking Artists.com Flickr photostream

Question:  Does Sage CRM sync with Microsoft Outlook or other calendar management applications?

Sage CRM and Microsoft Outlook is completely integrated no matter where you start your task or appointment.  The information is a bi-directional sync so wherever the appointments are set-up they are synced with the other integrated application.  Bring over the contacts you need to view from Sage 100 ERP.  Book meeting rooms, assign people and resources to activities.  Manage employees by monitoring activity completion.  Set notification s management if tasks are not accomplished within the time specified.  View and notify managment of incomplete tasks.

Please watch Sage CRM's powerful calendar and task management by capabilities in the short video below:

How do I set-up repetitive invoice entry in Sage 100 ERP?  Watch now:

Follow these steps to answer the question:

1. Go into Sage 100 ERP accounts receivable
2. Go into Sage 100 ERP repetitive invoice entry in the accounts receivable drop down
3. Select your Sage 100 ERP customer
4. Give the Sage 100 ERP entry a reference number
5. Select the Sage 100 ERP cycle (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.)
6. Start the Sage 100 ERP billing date
7. Indicate comments if needed into the Sage 100 ERP A/R Repetitive Invoice Entry
8. Apply sales tax into the Sage 100 ERP Repetitive Invoice Entry if applicable
9. Go to the Sage 100 ERP lines tab populate details in the lines code
10. Indicate the description in Sage 100 ERP miscellaneous item maintenance i.e. monthly service contract
11. Assign Sage 100 ERP GL account numbers
12. Go back to the Sage 100 ERP AR repetitive invoice to add the amount
13. To create the invoice go to Sage 100 ERP Repetitive Invoice Selection under the accounts receivable drop down
14. Select the Sage 100 invoice date and Sage 100 selection date
15. Choose the Sage 100 cycle
16. Print and send the Sage 100 invoice
17. Then you have the option to update the Sage 100 Sales Journal

Once the sales journal is updated the new transactions will be reflected

 Image available on data_entry_outsoucing Flickr channel

Front Office Meets Back Office with Sage 100 ERP (formerly MAS 90 and MAS 200)

The back office accounting processes are the backbone of any business.  The financial balance statement can make or break a company.  Accountants are well qualified for what they do.  The front office sales and customer service teams can help your back office accounting teams accomplish objectives.  Here's how:

Sage 100 ERP (formerly MAS 90 MAS 200)is now combined with Sage CRM to extend the functionality you have become accustomed to in the back office to your front office.  Sage 100 ERP is combined with Sage CRM to allow for a single view of your customers interactions with your company.  Now your sales teams can become focused on the profit objectives of your company using Sage 100 ERP, providing an enterprise-wide, consistent view of customer activity and opportunities.

• Is your accounting business management system disconnected from customer service and sales?
• Is it important to have integrated business management systems between departments?
• Has your company experienced miscommunication between your back office accounting teams and your front office customer facing teams?
• Have your sales people sold to customers on credit hold by mistake?
• If your back office accounting personnel had access to your sales forecast would it be helpful in budgeting?
• When a sales quotation turns into an order does someone have to re-key that duplicate information into your Sage 100 ERP system?
• Do your sales people use a separate system to record notes about customers that could be useful to accounting?
• Is your sales forecast important when it comes to budgeting?
• Do your sales people miss opportunities to collect on open invoices because they lack visibility to them?
• Do your sales lack visibility to customer item sales history, potentially handicapping their customer relationship?
• When a sales prospect becomes a customer does your accounting staff have to re-key the customer information into Sage 100 ERP? 

If you answered yes to any of the foregoing questions, please join us for a complimentary one hour webcast May 18, 2012 at 12 PM CT to learn how Sage 100 ERP combined with Sage CRM can solve these problems and more.

(Image provided by hayley valleyo on flickr)

Sage Software is rebranding products to focus on the Sage brand.  Classic Sage products names i.e. Peachtree, Accpac, Abra, MAS 90, MAS 200, MAS 500, Master Builder, Simply Accounting, and Timberline will no longer be used.  These historic well known brand names will be disposed by 2013 in favor of a new numbering Sage product brand based on market segment.  Please find a complete list of the current/former names and the new name to replace them here:  Sage Products Name Grid

This is no doubt an ambitious rebranding strategy that will work out in the long run for Sage products.  For example, it is my experience exhibiting in a MAS 90, MAS 200 booth at several vertical industry related tradeshows the attendees often don't recognize the MAS 90 or MAS 200 name, but do recognize the SAP booth or Epicor booth in close proximity. 

Sage has tried for a long time to get brand recognition in the US for the Sage name.  U.S. products like Peachtree, Accpac, Abra, MAS 90, MAS 200, Timberline, and Master Builder do have brand recognition without the Sage association.  I believe this rebranding strategy will go a long way in the minds of our customers and future prospective customers.  Hopefully this Sage numbering standardization  brand strategy to leverage the universal Sage name accross all brands will transcend the Sage brand association and increase awareness resulting in growing market share.  I also hope the warm and fuzzy Peachtree association will maintain it's peachy appeal as Sage 50 U.S. edition replaces the brand.

I am looking forward to a prosperous future marketing Sage 100 ERP, formally MAS 90 MAS 200.

• Do you have to deal with 1099 reporting?
• Do you want to automate this onerous task and decrease your risk of IRS audit!

Today’s  electronic payment options allow business to accept and disburse funds as needed without mailing checks and depositing funds at the bank.  Why is this important to a business?  Because vendors and customers want flexibility in payment methods and they expect the same from their vendors and customers.  Being able to accept credit cards with Sage Payment Solutions speeds up the process of being paid by customers so product can be shipped earlier or the service can be rendered sooner. 

Sage Payment Solutions has the added benefit of being in the Sage software family of businesses and integrates directly into many of Sage’s Enterprise Resource Planning software such as Mas 90 and 200.  However, a customer of Sage Payment Solutions is not required to use a Sage ERP package.

With Sage Virtual Terminal, merchants can directly interact and process transactions.  This secure website is the merchant’s gateway to processing and reporting credit and/or debit card transactions.  In addition, Sage Payment Solutions has the added functionality of converting paper checks into ACH deposits into your bank account.  With Sage Payment Solutions armed with these options, a business is flexible and accommodating to how a customer wishes to make payment.    

There are a couple options when it comes to barcode Scanning and automation of your warehouse processes in Sage ERP MAS 90 and Sage ERP MAS 200.  Last week we co-hosted a webcast with Scanco, a preferred Sage Software barcode solution vendor, entitled "Save Time and Money by Improving Warehouse Efficiency".  According to Scott Yoder of Scanco there are five common "pain points" a barcode scanning solution like Scanco can alleviate:

1. Long Count Times
2. Overstaffing
3. Inaccuracies
4. Delays
5. Errors

Please watch our 7 minute summary presentation to learn more!

• Are you in the wholesale distribution business?
• Do you want to eliminate duplicate data entry?
• Do you want to eliminate errors in the data collection process?
• Do you want to improve customer satisfaction through quicker response times?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above please join us for our complimentary 60 minute webcast, Thursday, August 18 at 10 AM CT.

• When most inventory mistakes are made
• When most inventory mistakes are made
• What common mistakes are most expensive
• What processes take too long