If you are involved in managing inventory, you are aware of the hassles that can arise due to purchasing issues. Having far too many of an obscure item or running low on a bestseller, are sure clues that you and your company can benefit from a more robust purchasing and inventory management tool. Technology has advanced over the years, such that you no longer need to keep track of purchasing activities on paper. Consider these benefits offered by software programs of today.

Order suggestion

A major benefit of using software is it can easily collect and analyze data, a task that would take an employee much longer to do manually. Look for a purchase order system that can analyze past demand, and suggest which orders need to be placed based on that knowledge. You can then use the report as a starting point, and use your own judgment on which purchase orders to create for which items. A purchase order system should also track who the item has been purchased from in the past and automatically order it from the last vendor and default the cost to the last cost paid for the item. If you aren't ready to make the jump to having the system recommend what should be ordered, look for a system that will allow you to simply enter a list of items that need to be ordered. The system will then assign the vendor and last purchase cost, so the purchase order is quickly and easily generated.

Flexible item ordering

Your business likely has its own set of product numbers that are different from your vendor's part numbers. Since your vendor is typically unfamiliar with your item numbers, it's best to place orders using their numbers. Some purchase order systems allow you to create and print purchase orders using both numbers, which is extremely helpful to you and your vendor. Another flexible purchase order tool is the ability to place orders in multiple units of measure, in case you need to purchase the item in one unit of measure and sell it in a different unit of measure.

Minimum and maximum quantity setup

This handy purchase order tool allows you to set up minimum and maximum amounts by item. This allows you to run a report to see which items are running low and need to be ordered, or which are overstocked and may need to be liquidated.

Drop shipment

Most businesses do receive requests for drop shipments, at least every now and then. If you need to order items and have your supplier ship them directly to your customer, a tool for handling drop shipments is a must. Handling drop shipments means that the system will allow you to specify a ship-to address that is different than your own address. Without this tool you will end up manually entering ship to data which results in wasted time and increased margin for error. This feature is crucial for those who drop ship large quantities of items. It should also allow you to identify the sales order to the purchase order, so that the sales order can automatically be invoiced as soon as the vendor communicates that the order has shipped.

Receive partial orders

As we all know, sometimes the orders we place are not always delivered in full. In these cases, it's helpful to have the choice of whether to receive the partial shipment and keep the rest of the purchase order open, or to simply receive the items and cancel the remainder of the items. Sometimes the vendor will notify you that they have shipped what they have and the remainder of the order will be canceled. A proper purchase order system will include an option that allows the user to cancel the remainder of an order, instead of having to manually cancel each line.

All of these purchase order software tools can help you keep your inventory stocked with the items you need, and lean on those that you don't. They also help you manage purchase orders more efficiently, saving your company time and money.

This post is by Bruce Senti of Aatrix State and Fed Payroll Reports

State and Federal eFiling requirements are mandating more businesses to eFile payroll reports and payments every year.

More than a dozen states either lowered the threshold for employee count requirements or outright mandated that businesses eFile wage withholding, unemployment, and new hire reports.

The federal government requires virtually all employers to make withholding payments electronically.

The efficiencies provided government agencies by requiring eFiling will continue the trend towards requiring business to file reports and payments electronically.

Electronic tax administration is the foundation for a modernized IRS that provides secure, convenient, timely and accurate services to taxpayers, and to the tax professionals and IRS employees who serve them. (IRSOB-E report 2010 page 9)

The full vision for a modern ETA environment goes beyond just e-filing and seeks to make electronic interactions among taxpayers, tax practitioners, and the IRS the norm. These electronic interactions include the entire range of pre-filing, filing, and post-filing tax activities which taxpayers and their representatives may engage in with the IRS, including the ability to resolve taxpayer account issues over the Internet. (IRSOB-E report 2010 page 9)

The Board emphasizes the need to substantially increase the e-file rate, particularly among businesses filing employment tax returns, because it is crucial to the IRS to achieve the strategic 80 percent electronic filing goal. ( IRSOB-E report 2010 page 39)

“It’s good news for taxpayers as well, whether they be commercial or private filers, most experts agree, businesses that utilize e-filing have a 99 percent accuracy rate,” said David Deeter of Frazier & Deeter LLC.
Source: E-filing Hits Record High | Atlanta Business Chronicle

It is clear that the movement towards electronic filing is more than a trend. It is inevitable that virtually all reporting to taxing authorities will be electronic.

What to look for when choosing an eFiling solution.

With more and more agencies providing an eFile portal online which allows businesses to file reports electronically for free, you may wonder why would an efiling solution have any appeal.

You should look for a solution that has dramatic advantages over the use of the agency sites.

Simplicity

• The interface is very simple. Choose any form from one screen, review/edit onscreen, and simple steps to eFile
• One administrative account to track all confirmations, filings, and payments

Efficient

• eFiling is completed within the payroll solution without additional exports, typing, and logging into multiple sites
• Reports are filled in automatically with no need for manually transcribing
• Reports are time-stamped and saved on your machine and accessible anytime for review or audit

Accurate

• Reports are completed using the data within the payroll solution you use
• The solution must guarantee compliance with all legislation, eFile requirements, and form changes.

Affordable

• The solution should be offered as a subscription service which covers all your filing requirements for a single price. It should include all state and federal agencies you file with.
• It should offer a W-2 eFiling service which allows you to complete all filings as well as employee distribution for less than $4 per employee (the average in-house cost).

eFiling More Than a Trend...

Electronic filing is not going away. In fact, it is the future for virtually all business activity. State and federal agencies are being legislatively and budgetary driven to take advantage of the efficiencies and cost savings eFiling affords them. Take great care in choosing a solution that meets all your needs and has the ability to grow and meet your future needs.

1. Integrate Order Entry

   Do your processes include writing down your customers' orders, only to have somebody else enter the information again to create an invoice? If so, you are spending more money and time than necessary by paying two people to do virtually the same job. You can save time and increase the accuracy of your orders by implementing order entry into your system. Using order entry allows one person to enter and save an order, and that same order can then be turned into an invoice when ready. You will save money, and also reduce human error, increasing customer satisfaction.

2. Automate the selling of different units of measure.

   Some customers want a case, others want a whole pallet, and still others only want one of that same item. Sound familiar? Do you have to 'trick' your software into handling this scenario, or end up doing inventory adjustments? You can solve this costly problem by setting up one inventory item with multiple units of measure. By setting up the selling units you need for each item, you can have your system calculate how many you have in stock by unit, and you can easily buy, sell and stock your items how you choose. This can save you significant time and will also give you a more accurate picture of how many items you really have in stock. Most importantly, you can quickly tell your customer how many you have available in the unit of measure they choose.

3. Set up and use assemblies to build or 'kit' items

   Do you put several items together and sell them as a kit? Or, do you manufacture something composed of many raw materials? Do you endure the painstaking process of entering each piece of the final item separately into your accounting system? If so, you can drastically cut down on time and increase accuracy by setting these items up as 'assemblies'. Setting up an assembly allows you to place a finished product on an order, and it will take all of its components out of stock for you behind the scenes. This cuts down on data entry and keeps your inventory counts and costs accurate.

4. Take physical inventory more often

   Having an accurate count of the items in your inventory can save your company money, and your customers will be happy to get a quick and accurate answer on whether an item is available. You can make your physical inventory process easier by using a system that allows you to keep selling products while you take counts. The sales staff is happy because they can keep selling, the warehouse manager is happy because the counts are accurate, and the customer is happy to receive accurate information in a timely manner.

5. Track inventory by location

   Is that item in the back warehouse? On the retail floor? Or is it out on one of the delivery trucks? If you store items in more than one location, you should quickly be able to see exactly where it is by location. You can accomplish this by setting up more than one inventory location in your software. If you have the ability to set up unlimited inventory locations, you can even set up (for example) a delivery truck as its own location. Setting up multiple warehouses saves you time searching, and can also reduce costly shrinkage.

6. Automate tracking of serial and lot-numbered items

   Still tracking your serial or lot-numbered items on paper or in a spreadsheet? Not only does this make the receiving of those items time-consuming, there is no trail associating your customers with the serial or lot numbers for the items they purchase. You can set up your system to capture and store the serial or lot numbers for your inventory upon receipt. Then when you enter your customers' orders, you can choose which serial/lot numbers they have purchased. Your company will save significant time by keeping track of those numbers in one system, and you'll keep your customer happy by being able to quickly access which serial or lot numbers for the items they have purchased. This also helps you keep easy track of warranty information.

7. Let your software system keep track of customer pricing

   Are you tired of flipping through files to find what your customer paid last time, only hoping that the page on top is the most up-to-date? You can eliminate this hassle by setting up your customer pricing in your software system. By setting up customer pricing in the software, you will ensure better accuracy, keeping your customers happy, and you'll also save yourself wasted time and hassle.

8. Track profitability of inventory items

   How easy is it for you to see which items are the most profitable? How do you know that the items you promote or sell the most are bringing in the most revenue? With the ability to run reports showing profitability (Gross Profit Margin) by each individual item, you can check often to be sure you are selling the right items. By easily accessing this information, you can focus your sales and marketing departments on selling and promoting the most profitable items, enabling you to improve your bottom line.

9. Enter purchase orders from order entry

   Have you ever run out of an item, and forgot to put it on order for your customer? You can have your system prompt you to enter a purchase order directly from the order entry screen. By doing this, you will be sure to get the items for your order, keeping your customer happy. You will also save time by taking care of both functions at once.

10. Know which items you have so you can keep just the right number in stock

    Are you surprised when you run out of an item? Or how about when you find a huge overstock? Set up your system to keep a minimum and maximum amount for each item. Then you can easily run a report at any time, showing what you are running low on so you can order more before you run out. You can be sure you don't waste valuable shelf space by overstocking any items. This will streamline the purchase order process too, saving your company hours of time.

I think sometimes, we marketers make the mistake of putting too much emphasis on how a direct mail piece will look, rather than taking the time to execute a well thought out campaign. It is so easy to get excited about the size, graphics, and the color choices, that we fail to think about whom our target audience is, and what information of value can we give them, or what void or problem can our product solve.

As the marketing manager at Red Wing Software, a great emphasis is given to whom the message is being created for, i.e. existing customers, attendees for a trade show, or perhaps new prospects. Even though our graphic designer and I create the copy and design, input and ideas for the campaign can come from many different sources within our company. The sales team, technical support, development, and admin, all help us to pinpoint the right message.

For instance, when we created our new Fund Accounting Software, many months of research went into whom the right target audience would be, and what solutions would our software have that would be of value to municipalities and nonprofits. When it came to municipalities, we determined our software would be a great fit for small to mid-sized cities and towns. The goal of our first campaign was twofold, introduce our fund accounting software, and introduce our company itself. Thus our tagline “Big City Bang for Small Town Bucks” was born. We used this as our campaign slogan, it spoke to what our software was a good fit for, and our logo helped brand our company. You can click here to see an example of our first direct mail piece. To this day, this tagline is used on all of our direct mail pieces for fund accounting, as seen here in our 2011 campaign.

An important aspect for all successful direct mail campaigns is to have a good mailing list. Many companies buy lists for their prospecting or they create lists in-house using prospects or leads that have come in. When we prospect to a new market, we become members of the targeted groups associations, for instance, if we are prospecting small to mid-size municipalities in a certain state, we might join their League of Cities, and advertise in their publication, mail to their membership base, attend their trade show, etc. By taking the time to understand who our audience is, and what message of value we have for them, helps us to have a more successful direct mail campaign.

I recently ran across a blog that had great information for anyone who calls tech support for assistance. It doesn’t matter if you’re calling for help on your accounting software, your computer or your cable tv, the posted information can help you get your assistance in a quick and friendly way.

Thank you to librarianinblack.net for the great reminders on how we can all get better technical support. http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/2007/07/5-ways-to-get-g.html

5 Ways to Get Good Tech Support

As someone who has both given and received copious amounts of tech support, I thought I could offer a few pointers on what works and what doesn't. If you have anything to add, please leave a comment!

1. Don't be afraid or sheepish to ask for help. If I got a nickel for every time someone came to me asking for help saying "This is a stupid question," or "I'm sorry to ask you this, but...", well, I'd be rather wealthy. This is what the tech support people are there for! It's their job. You can certainly be nice to them, but don't be afraid to straight-out ask for help.
2. Ask for help right away. Instead of plugging away for hours to try to figure out a problem, go ahead and tap their expertise early. The earlier you get to them, the less frustrated you will be and the more likely that you will have a pleasant interaction.
3. Explain what you are trying to do when something went wrong and then what happened--exactly. Please don't give the whole story about where you are trying to go with your project and why you are trying to do what you're doing, and why you hate this particular program... If you can list the exact steps that took you to the problem point and then what happened, including any error messages you saw and screenshots, that will help the tech support person help you.
4. Keep your goal in mind. Remember your goal is to get good tech support and to get your problem solved. So many tech support people get burned out. They're dealing with problems all day, never anything nice or a "wow this works great!" Remember that the tech support people are not the ones who built the product that is annoying you; they are the ones who are trying to help you. They want to help you. Remembering that, it will serve you well to say thank you when the solution is solved, and to be pleasant to the person during the interaction.
5. Don't turn your emergency into someone else's. This goes out beyond tech report, but it also applies here. When we find ourselves in an emergency, or we left something to the last minute, we become crazed. As a result, we infect others around us with our craziness. If you infect tech support with your panic, you will not only get worse service, you will probably become "that guy" -- the person that the tech support people avoid in every possible way. You don't want to be "that guy," so calm down, get the help you need, and continue solving your emergency.

When calling about help with software issues, there are a few additional things to keep in mind…

• Start with a reboot of your pc before you call support. They are machines and machines have fluky days too. Sometimes just simply rebooting (Shutdown or Restart) can correct the problem.
• If you receive an error, write it down or take a print screen of it. And if you can, note exactly what key strokes or actions were processed right before the error was displayed.
• Take a minute to think about what has changed on the computer recently? Did the operating system do an automatic update? Was a new printer or other hardware installed? Were any software updates installed (for the software having problems and others; sometimes an update to something like virus protection software can affect other programs installed on the same pc).