As business owners, we rely on information to make decisions about our business. With good data, we have a better chance of making better decisions. With good data, we can create a report for the ATO (for example) with confidence that it’s accurate. This helps us sleep better at night.
However, we are hearing that a lot of builders and even some using Bizprac are suffering from an (El) Nino type effect in critical business processes and reporting. Lots of software packages offer the promise of fantastic business reporting with no effort on the part of the user. Don’t believe it! All business software requires a structured effort to enter your day to day financial transactions. The reward for doing this is that you get to see the truth about your business performance.
So we think this is like the (El) Nino effect.
As you probably know, El Nino is the climatic changes in the Pacific Ocean that bring a shift in weather patterns upon Australia that causes droughts. No rain for long enough and there is a drought. And once we are in a drought, other problems follow.
Okay, so what has the El Nino effect have to do with my business software I hear you asking..?
Well, if you have not set up your system properly, and the data is not accurate or current, then you will know the (El) Nino effect. No rain causes a drought. No data in the system will cause a drought in your reporting – or perhaps (EL) Nino could stand for Nothing in Nothing Out. And it is pretty frustrating.
For any software package to deliver good results you must enter all of your data into the system. This will give you the maximum leverage from the processes and reporting within the system. And then you must keep your data current. This is an INVESTMENT in your business, not just a cost. Your investment of time to set the system up properly is always rewarded 100 fold. But if you try to short cut the process and don’t enter all of your information you won’t get the reporting your business really does need. Nothing in, nothing out.
With Bizprac our most successful builders always ensure the system is set up right. Then they enter ALL of their financial transactions correctly and carefully track expenses against budgets for ALL of their jobs. So get your suppliers’ price lists, debtors, creditors and staff all loaded into the system. Then keep this information up to date. When you do this the system can produce the information you need to properly run your business and report to the ATO with confidence.
Unlike the real El Nino, we can do something about the (El) Nino – Nothing in = Nothing out.
So the answer is simple and always the same. LEAVE NOTHING OUT! Always make your estimates as detailed as possible and as accurate as possible, and have a decent margin built into your contract price. Enter true detail on all of your Debtor Invoices, Creditor orders and invoices, Payments and Receipts, Timecards etc. Always allocate your costs to jobs and cost centres at the very least. This is NOT wasted time or expense. This is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT data entry.
Then when you wish to see how your business is performing you only need to click a button to print your reports. That’s the true power of good business software.
