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I am Tired…

Accounting /

Rita, my old friend from secondary school almost burst out in tears as we were speaking on the phone. “Chi, I can’t keep track of my finances and I keep losing track of time to do other important things, what do I do?” As the CEO of a medium-scale fashion industry business, Rita knows she needs help managing her finances. From invoicing, to calculating taxes, to reporting, she is saddled with a lot and desperately needs help figuring out how to manage her finances and business processes but prefers to handle her business operations manually. This came as a surprise to me; the Rita that I knew back in the day did not look like she could be overwhelmed with work. To me, she had everything figured out, but now, it hurt me to listen to her breakdown over the phone, and I was determined to ensure that a solution was proffered for her concerns. I thought long and hard about what to do… Alas! It struck me! I remember attending to a young patient of mine who was rushed into the hospital due to High Blood Pressure. It was a concern for me as a medical doctor because she is young. I knew something was wrong so, during the routine consultation, I probed further to know how she got there. She explained how she lost a huge amount of money in her business because there was no structure in place to help manage her business’s accounting. She could not easily raise and track invoices, track cash flow, accept payments, record transactions, automate business operations, and capture expenses. It was a big issue for her. As a business owner with a staff strength of 10, handling these operations was difficult, and it kept her late at night. Trying to manually record transactions in her businesses and constantly thinking about it affected her health. We talked for a while, she was treated, and she went home, only for her to show up for her next appointment looking fresher and prettier than the last time I saw her. I needed to know the secret, so I asked how she was fairing. She answered me smiling, “I am better now, Doctor Chi. I came across an online ad made by a company called Excellium. The advert was about a software solution, this solution helped my business and gave it structure.” I listened to her talk about all the interesting details this solution had, and I was glad that she felt better but I wanted to know more about this solution. The thought that the problems of businesses could weigh an individual down gave me so much reason to ask more questions. Then she mentioned the name of the solution, Sage Business Cloud Accounting. This affordable solution helped her easily create and track invoices, track cash flow, accept payments, record transactions, automate admin operations, and capture expenses. It was a game changer for her business, she said. Imagine going through the hassle of manually capturing expenses, and invoices, calculating taxes, reporting, monitoring cash flow, and budgets, and handling paper folders that house the names of suppliers, items, budgets, etc., only for them to be lost. Miss Shade spoke about this solution with so much trust and appreciation. Sage Business Cloud Accounting regularized her blood pressure and brought smiles to her face; She told me. I wanted that for Rita, my old school friend, and so I decided to give her a call at once to tell her all I had learned about this Solution. With the Sage Accounting Business Cloud Software Solution… You can: capture expenses as they happen take care of invoicing on the road bank at the office and manage cash flow from your home. perform insightful reporting calculate taxes easily check your cash flow capture the right quantity of inventory in and out keep track of your company’s performance against predefined targets keep fixed assets registered Check foreign exchange swings on items bought, and sold and their impact To prepare for the future, Miss shade says business owners should take into consideration unavoidable occurrences. “It is important to be set up with the right software solution from on-set, so you are not caught up in a challenging situation with your finances later”, she said. She talked about how many businesses in Nigeria do not outlive the owner and how businesses don’t last in Nigeria because most of them lack structure. Miss Shade has made up her mind to ensure her business has structure and lasts for generations. She is particular about setting the pace for structured business in Nigeria and would like other businesses to follow suit by adopting the right solutions like Sage business cloud, to suit her needs. She expresses her gratitude to Excellium, the company that introduced her to Sage Business Cloud Accounting Software. Now, Miss Shade can sleep peacefully because she rests assured that the right solution has been put in place to help her business processes. I would like you to enjoy comfort like Miss Shade and Rita and so I have decided to share this. To know more about and start your free trial with the Sage Business Cloud Accounting Software Solution. Please go to our product page on the website to learn more and click on the free trial link to begin.

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5 Tips to consider when implementing an ERP system

ERP(Enterprise Resource Planning) /

#Tips: 5 Tips to consider when implementing an ERP System Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) deployments can be a daunting task. How you select and implement an ERP system would determine the success and long-term prospect of how the ERP system will work with your business process. ERP projects are usually expensive in nature. Getting the process right must be a Company’s goal. ERPs can go a long way towards improving your operations and reducing your costs. Here are some tips below to help you successfully deploy your next ERP software solution: Find out about top project management and time management software tools that can help you automate your business tasks. Gather your ERP Requirements An important step to an ERP selection process is gathering your business requirements. Carefully highlight and define your project scope. This would ensure proposed requirements are specific in proposals from consultants. A good upfront requirement gathering process relieves the implementation consultants and integrators with little or no assumptions about what your organisation requires. This can help to reduce delayed timelines and extended budgets on ERP implementations. Start by focusing on your business processes and system requirements. Select an ERP system that fits into your business process. Otherwise, this would cause additional and more expensive customisations on the long term.  Appoint internal ERP champions If you want to have the best ERP onboarding process, it is important that you appoint internal ERP champions to lead the ERP implementation and onboarding process in your company. Select staff who would manage the collection of user requirement process.  Having an ERP project champion can also boost the change management process. The champion takes responsibility to coordinate users on the need and how to use the ERP software. This process helps to make ERP adoption more seamless compared to leaving the responsibility wholly to consultants.  Customise your business requirements Depending on the ERP, integrations are usually a core part of ERP implementations. Companies usually want to achieve full-scale ERP implementations. However, budget constraints can limit your ability to achieve maximal integrations. Select customisations that would focus on the “what” requirement.Panorama Consulting provides a three grouped requirement framework that can guide companies to navigate their assessment process: Mandatory– These are non-negotiable tasks or function that are required to execute a job function. They could also be subject to external influence such as regulations.Value-added– These requirements help to initiate a more streamlined process for your operations. They have good importance but are not required to perform a task.Nice to have– These are requirements that provide convenience to users. For example, a button that automatically links you to another page. Source: Panorama Consulting Create a change management process A challenging part of the implementation process is getting the management and users to buy into the ERP project. Employees are usually accustomed to their old processes, and it would take a reorientation to change their mindset. A change management strategy helps companies to manage this challenge. A communication strategy should be formed as part of the change management process. This involves setting up workshops, meetings, and group sessions to better explain the importance of the new ERP system. Q&A session can also be developed to address issues that employees raise. It is essential that employees get acquainted with the change management process, to ensure that your ERP project is successful. Improve your business process ERP systems are created to help businesses improve their business processes into a more seamless and automated manner. It is expected that when implementing an ERP system, business processes would change in your organisation. An effective way of designing your ERP implementation would be to reengineer business processes within your organisation. Every organisation wants to improve how they conduct their business. Performing this during an implementation process requires you to ask the tough questions: Are your processes redundant? What process can be introduced or eliminated? Evaluate your current process map and look at ways in which your business process can be improved upon. The redefined processes should then be captured into implementing your new ERP software.  Looking for someone to discuss about your next ERP project in Nigeria and around Africa, send us a mail info@excellium.biz or call us on +2348038023199, +2347018588691 +2348057696213. Recent Posts 19 JAN 2021 , 09:00 AM – 02:00 PM WAT 20 JAN 2021 , 09:00 AM – 02:00 PM WAT SAGE BUSINESS CLOUD MASTERCLASS TRAINING Register now

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5 Steps to consider when building a Salary Structure

Payroll/HR /

#Tips: 5 Steps to consider when building a Salary Structure Setting up a pay structure can make it easier to manage your payroll expenditure. A pay structure helps you to evaluate jobs and establish compensation for different jobs and groups. It can help to make your hiring process easier to execute. Here are some steps to consider when creating a salary structure. Develop your job analysis A job profile structure is a list of all the available and future positions in your company. Outline your job duties, qualifications, and descriptions. Make a list of these roles, highlighting their primary and secondary roles. Identify the essential tasks of each job and develop descriptions that match each job role. Benchmark Benchmarking means to create a salary range based on identifiable market data. Benchmark jobs can be found by checking similar roles in competitor businesses and identifying how much those jobs are paid. For example, comparing the salary of a Manager of Bank A with Bank B. You can leverage already conducted surveys done with your desired competitors. There are also public data such as Glassdoor, Indeed, and local platforms like My Salary Scale. Budget Develop a budget for your payroll costs. Calculate what your expected profits would be and your estimated staff costs. Staff costs should be calculated based on the net cost of labour, by adding all additional benefits a staff would enjoy such as club memberships, HMOs, etc. You can then use your internal budget to check how much you can afford to pay your staff based on the benchmarked rates. Develop a Pay Grade Salary structuring becomes easier when you standardize salary scales into grades. A grade could be defined as job levels within your organisation. This can be determined by grouping people with similar years of experience, job skills, education levels, job roles and responsibilities. For example: Role Year of Experience Salary amount (₦) Finance Assistant 2 Years 2,000,000 Finance Manager 5 Years 5,000,000 On the Finance Assistant level, multiple employees who are on this grade can earn the same or similar similar salary amounts. Job Evaluation This is when you determine the relative value and relevance of each job positions within your company. This means that jobs are compared with each other based on defined criteria such as education, experience, level of responsibility and revenue impact of a respective role. Job positions can be on the same grade, but salary structures can be different depending on the role that a staff is engaged in. An example is a business development manager and a customer service manager. Depending on the business, both roles can be on the same level, but can have different salary structures depending on the level of relevance and effort each role brings to the business. Job evaluation should be carried out in an unbiased manner, by considering the role rather than a staff engaged in a role. Looking for someone to discuss with about your business, call us on +2348038023199, +2347018588691 +2348057696213, or Shoot us a mail Ads Recent Posts

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5 Bookkeeping tips for your small businesses

Accounting /

#Tips: 5 Bookkeeping tips for your small businesses Every business needs to record its finances. This can be done by a process called bookkeeping. For small business owners, bookkeeping can look complicated when starting. However, it would help you to check how your business is performing. Here are some tips on how to start proper bookkeeping for your small business. Have a good accounting software system If you want to maintain proper records for your business, an accounting software is necessary for your business. An accounting software would help you manage your customer records, supplier records, bank records, and other relevant records. Most accounting software applications come with financial report templates. This allows you to preview how well your business is faring at any point applicable. Review your books Accounting software and spreadsheets help to capture your business information and financial records. However, it is important that you regularly review your software records, to check for irregularities, errors, or wrong postings. Reviewing your records also help to prevent unplanned tax readjustments from the tax authorities. You can engage an external accountant to help review your records. Monitor your Expenses Track every expense you spend. As a small business owner, you must be mindful of your expenses. If you pay for expenses by cash or by bank, ensure you collect receipt or invoices for every expense incurred. To know if you are on track with your records, confirm the balance of your cash and bank accounts against your expenses regularly- weekly or monthly. Separate business from personal expenses For sole proprietors or small business enterprises, spending from your business purse can be a very tempting experience. Small business owners are usually poised to manage their business finances themselves. This allows some owners to mix their business and personal expenses together. If you are seeking to grow and manage your business properly, you must learn to separate business from personal expenses. You can do this by drawing up separate accounts for both expenses. Personal expenses can be tracked using an expense app. You can then use an accounting software to track your business expenses. Separating business and personal expenses helps you to create financial discipline for your business. Understand your monthly bookkeeping reports It is important to know how and where your business is growing or whether it is not growing. This can be done by tracking your bookkeeping reports. Bookkeeping reports show various business metrics such as how much profit you are generating, your sales value, debt value, or whether your operating expense are high, amongst other indicators. There are various bookkeeping reports that can help you to determine how your business is faring. The most important reports include your income statement and your statement of financial position (also known as Balance Sheet). You can get your accountant to explain what the reports mean so you can have a first-hand knowledge of how your business is faring. Looking for someone to discuss about your small business, shoot us a mail to info@excellium.biz or call us on +2348038023199, +2347018588691 +2348057696213. Recent Posts

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