From Greg's Head

Convergence 2007 is coming up and like last year I’ll be attending and live blogging from San Diego.

I’ll be there March 10^th to March 12^th. 

It looks like there are going to be several great sessions discussing Dynamics NAV, so I’ll have plenty of information for you during and after. 

For my readers who are Dynamics users, is there anything specific you’d like me to keep an eye out for to report on?

Here’s hoping there’s breakfast this year!

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For regular readers, you know my thoughts about our increasing connectivity and our need to be constantly “plugged in.”

There is now a 12-step program developed by executive coach Marsha Egan to aid in the fight against email addiction.

Seems a little much doesn’t it? Needing a 12-step program to cure email addiction? This is definitely not a problem for our parents’ generation. The need to be constantly connected has ingrained itself in our society and I think it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.

I’m glad people who recognize they have a problem are getting help. I think it’s time we all took a step back to evaluate our own technology dependence. Does John really need an answer via email in the next two minutes? Probably not, and if he does he should make a phone call or if you’re in the same office, walk down the hall. 

Person to person contact, remember that? Email is convenient and has its place in business, but our reliance on it as the main form of communication is getting to be too much if it requires a 12-step program to “get back on the wagon.”

For the curious, here’s the link to the 12-steps.

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Note: Running most Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on KPRC 950AM. Audio files can be found on the Entrepreneur's Playbook page of the PKF Texas website.

Many midsize companies spend more time on accounting than they need to. Here are some of the most powerful but least utilized automation features available in today’s accounting systems.

Prepare and Distribute Reports Automatically
Managers usually rely on a standard set of financial reports. Rather than have accounting staff prepare, and distribute those reports, you can configure your accounting package to prepare and distribute reports automatically.

Make Recurring Payments Online
Paying the phone bill each month is a time-consuming chore. But if your financial system supports online bill paying, you can process recurring payables automatically.

Receive Automatic Notice of Impending Problems
The best time to find out about a financial problem is before it happens. Using the alerts technology available in many accounting systems, you can warn appropriate managers of potential trouble. You can instruct your software to notify the credit manager any time a customer comes within 2 percent of their credit limit.

Transfer Data from Spreadsheets Electronically
To save time and reduce errors, use the import functionality available in most accounting packages to download financial data from spreadsheets.

Automatically Reconcile Ledgers and Account Statements
Reconciling general ledger reports is such tiresome work that some businesses unwisely neglect it. Let your software automatically reconcile sub-ledgers to the GL.

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Who knew that August 8, 2005 would cause another mini-Y2K in 2007? The US government decided in 2005 to extend Daylight Saving Time. We will now “Spring Forward” the 2^nd Sunday in March (March 11^th this year) and “Fall Back” the first Sunday in November (November 4^th this year).

Anyone running a Windows Operating System other than Vista, will need to make sure their computers at home and work are prepared. Microsoft has created a patch for the issue. Click here for the Microsoft Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center. Also, they have provided a list of products that will be affected. Click here to see the list.

How, if at all, will the extra month of Daylight Saving Time affect your business? Have you already applied the necessary patches to any software you use?

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This week's Guest Spotlight is from Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Senior Partner of Dezan Shira & Associates, a China based business & tax consultancy, and an associate firm to PKF Texas. Their website is www.dezshira.com. Chris can be reached at chris@dezshira.com

Kong Hei Fat Choi ! Or in China’s mainland – Gong Xi Fa Cai !

Those greetings – in South China’s and Hong Kong Cantonese, and Mainland China’s Mandarin respectively – betray an interesting cultural difference between the US and China at times of Festive Greetings. While at Christmas or at Thanksgivings, Americans will wish each other “Seasons Greetings!” and employ more family oriented, peaceful expressions to express good tidings – the Chinese are far more literal and down to earth in their culture. Kong Hei Fay Choi – or of you prefer – Gong Xi Fa Cai – means literally, “Have A Prosperous Year”.

Charged then, in the rise of modern China, with rampant materialism, a ‘greed is good’ mentality, a new consumerism and that sin of sins – a huge trade deficit with the US – it certainly seems that this traditional Chinese New Year greeting is coming true for many Chinese. Should Americans be worried? In terms of festive greetings, the benevolent “Merry Christmas” seems almost naïve in comparison. Is this a reflection of a clash of economies, an example of differing cultures, or is it symbolic of America’s long established wealth leading to complacency, rubbing up against a newer, more aggressive culture determined to get rich at any expense?

As always, it’s a bit of both. Yes, America has become complacent in matters of international trade. “The Chinese are stealing our jobs!” being the politically charged mantra of various enraged senators. Well that’s surely a bit of “Gong Xi Fa Chinese Cai” going on there. However, when one stops to consider that America has known for 20 years the direction China would take – doesn’t it smack a little bit of a lack of US action in preparing for a new global trading partner to rise? Industry could, and should have re-positioned itself to cater for global changes two decades ago, and to cry ‘foul!’ now seems rather churlish – given the euphoria in the US that “Communist China” was finally opening up and that market of 1.2 billion people was going to be there for the taking. Actually, the market was 300 million and it was the US consumer that bought and paid for it.

But for American businesses, all is not lost. It’s not just China that has opened up – it’s pretty much the entire globe. India is posting record FDI figures. So is Pakistan. Much of Eastern Europe is now open for business. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia – and even tiny North Korea are all on the map as regards being open for investment. American businesses can develop their own “Gong Xi Fa U-S-A ! Cai” as well – selling US products to these markets. General Motors opening up a plant in Chennai (India) or Shanghai is not stealing American jobs. It just servicing the local market. In time, American companies will have fully adapted to globalization and be fully participating in it. But if they do not, and remain rooted in the sour grapes attitude over balance of trade deficits, perceived US job losses and the feeling of how unfair it all is – then that is a self prophesying lament. America’s challenge is to develop its own mantra of getting rich – and that lies not in complacency but in an inherent intellectual ability to recognize that its long held dream has come true. It’s a global economy, and national American businesses need to take their seats very firmly at the global trade dining table – or face the consequences.

Chinese New Year was February 18^th. I wish you all – American and Chinese – “Gong Xi Fa Cai!”

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Note: Running most Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on KPRC 950AM. Audio files can be found on the Entrepreneur's Playbook page of the PKF Texas website.

For those businesses ready to commit to knowledge development, there are loads of tools to facilitate speedy information sharing and creation. Depending on your needs, you might choose to use one or all of the following:

• Portals. Portals take advantage of technologies like SharePoint and their virtual team sites are ideal for structured, process-oriented tasks requiring document creation and versioning.
• Blogs. Found on either company internal, or external Web sites. Blogs can also give employees that might not normally be called upon, the opportunity to espouse ideas in an informal environment.  
• Wikis. One of the newest arrivals on the scene is the wiki, a Web site to which anyone can add, modify or edit material simply by clicking on an “edit” button. Wikis can also help manage open, unstructured business collaboration, such as in an engineering or RAD (rapid application development) environment. Wikis are different than blogs and portals in that information presented in those tools remains static.
• Mash-up: The term originated in the hip-hop world to refer to remixing songs, but now “mash-up” can also describe the practice of combining applications or tools from different sources. Like using Outlook and Dynamics NAV CRM for sales collaboration purposes.

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The Houston Technology Center is leasing more space at their facility. Click here to download the flyer to view the details.

It’s a great location, and a great deal for any emerging tech business. For more information, contact Melissa Carlisle Bryant at 713-773-0353 or visit www.htcbuilding.org. 

And happy Valentine’s Day!

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The latest Accounting Technology asked readers, “What is your biggest technology need for 2007?”

Here are a few selected responses from the magazine.

• “Better backup solutions for our customers.” – Bryan L. Wilton, InterDyn Progressive Group
• “An integrated practice management application.” – Gary C. Crouch, CPA, CITP, MCP, Crouch, Slavin & Co.
• “To get our website developed.” – Linda Fletcher, A-Soft Professionals
• “Faster, more reliable wireless.” – Mike Palmatier, Sikich LLP

These are all great ideas. Even though it’s already February, it’s still a good time to assess your technology needs for the year. What do you need to upgrade? Is there new software or hardware that you can use to make your business more efficient? What do you have right now that’s working well enough for you to provide a best practice to others in your industry? 

We’ve heard from some Accounting Technology readers, let’s hear from some FromGregsHead readers! What are your technology needs for 2007?

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Note: Running most Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on KPRC 950AM. Audio files can be found on the Entrepreneur's Playbook page of the PKF Texas website.

You developed an idea to sell products or services on the Internet. Now, the next most important step is selecting a domain name.

At the cost of a few dollars a year, the right domain name helps your business develop a recognizable online brand. It promotes name recognition among your customers and keeps them coming back to the right place.

When you set up a standard account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you’re allocated an e-mail address and, in most cases, a Web site at the ISP’s domain. The e-mail address and the URL belong to the ISP. If you switch service providers, you will have to change both of them.

A domain name that you register and control essentially makes your Web site and e-mail address portable. You get the flexibility of being able to change your hosting service without having to also change your Web and e-mail addresses.

And remember a good domain name should be short and memorable.

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I received some great news last week. The blog has won another award!

The Texas Public Relations Association has honored us the Bronze Best of Texas award in the Website category. I say “us” because without all the great people who read and comment on the blog it wouldn’t work.

The Best of Texas award recognizes outstanding achievement using communications tools. I’ll let you know who else won after the awards ceremony on March 10^th. 

So once again, thanks to all of you who jump in inside my head and take the time to comment!

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Note: Running most Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on KPRC 950AM. Audio files can be found on the Entrepreneur's Playbook page of the PKF Texas website.

This tip is brought to you by Rebecca Ryan, of Next Generation Consulting, Inc.and PKF Texas.

A company’s vision and value statement tell the overall goals and priorities of an organization.

By having a concise vision and values statement you let your employees and clients know the high level of service you expect to provide, and the foundation on which your company is built. Post this information on your corporate website so everyone can easily access it.     

The vision and values statement also give your employees a sense of meaning and purpose as to their roles within the company. If they strive to fulfill the company’s vision and values, they will feel like they are more connected to the organization. And that will produce better financial results. It all goes back to the mantra, that if the employees are happy- they work harder and the company sees results with an improved bottom line.

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