process effectiveness – Cooper Mann Consulting

February 27, 2018

Improve Processes and Profit More

Reducing paper, streamlining the work and producing better financial results

When it comes to providing solutions that help small businesses manage their finances and other information, Intuit QuickBooks is typically the first choice. This decision usually occurs just after the business determines what sort of productivity and messaging (email/voice) solutions will be used, and more often right after the first revenues are earned which need to be accounted for.

For most small businesses, having a copy of QuickBooks is how the company tracks the money.

What’s interesting is that most of these small businesses really operate outside of the financial application, doing the actual deliverable work using some other type of solution. Finding a way to support the work performed in the business and then having all that information flow through to the accounting system isn’t always easy.

On the one hand there are the people, resources and activities which make up the work, but there are payroll, billing, expenses and cash management activities that result from all that work. Tracking it all in a meaningful and affordable way was exactly the challenge that Jeff and Donovan Sachs faced with their business, Alembic Computer Services, Inc.

Alembic Computer Services is among those small businesses that use QuickBooks for financial management but not to actually support the wide variety of processes that make up the business.

ACSI, also known as the QB Resource Center, sells QuickBooks software and provides custom development and implementation services to customers throughout the US. The team at ACSI recognizes the benefits of applying the right technology and applications to any particular task, and embraces the same philosophy and working models internally that they recommend to their forward thinking clients.

The business of software development and implementation isn’t simple, and it is founded in the delivery of professional consulting and development services. Where some professional service offerings may be standardized to the point of enabling “templated” production and performance, custom software configuration and development requires that each project be viewed individually in order to fully understand the requirements and deliverables.

Where the actual production requirements of the project may be unique, the processes for guiding the flow of work through the business are highly consistent and well understood.

Providing consulting and implementation support in addition to custom development has introduced Alembic Computer Services to a wide variety of businesses and working models. Because QuickBooks software is recognized as a fundamental tool for most small companies, delivering guidance and support to QuickBooks customers became a solid foundation for discovering where customization or other software implementations were required in order to fully address the business needs of their clients.

What became apparent to ACSI while working with these vastly different organizations was that there were similarities in the fundamental workflows and information management processes, and that these processes were not being adequately supported by any of the accounting or ERP systems. Even more than with software customization and development, ACSI recognizes the potential for helping a wide range of businesses with improvements that could be made by implementing standardized workflow and business process support systems.

The real basis for delivering work at Alembic Computer Services is the team that makes up the company.

Fully leveraging the capabilities of each developer and supporting staff member is essential to creating and retaining profitability, which places employee time, resource and project management as the absolute top priorities. Managing the scope of information necessary to support each consulting or development project is no small task, nor is managing the time and activities of a team of developers and other employees, and flowing all of that data through to scheduling, payroll and billing systems.

To meet these internal requirements as well as establishing a basis for expanding high value service offerings to clients, Alembic Computer Services selected Exact Synergy Enterprise, a business management solution from the Dutch software company Exact (www.exact.com).

“For over 35 years, the tag line at Alembic has been ‘Productivity by Design’. It is our mission to improve the businesses of our clients by providing quality software solutions and the highest level of customer service. Exact Synergy Enterprise provides us with a unique tool that enables us to help almost any business achieve a greater level of productivity. With our many years of experience with Synergy, we are very excited to be the ones to introduce this special product to the QuickBooks community.”

Alembic Computer Services stands out among the numbers of consultants and resellers working with Synergy, largely due to the focus on bringing the value and power of Synergy Enterprise into the QuickBooks user space.

While there are other partners selling ERP products that integrate with Synergy, Alembic Computer Services works primarily with QuickBooks Enterprise customers who need flexible workflow and business process management support that can’t be handled with QB alone or by other solutions in the QB marketplace.

“The Exact partner community has a rich history of enabling integration with other small and mid-size financial applications, giving companies the ability to modernize the business processes surrounding financial data that is so important to them. We strongly support what firms like Alembic Computer Services are doing to marry Synergy Enterprise with QuickBooks” says Philip Bini, Director for Exact Americas.

“Exact is excited to see advisors like Alembic Computer Services apply their passion for Synergy Enterprise by creating a business management blueprint for businesses that use QuickBooks for their accounting needs. Exact Synergy Enterprise allows business users to interact on their business transactions in a collaborative environment. As a result, the integration between Synergy and QuickBooks makes the complete solution more relevant and widely accessible to QuickBooks ProAdvisors, reseller communities and the QuickBooks customer base at large. It really is an exciting time for the entire QuickBooks market to be introduced to Exact Synergy Enterprise.”

Within Synergy Enterprise, the people, actions and activities, and business resources are all tracked in order to inform other applications and processes which support the business and operation.

By centering the Synergy workflow solution in the business applications infrastructure and utilizing its flexible and extensible framework to embrace the full realm of business activities, Alembic Computer Services is able to automate and fully streamline processes that were previously very time-consuming and which did nothing to directly support or improve business profitability.

In order to create the most efficient and high performance approach possible, Alembic Computer Services knew they wanted a solution which natively addressed standard business needs like electronic document management, customer relationship and personnel management, but which could also be custom configured to handle their development and project-related workflows at a very detailed level.

While Jeff and Donovan are developers by profession, there was little interest in embarking on a large customization project to support their own business needs, so any solution would have to provide not only strong essential functionality right out of the box, but should allow for a great deal of customization of the solution without coding. Synergy delivered on those capabilities richly.

Using a standards-based approach to framing the activities and guided by logic infused into the Synergy system, Alembic Computer Services created their own professional project management and time and billing system within Synergy that directly and efficiently addresses the specific tasks, activities, resources and services involved in any given customer project. Storing not just customer and baseline project information, the system tracks every document, activity, research item and production element which associates to the performance of the tasks or which is provided through guided workflow.

Further, by integrating the project, time and resource data with their QuickBooks financials, the company was able to create an end-to-end solution which addresses the wide array of activities involved in running the business, increasing efficiency and effectiveness in back-office operations as well as those in front. This benefit was among those most apparent to Alembic Computer Services, and was the fuel behind the development of the integration between QuickBooks and Synergy.

Unaccounted for time or resources, incomplete task performance, and undocumented project activities leads to inconsistent performance and lower profits.

Integrated workflows and the elimination of double-entry ensures greater accuracy in payroll, billing and other related processes, allowing ACSI personnel and business managers to more efficiently perform their required tasks, reducing friction and smoothing performance to a consistent and predictable flow.

For the project managers at Alembic Computer Services and the QB Resource Center, the big benefit of Synergy is that the developers know what projects are assigned to them at all times and can view exactly what tasks must be performed and when. For owners Jeff and Donovan Sachs, the confidence comes from knowing that every business process structured and defined, that the processes will be handled in a complete and timely manner, that all documentation and data is sufficiently collected and filed, and that their systems have the agility and power to carry the business well into the future.

Make Sense?

Read the Introduction: Fringe to Foundation: Aligning Business Goals and Lifting Business Performance through Digital Workflows

Article 1: Every Business Deserves a Chance to be Better

February 13, 2018February 13, 2018

Every Business Deserves a Chance to Be Better

Article 1 in 4-part series

Every business owner or manager wants to see growth in revenue and profits, and sustaining a high level of performance requires that the business operate smoothly and without breakage or imbalance. When workers know their jobs and do them well, and when workload performance is regular and timely, the business operation glides.

Yet few organizations fully understand how all of their processes weave together to form the operation, or how changes in workloads and task performance will impact the bottom line. Growing or shrinking workloads, supply chain interruptions and other conditions influence the flow of work in the business, which is why a clear understanding of the workflows and the dynamics of the processes they connect is so essential.

It really comes down to a “degrees of success” question: how much better could the business be?

It is said that the only constant is change, and businesses must find a way to effectively and cost-efficiently meet changing demands and conditions in order to survive. What frustrates many business owners is that change is generally disruptive to the business, representing a significant challenge when it comes to the development of internal processes, procedures and the workflows which bind them. At issue is the understanding that proven, structured and repeatable processes help to improve efficiency, yet changing conditions often require changes to these processes.

Creating agility and sustainable value in the organization suggests that guidance for workers, processes and controls, business and system policies, activities and agents and resources all be brought together to form a complete picture of the business and operation. With this in hand, the business is better able to communicate to each member what is expected of them and when, and to make adjustment or enhancements to how the work flows in order keep moving toward the stated goal.

Informed workflows guide smarter processes, and smarter businesses are more resilient.

Smarter business is built from knowledge and understanding not just of the systems and actors in the enterprise, but of the higher level goals motivating the activity. In a global economy, where competitive pressures are increasing every day for even the smallest of businesses, making process improvements and creating sustainability become as much a focus for the business as growth once was.

Developing strategies for retaining profit margins, improving cash flows, solidifying supply chains and streamlining operational processes is essential when designing the business to handle the stresses of a changing economy. The foundations of such strategies are the people, processes and knowledge in the business, and the workflows which tie them together into a cohesive, high performance enterprise.

What comes as a surprise to many businesses is that their efforts to structure the work – defining the activities which string together to form the process, or connecting the processes in a workflow – often reveals why certain things are done the way they are. Where process and workflow modeling most frequently addresses the “what” and “how” of the business, less often is the “why” question directly approached. The discovery of “why” is sometimes a revelation which comes unexpectedly, providing insight into areas of the business where change could be made, leading to improved process performance and moving the operation closer reaching its goals.

With the popularity and proliferation of online applications and cloud computing, many businesses have transformed how they manage activities, people and resources.

The adoption of individual apps to support specific business activities and processes is increasing, where solutions are often loosely connected, integrating or syncing only selected data used for a particular purpose. The Internet-connected marketplace has introduced both opportunity and challenge for businesses of all sizes, and much of the focus has been placed on the management and control of digital documents and data.

Centralized electronic document management has been commonly used in business for many years, yet has not always been viewed as an essential technology to apply in the context of organizing and structuring the workflows in the business.

Particularly in situations where apps and activities are not always directly connected to their dependent or resultant processes, electronic document management and integration of external data elements become critical to structuring the flow of work.

In structuring workflows and documents systems which support the various business processes, the organization will find that it has developed the means to collect and memorialize the business and operational knowledge owned only by individuals in the business.

Gathering together the “tribal knowledge” from users in the business – investing the learning and experience of individuals into the DNA of the business processes and organization of work– is an essential element in crafting meaningful workflows which capture the human-based considerations that are often overlooked.

When individual knowledge becomes business knowledge and is turned into documents, systems and structured processes which guide the operation, results are able to be reproduced more consistently and reliance upon individuals is reduced significantly.

Business processes are now considered to be corporate assets which require consistent and ongoing management and review.

Because business is not stagnant, processes and workflows will necessarily evolve as conditions change. Managing these processes and the workflows which attach them is an iterative process that must be actively pursued in order to ensure that evolving approaches don’t fail to support higher level business objectives.

While an electronic document management solution may address many of the challenges involved in working with large volumes and varieties of documents and data, there are few DM products on the market which can approach the full realm of business workflows and how they are impacted by business or data-driven events or by the availability of people or resources to facilitate the process.

Businesses must not only structure their documents and data, but also their workflows necessary to support the various processes and should seek to normalize those workflows as much as possible. Through a standards-based approach to workflow development, businesses are able to develop a consistent and methodical approach to the work which results in more predictable and consistent outcomes.

The workflow “engine” is truly the workhorse in the business, connecting the people, activities and information required to fulfill each required task.

Fueled by stored documents, data and business policy, workflows inform the organization on the effectiveness of applied resources, events and agents. Not only providing a basis for measuring process effectiveness, structuring all workflows in the business often reveals why certain previously unrecognized processes occur.

Sometimes referred to as “process mining”, activity monitoring and regular workflow and process evaluation allows the business to develop greater understanding of the rationale it must apply to detect or diagnose processes which deviate from the desired path and cause the business to track away from its strategic goals.

Exact Synergy is the workflow engine which powers global businesses and drives performance.

The business fundamental framework of Synergy allows organizations to structure the entire realm of business activities and provide digital workflows and automation to enhance productivity and ensure accuracy at every step. The core of Synergy connects and tracks the entities, transactions and documents associated with every aspect of the business.

Recognizing that business happens with people, systems and processes, Synergy is the tool organizations use to describe the various entities, actions and requests involved in performing the business, guiding process performance with meaningful workflows which clearly communicate to each participant what is expected from them, when it is expected, and even how to perform.

While essential business needs are met with the initial installation, Synergy is extensively configurable and customizable, considering all areas of the enterprise and offering functionality to support a vast array of requirements. A business may use the solution in a limited capacity, guiding certain HR and other back-office functions, or it can be applied to the entire business and operation, spanning departments and locations, joining processes and acquiring data which might otherwise remain unmanaged and disconnected.

Synergy helps businesses keep actions and decisions aligned, sharpening the competitive edge.

Synergy’s framework combines entity management, process governance and strict security and data controls with a presentation which allows for everyone in the business to view and manage their workloads quickly and directly. Synergy provides each user with the information they need to get their job done without complication or interference, providing the views and access to increase process effectiveness and supporting the most efficient flow of work through the business.

If actions and decisions inside a company aren’t aligned, processes are disrupted and the competitive edge gets lost. With a more intelligent approach to enabling and managing the work flowing through the enterprise, businesses can be smarter and introduce new value for those involved with them.

Make Sense?

Read the Introduction: Fringe to Foundation: Aligning Business Goals and Lifting Business Performance through Digital Workflows

September 20, 2012September 11, 2013

Be the McDonald’s of Professional Service

The Progressive Accountant

You run a professional services firm, perhaps an accounting firm. You have a wide variety of clients with a wide variety of needs, but the services you offer are relatively standardized. You provide tax return preparation, bookkeeping and financial statements.

What’s not standardized is how you approach each client need, and how you work with each client. You treat each engagement as a one-off, dealing with the client (and the client information) in a manner that suits the client at that time. While this sounds like a great approach, lending itself to a high level of personalization, the underlying result is inefficiency, lack of standards, and a very limited ability to improve your internal profitability.

What you need is a machine – to be the McDonald’s of professional services – delivering consistent and predictable service to your client community. Your service quality doesn’t have to be in the realm of “fast food”, but the point is that you should be using a standards-based approach and applying the same tools and methods to each engagement in a consistent and repeatable manner. You’ll rapidly find that a great many of your clients will eagerly adapt, and begin to embrace and take advantage of the tools you provide to them. For your firm, the result is more predictable performance and increased profitability.

As an example, let’s say that your firm is “tooled up” to provide services using Internet or cloud services. You have a client portal where you can store and share files with clients, and you have mechanisms for securely emailing files and documents to clients as well. Your goal is to get your clients to use the online portal to exchange information with your firm, enabling somewhat of a “self service” model. But many of your clients won’t log in to the portal, and require you to use email to send/receive files and information.

The right approach here is to use the portal no matter what. This is a key element to the success of your overall approach –the strength of your standardized processes. And it’s important to remember that it isn’t a process if you don’t do it the same way every time. Even if your clients don’t use the portal for data exchange, you should still encourage it and put the documents there. Now, you’ll still likely do the email thing – it’s always a good idea to have at least two paths of communication. But if you consistently use the portal as a standard method of making data available for your clients, many of those non-portal users may become users simply because they find that the convenience of any time/anywhere access really works for them. Sometimes it takes letting folks get used to things, but once they do, it becomes second nature and almost an expectation. Once these clients have adopted your standard portal approach, what else can you introduce to them to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the engagement?

You need to help make your firm as efficient and profitable as possible, and to have a quality product (or service) produced every time. Henry Ford’s assembly line is where you start. Create the machine that is the operational level of your business, and establish the tools and standards that will allow for sustainable growth and success.

Make Sense?