Sung to Pete Seeger’s “Where have all the flowers gone?”
As I watch reports of Pres. Obama’s meeting with Republican leaders over the next round of bailout—excuse me, “stimulus”—money, my confusion over accounting double standards continues to soar.
Let’s see, it’s okay for the Feds to parcel out $700 billion, $800 billion, a trillion dollars or more without clearly accounting for its use. At the same time, SMBs in this country struggle mightily to comply with existing accounting services regulations—and brace for a new round of regulatory “structure” to keep corporate America in line.
Memo to these SMBs: Don’t follow the example set by the Federal Government (at least thus far), or you could wind up in jail.
Like it or not, small to medium sized businesses in this country will pay the heaviest price for the irresponsible deals struck by big businesses—sometimes in cahoots with the very regulators charged with being public watchdogs.
So, the best move for the Main Street, USA business community is to be compliant, compliant, compliant. Go above and beyond minimum accounting requirements and regulations. Show that you mean business; and know how to run one. Here are accounting system software tips to help set the stage correctly:
1. Buy software you can grow into. Entry-level accounting solutions make much of the fact that larger accounting system software products—such as Microsoft Dynamics® GP—offer a dizzying array of features, many of which are superfluous at this stage of a company’s existence.
That may be true now, but what about in a year? What about introduction of new government regulations mandating accounting services controls and reporting that go way beyond today’s standards? What happens if mom and pop USA suddenly start getting scrutinized under the same microscope as much larger companies?
Be safe now, so you don’t have to be sorry later. Besides, as we’ve all learned with such robust programs as Microsoft Office, you can pick and choose what you want to learn and use now, and leave the rest alone. Once you get accustomed to accounting system software basics, it’s easy enough to proceed without all the advanced features—until down the road, when you need them.
2. Be secure, be secure, be secure. I keep harping on this because it’s so critical, and it’s one of the most overlooked issues in the SMB marketplace. Dynamics GP has eight—count them, eight—layers of security. Most entry-level accounting solutions have one. Do you want to trust your company’s lifeblood to one “guard” able to be compromised or relatively easily taken out, or do you want an army of guards at your accounting services door?
3. Don’t wait to be up to date. Entry-level accounting software tends to bog down after accommodating just a few simultaneous users. This slows productivity and disrupts important, time-sensitive processes. Implement accounting services that virtually eliminate this problem from the get-go, so you’re not needing to reinvent or restructure your accounting software as you go.
