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Discover More About Streamtime Project Management Software

Discover More About Streamtime Project Management Software

Streamtime strives to embody project management software for creatives. This goal is reflected not only in its modern aesthetics, but in its functionality. Streamtime strays away from traditional PM software traits in favor of a process that reflects the working styles of its clientele.

If you are willing to adjust your practices, and let go of your traditional reporting techniques, then Streamtime can be a powerful tool that staff enjoy using.

Track to-dos, not timesheets

Streamtime’s most unique feature is its approach to timesheets; namely that there are none. Replacing timesheets is the intuitive ‘To Do’ board, the completion of which automatically logs time for you. Managers, or staff, can drag and drop tasks to organize their own daily lists of to-dos, yet get a visual representation of how long that expected work is going to take. To do’s can relate directly to project items (the source of invoices, quotes and WIP) or they can be created ad hoc. The time for one of these on the spot created to-do items is recognized within the project as ‘Extra Hours Tracked’ so you can easily gauge where your staff may have done some out of scope work.

Clear on capacity

Filling out a timesheet is as simple as dragging an item from ‘To-Do’ to ‘Done’. If the time taken isn’t the time planned, you can stretch the item in your chart as needed. The To-Do board is Streamtime’s selling point and you can see why. It clearly visualizes capacity of staff, makes time sheeting easy, and has the flexibility to work off quoted time or track all the small tasks needed to be done on a day to day basis. It could use a more complex integration with the jobs (the creation of sub items from the to-do list would be welcome), and it could cause a culture shock for a team used to traditional timesheets, but it is unique and useable.

For managers, Streamtime has a schedule feature, in which you can review to-do items across all staff or jobs. Flexibility in the drag and drop functionality and accessibility to create to-do’s on the spot with instructions that feed into a staff members individual to-do list, make this module a powerful tool for a manager that is conscious of how much work their staff have at any given time.

Quoting and invoicing

Quoting and Invoicing through Streamtime is job focused and based around Items. Items can be free typed, and you have the flexibility to choose whether an item is budgeted in total, or from the sum of the rates and hours of staff assigned to it. You can duplicate a quote, and its line items but due to the free-form nature of the system a lack of quote, job or invoice templates could become frustrating for businesses that operate with set pricing structures that vary little between projects.

Preparing quote, invoice and purchase order documents can be a mixed bag depending on your preferences. Everything in these documents can be freely edited, added to or re-ordered. This flexibility can be refreshing compared to traditional project management solutions, requires caution as it is all too easy to mistakenly change a price or remove a line item. Visually, the documents have templates that are only semi-customizable. Their presentation is worthy of any creative agency, but should you currently have highly customized documents, you won’t be able to re-create them fully in Streamtime.

Reporting options

Reporting is another example where Streamtime strays from the norm. Reporting comes in 3 main forms; inside the project, the dashboard & customizable list views.

From within the project you are given a graph of a projects process based on the actual vs allocated time. Paired with the graph is key metrics around budgets, invoiced and quote totals.

There are four dashboard options, likened to personality traits that filter that organize key information for that day. The information shown here is limited, and there is no customisation outside the 4 choices. The 4 choices are based on: in-depth analysis, top level information, staff capacity and budget vs actual. Unless one of the options is perfect for you, you won’t find much value in the dashboards.

Customisable lists

The real value is in the customisable lists. You can make lists of jobs, time, expenses, quotes & invoices. For each list, you can add in filters, and customize columns based on a generous range of data. Lists can then be saved as a favorite and exported to CSV. If time and care is taken to build an arsenal of favourite lists, Streamtime will provide the visibility you need to run your business.

Streamtime is a powerful project management software that bases its uniqueness on visualization and flexibility. Highly structured businesses with set project structures and processes will likely find there is too much freedom, and therefore room for error, with Streamtime’s approach. However, for smaller creative agencies where flexibility is essential, Streamtime would be a welcome solution.

Have questions?

We’d be happy to answer them or take you through features of Streamtime in more detail. Or, if you’re wondering if another solution might be better for you, we’ve also done the hard yards for you and taken a look at other project management platforms, including: Xero Projects, Harvest & Forecast, ActiveCollab, Zoho Projects, WorkflowMax, Scoro and Accelo.

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Discover More About Harvest & Forecast Project Management Software

Discover More About Harvest & Forecast Project Management Software

Harvest is a project management tool whose foundations lie in time capture. Today, I am covering Harvest & Forecast, its scheduling add on, together. Harvest’s biggest strength is its flexibility of time capture. After all, the application started as an exclusively time capture tool in 2006. Since then, they have expanded their horizons to cover most aspects of project management and, to a lesser extent, CRM.

Not our first choice for pipeline management

The most notable limitation of harvest is its business development functionality. In Harvest you build Estimates, which once accepted, can be turned into an invoice. What the Estimate module doesn’t provide however, is any form of lead pipeline visualization to provide you key information about incoming work. You can see the full list of leads and filter by client, but if pipeline management is important to you, Harvest will underwhelm.

Additionally, there is a disconnect between an estimate, and the project. You can’t turn an estimate into a project, only directly into an invoice. If you put the effort into building an estimate to list out service line items for time to be tracked, you will need to duplicate that effort to create the project if the estimate is accepted. If your quoting process is simple and the client only cares about the total value of services, you should be safe, but this disconnect between estimates and projects is something to consider.

Straightforward progress tracking

However, once you have built your projects, Harvest lets you maintain their progress against budgets with ease. The projects view lets you see at a glance how your work is tracking against budget with a colored project bar that stands out in the interface.

Within the project’s main view, you get a unique bar chart tracking the progression of the budget month by month, and another tracking your teams logged time week by week. You also get the key metrics tracked by Harvest (time, remaining budget, internal project cost and amounts to invoice).

As Harvest is built on the foundation of tracking time and expenses, you won’t find much additional project management functionality such as milestone tracking or to-do management. You can build tasks, but these are where time gets logged, so think twice before creating a task for every to-do item within a project.

Flexibility with invoicing and rates

Harvest does give you some invoicing flexibility, which can be determined at a project’s creation. You can opt for a time and materials project, with or without a set budget. A useful feature is the flexibility around rates.  You have the option to work off your staff charge out rates, a custom rate for the project, or even a specific rate for each task within that project. This allows for a flexibility of WIP management that caters to the requirements of a variety of clients.

The core strength of Harvest is undoubtedly in its time capture functionality. Time is tracked against tasks, billable or non-billable, that are created within a project. When using Harvest, you are given multiple avenues to add time. You can start a timer, add time to tasks within the project, or compile time against a daily or weekly graph. You can opt to have time approved, send reminders for approval, and as a manager you can easily visualize the time entered by your team.

Digestible reporting

The reporting module provides further flexibility around time and associated Work In Progress, and can be viewed by client, project, task or staff. Like projects, key metrics are displayed in an easily digestible format to not only view time entries but see the impact of your staff’s time on your business.

Where does Forecast fit into Harvest? Forecast is an additional application that directly integrates with your Harvest projects and tasks. Essentially an integrated gant chant for your projects, Forecast lets you create project milestones (critically missing from the Harvest project module) and assign project tasks with a drag and drop interface.

You can view the gant chart from either a project or team perspective, and usefully both options can be exported to csv. The team view gives you some additional flexibility around capacity, viewing staff availability and designations for either a day or a week. Forecast lets you visualize capacity for the future and recognize tight deadlines across your full project list.

With the integration of Forecast, Harvest upgrades from a time tracking tool to a more flexible project management tool where you can schedule capacity and track project milestones. The disconnect between estimates & projects, and the lack of to-do list management does, however, keep it from succeeding as an all in one project management solution.

Have questions?

We’d be happy to answer them or take you through features of Harvest & Forecast in more detail. Or, if you’re wondering if another solution might be better for you, we’ve also done the hard yards for you and taken a look at other project management platforms, including: Xero Projects, Streamtime, ActiveCollab, Zoho Projects, WorkflowMax, Scoro and Accelo.

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Discover More About Xero Projects

Discover More About Xero Projects

Xero Projects is a relatively new competitor in the project management software market, that has been created with one thing in mind: Simplicity. It is an extension of the existing Xero accounting and payroll solution made for small teams.

Ideal for businesses of less than five people, Xero Projects is designed to facilitate project management with little complexity. Xero Projects lets you create a project, adding budgets, timesheets and invoices and view profitability within minutes.

As the name suggests, Xero Projects is a Xero Product, and is available with any Xero subscription for an additional $10 per user per month. A Xero subscription is essential for anyone looking to get started on Xero Projects. While restricting your options of accounting software, the Xero connection has efficiency gains regarding invoicing and expense management that is lacking in other solutions.

Simple & easy to get started

The simplicity of Xero Projects is most prevalent in its set up. In under thirty minutes, you will have explored all avenues of custom configuration, as the software limits you to working within its confines.  

A project takes only four fields to set up, and its integration with Xero means you already have your Xero client database to draw from. Once the Project is set up, you can add tasks with predetermined time budgets, log expenses or go straight into building a deposit invoice.

Once you have created a project, all that is left to do is add time & expenses. Adding time is simple. You can use the start/stop timer feature in the mobile app or add timesheet entries retrospectively from several screens within the app site.

Track expenses with ease

Tracking expenses is similarly straightforward. Xero Projects only tracks essential expense information. Therefore, expenses can be quickly added from within the project.  The Xero integration is again useful here, in that a Xero bill can be directly related to a project, preventing double handling of these expenses, ensuring timely data.

The invoicing module from Xero Projects is almost identical to Xero, except that it gives you 3 project billing methods that relate directly to the project; Deposit, Project Amount or Tasks and Expenses invoicing.

Flexible invoicing

This invoicing flexibility is one of the system’s biggest strengths, as it enforces the mantra of simplicity (just select an option and the invoice practically creates itself) while still letting you bill in the way that bests suits you. Again, the Xero integration ensures efficiency when invoicing, as the invoice created against a project is reflected in Xero in its entirety.

After you have billed your project, it is time to report – an area where Xero Projects relishes simplicity. Reporting in the software is restricted to key project profitability information, and a time overview. The former compares budget vs actual using key metrics, while the latter allows you to review each staff members logged time, to identify where projects or tasks are going over the estimated time.

There is minimal customisation of reports, but all the key information to identify a projects financial projects is readily available.

The downfall…

Where Xero Projects is most lacking, considering its intention as a financial tracking tool, is its inability to link to any quotes. While quote functionality exists in Xero, there is currently no integration with Xero Projects. This has been identified by the team at Xero Projects as an item on its roadmap for future development and would be a welcome addition to the construction of more accurate budgeting.

If you are only concerned with tracking the financial progress of a project through time and expenses and want a familiar invoicing process with a complete integration to Xero, then Xero Projects could be the software for you. While its limitations in quoting, customisation & reporting are prevalent, it has the essential functionality to ensure small business can in control of their projects.

Have questions?

We’d be happy to answer them or take you through features of Xero Projects in more detail. Or, if you’re wondering if another solution might be better for you, we’ve also done the hard yards for you and taken a look at other project management platforms, including: Harvest & Forecast, Streamtime, ActiveCollab, Zoho Projects, WorkflowMax, Scoro and Accelo.

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2017 In Review: Helping Our Clients Achieve More in the Cloud

2017 In Review: Helping Our Clients Achieve More in the Cloud

We’re celebrating a year of growth: offering clients more solutions, more capability and more expertise.

It’s been a fulfilling year for the Business Continuum team. We’ve broadened our service offering and attracted many new clients, whilst continuing to deepen numerous loyal and longstanding existing relationships. We’ve also diversified our offerings by adding several talented experts to our team. It’s important to take time to reflect and celebrate, so here’s a few highlights from 2017.

Merger with Realtime Business, appointment of Greg Harrison

In April, we merged with Realtime Business, and founder Greg Harrison became a Director of Business Continuum, alongside Matthew Peng and Chung Hui. Greg’s arrival signified a combining of forces between our two teams, giving our clients access to his many decades of experience in the IT, business management and project management industries. Greg’s approach is pragmatic, process driven and client focussed, making him a perfect fit for the growing Business Continuum team. The merge empowers us to more efficiently service more clients, and increase the breadth of the services we provide.

Appointment of Tim Dowling

In July, we further strengthened our team with the appointment of Tim Dowling as Client Director. Tim’s focus on understanding the client’s overall business objectives and his extensive, in-house knowledge of Xero Practice Manager and WorkflowMax make him a valuable asset to our team. Since his arrival, he’s delivered many successful projects, particularly those that require expert configuration of Xero Practice Manager to help modernise workflow processes for accounting firms.

A bigger team means more expertise for clients

In 2017 we welcomed several new staff to the Business Continuum team. This has allowed us to offer more services and increased capability to more clients. Our new team includes:

  • Sianne Hussey, Client Manager, bringing inventory management expertise with products such as Unleashed, Cin7 and DEAR
  • Ben Harrison, Client Manager and our resident Scoro guru (more on that below)
  • Connor Reich, Graduate Analyst and our data configuration go-to guy
  • Tejas Chandra, Client Manager and specialist in Scoro and Xero SMB sales expert
  • Shelley Foster, Client Manager, with expertise in Concur and business system implementations

We’re also thrilled to announce that we’ve hired our first Sydney-based team member. Rikki Phillips joins us in January with a strong background in XPM and other cloud-based applications.

Partnerships with leading software providers

During 2017 we continued to build partnerships with leading global providers of cloud-based software platforms Concur, Scoro and Unleashed.

Our Client Manager Ben Harrison recently spent time in Estonia, taking a deep dive into Scoro’s capabilities, and he came back impressed with the team and the technology.

We’ve also been delighted to announce our official partnership with Concur. The commitment Concur is delivering to the Australian market, with significant investments in local servers, events and tech development ensures its offering is competitive, diverse and reliable.

We’re also excited to be working with Unleashed. Expanding our suite of services to focus on inventory management is a logical step for us, and a move that has been welcomed by clients looking to get their cloud-based operational systems working as effectively as possible.

Working closely with these new providers as well as others enables us to develop a deep and intricate understanding of their software and capabilities, and which clients may benefit from it the most. As a cloud integrator, working alongside a variety of different software providers empowers us to be channel agnostic: we prescribe the right solution for our clients, not just the only solution we know.

We’ve also cemented our position with SuiteFiles—the content management solution for XPM environments—having been awarded “Partner of the Year” for the second successive year. We’re delighted to extend our relationship with the team at SuiteFiles and we’ve been impressed with the product enhancements they’ve released in 2017.

Events: APIntel, Xerocon and Xerocon Roadshow

Alongside industry peers, we hosted a pre-Xerocon event that offered insights on how to achieve growth, efficiency and productivity using Xero Practice Manager. Our Client Director Tim Dowling spoke alongside AccountKit’s Paul Murray and SuiteFiles’ Andrew Sims at Accounting Practice Intelligence (APIntel). His presentation encouraged firm Principals to focus on profitability by driving more engagement with current and new clients.

And of course, who can forget Xerocon, the granddaddy of industry events for cloud-based integrators like us. Our Director Matthew Peng presented at Uni Day, a range of in-depth sessions designed for accountants and bookkeepers, showing them how to upskill their Xero knowledge to improve profitability and efficiency.

At Xerocon itself we learned of many new announcements, including the relaunch of expenses, the lifelong learning platform, and Xero Projects. (By the way, if you’re weighing up Xero Projects or WorkflowMax for your business, here’s our take on both.)

Business Growth

Our team has more than doubled in size to a total of 11 staff this year. What all of this growth means is more scale in the business to remove bottlenecks of access to people, more specialisation, and more options we can bring to the table for clients. We’re in a far better position than we have ever been to help clients scope out and execute change at a business process level. Our goal is to be a more capable and comprehensive business partner every year, so there’ll be no slowing down in terms of growth.

We’re also pleased to report that we’ve diversified the size and types of our client base. While continuing to work with smaller businesses, our increasing expertise has attracted larger clients as well.

No matter what part you may have played in our achievements this year, we thank you, and look forward to seeing you in 2018.

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Software Spotlight Series: SuiteFiles

Software Spotlight Series: SuiteFiles

Here’s the second blog post in our ongoing series, where we take a deep dive into the latest cloud-based software solutions for your business. We’ll be exploring the big players, the up-and-comers and the niche products to help you decide which option is right for your business.

Today, it’s SuiteFiles.

What is it?

SuiteFiles is a comprehensive content management system built on Microsoft Office’s 365 platform. Fully integrating with Xero Practice Manager, it’s a central and secure depository for all client communications, documents and emails. Anyone working with a client can save that content into the relevant client folder for all other approved staff members to access.

Who uses it?

It’s fundamentally a product for accounting firms, but legal firms use it too. Essentially, any service-based business that deals with clients and needs solid record-keeping functionality will find SuiteFiles a powerful addition to their business.

Templates that do all the work for you

Because they interact with Xero Practice Manager client data, you can use a template to quickly build a document, populated with all the relevant fields. For example, you could be sending an email reminding a client that it’s time to prepare the annual tax return. With a few clicks, you can create a letter using client data from Xero Practice Manager and your Word template. It draws down relevant data using conditional formatting. So, for example, perhaps the client doesn’t have a rental property. Then, the paragraph relevant to rental properties isn’t included in the letter.

Using these templates, each client gets a customised letter, and there’s consistency across the business in your client communications. There’s no other tool on the market that can create templates like this at the speed of SuiteFiles. Decades ago, you would’ve had an assistant writing these letters from scratch. Now, you can have them prepared and distributed in a few minutes.

Security in case disaster strikes

It’s much safer to store your client documentation in the cloud than in a server at the back of your office building. If that server dies or is stolen, all your precious, confidential client information is lost and your practice is in a world of pain. SuiteFiles has greatly enhanced backup and recovery capabilities compared with those within Microsoft Office 365. The native backup Microsoft provides lacks the ability to access single files. If you’ve lost a file, you need to restore the entire database just to recover that single file. But with SuiteFiles, you can easily access and restore that single file if your data is lost. Also, the data is located in Australia, which is ideal for most accounting firms dealing with client data.

Why not use a storage system?

Of course, you can always use storage systems like Dropbox, Box or Google Drive. But those tools, while very useful, are fundamentally just document storage solutions. Whereas SuiteFiles is a much more advanced content management system. It empowers users to store information beyond files, in order to better manage client interaction and project work.

Comprehensive content management

These days, most accountants are used to recording every type of client interaction throughout their day. Because SuiteFiles is built on Office 365, it extends the value of that investment for firms. So when an email comes in, you can click and drag it to SuiteFiles and it is automatically added to that client folder. The easier it is for everyone to habitually record client discussions, especially advice and decisions, the better your firm will service clients.

What are the alternatives?

Unfortunately, other content management solutions don’t integrate with Xero Practice Manager, so they’re less efficient. As mentioned, there are always simple storage systems like Box, DropBox or Google Drive. We estimate that around 200 accounting firms around Australia use SuiteFiles and many more are in the process of migrating from legacy solutions such as MYOB, HandiSoft or APS. SuiteFiles is the only cloud solution to provide the functionality that accounting firms will be familiar with.

What should you be aware of?

It’s a great piece of software, but it can’t fix cultural or behavioural attitudes in your firm. If your employees aren’t in the habit of regularly recording time and client interactions, it may be difficult to introduce this new record-as-you-go-along approach. SuiteFiles works best if users make regular updates throughout the working day (no filing everything in a rush on Fridays at 5pm). You need to be confident that your staff will stay on top of internal processes to get the best out of SuiteFiles.

Although documents in SuiteFiles can be accessed directly through documents tabs in Xero Practice Manager, it isn’t the most functional of features. We recommend using SuiteFiles as a standalone application with the integration being XPM feeding client data through to SuiteFiles.

Be clear on your objectives

The most successful implementations of SuiteFiles are underpinned by the clarity of vision, and the problem that is being addressed. By clearly defining your objectives and your success criteria, you’ll be in a better position to make the most of SuiteFiles (or any cloud software solution for that matter). What is your clear business need? SuiteFiles can’t magic away process problems within your practice, so it’s worth getting clear on your expectations at the onset.

Is it expensive? Is it easy to migrate from a legacy system?

SuiteFiles costs A$18 per user per month, so it’s an easily budgeted-for expense that will adjust as the user population expands or contracts. Migrations costs vary according to the legacy system holding the data—but we’ve migrated accounting firms from Windows file systems, through to MYOB and APS SQL-based systems. Typically, firms migrate around 80GB of data, but we’ve undertaken migration ranging from less than 10GB to in excess of 300GB.

It’s important to have a free trial

We like our customers to have a free trial before implementing SuiteFiles across their business which we can arrange on their behalf. A trial ensures that you and your team are comfortable in the SuiteFiles environment and the way it works before making a permanent transition.

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Concur Roadshow: Unlocking the Value of Spend Management

Concur Roadshow: Unlocking the Value of Spend Management

As we approach the halfway line for the financial year, now is a good time to look at your company’s spend management program. Expense management software experts Concur are putting on a free roadshow to help you do exactly that.

Unlock the value of managing spending with Concur

During November, Concur is offering businesses across Australia and New Zealand the chance to gain access to the latest expert advice on spend management.

This is a great opportunity to learn about integrated spend management solutions that make the process easier and more efficient, allowing you to better manage your cash flow. Learn from global experts about future industry disruptions and be prepared to take advantage of the advice on offer.

Why spend management matters

Our Director Greg Harrison says there’s a variety of new cloud-based software solutions to help with spend management, but we’d place Concur well ahead of the pack..

“How do you know if you’re tracking well and what’s the best way to compare budget versus actual costs? Does your current staff expense system and processes mean you are entering costs from months ago? How can you make your expense process easier for staff? This seminar is a great way to learn about better ways of getting these questions answered.

“There are ways to get more visibility and control over your spending. And that matters, because it empowers you to make better financial decisions about your business. In addition, making cumbersome processes easier for staff will bring you happier, more productive employees.”

Whether your business is starting from scratch or you want to engage us to undertake a health check of your current Concur implementation, we’d recommend that you take advantage of this event series.

Event details

Unlocking the Value of Managing Spend
November 2017

Australia: Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

New Zealand: Wellington & Auckland

Time: 8:15 to 10:00/10:30

Venue: Each roadshow event is held at a top city-based hotel or conference venue

See the event schedule for details for your city.

Leading speakers

Michael McQueen, an award-winning speaker, author, researcher and futurist will speak at the Melbourne and Sydney events. He has helped some of the world’s most successful brands navigate change and stay ahead of the curve.

Andrew Patterson is a broadcaster and business correspondent and the host of NPR’s weekend podcast Sunday Business. As a business journalist, he has travelled to more than 55 countries and interviewed more than 1,000 CEOs and business leaders. Andrew will be presenting at the Auckland events.

Digital disruption from Deloitte

Guests at Wellington, Auckland, Perth, Canberra and Melbourne will hear from Deloitte’s team of expert analysts. They’ll explain why it’s important to keep up with the latest developments or risk your future to more digital-savvy competitors. By embracing these tools and committing to continually learning the latest industry approaches, you can maintain your competitiveness in a cut-throat industry.

Check out the Concur event page to register your interest—see you there!

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Software Spotlight Series: Unleashed

Software Spotlight Series: Unleashed

Welcome to our blog series investigating the latest cloud software solutions for your business. Each blog will explore the software solution, sharing our expert take on its strengths, weaknesses and best user application outcomes.

With almost 30 inventory management cloud-based software options on the market, it can be difficult to know what’s best for your business. Each option promises to save time, increase efficiencies and boost profitability, but they differ in areas such as customer support, integration and industry-specific features. We share our experience working with each application and reveal its strengths and weaknesses, hopefully giving you a clearer understanding of the best options for you.

What is Unleashed?

Unleashed is an inventory management software company founded in New Zealand in 2009. It’s now one of the world’s leading SaaS (Software as a Service) providers of inventory management systems to businesses, with more than 6,000 subscribers in 84 countries.

Like all cloud-based inventory management systems, it gives you real-time visibility over your stock levels. But that’s like saying the iPhone is great at making phone calls. Just like the benefits of the iPhone go way beyond making calls, Unleashed offers a variety of measures to help you control your purchasing, sales orders and dispatch processes.

More than stock in, stock out

Unleashed offers a suite of features designed to help you take control of your stock levels. These include the ability to:

  • quickly identify and re-order stock that’s sold out or below pre-set minimums
  • back order and split orders so you can ship and invoice what you can
  • accurately cost products, factoring in landed cost into the unit cost of your products
  • turn stock data into financial reports including stock on hand value, cost of goods sold and profit margins
  • tailor stock reports according to your needs with flexible customisation options
  • use the iOS app to monitor your stock levels from your iPhone whilst on the road
  • monitor your stock across multiple locations and warehouses
  • integrate with other leading cloud-based software programs such as Xero, Quickbooks, Shopify, Magento and Vend, ensuring your business data is up-to-date and consistent across all.

Ultimately, Unleashed helps maximise the profitability of your business by helping you take control of your stock management. If you are losing sales because you’re out of stock, then Unleashed can help.

Things we love about Unleashed

Unleashed definitely helps speed up the sales process. By using features such as barcode scanning and attaching documents and images to products, it makes information easy to find.

For example, a beverage manufacturer might attach a product fact sheet, with information about the ingredients used in the product. Unleashed offers multiple tabs for attaching data to product files, including tabs for codes, dimensions, suppliers, cost pages, supplier prices, retail prices, warranties, care instructions labels and many others. Access to this product information can be restricted or freely available.

There are other great features of Unleashed worth mentioning that you won’t find on a feature checklist:

  • responsive customer support—its support ticket response times are very good
  • it can be easily customised for your business needs (by a developer)
  • the Unleashed forum is a community of users where you can connect with similar businesses to get ideas and troubleshoot problems

Why would you choose Unleashed?

Most other vendors don’t offer the iOS app, which shows your stock levels while you’re on the road—great for meetings with clients making real-time purchase orders.

Unleashed is suitable for a wide variety of industries and business sizes. In particular, it’s ideal for the food and beverage industry. These types of businesses will appreciate Unleashed’s ability to capture batch numbers, serial numbers and product numbers as well as creating different types of reports, such as costs of goods sold or sales by customer group.

What are the alternatives?

While Unleashed is suitable for many inventory-based businesses, it doesn’t handle variance in products well. So if you’re a fashion retailer (for example) you may find Unleashed isn’t suitable for tracking different garment sizes and colours across your inventory.

Other great cloud-based inventory management options to consider include DEAR, Cin7 and TradeGecko. As part of our Software Spotlight series, we’ll be looking at these solutions in the coming months.

What’s the pricing model?

Unleashed offers a subscription model with a variety of monthly payment plans depending on the size of your business and the number of users requiring access.

Like any investment in software, it’s about considering the returns—by committing to using the full suite of its features and functionality, you will find the investment pays for itself. If you put a high value on the time it will save your business, then your investment will undoubtedly be worthwhile.

Want to find out more?

Get in touch with us to find out if Unleashed is right for you. We can help arrange a free trial and make sure you get the most out of the trial period.

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6 Industry Movers & Shakers Tell Us What They’re Looking Forward to at Xerocon

6 Industry Movers & Shakers Tell Us What They’re Looking Forward to at Xerocon

Going to Xerocon? It’s the major annual event for the cloud accounting industry’s biggest player, so it’s likely that plenty of your LinkedIn connections will be there. To help you get the best out of your visit, we asked six industry veterans to tell us what they’ll be doing, who they’ll be seeing and how they make the most of their time at Xerocon.

Paul Meissner, Cloud Accountant, Founder of 5Ways Group and Freedom Accounting System

“I’ve been to nine Xerocons, and they always announce something big. It’s important to know Xero’s priorities for the future and the keynotes let me hear it from the top. I will spend most of my time around the exhibitor area. No other event gives me access to all the add-on providers in one place. I like to cut straight to brass tacks with exhibitors and ask them: “What problem do you solve?” Getting a little bit of information from all exhibitors leaves me time to go back later to the ones I’m interested in. I suggest new visitors come armed with a need (better payments, gateways or reporting, for example) and look for products and seminars that meet that need. Because there are so many exhibitors, it’s easy to be overwhelmed, so just get to as many as you can.

“Networking is a huge part of Xerocon, but it’s not about getting clients. I like to meet industry connections that I usually only communicate with via social media—nothing beats that face-to-face contact. Everyone is willing to meet, and as a solo entrepreneur, I don’t have partners to bounce off. So, I’ll be asking my contemporaries what their favourite tools and products are, to see if there’s anything I should be using for my practice and clients. I would encourage anyone who wants to meet a big industry influencer to be bold and come and say hello—people are very friendly and open.”

Paul is participating in a panel session on Day Two: The Power of Small and Agile Firms at 12:20pm.

Carolyn Stebbing, Director of digital marketing and creative agency, Little Village Creative

“This is my third Xerocon. I was lucky enough to wing my way in as a speaker in 2015. We (Little Village Creative) have a few clients actively involved in Xerocon this year, so it’ll be a busy two days on the ground for me. I’ll spend most of my time checking in with clients, running social media, briefing writers to draft quick-turnaround content and generally making sure things are happening as they should be on the marketing front.

“During the rare moments of downtime, I’m looking forward to catching up with industry connections and meeting new people. I’d like to catch Dan Gregory and Kieran Flanagan’s talk on amplifying your influence and developing commercial clarity around your competitive advantage. And I’ll most definitely be at the block party for a Melbourne-style Xerocon send-off. My biggest tips for Xercon newbies are to drink buckets of water (it’s so easy to forget) and leave the high heels at home.”

Sholto Macpherson, Editor and Publisher of DigitalFirst.com

“I’ve been to six Xerocons and I have three main reasons for attending. Firstly, I enjoy the community. Because this is the group of the most tech savvy accountants in Australia, everyone is enthusiastic about exploring new ideas. Secondly, I love that Xero shares its roadmap and constantly pushes the definition of what cloud accounting software can do. So I am looking forward to hearing its new announcements. It’s great to hear their fresh ideas about what is possible, and I appreciate their transparency. And thirdly, as a journalist, I look forward to interviewing industry leaders.

“It’s easy to be overwhelmed by Xerocon, so I suggest new attendees prepare three top priorities for their business or clients and concentrate on those. Take time after the event to digest everything you’ve learned and make plans, because without action the inspiring ideas will soon be forgotten.”

Tim Dowling is a Client Director at Business Continuum

“This is my eighth Xerocon. I am looking forward to seeing what Xero is planning around AI, machine learning, and what they’re doing with big data servers. I always get plenty of value out of the product sessions. I plan to check out the new products on the market and spend time networking. It’s incredibly valuable to hear from people on the ground using the products.

“I encourage new visitors not to be afraid to chat—everyone at the stands will love to connect and industry leaders are welcome to being approached. Make sure to explore on behalf of your clients—what problems are they facing that can be solved? And bring a big bag for all the free stuff—enjoy the many giveaways like chargers, beach balls, balloons, and frisbees. If it can get a logo printed on it, you can find it at Xerocon.”

Andrew Van De Beek, Founder and Director of accounting practice Illumin8

“I was so inspired by my first Xerocon. I learned plenty of technical skills, and I also felt energised to grow my practice and better service my clients. Now, attending my fourth Xerocon, I still get the same combination of technical learning and creative inspiration. I like to check in with other accountants to see how they are doing, what makes them tick and how they solve problems they’re currently facing. I want to help those starting out in the industry too, so I’m attending the Uni Day to help students better understand branding and marketing. I encourage anyone with questions to come and see me.”

Illumin8 is the winner of Xero’s Victorian Partner of the Year award. Andrew is hoping to take home the gong for AU Accounting Partner of the Year, to be announced at Xerocon on Day Two.

Troy Townley is a partner in HTA Advisory, an accounting and small business advisory practice based in Melbourne

“I always like to see the roadmap of Xero and where its ecosystem is going. It’s great to see the add on partners and other businesses—sharing and collaborating on ideas is what Xerocon is all about. This will be my sixth Xerocon and nearly every year I have found one or two products that I rollout to my business and to our clients. I’ll be on the lookout for anything that solves problems that we see in client businesses and makes us more efficient and saves us time. In particular, I am looking forward to seeing Anna Curzon’s keynote and Rachael Powell’s presentation on building positive workplaces.

“I recommend first time visitors make time to see as many vendors and sponsors as they can. It’s a huge ecosystem and there are so many different products. You can never learn them all but Xerocon gives you a great introduction. Have an open mind about the change that is coming to the industry—don’t dismiss products without giving them due consideration.”

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Use Xero to Give Your Business the Shark Tank Treatment

Use Xero to Give Your Business the Shark Tank Treatment

The latest series of Shark Tank on Channel Ten is captivating. It features entrepreneurs pitching to a group of self-made investors (the ‘sharks’). Each pitch features an entrepreneur asking the investors to purchase a stake of their business with their own money.

The sharks are:

Janine Allis, founder of Boost Juice Bars

Andrew Banks, founder of Morgan & Banks and Talent2 International

Steve Baxter, tech entrepreneur and multimillionaire

Dr Glen Richards, founder of Greencross Vets

Naomi Simson, founder of RedBalloon

The breadth and depth of innovation amongst these entrepreneurs is impressive. But what really fascinates is the sharks’ penetrating questions.

With just a brief investigation (or so it seems on TV) the sharks clarify the opportunities and weaknesses of a business. Nothing frustrates the sharks more than an entrepreneur that doesn’t know the numbers. And regardless of whether you plan to pitch your business to investors (on TV or otherwise), it’s vital to have a detailed and depth knowledge of your financials.

Give your business the Shark Tank treatment

Appraise your business with the cool, calculating and experienced eyes of your inner shark. It can help you identify opportunities, move through challenges and seek more growth and efficiencies.

Cloud-based finance software solution Xero is the ideal tool to give you the bigger picture insights you’ll need. Whether you simply review these numbers yourself, or you’re going into a Shark Tank-style pitching situation with investors, using Xero to understand the numbers is a vital investment of your time and energy.

How to use Xero to create reports to answer typical Shark Tank style questions

Xero gives you the ability to generate complex detailed reports that give yourself or a potential investor a terrific overview of your business. Using the typical questions often posed on Shark Tank, you can use Xero to create the reports to see the answers for yourself. Of course, this is just a snapshot of what you can do with Xero—its features go far beyond this kind of analysis.

What is your gross margin?
What are your debtor days?
What is your average selling price?
What is your average revenue per customer?

What are the biggest expenses of your business?
What is your customer lifetime value?
What percentage of customers are return customers? What are your manufacturing/production costs – cost of goods sold?

It’s not just the numbers

Of course, there are some elements that interest the shark beyond just the numbers, and it’s important to give these questions considerations as well. Elements like brand appeal, value of the market and your own dedication to your business come up often. But, overwhelmingly, there are two simple questions the sharks always ask:

What customer problem are you solving?
Why are you the one to solve it?

These are questions only you can answer and it is worth taking the time to consider your responses honestly. It’s a simple strategy that could be a game-changer for you.

The value of the expert opinions

Shark Tank serves as a reminder that it’s important to take any opportunity to get expert advice. Sometimes on Shark Tank the sharks don’t invest but they give excellent advice. Make sure to seek out and listen to that advice for your business whenever possible.

The art of the counteroffer

The fascinating element of Shark Tank is the negotiation element, so learn all you can about the art of negotiation if you’re going to be pitching for investment soon. Knowing the value of a well-crafted pitch can be the difference between success and failure.

In conclusion, whether you are actively seeking investment or simply looking for a tactic to give yourself a fresh perspective on your business, you need to ensure the numbers stack up. Using Xero’s many tools to know your numbers better might just help you get a shark to invest in your business!

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Blog

We’re Partnering with Global Industry Leader, Concur

We’re Partnering with Global Industry Leader, Concur

The Business Continuum team is thrilled to announce its partnership with Concur, one of the biggest names in expense management software.

Director Greg Harrison says the company was drawn to Concur’s growth, truly global presence and their world-class partner program, which will all contribute to Business Continuum’s ongoing move into the mid-market enterprise space.

So, what exactly is Concur all about?

Concur specialises in expense management and accounts payable automation, and its software can be linked to almost any back-end finance system, including Xero. It is also a global leader in streamlining travel expenses.

The Business Continuum partnership will initially focus on expense management and accounts payable solutions, with the longer-term intention of becoming a full-service provider for Concur.

What this means for Business Continuum’s growth

Greg says Business Continuum has always set out to solve “cold hard business problems”. Expense management and accounts-paid automation are two critical functions that many companies struggle to streamline.

“We’ve done our research, we believe that Concur is an awesome solution and we’re delighted to stand alongside them,” he says.

“We’ll be able to add strength and value to the Concur offering, so it’s good for us, good for them, and even more importantly, good for clients.”

How will existing clients immediately benefit?

Business Continuum’s current small to mid-sized clients will have the option of integrating their expense and accounts systems using Concur’s software. The fact that both tie in with Xero makes Concur a natural fit for these companies.

Meet your Concur expert, Shelley!

Business Continuum is pleased to welcome Shelley Foster to the team, to ensure clients achieve the optimal outcome from implementing Concur. She comes armed with strong credentials in IT implementation, having worked as an IT manager, trainer, project manager and business analyst. So her role as project manager and trainer for Concur solutions is a perfect fit for her.
Greg says Shelley’s experience working with diverse business applications ­– from time and attendance, to accounts, payroll, asset management, HR and CRM – will be extremely valuable to the work Business Continuum carries out with Concur.

More about Concur’s offerings

Manage Expenses With Ease with Concur Expense

Automate your expense management from receipt capture to employee reimbursement. Submit and approve from any mobile device. This streamlined process gives business leaders insight and control over compliance and costs. Lose the paper and get back time with Concur Expense.

Process Invoices Faster with Concur Invoice

Simplify your business by automating accounts payable. Get full visibility into spend, before it happens and as it happens. Easily track invoices, manage exceptions and speed up vendor payments. Approve from anywhere on a mobile device. Catch duplicate invoices before you overpay. Concur Invoice saves you money and time.

Simplify Business Travel with Concur Travel

Let travellers easily book flights, hotels and cars in the way they want while capturing all travel data in one place. Concur TripLink helps you get full visibility into travel spend while encouraging compliance. And with more information about supplier spend available, companies can negotiate better rates.

Contact our experts to find out how Concur’s expense management and accounts payable features can integrate with your cloud software. No matter where you are in your business journey – starting out fresh, rapidly expanding, or well-established ­and steady – Business Continuum can help you select the best cloud software solutions for your needs.

Contact us now

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