If you don’t think more regulation is coming, think again. Just today Bloomberg reported, “Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said a ‘once-in-a-century credit tsunami’ has engulfed financial markets and conceded that his free-market ideology shunning regulation was flawed.”
Increased regulation, regardless of form, undoubtedly will affect corporate financial recordkeeping. Small to mid-sized businesses lacking accounting software that provides accurate and in-depth financial reporting had better start rethinking their accounting solutions now—before regulatory requirements force them to rethink—and revamp—later.
So, what do you need to help ensure compliance with regulations not even enacted yet?
• Ask questions about what’s coming—then evaluate. Do online research, visit online social/business networking sites where pertinent topics are being discussed, query industry trade organization authorities, read pertinent articles, talk to trusted advisors. Get educated about what’s likely coming, so you can stay ahead of developments.
• Beef up accounting software to meet future requirements as well as today’s needs. As we all know, when government ramps up regulation, resulting mandates don’t always appear logical. So, make sure your accounting system software can handle anything even remotely on the radar screen post-election. This means accounting solutions that can handle “heavy lifting” today, and can be updated as new developments dictate.
• Don’t be pennywise and pound foolish. In the rush to belt-tighten, don’t pinch pennies on under-powered, under-performing accounting software. It doesn’t take many hours of CPA or legal fees spent dealing with regulatory non-compliance to offset any savings from buying lower-priced accounting solutions. To get specific, look at a QuickBooks Upgrade. If you have a small company whose financials can easily be handwritten on a spreadsheet, you’re likely okay with QuickBooks, upgrade or not. But, if you have any degree of complexity, a pattern of company growth, multi-level security requirements, multiple concurrent accounting software users, or any other expanding scenario—look at such heavy duty solutions as Microsoft Dynamics GP or SL.
