productivity

Article Dean Dorton

As I sit here writing this article, I’m also working on some final tasks for my volunteer job with our local community theatre and our production of Seussical Jr. My daughter (now a high school theatre arts teacher!) grew up in that theater and I’ve enjoyed volunteering as treasurer and “computer person” ever since. I’ve sat through many rehearsals over the last few months, and I’ve heard one phrase over and over –

“Oh, the thinks you can think”

I know you’re reading this and asking, “What does that have to do with accounting software?”  Well, maybe it doesn’t have as much to do with accounting software as it does another lesson I recently learned at Sage Transform 2022. At the recent Sage Intacct partner and customer conference in Orlando, one theme I found applicable over and over was that we often have the knowledge and tools we need at our fingertips; we simply need to stop and think. Our days are often comprised of meetings, meetings, and more meetings and we don’t allocate enough, if any, time for thought to be creative and break through boundaries.

With that in mind, let me help you think about a few things I saw at Sage Transform 2022.

First, although we are not to the level of Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator, there is a bit of artificial intelligence inside Sage Intacct TODAY! If you have not heard already, the GL Outlier Detection is a feature built into every instance of Sage Intacct and does not cost a single penny to activate – well, other than any consulting charges that you might incur, of course. Once enabled, the tool monitors your transactions for about 30 days to get a sense of how your organization operates. Once that is complete, it looks at transactions that are entered in the GL that fall outside of the norm, flags any that are suspicious so you can review them. From there, you can either correct any problems or send them back to the submitter to correct. By monitoring your transactions in real-time, the GL Outlier Detection serves to help accounting departments to shorten the close cycle by correcting transactions while they are still fresh in everyone’s mind. After all,

“an error’s an error, no matter how small!”

Second, Sage Intacct is committed to including a functional, feature-filled, native AP Automation tool in the very near future. You should already be aware – I HOPE! – of the Vendor Payments by CSI feature that, again, is in every instance of Sage Intacct today! Granted, there is a cost for using this feature, but it is dependent on how much you use it, so it’s very beneficial to consider. What we saw at Transform 2022, though, was the next evolution of the AP Automation too, the approval workflows and automated handling of vendor invoices before the payment process. That’s right, Sage Intacct will, in 2023, become one of the few mid-market ERP systems to include a highly functional, well-designed AP Automation tool in the system that can process invoices, manage approvals, track attachments, and facilitate payments all inside the Sage Intacct application!

“Oh, the thinks they can think!”

Third, isn’t it just a pain to keep up with all those annual subscriptions that you prepay and then must remember to make journal entries each month to amortize the monthly amount? I mean if Sage Intacct just had a Prepaid Expense Amortization module that would be AMAZING, right? Well, hang on to your green eggs and ham because Sage Intacct has a Prepaid Expense Amortization module that lets you do just that – make an annual payment for a subscription or service and create a schedule, immediately, that automatically books a journal entry each month to recognize the appropriate expense.

Fourth, I’ll leave you with one final thought from Sage Transform 2022 in the fact that Sage Intacct is slammed packed with capabilities to create Smart Rules to make sure that your organization’s policies and procedures are adhered to with every click on a button. Imagine not being able to create a vendor without your new custom field called “License Date” populated IF the vendor is a certain type or any other criteria you deem required. Imagine having a rule that requires the system validate distribution line items to a master total you enter in the transaction header? Smart Rules, and their “cousin” Smart Events, are included free in every instance of Sage Intacct and can really help an organization stay on top of their data through validation upon entry.

Not many writers can match the style and prowess of Theodor Seuss Geisel, professionally known as Dr. Seuss, and not many software solutions can compete with the features and benefits of Sage Intacct – especially when you take a cue from Dr. Seuss and think all the things you can think! Sage Intacct is packed full of features and functions in each module and many of those are hidden gems that just need to be discovered. Just remember, always take time to

“think and wonder, wonder and think”

or you might just be….

“the biggest blame fool in the Jungle of Nool.”

Philip Massey, CPA | Software Services Director
pmassey@ddaftech.com
919.508.6062

Article Dean Dorton

What are the signs of an unproductive accounting department? They are subtle. The important obligations still get done and major milestones get met – but never as effectively as they could or should.

The month-end close is a good indicator. Accountants have all month to plan and 12 opportunities each year to practice. It’s something that should fire on all cylinders. Yet for many, the month-end close takes days of hard work, cuts deadlines close, and never seems to improve. It’s adequate. What it’s not is a productive process that uses resources effectively.

Start looking around, and a similar problem appears everywhere. All the boxes on accounting get checked, but rarely without involving some delay, workaround, or lowered expectations. The unproductive accounting department feels like it is never caught up, fully prepared, on in control of whatever comes its way.

Adding staff or tweaking the accounting processes can help. But neither of those addresses the core problem: the accounting software. It’s either the engine that drives productivity – or, too often, the roadblock that stands in the way.

Accountants at Odds with their Software

Accounting software always starts out as a solution. It puts new tools and data in the hands of accountants, vastly improving how things are done.

But then the accounting team, company, and economy start to change. Perhaps a global pandemic breaks out. Whether slowly or suddenly, the circumstances facing accounting start to change – and yet the accounting software stays the same.

Vendors offer occasional updates (or expensive upgrades), but essentially the system in place on day one looks the same as the system years later. Meanwhile, the team using the software and the ways they are using it look drastically different. It’s that disparity – between what accountants need and what the software can deliver – that causes productivity to suffer.

The effects are small at first. But then a company takes on bigger accounting workloads as the number of employees, clients, and locations grow. Accounting needs simultaneously become more sophisticated as companies start to take on greater financial risks and responsibilities.

The disparity eventually gets so wide that the software breaks entirely. But productivity starts suffering long before that. Recognizing the problem and replacing the software (the earlier the better) is the first step. Implementing something that won’t replicate the problem is the second.

How Sage Intacct Keeps Productivity on Pace

As a leading financial management platform for mid-market and growing companies, Sage Intacct does everything. But it keeps the features updated, relevant, and productive in two ways.

First, cloud-native development means that Sage Intacct (including all accounting tools and financial data) travels anywhere and everywhere. Access never inhibits productivity. Second, free updates installed automatically every quarter bring new features, improvements, and additions to the platform on a regular basis. Stale tools never inhibit productivity, either.

Is the current accounting software pulling its weight? Contact Dean Dorton to put something more productive in place.

Stacey Neideffer| Software Services Senior Consultant
sneideffer@ddaftech.com
859.425.7739

Article Dean Dorton

If you’re like most accountants, your workday still centers around spreadsheets, data entry, and manually moving information from one place to another. In many ways, the accounting of today works the same as it did 20 years ago. And while it has certainly improved in some ways, there has been little to no progress in others. Which raises an important question – why hasn’t accounting software made every number cruncher more productive by now?

Here’s an example: An accountant has an Excel doc where she tracks prepaid expenses. She has to enter new expenses by hand, and she needs to keep careful track of the numbers to reconcile them with the information in the accounting software. It’s a big job that’s both complicated and risky. It’s also exactly the kind of thing – relying on disconnected spreadsheets – that accountants in 2022 shouldn’t be doing anymore. So why is this example (or something similar) still so common?

Accounting software is always the culprit in our experience. When accounting feels unproductive, inefficient, or off-the-mark, it’s tempting to blame people or processes. But even with the best of both in place, accounting cannot fire on all cylinders without the right tech tool supporting it. Technology is the biggest difference between teams that exceed expectations and ones that struggle to get everything finished correctly.

That being said, there are two ways that accounting software can disappoint in terms of productivity:

  • Antiquated Systems – Many companies still use the accounting software they started with, or the one they’ve become accustomed to over many years. It may have worked well at one time. However, as the company has grown and evolved, it’s financial management needs have matured beyond what the existing software can offer. Antiquated software will only (and increasingly) make accounting harder since the features it has can’t keep up with all that accountants and decision makers need to accomplish.
  • Under-Utilized Systems – When companies upgrade their accounting software to improve on what they already do, they sometimes fail to utilize all that their stronger, smarter software is actually capable of. They do the same (only better) when they could be doing more. Under-utilization happens when there are tools that accountants are not using, or when the accounting team and processes have not been properly updated around the new software. In either instance, the solution is already in place to many accounting and productivity problems – people simply need to embrace it.

Some accounting teams are making the most of everything their powerful accounting software can do. Vastly more, however, suffer from one of the issues above. Today’s financial management tools can do incredible things, from automating huge amounts of work to uncovering important financial insights. But only for the teams that build synergy between themselves and the right accounting software.

How does that happen? With the help of consultants who have done it dozens of times before. Dean Dorton helps clients select and implement better accounting software, then take full advantage of everything their new toolkit can do. Expect more – contact us.

Philip Massey,
Software Services Director
pmassey@ddaftech.com • 919.796.5408

Article Dean Dorton

For service-based companies, fast answers, reliability, and market strategy are critical to business growth and stability. Reliability offers strong service to the clients you already have, fast answers motivate today’s potential clients, and market strategy invigorates new business for a bright future.

A strong MSP business inspired to grow can find support in these key areas by working in the cloud.

The Cloud Leverages Up-to-Date Information

On-premises systems may very well offer the data your teams need, but that data is useless if your teams in the field can’t access it.

When companies work from the cloud, field teams can leverage company data to deliver service or seal a deal faster than a team that can provide the information “when they get back to the office.”  

The Cloud Maximizes Independence and Productivity

When your people have real-time data and detailed information about client projects, and company services, they are free to work more quickly.

With the cloud, accounting departments streamline month-end closings and reporting because their financial data is always being updated in their systems, which means faster, more accurate output.  

Also, field teams work more independently because company information travels right with them, wherever they go. Deals close faster. Important project information populates in the system in real time so everyone on the project has access to critical data more quickly.

Cloud technology streamlines the business from every angle, saving MSPs hours of time and effort.

The Cloud Optimizes Your Dependability

The most dependable systems are the ones that no one has to worry about.

Reliability and data security are critical- especially when it comes to your client’s information. When MSPs secure their data with the right cloud-based financial management system like Sage Intacct, security is already taken care of, and so are software and maintenance updates – all behind the scenes.

MSP companies that work in the cloud boost their service dependability and can rest knowing client data is safe and secure.

For MSPs, Sage Intacct, a best-in-class cloud-based financial management solution, offers:

  • 24/7 up-to-date dashboard reporting that your teams can access from anywhere to strengthen market strategies, and work in the field more productively.
  • An award-winning API that integrates with other best-in-class cloud solutions for flawless client data transfer, accurate operational data, and enhanced project management.
  • Real-time, automated financial management features that streamline book closings, eliminate spreadsheets, speed reporting and invoicing, and simplify time and expense entry.

Sage Intacct cloud-based financial management means faster, leaner, more accurate processes to support your service-based business as it grows.

“Sage Intacct has given us the ability to focus on our technology, making it work for us,” says Tom Major, CFO of Clearpointe and Sage Intacct customer. “The financial reporting and dashboards have been transformative for our business.

Whether your company has one location or many, because the cloud offers financial management flexibility, it’s the ideal environment for companies that anticipate growth.

Contact us. We want to help you find the right financial management solution that will empower your teams as your business grows.  

Want to Know More?

Read Clearpointe’s full case study to learn the benefits that a cloud-solution brought to their business.

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