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Transform Your Business with M365’s Integrated Accounting Solution

The Best Alternative to QuickBooks May Be Part of a Fully Integrated Framework You Already Use

When looking at the business accounting and finance systems available in the market – particularly considering those which have earned a level of market share – there are visible gaps – big ones.

This is clearly reflected in the numbers, where Intuit QuickBooks leads in the small business market but has no reciprocal in the midrange or enterprise markets.

QuickBooks fits into that early space where the business is just starting out, but QuickBooks Enterprise can expand to keep more detailed customer, vendor and item information. Yet there often comes a point where a business has requirements that extend beyond the ability of the QuickBooks software.

Sometimes the mere thought of change is so terrible, usually based on a bad initial implementation experience, that the business uses the software far beyond what it was built to handle. In other cases, add-on solutions are adopted which offer more in-depth or complex capabilities to handle the growing business requirements. Both options may prove to be temporary solutions, meeting most functional demands as long as business needs don’t change.

If a change is in order, it makes sense to consider the benefits of using tools built on a familiar platform that is essentially a framework for designing exactly the system the business needs now, and which has flexibility and scalability enough to change as the business changes.

We understand that an integrated framework can provide much more scalability and support than a standalone solution.

We also recognize that, in today’s modern business, creating workflow efficiency and enabling user productivity are paramount.

While many products calling themselves ERP systems offer a broad range of functionality, integration, and data management capability, they often dictate more to the business how it must operate rather than revealing how it might operate.

Instead, we believe every business should have the opportunity to adapt their business software to make it easier for users to accomplish their work effectively while delivering the data and insight to guide the operation forward.

The need is for an entire tech stack and framework, not simply an application.

Competing ERP systems on the market typically address more and increasingly complex business processes while scaling to support larger business sizes. But the cost and complexity of these products, coupled with poor or too-expensive implementation services, is often the barrier to their adoption and retention.

In most cases, there is no small business version of the big business software, so the upgrade path is unclear and problematic.

Given the huge gap between the “typical” small business system and the upper-levels in the enterprise applications catalogue – the transition from very small to very large software is not likely to be made in a single step. Yet businesses can reduce the number of migration steps in the lifecycle of the company by moving to a flexible platform that can adapt and scale with the operation.

There are three things every business does: communicate, produce information, and keep score.

Microsoft places at the top with the first two, providing email and other communication tools used by businesses of all sizes around the globe, and creating the Microsoft Office family of productivity tools recognized and used by just about everyone.

In the third spot, keeping score, Intuit QuickBooks remains the clear winner. But when the business needs something beyond QuickBooks, or desires to have a solution that fits better, and maybe even integrates into their current M365 working environment, we can introduce the stakeholders to M365 Dynamics Business Central.

Business Central is part of the Microsoft 365 family of products.

Business Central is part of the Microsoft 365 family of products and is integrated with Microsoft Outlook directly, as well as the rest of the family of applications.

It is all able to be connected to the Microsoft Fabric, which weaves together the solutions and services that drive business operations around the globe.

Microsoft has the framework to provide the entire stack of applications, services and technologies working seamlessly together to deliver functionality and process support to fit the business and how it works.

When a siloed financial solution no longer supports the business requirement, or as operations become unworkable due to software that no longer fits the needs, connect with the experts at Mendelson Consulting to see what options are available.

There is never just one way to solve a problem, but there is usually a best way.

jm bunny feetMake sense?

J

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Streamline Your Accounting: Add-Ons vs. Full Migration

Growing businesses have growing needs.  More customers, more products, more workers, more vendors. More of everything, and the need to keep track of it all comes along for the ride. With business accounting systems, one of the challenges of supporting more detailed or complex processes is the idea of changing over to an entirely different solution.

Instead of thinking in terms of migration, it is often better to preserve the knowledge, training, and data already invested in the current solution, and add on to that system to support the expanded processes or functionality.

This is a buying decision in the business lifecycle: enable new systems and processes versus a comprehensive solution migration.

In many cases, the add-on or extension for QuickBooks is a better answer than a migration to an entirely different – more expansive and more expensive – ERP solution. Part of the reason is the historical data. Another is learning.

The early years of a company are the formative years, where much learning is accomplished. Losing the fidelity of this data and the organizational knowledge that developed is losing a past that could be learned from. There is also tremendous value in the working knowledge of the team members who utilize the systems every day. Preserving any of these investments is of benefit to the organization.

Mendelson Consulting works with business owners and stakeholders who know they need to expand systems and capabilities but just aren’t sure where to begin.

Our QuickBooks Enterprise experts, ERP consultants and cloud specialists can help identify the gaps in information, processes and workflows, and identify the solutions to solve the problems and smooth the flows. From QuickBooks add-ons, extensions and sync solutions to other ERP options, we provide our clients what they need to do more and better business.

jm bunny feetMake sense?

J

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Maximize QuickBooks Performance with Proper Data Maintenance

Millions of businesses around the globe use QuickBooks software for their accounting. With an estimated 84% of the small business accounting market making the buying decision to go with it, QuickBooks has enough product momentum and functionality to support small businesses through midmarket customers.

This is a broad base of customers for any accounting product, and the continued popularity of QuickBooks Enterprise is a testament not just to the application’s usefulness, but to the large gap that exists in the space where QuickBooks Enterprise desktop leaves off and the well-known enterprise ERP systems start. 

Initially, a business will implement their accounting system to keep track of customers, vendors, items, and cash. More detailed processes are then introduced as the business requirements grow, such as tracking more specific information on the costs of certain products, or drilling into customer purchases or item sales activity to see more details. This additional data provides a much more informed basis for business decision-making but also has impacts on systems and software as the volume of data to be managed grows.

Data growth can happen in many ways. Growth can occur in the number of products or services offered, growth in the number of transactions processed regularly, growth in the dollar value of transactions, or growth in the number of employees who need access to the system. Each impacts the ability of the system to continue to support the business requirements, but not necessarily in a way that isn’t manageable.

Given enough time, a certain “density of data” will eventually be reached, causing the system to lose efficiency in manipulating the file. The business process requirements may not have changed, just the size or condition of the file and data. The file opens slower, operations slow down and processes take longer, the system crashes frequently or has errors, and the usefulness of the product is severely diminished.

Keeping the QuickBooks data maintained and in good condition will improve performance and increase longevity of the application.

Too often, businesses assume they have outgrown their QuickBooks software because it is slower or has problems when they begin using additional features. Frustration sometimes even turns to looking at changing the accounting software entirely. Yet experience has shown that many of these situations are solved with some data file maintenance and repair, and sometimes a little re-training or setup work.

Regular file maintenance and a little housekeeping can keep a QuickBooks file in good working condition for a long time.  Regular backups with a complete verification and other routines will clean up the file and help the software manage the file more efficiently. But there are limits to how much data a single QB company file can hold, so it is wise to consider starting a new file every few years, just to keep the file manageable. This in no way means abandoning any data, as previous files can be retained and available to open and view at any time. How many years of data you can store in a QB Enterprise company file depends on a number of variables, and can range from a few to many.

While QuickBooks is very easy to use compared to most accounting products that service this small/medium enterprise market, this is both a benefit and a bit of a problem. Many users aren’t really trained in accounting, they are trained in how to operate QuickBooks. Moreover, the knowledge of how to make something work in QuickBooks doesn’t always translate to either proper use or to proper accounting. Even if it is simple to accomplish something in QuickBooks, it is always wise to get a little confirmation of the setup and training on proper use.

For a QuickBooks Enterprise desktop customer, the next step up in software is a big one no matter what, and it would come with drastic change, require data conversion (or abandonment), and incur high costs in licensing, implementation and training services. If there is a good business purpose to make such a change, then it makes sense. But bearing the significant costs of change may not make sense if the problems are centered on poor housekeeping or improper usage.

Mendelson Consulting’s team of QuickBooks Enterprise experts and ERP consultants can help your company get your data file and QuickBooks operations in the condition they need to be. With data file analysis tools and numerous methods for dealing with QuickBooks data and operations issues, Mendelson provides the services businesses need to continue success with QuickBooks. And, if we find that you have outgrown what a QuickBooks-based solution can do for your business, we’ll have that conversation, too.

jm bunny feetMake sense?

J

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Software and the Business Lifecycle

Every year, roughly 4.5 million US small businesses are started. The fuel which drives the American economy, small businesses account for more than 99% of all businesses in the US. And job creation happens in small business, which means growth also happens here. Growth happens at every stage of a business if the business is moving forward. From just starting out to achieving large enterprise status, the lifecycle of a business carries with it a multitude of learning moments.

As businesses implement solutions to manage accounting and operational needs, there is often less consideration for the agility of the solution to meet changing and expanding business needs than there is for affordability and the immediacy of the implementation. Small business owners frequently adopt solutions because they fit the needs now, not understanding what may happen when the business outgrows the solution. Sometimes a product meets the functionality requirements quite nicely yet can’t handle the increasing volume. These are among the issues facing growing businesses and forcing stakeholders to make more buying decisions regarding the software supporting the operation.

Each stage of a business where functional or process requirements change drives to another software buying decision. This buying decision is most often met with angst, as considerations include not only cost, but data conversion vs re-loading, new process or system design and setup, user training, proofing the system (running parallel?) and a host of other issues, not the least of which is the business benefit to be derived.

If information is power, too many businesses are losing that power when they migrate from one software product to another.

Businesses often lose valuable historical information by leaving transactional and other detail data behind when they change from one business software system to another.  This should be an area of focus and key discussion point when any change to systems is considered.  After all, the insight and business intelligence gathered over the years was likely instrumental in helping the small business grow to become a successful big business and will continue to be important for years to come.

Maximizing a return on investment is crucial with any business expenditure, whether it is in people, processes or systems.

The selection of software to support the operation plays a most important role in finding that value return, as the software is what empowers the people, guides the processes and drives the systems’ foundation. Knowing the crucial positioning of the software selection in supporting business growth and recognizing that future changes may risk loss of valuable business intelligence, the importance of the initial selection becomes that much greater.

Mendelson Consulting will help you review your business and processes, building an understanding of what functionality needs to be supported and how the business intends to operate. For businesses looking to take the next step, we help identify where automation can improve efficiency and productivity. With that understanding, we help business owners and stakeholders navigate through the overwhelming landscape of solutions and approaches to find the right one for your business.

At every step and stage of business growth, Mendelson Consulting looks ahead to what’s next, helping our clients plan for the future.

While we don’t have a crystal ball, our experience coupled with industry and product knowledge allows us to make recommendations which minimize loss of valuable business intelligence while maximizing the ROI of the software which it informs.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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Why Small Businesses Need Proactive Accounting

It has been demonstrated time and again that businesses working with experienced accounting professionals can benefit from the strategic financial guidance and compliance support they may provide. Yet these factors alone are often not enough to make the business owner happy. For most small business owners and growing enterprise stakeholders, the lack of proactive advice compounded by slow responses to business requests are the primary reasons for leaving their CPA.

Even if they don’t know how to ask for it, small businesses want proactive attention from their accounting professionals. Small businesses want and need to get information when it matters, and they need help deciphering what the information really means.

It is common for professional accounting firms to simply wait for their clients to provide after-the-fact information from which reports are prepared and delivered long after their relevance has passed. These firms often see no sense of urgency in helping clients address the business issues facing them in real-time.

Business owners attempting to grow a small enterprise from their budding small business especially need the benefit of experienced insight into operational metrics, cash flows and overall business performance. Without this meaningful data and advice delivered in real-time, stakeholders don’t really know what is going on or if they’re on the right path.

Advice on business planning and financial strategies should come to business owners from their accounting professionals, but it often does not. It is interesting that so many firms list business planning and strategy among the services promoted on their websites, yet they just sit back and wait for clients to ask for help.

Regulatory and reporting requirements for businesses are ever-increasing, so it makes some sense that many professional practices continue to focus on taxes and compliance work. Firms may find it challenging enough to keep up with changes to these core services provided. Yet this is why practitioners should take notice and accept that their ability to meet changing market and customer demands is wrapped in their ability to leverage technology to do what people and process can’t do alone.

Information technology is needed to speed up the bookkeeping, accounting and reporting processes, and it takes even more technology to help turn data into relevant and useful information. This is where Mendelson Consulting and Noobeh cloud services can help.
Working with businesses of all sizes and encouraging participation by the accounting professional, Mendelson and Noobeh help businesses implement the technology that facilitates faster collection of information throughout the business and then applying solutions that reflect those numbers in ways that helps users visualize the meaning of the data.

Mendelson and Noobeh help CPAs and accounting professionals remove threats of competition and irrelevance by helping them work closer with and deliver greater value to their small business clients. Applying proven, innovative technologies with improved processing methods and controls leads to better information provided in a timelier manner, which returns to the client as a better result offering greater insight. This is what small businesses want from their CPA, and Mendelson Consulting and Noobeh Cloud Services helps professionals deliver it.

jm bunny feetMake sense?

J

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Enhancing Business Insight: Noobeh Cloud Services and Azure-Based Solutions

Technology is evolving and so are our ways of using it. While the rules of accounting haven’t changed for years, the solutions we use to do the work have changed a lot. Yet there remain many businesses that haven’t yet embraced the idea of fully digital workflows, integrating and automating how data moves through the “system” to provide a comprehensive view of the business and how it is performing.

This is where accountants and bookkeepers can best serve their clients, by helping them implement the platforms and solutions which transform operations and provide greater insight into these areas.

Over 20 years ago, a technology model was developed which allowed businesses and the accounting professionals who serve them to work directly and collaboratively in the clients’ accounting system. By hosting QuickBooks and Sage desktop products on host servers, small business users and their accountants could both access the software and the data in real time.

This new approach was a boon for accountants, bookkeepers and others working with small business clients as it not only enabled closer work, but also provided those advisors an opportunity to do more – and more complex – work with the client. Yet many platforms and working models created barriers to broadening the scope of service or access to client systems, limiting to just basic accounting products like QuickBooks, and not effectively addressing the rest of the business need.

As technology has evolved, so have these transformations.

More accounting professionals understand the benefits as well as the necessity of moving from analog to digital workflows, removing manual entry and improving efficiency and accuracy of data. Yet this improvement doesn’t require changing accounting software and undoing years of learning and business knowledge. Rather, the platforms and connections must be the primary focus, replacing the manual with automation and smoothing out the bumps where data isn’t flowing at all. If the system isn’t in place to handle the complete flow of the data, there is a break. Like a pipe leaking water, this break results in data loss – which is also loss of business intelligence.

A key to all of this is the consideration of where the data ultimately resides. When business data exists in closed silos – whether web-based software or closed hosting platform – it takes a comprehensive approach to collection, storage and analysis. This is among the benefits to be derived from the modern cloud and Noobeh’s Azure-based hosting approach.

Noobeh’s hosting is not just about the desktop or the applications.

The cloud platform, and Azure in particular, also provides resources for data analysis and business intelligence, workflow and data flow automations, improved security and identity management, IoT and computing on the network edge.

For professionals looking to evolve their practices by helping clients go beyond basic recordkeeping and reporting, it’s time to delve into the operational details, data flows and development of real business intelligence and insight. Noobeh Cloud Services and Mendelson Consulting have the platforms and the supporting services to help bring it all together, improving profitability and performance of their clients through the intelligent application of technology.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J