From Greg's Head

Insight, Information, and Commentary on Accounting and Technology Trends.

Why would a Growing Company Use Microsoft Dynamics NAV?

By PKF Texas on Posted in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook®

Note: Running weekly in FromGregsHead.com, PKF Texas – Entrepreneur’s Playbook® is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Sunday evenings during the BusinessMakers Radio Show on KPRC 950AM.

 

Greg: This is PKF Texas, The Entrepreneur’s Playbook. I’m Greg Price, director of consulting solutions, and I’m here with Jeff Hall, a Dynamics Partner Account Manager at Microsoft. Jeff, welcome to the Playbook.

Jeff: Thanks for having me, Greg.

Greg: So Jeff, today’s topic, Microsoft Dynamics NAV. What can you tell us about the product?

Jeff: Microsoft Dynamics NAV, formerly known as Navision, is a business management solution for mid-market companies. And it provides a comprehensive set of features around business and functionality from financial management to supply chain management to manufacturing and so forth. And in that sense, it connects all the moving parts of your organization, giving you greater visibility and insight into and control over what’s going on in the business. Additionally, one of the nice things about Dynamics NAV is it’s augmented by some partner developed solutions that address very industry specific and functional needs for most mid-market businesses.

Greg: So why would a company that’s growing here in Houston want to consider Dynamics NAV?

Jeff: Dynamics NAV enables you to make smart decisions that impact your bottom line, affect your operating margins, and your cash flow. It’s easy to learn and use. It works well with your current today technologies, but it’ll also grow in scale with your business as your business grows and changes and scales over the years. It’ll continue to drive value into what you’re trying to accomplish.

Greg: Jeff, that’s a great introduction to Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Can we have you back to talk some more about it in the future?

Jeff: Any time.

Greg: Okay, we’ll do that. Thanks for being here.

Jeff: Thank you.

Greg: This has been a Thought Leader production brought to you by PKF Texas, the Entrepreneur’s Playbook. . Tune in next week for another chapter. And remember, if you’re looking for business management software, give Microsoft Dynamics NAV and PKF Texas a call.

Sustainability Isn’t Just Green

By PKF Texas on Posted in PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook®

Note: Running weekly in FromGregsHead.com, PKF Texas – Entrepreneur’s Playbook® is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Sunday evenings during the BusinessMakers Radio Show on KPRC 950AM.


 

Greg: This is PKF Texas, the entrepreneur’s playbook. I’m Greg Price, director of consulting solutions and I’m here with Robin Tooms, the vice president of strategy for Savage. Robin, welcome to the Playbook.

Robin: Thank you Greg, glad to be here.

Greg: So Robin, in honor of Earth Day, one of the concepts people are talking about is sustainability. What can you tell us about that in the business world?

Robin: Oh sure. I think my best advice would be to not think of sustainability in very limited terms. Think about the total picture of sustainability, all tree legs of the stool. And when I say that, I mean profits, people and planet. So in terms of a business, this is all of the environmental, economic and social aspects that make up a total corporate responsibility program.

Greg: So do you have any examples of some companies you’ve worked with or maybe in your own case that might be good for our audience today?

Robin: Sure. So, some of our clients do internal leadership development programs. In those cases, they’ll look at really developing certain social economic classes within the company to help them build the future leadership within. This is a great example of a sustainability program that is not necessarily environmentally focused. And even within our own company, we know that we could make some more environmentally friendly choices with our paper, and we do. However, that alone is not going to make a sustainable company. So what we did is we created Savage Good to help nonprofit companies with their branding and marketing needs. And what this does is it helps those that can’t afford the best marketing get it by using our best assets, our creative talent.

Greg: Thanks for sharing that insight on this concept. I know that it’s one that people are going to talk about in the future. Can we have you back to talk some more about some of the things you do at Savage?

Robin: Absolutely.

Greg: Great. We’ll have you back on the Playbook in the future. This has been a Thought Leader Production brought to you by PKF Texas, the Entrepreneur’s Playbook. Tune in next week for another chapter and remember if you’re looking to enhance your existing sustainability marketing programs, give SavageBrands.com a call.

Partner Power Conference Day Three

By PKF Texas on Posted in Microsoft Dynamics NAV

I met with our client Acteon this morning at breakfast and we discussed their long term vision and strategy for using Dynamics NAV and increasing its footprint around the world.

I then helped facilitate a discussion between Acteon and its Application Vendor for its bolt on product which is based in the UK.

Opening Session for Day Three was an update on Sales and Marketing Work that PPI folks have been working on.  We have some new processes and they were very good.

Next were some tips on how to increase Search Engine Optimization, and how we can all benefit from linking up with PPI and each other.

A three part sharing of best practices was then put on by three PPI Partners, highlighting their experiences and the successes of working together.

First up was Robert Grahn of Medius AB who highlighted some feedback on a recent pursuit that several personnel in the PPI channel worked collaboratively to help him. He indicated that it would have taken days if not weeks to compile the information he got from the partners in just a few hours.  PKF Texas was a contributor to that process.

Next was Patricia Maia from Link Management Solutions who shared some best practices concerning Project Management.

And finally yours truly, led a brief discussion on US Partner collaboration on Marketing of PPI  in the US.

Poul Kjaer, CEO of PPI announced that next year’s  annual PPI meeting will be New Orleans, Louisiana. The first time ever for a PPI conference to be held in the US.

This will take place right before the 2013 Microsoft Convergence sessions which will also be in New Orleans.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!
New Orleans here we come.

Partner Power Conference – Day Two

By PKF Texas on Posted in Microsoft Dynamics NAV

The second day of the Partner Power Conference is known as customer day and today’s information packed sessions were quite good.

First the day started with PPI TV and Poul Kjaer doing his best impression of Sheppard Smith of Fox News.  Poul gave us an update on several aspects of Dynamics NAV, AX and the world of Microsoft.  It was quite good and I know how much time and effort went into that production. 

Speaking of TV production, yours truly did some interviews before breakfast this morning with some Partner Power folks.  Look for those videos, soon on the Entrepreneur’s Playbook when I return.    Thanks for agreeing to be on the show Poul and Henning.  And many thanks to Stephanie for getting the video crew up that early to work with us.

Our keynote speaker was Lord Digby Jones who offered some interesting insight into the global economy, each nation’s challenge and what the world is collectively doing about it.  Prior to his global comments he shared some insight into the “productive world” of English Politics.  Its seems Lord Jones is loath of all party politics and has no patience for someone getting in the way of doing business for the people of the UK.

Next up our second keynote speaker was Christian Pedersen, General Manger for Microsoft Dynamics.  He shared some insight into the products and the future of Dynamics NAV and AX.

The Global Best practice sessions started and we a wonderful series of presentations on the unique aspects of doing business internationally.

The true strength of our association is that we have the capability to do the work that is needed on a global implementation.

 Our evening concluded with a dinner at Pinewood Studios in the UK, home of British moviemaking.

Partner Power Conference Day One – Greetings from the United Kingdom!

By PKF Texas on Posted in Microsoft Dynamics NAV

As in the past I am blogging about the current trip to the UK to attend the Partner Power International Meeting.

Partner Power Day One

Hello from Windsor in the UK. The weather is rainy and cool, wait, the sun came out…no wait it’s raining again. Well, I am in the UK and that is the weather.

First day of the 12th Annual Partner Power Conference.

We kicked off with an update on the financial results of PPI around the world. That was followed with some sessions on PPI Business Processes. Then we had some quality time with Microsoft’s General Manager for Western Europe and we reviewed some key points that they are following for the future of the various Dynamics Products, and some interesting developments re future consulting partners.

The afternoon concluded with the members of PPI being involved in a team building exercise whereby we were divided up into teams. And we began a hunt for golden coins to help out Robin Hood and his merry men.  Our team  was the Light Blue team and we were involved in various scavenging activities, photographs or our group, contact with several entourage members associated with Robin, and also various games of skill and chance.   At our dinner last evening we were told we were the “winners” of the contest. Although some other team members claimed foul, we played the game exactly as instructed by Friar Tuck. We were better listeners.

More re Day Two to come.

Analyze Profit and Loss on Products and Services

By PKF Texas on Posted in PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook®

Note: Running weekly in FromGregsHead.com, PKF Texas – Entrepreneur’s Playbook® is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Sunday evenings during the BusinessMakers Radio Show on KPRC 950AM.

Greg: This is PKF Texas , the Entrepreneur’s Playbook. I’m Greg Price, direct of Consulting Solutions, and I’m here, again, with our client, Tim Burkett. CFO of Petris. Tim, welcome back to the Playbook.

Tim: Greg, thanks for having me.

Greg: So, Tim, when you were going through the proposal process, one of the things that I think you asked us about involved having a tool for profit and loss on products and services. You mentioned that in your initial intro to us a few segments back. Tell us a little bit about how you use dimensions which is kind of a tool for that.

Tim: We’ve been very happy with the dimension aspect within division. We have six different product lines within the company. We have, within those product lines, different revenue generators which would be for a software company, licensed sales, maintenance, services. The dimension tools, within division, allow us to analyze the data on an entity to entity basis or consolidated basis by different elements within our product mix.

So we are able to then slice and dice the data to give us an analysis on how we’re doing on a detailed level up to the consolidated level. So it’s been very helpful.

Greg: So would that be fair to say that you have a much quicker advanced look at how things might be going in a particular product or service?

Tim: We have a good advanced look, and we also are able to then tell what we’re doing well on where we may need a little work, also.

Greg: Sounds like it’s another great return on investment for you.

Tim: It’ s been a very good tool.

Greg: Thanks, Tim, for being here at the Playbook today.

Tim: Thank you.

Greg: If you’d like to learn more about Petris, go to Petris.com. This has been a Thought Leader Production brought to you by PKF Texas, the Entrepreneur’s Playbook. Tune in next week for another chapter and remember, if you have financial reporting questions, give PKF Texas a call.

Resources for Expanding Your International Business

By PKF Texas on Posted in PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook®

Note: Running weekly in FromGregsHead.com, PKF Texas – Entrepreneur’s Playbook® is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Sunday evenings during the BusinessMakers Radio Show on KPRC 950AM.

Greg: This is PKF Texas and another chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Playbook. I’m Greg Price, director of Consulting Solutions, and I’m here again with Keith Miceli, PKF Texas’s international business advisor. Keith, welcome back to the Playbook.

Keith: Nice to be back, Greg.

Greg: So, Keith, in an earlier segment, we talked about your experience with international business, and if I’m a company here in Houston looking to do business overseas, what kind of resources or capabilities are out there for me to get started in this endeavor?

Keith: Houston is really fortunate to have a number of international resources that companies can use to expand their international business opportunities. There are over 90 consulates here, 32 foreign chambers, and 18 trade offices, and each of them offer advice, counsel, and provide a number of programs during the year that you can attend, and it’s critical, if you want to be invited, you’ve got to get on their mailing list.

Greg: Wow. So, in addition to those great resources, are there any local government agencies or resources available to someone?

Keith: Yes. The Greater Houston Partnership and the mayor’s Office of International Affairs host visiting delegations, and organize international business missions.

Greg: So, it sounds like there are a lot of resources out there that you can get involved in to go internationally.

Keith: It’s just a matter of taking advantage of them.

Greg: Thanks for sharing that insight with us. Will you be back again?

Keith: Yes, sir.

Greg: All right. We’ll have you back again. This has been another Thought Leader Production, brought to you by PKF Texas, the Entrepreneur’s Playbook. Tune in next week for another chapter, and remember, if you’re doing business internationally, go to PKFTexas.com/internationaldesk.

Due Diligence to Prep Your Business for a Sale

By PKF Texas on Posted in PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook®

Note: Running weekly in FromGregsHead.com, PKF Texas – Entrepreneur’s Playbook® is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Sunday evenings during the BusinessMakers Radio Show on KPRC 950AM.

Greg: This is PKF Texas and another chapter of The Entrepreneur’s Playbook. I’m Greg Price, director of consulting solutions, and I’m here again with Byron Herbert, the director of our EAS practice at PKF Texas. Byron, welcome back to the playbook.

Bryon: Thank you, Greg.

Greg: So Byron, I’m hearing that there’s a buzz out in the marketplace that companies are out there looking to acquire companies. You’re an advisor to a lot of these middle market companies. What are they telling you?

Bryon: Several of my clients have been approached over the last couple years to sell their business.

Greg: So are they looking to cash out?

Bryon: Well, they’d like to, a lot of them, but it doesn’t always happen the way they hope.

Greg: So why is that?

Bryon: I think in most cases, Greg, they’re just not ready to sell. They haven’t done the due diligence necessary to get their company in a position that the market is looking for.

Greg: Can you share some insight with some of our viewers about what they should be doing?

Bryon: First, Phase 1 would be to get your company profitable and get it efficient. No point in running more sales through an inefficient process. And in that Phase 1 would also be drive your sales. Make sure that you have a steady increase in sales, and there’s a number of things we can do to help you with that. Phase 2 would be to polish the business. Get a management team in place so it’s not completely dependent on the owner. Get some infrastructure in place. Get rid of the debt on your balance sheet. Get your balance sheet cleaned up so it’s attractive to a buyer. And Phase 3 would be to drive the process yourself. There are a number of companies in the marketplace that will help you position your company, go to market with it, and help you drive the value of your company up.

Greg: Byron, I think you put together a white paper that has a lot more detail around this. Is that correct?

Bryon: I have, yes.

Greg: We’ll give the folks a link so they can get to that.

Bryon: Great, thank you.

Greg: We’ll have you back again some time.

Bryon: I appreciate it, Greg.

Greg: This has been another thought leader production brought to you by PKF Texas, The Entrepreneur’s Playbook. Tune in next week for another chapter, and remember, if you’re a seller looking to sell your company, you can get Byron’s white paper at PKFTexas.com/RoutetoProfits/

Manufacturing a Driver of Texas’ Economic Growth

By PKF Texas on Posted in In Our Community, Observations

I read a great article this morning on the HBJ website about the drivers of Texas’ economic growth.

Texas’ manufacturing sector is showing its strength as a major player in the state’s growth. Reporter Olivia Pulsinelli cites an economic report recently released by SigmaBleyzer Investment Group. The report states Texas’ fast job recovery is in part due to the growth in our manufacturing sector.  It says, “improving customer spending, returning investor confidence and growing demand for business equipment,” are the reasons for the growth.

Pulsinelli also cites the Houston Purchasing Manufacturers Index, Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey the Texas Business Cycle Index. All show positive trends for Texas and Houston in particular. This is just more data to support what we’ve known throughout this economic cycle: Texas is the place to be.

Culture in the Energy Industry

By PKF Texas on Posted in PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook®

Note: Running weekly in FromGregsHead.com, PKF Texas – Entrepreneur’s Playbook® is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Sunday evenings during the BusinessMakers Radio Show on KPRC 950AM.

Greg: This is PKF Texas and another chapter of The Entrepreneur’s Playbook. I’m Greg Price, Director of Consulting Solutions, and I’m here again with Scott Soles, a director in our energy practice at PKF Texas. Scott, welcome back to the Playbook.

Scott: Greg, thank you. Good to be here.

Greg: So, Scott, energy is your business. Is there anything unique about that industry?

Scott: Absolutely.

Greg: Give me an example about that.

Scott: Well, the industry has a very interesting culture. You know, it’s a culture where most of the people that are in the industry have been around it a while; a lot of leadership comes from driving mud trucks and having been on the rigs. And so over time they’ve really developed kind of character of their own and a tremendous camaraderie.

Greg: Is it still that way today?

Scott: It is that way today. You know, there’s been some advancements and some changes in things. For example, there’s a lot of women in the workforce now, a lot more than there used to be.

Greg: Anything else that might be a unique or a-ha moment that maybe the public doesn’t know that much about?

Scott: Yeah. You know, one of the things that I’ve always felt the public didn’t fully appreciate was the amount of focus on safety. And just when you thought there was enough safety years ago, it just continues to grow. The companies all have tremendous amount of focus on social responsibility, including safety and environmental. Every meeting, substantial group meetings start with safety moments at these companies.

Greg: Scott, thanks for sharing that insight with us today. Will you come back and join us again?

Scott: Love to. Thank you very much.

Greg: Okay, great. We’ll have you back again on the Playbook.

Scott: Okay, Greg.

Greg: This has been another Thought Leader production, brought to you by PKF Texas, The Entrepreneur’s Playbook. Tune in next week for another chapter. And remember, if you’re doing business in the energy industry give PKF Texas a call.