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Article Dean Dorton


Assessing your business to be ready for a comeback.

I don’t want to be the guy who is always trying to make lemonade when life throws a lemon. I also do not want to minimize the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, I do have to point out that the COVID-19 pandemic presents many businesses a unique opportunity to restart in a stronger position than they were in prior to the pandemic. The business environment that will exist once the effects of COVID-19 are diminished and social restrictions are lifted may be different from what you were accustomed to. Businesses need to start preparing to capitalize on new opportunities to grow and strengthen their operations. Businesses that have the self-awareness, proper team, and clear focus can position themselves to thrive as the world finds a new normal. Here are ten ideas to make your business better.

10 Ways to Make Your Business Better PDF
1. Be honest about your business strategic strengths and weaknesses

Where does your business thrive? In what areas should your business deliver world class / best-in-class service? Where is your business only average, or below average? Were staple revenue streams showing some signs of decline?  What pain points have you felt for years but have never dealt with (those will still be there post-pandemic)? Are there additional revenue streams, products/services that need to become a focal point? Is your overall business being handicapped by under performing segments? If operations have been idled due to the pandemic, consider the possibility that some segments of your operations should be closed indefinitely. Businesses should use this economic slowdown to understand the points of leverage they have over their competitors and those that will be differentiators post-pandemic.

2. Understand the business environment and what has changed

The post-pandemic business environment may look very different from the pre-pandemic business environment. The world made a very rapid adjustment to social distancing. Millions of workers have been logged into their workspace from home for weeks now, many for the first time ever, and many are surprised to find they like it. Flights have been grounded forcing the sales-force and consultants to interact with their clients and teams virtually. The one-on-one interaction that many businesses were accustomed to has been replaced by telecommuting. Businesses may find that they no longer need the corporate office space that was once idolized, nor do they need the robust retail space to serve customers that have grown even more accustomed to online retail.

Businesses reliant upon gathering of individuals (hospitality, entertainment, travel, food service, sports to name a few) need to be aware that social distancing has forced customers into their homes for significant amounts of time, with limited trips of any kind, and an inward focus on natural community to meet many needs. Also, the realization that many basic goods and services can be met online (think telehealth, religious services from the family living room, Google Classroom and food delivery) has fostered a consumer “cocooning” effect. Consumers have accepted being restricted to their home. Also, expected post-pandemic health anxiety (avoidance of handshaking, large groups, unnecessary business travel), as seen in post-pandemic China, further adds complexity to the consumer environment businesses will face.

3. Understand your opportunities – customers/services

After doing a thorough analysis of your business (pre-pandemic) and giving consideration towards what the post-pandemic business environment will look like, businesses need to carefully examine their opportunities. How can they re-engage with both existing and new customers? Businesses seeking to enhance their value and market share need to align their obtainable strengths (the differentiators that set them apart from competitors) with the opportunities that will be in high demand post-pandemic. Understanding opportunities in the post-pandemic economic may mean:

  • Shifting from physical presence to an online retail presence
  • Reassigning team members to emphasize new or different services or products
  • Recruiting people to the business with skill sets that have never been required
  • New strategic alliances to protect the supply chain, secure access to capital
  • A marketing shift to create a new public persona

Businesses must also consider that the economy may re-open in stages. Each stage may have its own opportunities and life cycle. Businesses must consider its timing as it pursues post-pandemic opportunities and plan accordingly.

4. Know your team

Most businesses are only as good as the team they employ. To maximize identified strengths or potential strengths, to navigate the post-pandemic business environment and to capitalize on upcoming opportunities businesses must have a strong cadre of team members to support the mission. Businesses must identify the key roles that will be crucial for their success, identify the skills required for those roles, and do an inventory of their organizational structure to identify any roles or skills that are lacking. Businesses also need to consider opportunities to shift pre-pandemic responsibilities between team members to capitalize on under-utilized skills or abilities. Businesses may need to consider outsourcing non-essential activities such as accounting, human resources, and marketing to free internal resources and gain access to external resources. Lastly, businesses need to consider their succession plan.  Do you have a plan in place to transition key roles and responsibilities if needed? Is your business protected from the unexpected loss of a key team member?

5. Know your needs – Evaluate your supply chain

Consumers have benefited from the global economy since the Reagan presidency. The global economy brought global supply chains which emphasized efficiency above all else. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the risks assumed by over dependence on global supply chains. Businesses will likely reconsider the emphasis on efficiency and explore options for supply chain reliability and control through domestic options. This may lead to re-shoring of international manufacturing as losses in the short term are outweighed by the risk of efficiency. This creates opportunities for local industries that have been impacted by the import economy but will require businesses reliant on international suppliers to manage costs and supply chain relationships.

6. Know your community – Key relationships

To be stronger in the post-pandemic economy, businesses need to identify those external relationships that will be key in helping the business succeed. This includes financing relationships, key stakeholders, significant vendors, legal counsel, tax/accounting, human resources, real estate and on and on. Businesses should be proactive in communicating any strategic initiatives with its key relationships to ensure alignment. This may include replacing some relationships with new participants, adding new types of relationships, and having difficult conversations with a relationship that needs to bring more value.

7. Prioritize your marketing plan

Most business’ marketing and sales funnels have been smudged, if not erased. Marketing efforts will need to be rebooted. Businesses should not assume customers will automatically return. Businesses should not assume prospective customers are exactly where they were in the sales cycle pre-pandemic.  Marketing efforts need to be tailored to a new business landscape sensitive to an economy that has been quarantined for many weeks. In some cases, businesses will need to work to re-build awareness of its services and products, especially new services or products. As always, the timing of the marketing strategy will be essential.

8. Plan for next time

The medical community has identified an unsettling trend. From 1900 to 2000, the World Health Organization identified 4 pandemics (including AIDS/HIV, which is ongoing). Since 2002, the World Health Organization has identified 5 pandemics (excluding AIDS/HIV, including COVID-19 which is ongoing). Businesses need to be prepared for future situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors to consider when building such a contingency plan:

  • Team member safety
  • Access to cash or capital
  • Continuity of services
  • Communication protocols
  • Inventory / supply stockpile
  • IT infrastructure integrity/security
  • Data availability

9. Establish the vision for what the business will be

It may be hard to see beyond the imminent threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, but successful businesses see beyond the dark horizon and envision what can become in the long term. This vision will serve as a guiding star as short and mid-term challenges are navigated. The world is changing more rapidly than it ever has. Future growth and opportunities come from seeds that are planted today. All business analogies ultimately point towards Apple, so consider Apple 20 years ago. The dotcom bubble was crashing and the Apple computer business was failing. While the traditional Apple business was in a pinch, the leadership of Apple was envisioning the iPod and iPhone, which would go on to alter life as we know. If you struggle to cast a vision for your business, start with a perspective of gratitude for the fact that your business is surviving and build your vision from there.

10. Communicate… then communicate some more

If a mighty tree falls in the woods with no one to hear, does it make a sound? I have no idea. I do know that a business with a great plan but a failure to communicate it effectively has set itself up for loss. As businesses build their plan and formalize their identity for the post-pandemic era, they must communicate effectively. Key team members and strategic partners must understand your business’ intentions. Short, mid and long-term plans need to be communicated to provide guidance in the day-to-day and to provide stability over the mid and long-term time frames. Communicate how business is going to be different going forward. Communicate new cultural guardrails and expectations. Empathize with team members as they adjust to a new normal but be rational about the facts of the situation and the opportunities ahead. Instill confidence in team members by letting them be part of the long-term plan.

These are indeed interesting times, but these are times that businesses can use to add value to their future operations. Businesses that engage the new environment, are sensitive to their current and future customer needs, and that can be agile enough to deal with the challenges the restart will bring should be positioned for long term success.

We would be thrilled to talk to you about your business. If you would like to brainstorm more about how to strengthen your business for a successful post-pandemic relaunch, please contact Justin Hubbard at jhubbard@deandorton.com.

Article Dean Dorton

You’ve heard the standard tips and tricks of how to stay positive and productive when working from home- Keep a routine, make sure you’re active, get some fresh air, etc., but apart from the basics, how do you ensure you have the right technology tools to support you through this “new normal” we are facing?

With so much fear, uncertainty, and angst taking over our communities and daily lives, it’s hard to feel in control of both personal routines and business processes. Without a doubt, we are living in unprecedented times – add in the shelter in place orders, stir up of economic turmoil, and trying to work remotely – and you’re up for a challenge.

Businesses are being forced to shift their operations and focus on a digital and virtual business model. Don’t let technology disruptions stall your organization’s success– with Dean Dorton Technology, you can make your remote situation more stress-free and efficient with these top five tools from our diverse technology stack:

1. VoIP Systems: No phone technician, no problem! With our Voice-over IP (VoIP), your telephone system can be completely centralized to make communication with colleagues, customers, and prospects, more manageable and smoother. VoIP is not limited to local connections, so you can make or receive calls from anywhere. A few benefits of VoIP include:

  • Cost reduction from your current phone service
  • Single number reach to multiple devices and call forwarding. Office phones can be easily installed at remote employee homes
  • Soft-phones on remote PC’s or smartphones to maintain business identity and protect your employee’s private cell numbers
  • Voicemail to e-mail

2. Video Conferencing: How many times have you signed into a meeting and had to wait for someone to start sharing their screen and it didn’t work or got kicked out and had to dial-in a few times? With reliable tools like Cisco Webex, virtual collaboration has never been easier and more pain-free. You and your team can make the most out of every meeting (from the comfort of your own home!) with real-time mobility and “face-to-face” collaboration.

Yes, phone calls are great, but with all the stress around us, it’s critical to stay connected in a dynamic environment and continue maintaining personal relationships with colleagues and customers as much as possible.

3. Security Authentication: According to a security article from The Hill, researchers for cyber group Barracuda Networks found a 667 percent increase in phishing emails using the coronavirus to trick individuals into clicking links or downloading attachments that included computer viruses.

Don’t fall victim to ransomware and malicious encrypted messages- Dean Dorton has tools such as Okta, Duo, Crowdstrike, Cisco Umbrella, and many others to help ensure secure your user accounts and end-point devices are secure.

4. Cloud Accounting: Financial management is posing as a big challenge for some organizations that use on-premise solutions or have to maintain their servers onsite. With Dean Dorton’s premier cloud accounting solutions like Sage Intacct or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can access your financial and operational data from anywhere at any time, with the security of the cloud.

Accelerate your cash flow! With our cloud accounting solutions, go paperless with automated accounts receivable and accounts payable processes. This allows your finance team to avoid handling paper invoices and transactions, mitigating the risk for errors. You can also manage ACH payments quickly, letting you get paid faster and pay vendors faster during these trying times.

5. Team Collaboration: Apart from video conferencing, Dean Dorton’s team collaboration tools can make communication stronger and increase team productivity. With technology like Webex teams and file sharing, your entire organization and teams can chat in real-time and continuously be on the same page.

Overall, we don’t know how long this “work from home world” will last, but whether it’s three more weeks, one month, or six months or more, it is critical that your business is prepared to adapt and respond to unique scenarios like this. We also don’t know how many of our team members will want/expect to work from home permanently. Now is the perfect time to assess what technology you need for the current situation, but also plan for other “disaster scenarios” that could come in the future– will you be prepared to tackle those?

Don’t let technology disruptions get the best of your business. All in all, keep calm and carry on- and let Dean Dorton take the stress away when it comes to doing “all things digital.”

View all of Dean Dorton’s Remote Work Tools

Article Dean Dorton

2019 Success Recipe: 5 Ingredients to Prep Your Finance Team for Scalability

The end of the year is an excellent time for companies to get prepped to grow their business in 2019. The finance team, too, must be able to support their company’s ability to scale. Doing so requires finance to have easy visibility into real-time metrics, get information from multiple sources, keep their chart of accounts manageable—and have the flexibility and security to scale with confidence.

As the new year is right around the corner, your organization may be considering new financial management systems that can scale with the company’s projected growth. For example, a cloud-based system like Sage Intacct has all the ingredients that CFOs, controllers, and the rest of the finance team need to meet the increasing demands of a growing company:

Dashboards help you get reliable, timely metrics in front of the board of directors and provide the context and details needed to align on key decisions. For instance, performance cards, which are summaries pulled from account groups, are far more than groups of financial accounts. They can also summarize operational information, such as the number of employees or billable hours. Account groups can also be calculations, like revenue per billable hour and can be filtered just to show a particular location, department, or other dimensions. And charts and reports help show and explain financials to the board. Each visualization tells a big-picture story, while still allowing finance to drill into the report and transactional details behind the chart.

Best-of-breed integration with multiple systems. Cloud financial management software was built to “talk” to your other best-in-class systems with automated two-way, system-to-system communication. Web services API eliminates the need for business logic, and you have the flexibility to tailor your connections to your specific workflow processes. What’s more, you can connect the software to with any application you have—from proprietary custom applications or popular business systems like Salesforce CRM. This seamless integration serves as a foundation for adding new applications as you grow.

Dimensions to minimize the chart of accounts. Most financial solutions use a hard-coded structure for your chart of accounts. Say you want to track 3 locations, 5 departments, and 5 projects—you’d need 75 account code combinations. Plus, you’d end up with a complicated, unmanageable set of codes. Want to add a new location or department? You might be forced to add hundreds of additional accounts. Cloud financial management software lets you keep it simple with dimensions—all you have to do is set up your primary account codes. Dimensions also offer a new way to track and report on financial and operational data. You get quick access to insights that speed decision-making and help drive growth.

Reporting Flexibility. A cloud-based accounting infrastructure provides greater flexibility to your finance team. Whether you have staff working offsite, operate in multiple locations and entities, or have team members on the road, mobility and remote access are a requirement for efficiency and productivity. The ability to share data—anytime, anywhere—greatly improves your efficiency by providing real-time insight so you can take smarter action sooner. With the mobility capabilities of cloud computing, your internal and external stakeholders have full access to metrics, approvals, and financial reports—regardless of location.

Security. Major cloud providers have made extensive investments in deploying superior technology, processes, and initiatives to achieve extremely high levels of data security. Your company can benefit from levels of privacy and security that far exceed what on-premises solutions offer. That’s because cloud providers of financial management software can support millions of users to create more secure environments that incorporate the latest standards and controls for physical access.

Ready to scale and grow in 2019?

Cloud financial management software from Sage Intacct has the features, flexibility, and security—in other words, all the ingredients—that finance needs to scale the business into 2019 and beyond. The business technology experts from Massey Consulting can help; contact us for a free consultation today.

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Article Dean Dorton

5 Reasons Why Cloud Accounting Software is Right for Nonprofits

It is becoming more and more common to see growing nonprofits swaying off their legacy systems. As your nonprofit organization grows, you reach a point where manual, time-consuming processes drain your productivity. Not having real-time visibility into key metrics and outcomes is hindering growth. To be a good steward, you need a system that makes use of the latest technology advancements. This means a modern accounting system that not only automates and streamlines core financial management functions but supports your growth and helps provide accountability and transparency. Today, inflexible, inefficient, and outdated on-premise accounting software is rapidly being replaced by a new class of modern cloud financial management solutions.

Here’s why:

1. You only pay for what you use. Legacy financial systems place the IT cost and maintenance burden on your organization. You’ve got servers for your application, database, backup, and probably more—and you need to keep up with changing hardware, software, and operating system versions over time. That level of technology maintenance alone is a full-time IT job—not a core responsibility of nonprofit accounting professionals. By contrast, the cloud software provider runs, maintains, and upgrades the software for you on its own secure, high-performance hardware, eliminating many of your IT costs.

2. Your data is safe in the cloud. The best cloud software has security covered from all angles: physical, network, application, and data. Your information is stored in highly data centers, with 24/7/365 operations and performance monitoring, continuous backups, and disaster recovery. Controlled permissions and access, firewalls, scanning, and data encryption further protect your organization’s data.

3. It supports a mobile workforce. Staff and volunteers can access the system anytime, anywhere—and on any device. Enter your data on your laptop, see information on your iPad, and approve transactions from your mobile phone. Unlike legacy solutions that awkwardly adapt decades-old screens for browsers, cloud fund accounting software is often designed from the start to offer a modern, intuitive user experience.

4. You’re always using the latest version. With on-premises software, you have to cope with painful upgrades or suffer through the limitations of outdated versions. Cloud software is automatically updated with no business disruption and no costly upgrade projects. You get instant access to the latest version as soon as it’s available, delivering greater value and less headache for your organization.

5. You get the best of everything with integrated solutions for nonprofits. Open APIs let you utilize best-in-class apps like CRM, donor management, fundraising, and payroll. Cloud fund accounting software is built to “talk” to your other best-in-class cloud systems with automated two-way, system-to-system communication. Web services APIs eliminate the need for complex business logic, and you have the flexibility to tailor your connections to your specific workflow processes.

Cloud financial management software like Sage Intacct can help you accomplish your mission by providing you the visibility, flexibility, efficiency, automation, and integration you need to succeed. Replacing and updating your old accounting solution with a modern, best-in-class cloud solution built for a nonprofit organization can cost less than you think—while saving you time and resources. 

E-BOOK: Why Nonprofits Are Moving to the Cloud
Get our free e-book and start your financial transformation journey today.

Article Dean Dorton

If your current financial management solution is starting to create productivity issues, it might be time to move on. Before you do, consider these questions to ask first.

1. What kind of benefit can we get from cloud accounting?

The cloud offers anytime/anywhere accessibility. Cost efficiencies enter in when companies move from on-premises to cloud-based solutions by reducing their need for complicated IT infrastructure expenses.

Sage Intacct, a cloud-based financial management solution also offers deep visibility into your most critical KPIs for fast answers to growth strategy and performance – something that on-premises systems cannot provide.

2. Can your software solution scale to accommodate growth?

Strong cloud-based software solutions are designed to scale with business growth to accommodate small and large companies alike. This means the right solution should fit whether you’re just starting out, or ready to add new locations, entities, or even go public.

Because Sage Intacct is also GAAP compliant and streamlines global consolidations, companies that plan to grow don’t need to worry about outgrowing this solution down the road.

3. What happens in the event of a disaster? Will we have a backup?

When a disaster happens, on-premises solutions can render your business inoperable, with the risk of permanent data loss in the case of weather-related disasters or power failures. Be sure the software you choose provides ample backup, storage and redundancy to ensure data protection.

Cloud-based solutions however are backed up remotely, and with Sage Intacct, your data is backed up and secure, both remotely and from wherever your teams work.

Sage Intacct provides continuous local and streaming backups to remote disaster recovery centers, with redundancy, so your data is secure, protected, yet accessible, on reliable Oracle database infrastructure.

4. We rely on other solutions – does your application integrate?

With the cloud, you don’t have to settle for an all-in-one solution to ensure your company data flows between departments.

Because Sage Intacct works from open web services, it can integrate with a wide range of applications from CRMs to SFAs to PSAs. This translates into time and cost savings by modifying only the financial management solution features you need, without re-inventing the wheel throughout the whole company.

5. If we customize our version of the software, will it work with future updates?

If you need customizations, consider whether your potential accounting solution will operate just as effectively down the road, after updates.

Sage Intacct provides frequent updates that happen behind the scenes to ensure a seamless workflow, and no downtime on your end things.  While Sage Intacct’s updates occur regularly, rest assured that they won’t alter the efficacy of your customizations in future versions of Sage Intacct’s software.

Still have more questions? Reach out to us to get important answers when choosing a modern financial management solution to drive your growth.

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Article Dean Dorton

For today’s businesses, financial management in the cloud is a natural first step to keeping up with market demands.  However, many companies are resistant to this change for fear of the unknown, or talk around the water cooler.

As experts in financial management solutions for growing businesses, we can shed some light on those myths.

Myth #1: The cloud is more expensive than on-premises solutions.

On-premises programs demand updates, maintenance, and upgrades just to stay current. This means waiting for a consultant, buying an add-on, etc. Further, if you don’t keep current, you could risk compliance. With a cloud-based best-in-class solution like Sage Intacct, ASC 606 and FASB 15 compliant software, maintenance and update releases are automatic, all worked into your expected costs. Reality: The right cloud-based solution can be more cost-effective than on-premises software.

Myth #2: Our data is more vulnerable in the cloud.

Security rests on your shoulders with on-premises systems. If your network security fails, you miss an update, or you store data in an unsecured location, your data is open for attack. From the cloud, security experts protect your data, 24/7, with redundancy, from secure data center locations. Reality: Your data is safer with the right cloud-based solution.

Myth #3: New software won’t integrate with our systems.

What accounting departments really need are a second set of hands and another set of eyes to re-populate data back and forth between their software and their other department’s software. This is a big productivity bottleneck. The best cloud accounting solutions like Sage Intacct design their products to integrate. Reality: Strong cloud accounting solutions can integrate well with many other solutions.

Myth #4: Our multi-entity financials are too complex for cloud systems.  

Multi-entity companies may actually be holding themselves back from faster growth with on-premise software. With QuickBooks Enterprise, for example, users have to log in and out repeatedly to manage separate companies, then export into Excel, spending endless hours formatting. This slows productivity, data sharing and growth strategy to a halt.

Sage Intacct accommodates multi-entities, with easy new entity set-up, currency conversions, and one-click global consolidations all in one place, exporting directly into excel. Reality: Multi-entity companies can work faster, build solid growth strategy and bridge the financial gaps between entities with the cloud.

Myth #5: We won’t have control of cloud-based financials.

Sage Intacct offers a unique tagging feature to make your complicated charts of accounts easier to organize and detail out for faster monthly reporting, and cleaner audits. Data is always current, always accessible, and options can be deeply customizable to optimize your company’s financials. Reality: Companies using strong cloud accounting systems actually have more control over their data, than with on-premises systems.

Myth #6: We’re a growing business – we don’t have time to switch software.

Many customers, like Legacy healthcare, migrate easily to Sage Intacct with their time-saving templates, quick importing options and strong training. Migration time balances out in time saved by ditching mountains of spreadsheets, speeding up reporting, book closings and consolidations, and simplifying charts of accounts. Reality: If you’re a growing business, this is the BEST time to move to the cloud.

Let us show you how easy your transition to the cloud can be, with the right financial management solution, like Sage Intacct, and ongoing support from our team.