Small Business Books

The new year is the time when accounting and tax professionals gear up for the busy season. During this time of year, there is significant pressure for accounting professionals to consider outsourcing certain parts of their businesses to outside providers or processors. The concept of accounting and bookkeeping outsourced operations is not at all new. Tax preparation, for example, has for years been something that could be shipped off to an outside party for processing (remember the service bureaus?). The difference is that now there is pressure to outsource the bookkeeping - the daily transaction processing and recordkeeping that is a standard part of any business.

Outsourcing the regular transaction processing or bookkeeping for businesses is not a particularly new concept. It is the offshore aspect of the model that introduces the new wrinkle. Businesses such as GE and others have been involved in this type of outsourcing for years. In most cases, up until just a few years ago in fact, mostly larger companies were involved in offshore processing, and mainly handled these processes within offshore business units and related business entities. Additionally, the platform and applications required to effectively facilitate the necessary collaborative environment were expensive and complex. Offshore outsourcing, in volume, was primarily a big company option. No longer is this the case.

The small-business market, unlike the mid- and enterprise markets, utilize the general services of public accountants in much greater volume and typically for more fundamental business services such as business bookkeeping. Larger organizations typically employ accounting and bookkeeping departments and/or personnel, and rely on outside accounting professionals for higher-level work. Small businesses, however, outsource much more of the core bookkeeping and checkbook management functions to their public accountant. This creates a volume of fairly mechanical work (data entry, document management and filing, etc. ) which can be burdensome and not terribly profitable for many practices. But this level of work is of significant value to the small business owner, and thus the value of outsourcing to the accounting professional is clear.

What is happening at Save on Foods ? For those who don't know the store, here is a little background. It has been a local grocery store chain in British Columbia for several years. Operated by a local entrepreneur Jimmy Pattison.I was watching the renovation of the store closest to my home for several weeks. I had no idea was anything other than simple remodelling. I saw some other stores

The Fifth Utility is Computing Power

There is a new computing model emerging in the mainstream. It’s called Utility Computing. The concept isn’t new, and neither is the name. Utility computing has been recognized by a number of other names, as well, such as Application Hosting, Software-as-a-Service, OnDemand Computing, and Anytime, Anywhere Computing. But it all comes down to essentially the same thing: paying for what you use, and only for what you use.

Utility Computing is a service model in which a service provider makes computing resources and infrastructure management available to the customer as it is needed. These services are typically offered for monthly service fees, fees which may fluctuate with increased or decreased use of the computing resources offered. The utility model is designed to maximize the efficiency of the resources available, and minimize the associated cost of provisioning and managing those resources. Whether delivered by a 3rd party or by the IT department internal to the organization, the concept and the approach are the same.

The term “utility” is analagous to other types of infrastructure services, such as electrical power or water service, where fluctuating customer needs exist and the customer pays only for resources used. With available high-speed Internet in almost every region, and with the increasing complexity of operating system and application software, the utility computing model becomes even more important to the market.

The four major utility services are electrical power, water, natural gas, and telephone service (rapidly turning into simply “broadband”, as many now see IP service as the new dialtone). The fifth utility is computing power. Plug in and it’s there, and you pay for what you use. What could be simpler?

I have been working in a call center for the last few months. At first I wasn't on the phone answering questions but I observed the agents who were doing phone support. My observations and eventually doing phone support hasn't changed my original opinion; not only for call centers but the companies who replace their customer service with call centers.In fact I am even more opposed to the use of