Setting up Systems to Manage
Your Business
Presented By: Trudie Carlesso
Agenda
• First Things First
• Record Retention
• Accounting Systems
• Other Software Tools
• Selecting a System
• Implementing Systems
First Things First
First Things First
1. To incorporate or to not incorporate, that is the
question
2. Find an Accountant and a Lawyer
3. Business Number
4. Sales Taxes
5. Licenses
6. Contracts
Definitions
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Client Server
• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
• Integrated
• Interfaced
• Customization
• Software Maintenance and Support
Record Retention
What is a Record?
A “ 'record' includes an account, an agreement, a book, a
chart or table, a diagram, a form, an image, an invoice, a
letter, a map, a memorandum, a plan, a return, a
statement, a telegram, a voucher, and any other thing
containing information, whether written or in any other
form.”
Records Must...
• Permit the taxes payable or the taxes or other amounts to
be collected, withheld, or deducted by a person to be
determined
• Permit the verification of all charitable, athletic, and
political donations received for which a deduction or tax
credit is available
• Be supported by source documents that verify the
information in the books and records.
Source and Other Documents
A source document includes items such as sales invoices,
purchase invoices, cash register receipts, formal contracts,
credit card receipts, delivery slips, deposit slips, work orders,
dockets, cheques, bank statements, tax returns, and general
correspondence whether written or in any other form.
Other documents, whether written or in any other form,
including supporting documents such as accountants working
papers that were used to determine the obligations and
entitlements with respect to taxes payable, collectible or to be
remitted, are considered part of the books and records of the
taxpayer and must be made available to the CRA.
Accounting Systems
Manual Systems
• Paper or Spreadsheet based
• Labour intensive
• No investment
• Lack of Management Reporting
• Accountants and Government prefer this less
Small Business with Simple Requirements
• Basic functionality
• A/P, A/R, General Ledger
• Purchasing
• Order Entry
• SaaS solutions
• Freshbooks
• Kashoo
• Zoho
• On premise solutions
• QuickBooks
• Simply Accounting
• Peachtree
• Industry Specific Solutions
Budget anywhere between $120 and $3,000
Small to Medium Business - Moderate Needs
• More robust ERP functionality
• A/P, A/R, General Ledger
• Fixed Assets
• Light Distribution
• Light Manufacturing
• Better reporting
• Other Optional Modules
• CRM
• Planning & Scheduling
• Service Management
• Project Management
• Business Intelligence
• On premise solutions
• Accpac
• SAP Business One
• Microsoft Dynamics GP
• Microsoft Dynamics NAV
• SaaS solutions
• Netsuite
• Microsoft Dynamics GP
• Microsoft Dynamics NAV
• Intacct
• Industry Specific Solutions
Budget anywhere between $10,000 and $50,000 for a 5 user system
Medium to Large Business – Complex Needs
• Functionality in all areas is very deep and broad
• On premise solutions
• Epicor
• IFS
• Oracle
• SAP
• Microsoft Dynamics AX
• SaaS solutions
• SAP Business By Design
• Microsoft Dynamics AX
Budget between $150,000 and $400,000 for a 25 user system
Payroll
• Some accounting and ERP systems have an optional payroll module.
Find out if you need to repurchase the accounting system in order
to get updates or not before purchasing the payroll module.
• Determine if you will need US and Canadian payroll functionality
• Stand alone payroll systems can easily interface with accounting
systems
• Paymate
• Canadian Payroll Systems
• You can opt to use a payroll service instead of processing your payroll
in house
• Ceridian
• ADP
• Paymate
Other Software Tools
Best of Breed vs. Fully Integrated
Best of Breed
• In most cases more in depth
functionality that solves a
specific need
• You don’t need to change
your whole system to get
more functionality
• Don’t give up the best
accounting system in order to
get the other functionality
you need for your business
• Interface needs to be created
and maintained but is much
easier these days if up to date
technology and tools are utilized
Fully Integrated
• One system and one database to
maintain
• One look and feel across the
enterprise
• In most cases functionality is
lighter and non-specific to your
industry or needs. Therefore
some areas of your business
must settle for less.
• Can result in customizations to
fill holes which are costly and
hard to maintain
Examples of Stand Alone Software
• Warehouse Management
• Asset/Maintenance
Management
• Yard or Container Management
• Service Management
• Advanced Planning and
Scheduling
• Project Management
• CAD
• EDI
• Business Intelligence
• Payroll & Human Resources
• CRM
• Time & Attendance
• GIS/GPS
• Transportation Management
• Point of Sale
• E-Commerce
Selecting a System
Step 1 - Define Your Needs
Ask yourself these questions:
• What business problems do you need to solve?
• What processes do you want to automate?
• Where do you see the biggest labour savings?
• What management information does the business require?
• Where can you increase revenue?
• What integration points will you require with existing systems and
will they play well together?
• What kind of savings and return on investment would you realize with
a new system?
Where to go for help
• Talk to your peers
• Talk to your existing Accounting Software vendor and ask what
systems already work with theirs
• Look at hiring a selection consultant to help with the process
Step 2 – Research Solutions
• Use experts, talk to peers, research solutions on the web, and use online services such as www.findaccountingsoftware.com,
www.softselect.com, or www.technologyevaluation.com
• Attend on-line webinars, examine literature, and possibly send a
request for information to vendors looking for budgetary
numbers and to ask them if they have your needed functionality and
how they would solve your specific issues
• Check for configurability and use of current technologies
• After researching establish a short list of 3 or 4 solutions that you will
then examine in more detail
Step 3 – Proof of Concept
• Establish scripts or scenarios representative of how your business
works and invite your short listed vendors to demonstrate their
abilities to fulfill your needs
• Ask for pricing and implementation proposals and review total cost of
ownership for each
• Review case studies of short listed vendors
• Establish criteria and the weighting of each for which you and your
team will evaluate the solutions
• Determine selected vendor and arrange for customer references (onsite &/or via phone
Step 4 - Negotiation
• Ensure implementation/professional services pricing covers
installation, data migration, interfaces, configuration, report writing,
customizations, user training and go live assistance
• Have contracts reviewed by your lawyer if applicable
• Ask for suggestions on leasing opportunities
• Know what your year after year costs will be
Implementation
Implementing Your New System
• If it a larger project establish a war room/training room
• Meet with key stakeholders to agree on processes to be implemented
and to establish a timeline
• Order & install any necessary hardware and the software
• Train Administrator/Power Users
• Set up data for testing
• Conference room pilot – determine if any gaps and find solutions for
any identified
• Determine reporting needs and ensure all in place
• Data migration (if applicable)
• Set up opening balances and orders
• Develop training materials for users
• Train users
• Go live
What to Watch Out For!!!
• Most systems these days are built utilizing best
practices. Is your business really that unique that
it doesn’t match these? Don’t customize a system
unless absolutely necessary!!
• Don’t fall into the “but we’ve always done it that
way” mentality
What to Watch Out For!!!
• Most systems these days are built utilizing best
practices. Is your business really that unique that
it doesn’t match these? Don’t customize a system
unless absolutely necessary!!
• Don’t fall into the “but we’ve always done it that
way” mentality
Continuous improvement
Implementation doesn’t stop at go live. Management and
other stakeholders should regularly meet to review the
system and identify any other areas to be implemented,
added, tweaked or trained upon.
Thank You!
Trudie Carlesso
Imperative Solves
www.imperativesolves.com
tcarlesso@imperativesolves.com
519-984-4593