Accounting technology for flexible workers
7/28/2010
A couple of weeks ago a round table discussion took place about the effect of accounting technology on the flexible workforce. This was the latest in a series of discussions organised by Brookson, providers of accountancy and support services to self emplyed professionals. The followin article summarizes the event whereby the Technology Roundtable discussed and explored current issues like 24/7 on-demand accounting information, mobile accessibility, compliance and the ease-of-use of multi-channel access to information.
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Tips for Going Paperless in a Bankruptcy and Insolvency Practice
7/9/2010
By Howard BrownAcross many industries, adopting a paperless approach to document management has saved money, increased efficiencies, improved client service and strengthened disaster recovery plans. But when it comes to paperless practices, bankruptcy and insolvency pract...
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Open-Source Software Alternatives for Small Businesses
7/7/2010
If you’re part of a small business, chances are you’re always looking for ways to save money. What many business owners and managers don’t realize is that they can get all the software they need to run a business — quite literally all of it in most cases — 100% free of charge. That includes operating systems, word processing programs, accounting software, email servers, graphic design programs and more.
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Is “Horizontal” Accounting Software Dead?
6/30/2010
Well, maybe not dead, but these days most organizations are looking for vertical solutions – software designed for their industry. While every company needs accounting software, a surprisingly small number of firms are implementing horizontal (i.e. generic, cross-industry) accounting systems these days.
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Order Fulfillment Execution Systems Impact Productivity and Bottom-Line
6/28/2010
Advanced software technology that enables productivity-enhancing tools, are critical to gain a supply chain competitive edge. Through technology companies can quickly add products and locations, change staffing and work zones, expedite hot orders, access real-time statistics on picker productivity (including on an individual level), order volumes and all system activities. Advanced data management capabilities allow for easy manipulation of business intelligence and reporting needs
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Shop Floor to Top Floor Automation In Real-Time
6/10/2010
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) metrics of ANY and ALL machines with a direct hardware connection typically increase efficiency by 5 to 20 percent. Immediate visibility of production status and comprehensive data collection creates a competitive advantage. Automated data collection is a manufacturing productivity tool enabling increased productivity: Cost Effective, Practical & Proven, All machines - CNC, non-CNC, PLC, Presses, Injection molding, etc.
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5 Questions Facing Carbon Accounting Software Players
6/2/2010
The market for carbon accounting software in the U.S. last year was as small as an average venture capital funding round: about $10 million. But researchers are predicting that the market will boom to some $120 million by next year and $250 million by 2012. Competing for that cash are dozens of startups, as well as big players in the enterprise software field, along with firms that have strayed over from the field of environmental and health compliance.
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Cost Estimating Software: Millions of Dollars in Cost Savings
5/18/2010
In a lean environment when companies are looking to eliminate waste, effective cost estimation solutions may well present the best opportunities for major financial cost savings. Cost Estimating Software solutions allow companies to quickly and easily identify the cost drivers in the products they design, manufacture, and procure. This valuable information is then used to explore design alternatives and methods of manufacturing that lead to lower cost products with higher profit margins.
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Automating Distribution Centers Requires the Best Fit at the Right Price
4/23/2010
Selecting the right technology to ensure the best fit, best results and least amount of investment is rare. Too often consultants go into a prospective account with pre-conceived ideas. The ability for such a consultative sale is critical in the design and implementation of a Distribution Center. As more manufacturers bring finished goods back into North America, there is overwhelm by many companies because of the vast choices from an almost endless list of applications from Conveyor and Sortation, Voice, RF and Pick-To-Light, Batch and Cluster Picking Methodologies, Warehouse Control Software, Barcode and RFID Scanning, Carousels, Cubing Software, Weight Technologies, Automatic Labeling applications and many more.
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EHS Incident Management Proves Best with Complete Life-Cycle Approach
4/4/2010
Intelex, a leading web-based EHS technology solutions provider, recently revealed the efficacy of enabling organizations to utilize a complete life-cycle approach to managing all of the aspects and stages associated with environmental, health, and safety incidents including internal reporting, investigating, implementing corrective actions, and external reporting
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A Simple Plan for Improved Project Results and Increased Maturity
3/31/2010
The following article will highlight the ways in which establishing common project processes throughout the organization provides better performance and tangible results. It will also offer advice for project managers on how to bring teams and processes together to get everyone on the same page, speaking the same language, and doing things in similar ways.
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Distribution and Manufacturing Firearms: Finding the Technology Backbone
3/24/2010
Recently, Taurus an international manufacturer and distributor of firearms and accessories realized that to keep pace with their significant growth, the company would need to update their information technology infrastructure to drive automation and achieve greater efficiency while ensuring legal compliance with the governing agency that regulates firearm operations. The foundational technology around which the company has built their back-end processes is Microsoft Dynamics GP.
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Carbon Accounting Software Market Experiencing Huge Period of Growth
3/10/2010
Despite the gridlock in Washington over climate change legislation, and one of the worst economic downturns in the last century, 2009 was a year of growth for the emerging Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) software market. According to a research study recently released by Groom Energy Solutions, EnerNOC , IHS and SAP made acquisitions in the sector, software giants Computer Associates and Microsoft entered the market, and more than $46 million in venture capital was invested in ECA startup companies. Meanwhile, the number of corporations now disclosing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) increased significantly in 2009 and Groom Energy predicts that ECA software purchases will increase 600 percent by 2011.
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FAF Will Now Maintain XBRL GAAP Taxonomy
2/24/2010
The FAF, which oversees both the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, now has the job of upkeep of the GAAP data tags using Extensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL, technology. The FAF and FASB plan to assemble a small team of technical staff who will be dedicated to maintaining the taxonomy and will work towards the release of the next taxonomy update in early 2011.
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Small Food Manufacturers Cope with Safety and Quality Requirements on a Very Small Budget
2/24/2010
From pasta to salsa, most food companies have fewer than 250 employees and average annual revenues often under $10 million annually. Small food manufacturers are companies that are not using Oracle or SAP. These are frequently users of Quickbooks. Still they need solutions that address some of the same issues faced by large food conglomerates. These smaller, often family owned businesses make up more than 90% of the total food processing marketplace.
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Is an Agile Project Management Office Possible?
2/3/2010
It often seems that a lean, agile development environment will always be at odds with the structure and constraints of the PMO. Yet it does not have to be this way. The agile PMO can bridge the gap between these two very important groups and help organizations to execute projects more successfully. While it does require a bit of change management, it is not as impossible as it seems and the benefits far outweigh the effort.
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No surprise here: Accountants found to be tech-savvy
1/20/2010
While they may not be widely known for their tech-savvy, accountants are way ahead of other professions in using new technologies to grow their business according to research by software provider CCH.
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How Staffing Firms Can Improve Profitability on Demand
1/15/2010
Despite the rumors - and even proof, in some corners of the world - that the economy is getting better, times are still hard for businesses everywhere. To make it through to the other side of the recession, every company must do what it can to improve process efficiencies and realize cost savings wherever possible. Firms that provide and manage contingent workforce solutions face these challenges just as much as, if not more than, companies in other industries.
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Improving Bottom-Line Productivity Requires the Elimination of Stress
1/10/2010
Although modern manufacturing is often assumed to take place in the absence of manual labor and the human element, almost every manufacturing company ultimately relies on its workers contributing their knowledge, observational skills and prompt action to ensure maximum production up-time and product quality without sacrificing safety or compliance with safety, regulatory, and internal standards. The number of staff at most manufacturing and processing facilities has shrunk over the last decade due to a greater focus on automation and the retirement of seasoned workers while the operations workload has remained constant or even grown. This situation has left plant operations management with a smaller, less experienced front-line workforce with an overwhelming reporting workload and ultimately has led to higher stress.
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