Does YOUR ICT vendor provides updates often?

Last month we posted about the FRS 139 accounting standard. Now, the GST (Goods and Services Tax). Is your software ever ready for changes in policies and ready for upgrades as the policies change? Does your vendor charge you EXTRA when it comes to critical changes like these? Do you feel that each time government announces something new, you feel the burden and burn a hold in the pockets for implementing new systems?

Whether it is GST, VAT or withholding tax, XeerSoft has the experience in implementing these systems at Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and now coming to shores of Malaysia.

Talk to us when you need to re-look your software and how we provide upgrades without extra charges when it is critical. Call us at 03-9284 8286 for a no-obligation 1-hour presentation TODAY!

Here are three reports in The Star newspaper on GST.

Should you fear the new tax?

By ERROL OH

GST can mean many things to many people and economists argue that it’s inevitable for the good of the country.

ONE Dr A. Soorian of Seremban must have drawn quite a bit of attention when his letter to the editor appeared in Sunday Star on Dec 27. Writing about the proposed 4% goods and services tax (GST), he describes the tax as “a broadband weapon with cumulative effects down the line”.

“When the manufacturer sells goods to the agent, he pays 4% GST, and when the agent sells them to the wholesaler, another 4% is levied. It does not end there. When the goods are sold to the retailer, another 4% is added. Eventually when the consumer purchases them, another 4% is hammered in,” he complains.

“The consumer is potentially liable to pay 16% tax in the upshot!”

(To read more, click here)

What you should know about GST

Because the new tax is complex and broad-based, we have a lot to learn ahead of its introduction. As a start, StarBizWeek has asked some experts to each highlight five key points.

(To read more, click here)

Making sense of GST

By CECILIA KOK

THE Government has never been as aggressive when it comes to consolidating its financial position until recently.

From ongoing efforts to restructure the various subsidy schemes in the country, and the removal of them in some cases, to the proposal of introducing a new tax format, called the goods and services tax (GST), or value-added tax (VAT) as it is known in some countries, one thing is clear – the Government is intent on putting up mechanisms that can trim its persistent financial deficits and rising debt burden to hunt for that elusive surplus and build up its savings to prepare for rainy days ahead.

Kenanga Investment Bank economist Wan Suhaimi Saidi puts it succinctly, “The country cannot continue raising debts to finance its deficits; otherwise, it will go into a debt trap. The Government needs to build surpluses, so that it can have more leeway in adopting measures that can stimulate and develop the domestic economy in the future, particularly when market conditions turn unfavourable.”

(To read more, click here)

Three biggest challenges of Travel Agencies and How Travel Agency Management Software Should Help

There are travel agencies which are still managing travels and tour packages manually. Too many papers are wasted daily to check on tours and collaboration among departments in the travel agencies is difficult.

Walk in to a typical travel agency and you see stack of papers on the shelf with all tour itineraries, some may even be outdated. If you are lucky enough, you get a good pricing for your tour because the travel agency did not update the pricing or tours on a real-time basis. Main challenges for travel agencies include business operations, costings and employee management.

Business Operations Challenges
- Updates of travel packages were not applied across all departments and branches, affecting front desk staffs selling packages with old pricing - incurring losses
- Difficulties for front desk staffs to check on updates as there were no online, centralized database
- Break-down in communications among departments and difficulty to communicate among branches

Costing Challenges
- Tremendous amount of papers used and wasteful printings for travel packages and itineraries - incurring extra overheads
- Employees need to work extra hours to complete checkings and coordination manually - incurring extra employees wages
- Communications using traditional methods including faxes, scans, phone calls and land lines incurring additional costs

Employee Management Challenges
- Fraud of employees punching cards for each other, making losses for extra overtime payments
- Leaves are managed manually without accuracy and often miscalculated
- Additional employees needed every end of month to calculate working hours to compute payroll

Travel Agency Management System - What is Good?
For a travel agency management system to work, it should at least have the below features. I am, however, generalizing based on typical travel agencies which still operate manually in Malaysia. For any IT systems to work, it should solve the biggest challenges and bottlenecks in your business. Therefore the below list is just a general one.

Real-time, centralized travel itineraries and uploading of tour files
- XeerSoft centralizes data and its powerful online engine allows uploads of tour files for immediate viewing, real-time information across whole company, branches and even with external agents, also allowing front desk staffs to disseminate information accurately

Fully integrated with back-end system
- XeerSoft is the first and only IT solution in Malaysia for travel agencies with full-fledged back-end system, including payroll, online photo-capturing time attendance system, e-leave management system, billing, accounting and financial implementation, customer relationship management and loyalty programs to name a few

Accurately calculate payroll and overtime for employees
- At month-end, time attendance information could be exported to XeerSoft Payroll System for calculation of basic salary, overtime and allowances, saving costs and time

Reduce frauds with photo-capturing time attendance system
- Employees punch cards no more! With XeerSoft, time attendance log is taken digitally with photo capture each time your employee logs in and out. It is online, so you can view attendance online, real-time

Audit log files for transactions
- Monitor transactions by viewing transaction history or audit logs of each amendment done to the system to avoid frauds

Multiple payment types
- XeerSoft systems allow multiple payment types including by cash, cheque, direct transfer, credit card or tele transfer

Integration with Google Apps
- Easily integrate with Google Apps and Google Maps for easy viewing of tours, tours management and arrangement as well as easier explanations to travellers

Connect and maintain centralized customer base with CRM system
- Customers registered for tours can be centralized in a common database for better customer relationship management. No more paper, filings and manual records of clients details - easy to search and store information digitally

For screenshots, more information and details on ERP system for Travel Agencies, kindly visit http://www.XeerSoft.com/Travel or call us for a complimentary, no-obligation consultation at +603-9284 8286 or email us at sales@xeersoft.com

Does this look like how your purchasing is done?

If you are still using this method, is time to change or time will change your business!

Are you still monitoring your stock level and when it reaches reorder level, you order the quantity to the shelf level? If this is the way you control your stocks and manage your inventory, is time for your business to change. Otherwise, time will surely change your business - to the worse. Smart purchasers and inventory managers use advanced analysis and merchandising system to help them have total control over their inventory.

Diagram 1 Traditional Replenishing of Stocks - when stock quantity reaches reorder level, purchasers will order back to the shelf level

This method of reordering is good only for items which sells at a steady trend - meaning a consistent quantity of stocks sell at a stipulated duration. For example, you may have a malt drink at your convenience store selling at 8-10 packs per week, consistently at this level every week. It is perfectly alright for you to use the traditional method.

Challenge 1: Differing Sales Trend
However, this is not the case for many businesses these days. With SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) over 3,000 in your inventory and almost all with different sales trend, traditional replenishing method simply does not work. There are items which could sell in an increasing trend, meaning it sells 8-10 in the first week, 15-20 in the second week and then 30-60 in the third. With such sales trend, if you still reorder using the traditional method, most likely customers walk in your store with an "Out of Stock" sign simply because the replenishing level does not support the uptrend in sales. On the other hand, if you reorder using this method for items with downtrend in sales, you will find your warehouse stocked with excess of these items.

Challenge 2: Loss of Opportunities
Customers walking in with an "Out of Stock" sign simply walk away to another store to purchase - you lost customers. On the other hand, when overstock happens, your cash flow is locked and logistics (warehousing, store keeping) cost increase. Either way, you incur losses.

Challenge 3: Focusing on ALL instead of CORE
With this traditional reorder method, it forces you to monitor ALL your stocks to ensure stock availability. Unless you have a sophisticated sales analysis which tells you which are your best selling items, you will have to control every single item in your store. Smart business owners analyse and focus on core products which bring in the most profits for their businesses.
Allow XeerSoft to show how 2 simple technologies could assist analysis and reordering.

ABC Analysis

Diagram 2 ABC Analysis analyses your core products which bring in the most profits to your business

ABC Analysis helps to analyse core products for your business. Using the Pareto 80/20 rules, it says that 80% of sales comes from only 20% of your stock. Do you know which 20% of you stocks is really contributing to 80% of your sales? With ABC Analysis, system tags A items which contributes 80% of sales, allowing you to further configure percentages for B and C categories of items. This way, you know A items contribute to 80% of your sales.

In a case study, a retail client actually manipulate this record to ensure he knows exactly his A items every week. He then ensure stocks is always enough for A items. He also strategies his business by doing promotions on B and C items, partnering with suppliers of A items for better pricing as well as negotiating with suppliers for extra discounts so margin will be higher.

Auto Reordering

Diagram 3 A good reorder system will take consider sales trend of each item before suggesting a reorder level

Auto Reordering identifies sales trend for each item to then suggest a reorder level for your inventory. For items in a decreasing sales trend, the system will suggest a lower reorder quantity. Likewise, for items with uptrend and increasing sales in nature, auto reordering suggests a higher reorder quantity. With less focus on reordering methods and lesser attention in the purchasing department, business owners can focus on sales and core business functions.

Is It Time to Change?
To get started, analyse your business if there is a need for such technologies. Signs of needing such a technology includes:

• Inventory and stocks are often in a mess
• Items are often out of stocks with no visibility, especially when having multiple stores
• Having at least 3,000 item codes (SKUs) especially with difficulties in managing multiple codes for the same products
• Having to hire more than 5 purchasers just to maintain stock levels and each one works their butts off
• Not knowing inventory levels at any point of time when needed

If you face 2 of the above signs, is time to change - for the better. Talk to XeerSoft if you need to have us take a look at your current inventory system. Fix a no-obligation presentation appointment with our solution consultants today by calling 03-9284 8286 or email sales@xeersoft.com.

Is YOUR Accounting System Compliant with FRS 139?

Published: Monday December 7, 2009 MYT 1:01:00 PM
Updated: Monday December 7, 2009 MYT 2:49:46 PM

Firms must ensure staff understand new accounting standards

KUALA LUMPUR: Companies must ensure their accounting and finance division staff understand the requirements of the Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 139 which will be implemented effective Jan 1, 2010.

Malaysian Accounting Standards Board FRS 139 - Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement, is a standard that requires companies to adopt fair value accounting in valuing financial instruments in their books, which in turn, will have wide implications for their investments and debts including inter-company loans.

Dr Nordin Mohd Zain, Deloitte KassimChan Executive Director for Global Financial Services Industry Group, said there was sufficient budget set aside for skills building to handle FRS 139 standard and impending changes to the standard.

"With the final countdown, all public-listed companies and financial institutions are well aware of the deadline, but they also needed to ensure their staff understand the FRS 139 requirements that their accounting processes and IT systems are upgraded to handle market data and impairment calculations," he told Bernama in an interview.

For the full news, please visit TheStar
More news and information on FRS139, please visit PriceWaterHouse Coopers or TheEdgeMalaysia

XeerSoft Accounting and Financial Implementation is ready for challenges. At XeerSoft, we have dedicated programmers and experts in financial field to ensure consistency in latest accounting practices and comply with industrial standards. XeerSoft Accounting System is also a highly configurable system to suit your business needs and processes, not you complying to an accounting system. For more features of XeerSoft Accounting System, please visit http://www.XeerSoft.com/Accounting

XeerSoft Successfully Tested By Partner at the IBM Innovation Centre

 

XeerSoft has been successfully tested by Partner at the IBM Innovation Centre. Today, we have received a letter by IBM to certify XeerSoft Solution was being tested successfully at the IBM Innovation Centre. Being our new partner, IBM has been very helpful to provide an environment to test XeerSoft solutions.

 We will be releasing a press release soon. 

Web-based Accounting VS Desktop Accounting

Time of the year is near and auditing period is here again. XeerSoft always understand challenges faced by business owners as well as accountants. In this issue, we will inspect the need of using web-based or online accounting system as compared to desktop accounting.

We will also look into factors to consider before implementing web-based accounting system or online accounting solutions.

Here, we are talking about desktop accounting where you buy boxed software off the shelf, install onto your computer and use it. Web-based accounting system will have you login to your system using Internet Explorer and process transactions via the Internet.

Desktop Accounting

Let us first examine desktop accounting. Fast, really simple, easy-to-use and comprises of all basic features of accounting. Anyone can simply buy the software off-shelf and use immediately. A majority of account clerks are familiar with desktop accounting, making it easier to implement such system. Come auditing time and ending financial year, accountants and auditors will spend time examining full year accounting records, do currency realizations for the full 365-day period, check on records and authorize financial reports. One-system-fits-all as accounting principles is quite similar.
So, if desktop accounting is meant for your business, continue using it until there is a need to upgrade. Allow me to shed lights into why "higher grades" of accounting systems are needed.

Web-based Accounting

When companies grow larger and expand, one system does not fit all anymore. Even companies in the same industry may have different accounting practices. Example, a company allows a post-dated cheque to be included as credit limit but another company may think otherwise.

Understanding different needs in accounting, XeerSoft figures out a few key points to look at when purchasing a web-based accounting system.
1. Up-front costs
2. Implementation Speed
3. Security and Accessibility
4. Configurable and Scalability
5. Support and Training

Implement a "ready-made" web-based accounting will be more affordable and quicker to deploy compared to writing your own accounting software. While programmers and software developers can write codes, too seldom an Information Technology expert could also understand accounting and financial terms unless he is well-trained and experienced in both fields.

Web-based accounting systems host your data in a server. Therefore, utilize services like data replication and backups. Also find out if data can be saved or exported to a file format you could use, such as a spreadsheet. Most vendors charge extra for these services, do ask for the pricing as well.

You have the flexibility to access a web-based accounting system anywhere and have overall control even if you have multi-companies in multiple locations. Contradicting this feature, you will want that a web-based accounting system allows security in restricting access – you do not want everyone to access your accounting data everywhere.

Also ensure that the system can be configured to your needs. First list down requirements for your accounting needs and find out if the system could fulfill your needs. Ensure that the system is scalable - can be upgraded and integrate with other modules easily. You normally look into implementing a new system because your business is expanding. So, if your software does not support your business expansion, do not rely on it.

Desktop accounting system is simple enough to deploy due to its simplicity. Not in the case of web-based accounting system because its flexibility and additional features also makes it somewhat more complex to learn from. So, you will want to ensure vendors include on-going after-sales support and trainings.

XeerSoft Factor

At XeerSoft, we provide a complete business requirement study to configure a web-based accounting system that fits your business and supports business expansion. Extra features in XeerSoft Web-based Accounting System includes multi-currency, multi-lingual, multiple companies accounts consolidation, multi-currency realization, workflow authorizations, middleware to link to hypermarkets electronic data interchange systems and easily scalable by integration with XeerSoft modules.

Browse to www.XeerSoft.com/Accounting for more information, screenshots and articles related to accounting.

Written by Chew Hoong Ling

Chew Hoong Ling graduates with honours in Bachelor of Science in Information System. Experienced in sales and business consultation in an ERP system company, she also writes IT articles for various magazines. She also appears frequently in the local media for her social works and IT discussions.

XeerSoft Corporate Social Responsibility: The Spirit of Giving

Employees at XeerSoft are warm and kind hearted. In January 2009, Executive Assistant to Sales Director, Chew Hoong Ling has given part of her liver to save a 13-year old child. Hoong Ling did it with the blessing of her parents and XeerSoft allowing almost 3-month leave for pre-operation tests, operation and recuperation.

A few months after that, the girl she saved from end-stage liver cancer had bone cancer, eventually passed on due to lungs infections after successful chemotherapy at the hospital. Calling for help to replace the many packs of blood used during her stay in the hospital, Xeers were all ready to respond.

Many Xeers were first timer in blood donation. Yet, they did not mind giving blood for good - in the spirit of giving. A few Xeers who did not dare to donate still follow the crowd to give support. Xeers successfully replaced 9 packs of blood on 10th October 2009.

Blood donors fill in their forms

Xeers happily donate blood

Blood - the gift of life