How To Select The Correct Accounting Software(Part 2of2)
In earlier part 1, we learn the importance of choosing the correct accounting software.
This part 2 deals with the importance of planning ahead when buying the correct accounting software as this will later save us time and money in the future.
Plan ahead by making sure that your chosen accounting software are able to be:
Modular/ Scalability:
The company business will inevitably expand hence whichever selected business accounting software should also change accordingly. Example are the increase in products and services offered and the number of employees.
Always try to choose an accounting package by visualizing the business in 3 or 5 years time and how different it will be. Use this information to guide the purchase decision. Ironically, it might be wise to pay a little more now for the accounting software knowing that it can be easily upgraded when needed with minimum disruption and cost to our business
The Importance of Interfacing with the Accountant
Ensure that the accountant is involved. Sometimes, we might see that a company’s MIS might take a more important role in selecting the accounting software. There is the need to ensure what accounting software are accounts used to working with and what do they prefer? Can data and reports from our accounting package be easily available without the need for any extra work
Support:
It is important that any software has great support for when something goes wrong (and it always does).
Secondly, we should ensure that the support should be local or as close as possible to us. Imagine that things need done with the software by someone trying to help you over the phone.
Wherever possible, make some enquiries with other businesses about the package they use and who helps them.
Best Value For Money
Once we have selected the right package for your business the most logical step is to shop for the best value for money.
Shop around as the price can vary greatly and the product is exactly the same unless the price differential is with good support or installation assistance.
Major Brands
Wherever possible, we should choose the most popular and major brand to avoid the hussle of dealing with some unknown accounting software house.
Furthermore by choosing a major brand we can get regular updates and also know that the company will be around as long as your business needs them.
Ease Of Use
Always remember to get the person who will be the main user to test the software as well. Next, consider how well the package can interact with other software we are using. Nowadays, the modern accounting software should come with the import and export data function where the import and export of data to spreadsheet or vice versa are easily done. With these capabilities, just in case, there can more detailed analysis be able to be done. ( For example, SunSystem Accounting System using its user friendly “Vision” which can very easily manipulate data exported to Excel Worksheet)
Features Needed
Most accounting software packages come in several different versions.
If we don’t need certain features now and can’t see a need for them in the future then we need not buy them.
The major differences are usually – number of users allowed, number of reports available and others..
January 31, 2010
Tags: Accounting Software Posted in: Accounting Software 
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How To Select The Correct Accounting Software Or Package for your business(Part1of2)
It is important to understand that there is no such thing as a standard accounting software which can be applicable to all different industries. Businesses like restaurant/food business, manufacturing business, merchandise business and others need dedicated accounting software to resolve their day-to-day accounting and management information needs. Even in the same industry, they may have similar but different needs. Therefore choosing the right accounting software that suits your business can be a very difficult decision.
So before one can select the correct accounting software, he or she should:
- Understand what’s the business’s actual requirement to make sure that the requirements can be met by the accounting software;
- What’s management reports are requirement by the management whether for planning, financial or analysis purposes
- Preliminary study evaluation between the user and the software consultant must be performed. It is pretty dangerous to buy the accounting software “from the shelf”
- The modules in the accounting software should be thoroughly tested by the user
- Know what type of budget, management has allocated for the accounting software as the prices of accounting software can range from a couple of hundreds to a few millions.
[ see part 2 on how to select the correct accounting software/package for your business]
January 31, 2010
Tags: Accounting Software Posted in: Accounting Software No Comments
China could overtake US by 2020: PWC
Leading top business consultancy firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers(PWC) in its recent report stated that:
- China could overtake the United States to become the world’s largest economy as early as 2020,
- By 2030 the top 10 world economies could be China, followed by the United States, India, Japan, Brazil, Russia, Germany, Mexico, France and Britain.{ The current 10 largest economies, according to 2008 data from the International Monetary Fund, are the United States, Japan, China, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Russia, Spain and Brazil.}
- India could grow even faster than China after 2020, mainly due to its younger and faster growing population as opposed to China
- The PWC report also pointed to an increasing share of global GDP taken up by China and India, compared to the United States and the European Union.
- The proportion in 2010 will be 20 percent for the US, 21 percent for the EU, 13 percent for China and five percent for India but by 2030 that will have changed to 16 percent for the US, 15 percent for the EU, 19 percent for China and nine percent for India
For further consensus, earlier Jim O’Neill, chief global economist for US investment bank Goldman Sachs, forecast in  November last year said that China will overtake the United States by 2027 — 14 years earlier than a previous Goldman Sachs forecast of 2041 made in 2003.O’Neill coined the term “BRICs” to refer to the four emerging market powerhouses Brazil, Russia, India and China, which have since formed an informal grouping to discuss global issues and economic policies.Incidentally, the Group of 20 (G20) developed and emerging economies last year took over from the traditional Group of Seven (G7) — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — as the main forum for economic talks.
January 21, 2010
Posted in: ASIA PACIFIC REGION No Comments
Accounting Fraud/ Irregularities in PN17 Company Ho Hup Construction Company Bhd
Recently, the board of directors of  PN17 Ho Hup has announced to Bursa Saham Malaysia that it will conduct an independent final investigative audit report relating to business losses recorded for financial years ended from 31 st December 2001 to 2008. The
The lengthy announcement which is self-explanatory to Bursa Saham dated 19 th January 2010 is as follows:
Â
 (1) Dato’ Low Tuck Choy (“LTC”) was suspended as the Company’s Managing Director on 28.8.2008 on the grounds of, among others, certain breaches of duties owed by LTC to the Company which had caused substantial business loss to the Company (“LTC’s Suspension”). The Company has made a general announcement in respect of LTC’s Suspension on 29.8.2008 and 3.9.2008;
(2) LTC was not re-elected as the Company’s director at the Company’s annual general meeting of shareholders held on 23.10.2008;
(3) on 1.7.2009 the Company has appointed Messrs Anuarul Azizan Chew & Co. (“Investigative Accountants”) to Read the rest of this post »
January 21, 2010
Tags: ACCOUNTING FRAUD IN MALAYSIA Posted in: ACCOUNTING FRAUD/SCANDALS, Malaysia & Asia Pacific No Comments
How Can Computerized Sales Ledger Assists In Credit Management
Earlier article describe why the need to keep proper sales ledger.
At all times, management must ensure that the finance/credit department should implement a properly run computerized sales ledger which should have the following features to assist in credit control:
- Â ageing of debtors by DUE DATE
- on line enquires on- credit limits, individual order limits, whether the customer is ” on stop”
- flagging of overdue accounts for follow-up by credit control
- attributing bad debts or high credit costs to salespersons or sales office responsible
- identifying consistently slow payers.
December 31, 2009
Posted in: CREDIT MANAGEMENT/CONTROL No Comments
Why Do We Need To Keep A Proper Sales Ledger To Help In Credit Management
It is important for both accountant and credit controller to understand the importance of keepng a proper sale ledger. In fact the sales ledger is an essential source of internal information about credit performance and it should be regularly updated for new invoices, credit notes and cash received in order to:
- produce accurate management information
- recognize as early as possible debtors who are slowing down payments
- prevent the chasing of debts already settled
- identify customers who have reached their credit limit
- ensure customers comply with any agreed payment schedule
December 29, 2009
Posted in: CREDIT MANAGEMENT/CONTROL No Comments
What is Sukuk-al-Ijara ( Sale and leaseback structure)
The sale and leaseback sukuk structure is the most widely used, as it has been tried, tested, and accepted by most Shariah scholars, both in the Gulf region and Asia. All sovereign sukuks issued to date have been based on the sale and leaseback structure. The documentation is fairly standard, with a broad consensus among Shariah scholars and Shariah Boards.Â
The sukuk-al-ljara (sale and leaseback structure) has the following characteristics:Â Â Â Â Read the rest of this post »
December 9, 2009
Tags: sukuk Posted in: Islamic Capital markets No Comments
