Search this site

The intensifying conflicts in Ukraine are deeply affecting Ukrainian citizens. Moreover, people all over the world are increasingly becoming concerned about the health and safety of millions of innocent lives who have fled their home country to seek a safe place. We are too. We would like to express our support for the families and individuals affected by this war. Who have had to leave their homes or are fighting bravely for them. And maybe you're looking for a way to get involved and lend a helping hand - that's why we wrote these lines. On behalf of On Point, we decided to primarily support the activities of People in Need. This organization (among other things) helps the victims of war conflicts. What is it doing specifically for the people of Ukraine who have been forced by the current situation to leave the country? It builds facilities for them, offers food, hygiene needs and psychosocial assistance. It sends humanitarian trucks and a train to Ukraine and organizes a number of other activities. But there are many other things you can do. We share several links to quality basic resources. Are you looking for a detailed guide to organizations and how to help? Visit the page - We stand with Ukraine. 7.5 million children in Ukraine are in danger. UNICEF needs your support. UNICEF is collecting proceeds to help children in need of protection, water, education and health care. Do you want to understand more about this in a simpler way? Don't know how to talk to children about war? Here's our top pick, which brings together tips for how to explain the subject to young children. Video - https://live.firstnews.co.uk/fyi/sky-kids-fyi/ 🇺🇦 Thanks to everyone who helps. Keep strong, Ukraine!

Reporting can be super complex which coupled to the particular circumstances of every company and industry, creates a mammoth task to anyone trying to find some guidelines beyond the standard accounting ones. We are used to adhering to a number of reporting standards however when we have to focus onto our company internal needs, we are pretty much left to wade into unchartered waters. One common hot topic, which is usually a major area of contention, is the stakeholders for our company. It’s already pretty hard to identify them, but maintaining every key party happy, is a different story. When researching the topic, we have come across a very interesting article form the IFC which have outlines the following suggestions in the report Reporting to Stakeholders . Determine what information needs to be reported to which stakeholders, by what method and how frequently. Regularly update your commitments register and disclose progress to affected and interested parties. In particular, publicize any material changes to commitments or implementation actions that vary from publicly disclosed documents. Make monitoring results publicly available, especially reports of any external monitors. Regularly report on the process of stakeholder engagement as a whole, both to those stakeholders who are directly engaged, and to other interested parties. Translate information reported to stakeholders into local languages and easily understandable formats. The following are specifically related to project-linked stakeholders, however we have identified a number of similarities to the reality faced by the companies at large. Information – what and frequency It goes without telling that the level of information that is required may differ from one stakeholder to the other. Yet the basic rule applies in any case, i.e. A.C.C.U.R.A.T.E. We have extensively explored this below. Commitments This is an interesting factor as when reporting we ten to focus onto our budgets and our performance but yet, the figures themselves may not be enough to disclose the commitments that we are taking as a company. The commitments may go beyond the financial commitments but it can be more of strategic and long-term plannings which may have to change and reinstated to ensure common goals and clear objectives. Monitoring Results The results achieved can vary quite drastically and once again figures may give a very limited view. Can the revenue or profit ever shed light on the new markets penetrated, the market share gained/lost, the launch of new products, the infiltration into a new sector and many other areas which are not accounted for in numerical format? Regularly Report The frequency of such reporting is very hard to fathom. Striking a balance between the team efficiency and well-informed stakeholders is very hard to achieve. There are ways and means how to be more efficient in the reporting but yet we need to remember that behind every report there are long hours of work and reviews. Translate Information I must admit that this last point comes as a huge surprise but admittedly it should be quite obvious. We have grown to expect English to be a common language but the reality is that there are many more languages which cover a wide spectrum of countries. The question is, who are our stakeholders and what language or languages we should consider when reporting.

The work-life balance message has been bombarded to us from all kind of sources and through all the mediums one can think of. Be it a TV ad, lengthy articles, billboards, radio ads, seminars and conferences, all of them portraying the perfect world of a work-life balance. And for all those, including myself who have been working hard to find this balance, we seem to be in the constant lookout for this balance, a balance which never seems to be found. And by time we start to grow tired of looking for this balance. The mental health foundation Mental Health Foundation in the UK has defined a good work-life balance as follows: A healthy work-life balance will mean different things to us all. It’s not so much about splitting your time 50/50 between work and leisure but making sure you feel fulfilled and content in both areas of your life. Now that we have been past multiple waves of COVID, we have definitely realised that work and life are not that distinct especially when working from home or when having to attend to a meeting when our children are trying to follow a lesson via a video-call. TheU.S. Chamber of Commerce have offered an alternative to work-life balance, i.e. Work-Life integration. They have defined the latter as follows: Work-life integration involves blending both personal and professional responsibilities. Rather than viewing work and personal time as separate entities, busy professionals can find areas of compromise. This might look like completing household chores while on a conference call or bringing children into the office when schools are closed. Whilst we do not have the right competencies to determine which one is best we definitely tend to be in favour of flexibility. Being flexible means moving away from a defined and inflexible work environment and instead being more family-friendly where the hours are less important than the targets that we are striving to achieve. The solution If we had to start discussing the solution we will never get to the end of it. However we believe that the starting point is transparency. Being transparent and honest with your colleagues, your managers and your subordinates. This also involves when it comes to tasks. In our experience we have met so many persons who have a long list of tasks, some of them extremely important ones which however is recorded in their heads. Needless to say that the risks that such an approach carries are huge. But what if we had to start off by the simple yet seemingly impossible task, of jotting down all the tasks in a system. By being transparent about what tasks we are to tackle, we can start looking at the results to be achieved rather than the hours worked. When looking at our subordinates rather than judging them by the long unhealthy hours we can commend them for having achieved all the tasks they have been assigned. Maybe working 12 hours a day is less important than managing to complete the planned tasks whilst still picking your children at home, attending to house chores and still delivering great results.

It’s no secret that there is a love-hate relationship between the end of year and the accountants. On one side they are thrilled to celebrate the end of year festivities but on the other hand they are traumatised with the work load and endless issues which they have to face in the same period. In a nutshell in the morning it’s full-blow war, in the evening it’s a great celebration. Will this ever change? Dreaming of it would be illusional, but yet with the right planning and right software tools we an ease off some of the pressure which is encountered. First of all we need to bust the myth that all procedures should be ready by end of year. In a similar way that the end of month doesn’t has to be concluded on the last day of the month, likewise the end of year. Having said that this statement is highly subjective depending on the industry you’re working on. A stock-trading company may have a harder to crack than other industries. So why the hassle? The issue lies in two areas: Reporting functions and reconciliations Closure of the income statement books Reporting functions and reconciliations Let us start off with the reporting functions. Traditionally, a number of accounting software lacked the option to go back in time and capture the picture at that specific moment. This lead to the stressful feat of producing all the required reports from the system before kick-starting the new year transactions. In most cases this is no longer the case today however we cannot take it for granted. The best way to ensure this is to produce all the reports as at a certain point in time before end of year to put our mind at rest that these same reports can be produced at any point in time. It’s vital to keep the auditors in the loop as they are the ones who will be chasing us for the reports and us, the clients, who have to produce them at all costs. The second part is the closure of the income statement books. Needless to say that this is may be harder as due to the holidays and the delays in practically all areas of the businesses the information tend to arrive later rather than sooner. However, the stressful part used to be the, once again, old presumption that the new year transactions may not start before closing the current one. In most accounting software this is no longer the case. Moreover, some software actually allows us to produce an end of year run multiple times, pretty convenient when we are to pass the audit adjustments later on in the year. Whilst the above is crucial in the long-term, however for those who may not have such a sophisticated system, a change in software in a couple of weeks is not at option at all. So we thought of coming up with a check-list which at least can ease off some of the planning. Reconciliation End of year is big on reconciliations. Top of the list are the classic three reconciliations: Account Receivables - Sending out statements, whilst hoping that some of the amount dues get settled. Account Payables - Chase for the balance amount due and the due date Bank Account Statements - once posting all the bank entries run a Bank Reconciliation to ensure that the data is correct. Planning This may not be the right time to start planning and budgeting but it’s always important to ensure that all the plans that the different departments of the businesses have conducted are sent over to the accounting team. They will turn to be very useful in the coming months. Taxes For the lucky ones having a tax team this may not be at the top list, however, we would still need to ensure that the following are recorded: TAX Payments processed to the government Tax amount due HR-Related Taxes which have been paid HR-Related taxes still due at year-end Stock In line to the best-practice a stock-take is necessary. A stock-take can take different forms but in any case the crucial point is that the stock has been counted off minimum once a year during the accounting period. Reporting In line to the opening points of this article, we need to make sure that the standard accounting reports are produced. The key ones are: Statement of Comprehensive Income Statement of Financial Position Cash Flow Statement We may have been a tat too positive over here, probably it’s the Christmas spirit, however old ideas are to be revisited. The process will always be very time-consuming and at time stressful, however with the right accounting software we believe that the love-hate relationship can turn into a more Christmassy one 😊 Automate all your business + accounting processes with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Whilst none of us is ready to admit it, yet in a very well-hidden area of our mind, we are the first to declare that our Chart of Accounts is in dire need of a good clean-up. It may not be that bad but in any case there are very few of us who do not wish that their Chart of Accounts looks very different to the one that they have. But where to start from? It’s easy to realise that our Chart of Accounts is a tad too complex, but defining the nominal accounts that have to go away is a different story 1. Define All Nominal Accounts When researching this topic we came across a vey interesting article from David Parmenter Create a lean machine | ACCA Global which defines two key rules to bear in mind when assessing the usefulness of a nominal account. An expense account has to contribute at least 1% of the total cost A revenue account has to contribute at least to 5% of our revenue Two simple rules which may raise some serious disdain. However when analysing the two figures it would be immediately evident that the parallelism of the figures to the materiality levels benchmark as provide by ISA 320.9 5% of profit before tax from continuing operations 1% of total income or expenses One major stumbling block, would still remain, and that would be the presentation of the management accounts. The theory is, at times, detached from the daily needs of the management. However, we need to keep in mind that the nominal account in itself can act as a bucket for many expenses which in turn may be further labelled in one way or another to create further breakdown of the total figure. One very clear example is the use of departments, which would allocate partial sum of the expense to one specific department, without necessitating more nominal accounts. However the concept of departments may not be applicable to a company, especially if it is leaner and less structured. Yet, the same line of thought may be applied to a myriad of areas such as product-lines, customer-types, projects and any other criteria which necessitates specific analysis, both within the company but also as a separate section. In light of all of the above, we do not intend to over-simplify the clean-up process. It may be a hard task and at times leading to weeks of internal warfare, but yet it’s an exercise which yields very positive effects, even to those who are not that keen towards a change.

What does the world of retail look like? Mainly it’s all about whether tech companies will dominate retail and will wipe out brick and mortar retail companies. By tech companies we refer to big companies such as eBay and amazon which have based their e-commerce experience to an online platform integrated specialized and sophisticated analytics into their services. A battle between online and instore. People will always require a marketplace where they can meet and experience shopping like we have done for centuries. The numbers show that e-commerce only hold 13.3% or the retail business, while brick and mortar retail still hold most of the sector, with a remarkable 86.7%. The numbers show that e-commerce only hold 13.3% of the retail business, while brick and mortar retail still hold most of the sector, with a remarkable 86.7%. However, there is no battle or war between the two. We do not have to chose between one or the other. Through LS Retail, these can easily go hand in hand, and they have the possibility to enhance each other in many ways. The instore customer wants personal attention; personal [pur-suh-nl] meaning relating to a person than to a group; and he expects personalised experience; personalised [pur-suh-nl-ahyz] meaning something that has been made for a particular person. According to Carrie Ask, who was President Global Retail for Levi Strauss & Co in 2018, stated that “85% will leave the store if they do not receive personal attention. Because of e-commerce they also expect retailers to have a single profile on them making the service personalised”. The customers want to be able to jump seamlessly from online to instore experiences A very interesting twist: people experience more personalised service when shopping through digital devices from the face-to-face instore shopping. This is because that due to online shopping they are providing their personal details and specialised analytics are capturing their every move, click and what items are in their basket. Therefore, they will also expect that the have the same experience instore. The online and instore shopping experience is not the same, but they complement each other if they are seamlessly interconnected with each other. This is the task at hand. One of the challenges that e-commerce needs to solve is to lower the abandon rate; people fill a basket but do not check out because there are factors, such as shipping costs and delivery time making the customer hesitate. Instore this is less of a problem if the customer is provided with personal attention. For example, in fashion its all about getting people to try on things. In e-commerce there are 2 senses which are used: vision and sound. Instore, you are adding smell and touch. In hospitality the customer is using all his senses, taste being an important key factor. Instore, the retailer has the chance to provide personal service and attention, making the customer feel appreciated and worthy. The new world of retail looks like this. Putting the customer in the middle; on one hand there is online shopping providing a personalised experience. This is data driven and digital. On the other hand, there is instore shopping which is providing a personal experience to the customer. This is people driven, intimate and physical. Therefore, the customer expects a seamless shopping experience between the two shopping channels. The retail transactions are all stored in one unified database. These factors combined bring together online and store shopping providing a unified commerce; where personalised and personal meet.

Many more companies are resorting to Business Central in the cloud rather than the on-premise version. Why is this so? And would this option be more suitable for you too? We did our best to address these questions and trust you'll find your answer below. How is the cloud version different from on-premise? For the on-premise version, the system is installed on your own server. If you do not have your own server, you can use hosting, where the server is rented to you by an ERP system provider or a hosting data centre, etc. In the cloud version, the ERP system runs on a Microsoft structure and your data is stored and replicated in its data centres. This does not in any way undermine the value of the on-premise version. Yet it is also our responsibility to inform about the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and recommend where it is deemed advantageous. The cloud version is increasingly gaining popularity and as a result, Microsoft itself is investing more efforts to continuously optimize and improve for the benefit of the esteemed users. Without further ado, let's dive into the 5 main benefits we consider essential and which you cannot miss out on. 1. Significant money savings The cloud version is more cost-effective as you only pay a monthly license fee. To complement this, you don't need your own server and neither do you have the need to invest in hosting, which frequently adds up expenses. Microsoft automatically upgrades to the latest version at no extra payment. In liaison with your provider, you only upgrade your customized features, and this brings us to our next crucial point. 2. Seamless Upgrade without worries In the previous benefit mentioned, one important word appeared - AUTOMATIC. If you choose the cloud version of Business Central, you don't have to worry about practically anything and your system will always be up to date. Microsoft will contact your ISP before each upgrade to let them know that system updates are knocking on the door. By that date, the provider will prepare for the upgrade of all the customizations that you have tailored to you, with Microsoft taking care of the rest. However, with the on-premise version, the situation is fundamentally different. There are no automatic updates, and you're still working with the version of the system you purchased. If you decide to upgrade to the latest version over time, it's likely that the system has gone through several new versions in the meantime. Your provider then has two options: It will gradually update from one version to the next until it is worked on to the latest one. Updating the on-premise version is like climbing stairs. If you want to get to the top of the latest version of Business Central, you can't jump - you need to climb the stairs, which are the main versions of the system. Time and money are indispensable. If you have a very old version of the system, such as NAV 2009 R2, 3 numerous upgrades will need to be gone through to lead you to the latest version of Business Central, which can take hundreds of hours of work. If your system is only one version behind, the upgrade can only take a few hours. The second option is not to upgrade and instead implement a new Business Central to migrate data from the old system. This pays off especially with really old versions of Navision. 3. Works great with cloud tools In the cloud version, you will enjoy working with other cloud tools, such as Office 365. Did you know that you can create a quote or order directly from the new e-mail window, post and send an invoice, or save contacts to Business Central? The Excel add-in will also save you a lot of time thanks to the possibility of bulk editing and automatic copying of changes to the ERP system You also have access to Power BI reporting under the license and that's not all! 4. A variety of free extensions Business Central has its own store, where you can get applications and extensions for it - App-Source. Just browse in it and choose how you can improve your Business Central. Various extensions are free and you can implement them yourself. It is enough for the user to have the appropriate permissions. And what about the on-premise version? You can get extensions here too, but the path is slightly more thorny. You need to contact the provider of the extension and, after obtaining the source code, it will be implemented by your Business Central provider. 5. Data safety As we have already mentioned, with the cloud version, your ERP system runs on a Microsoft structure. What does this mean in practice for the security of your data? Should the Microsoft data centre burn out, your data will be backed up in several other centres and you will not lose it. The local server (for the on-premise version) is much more vulnerable and risky in this respect. If something happens to him and you have no backups anywhere, you will lose your data. Do you want to get even more acquainted with the ERP system itself? Reach out and get in touch with us!

During this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC), Google’s CEO famously said …“All companies are software companies” now more than ever companies have to accept that their work must adapt as rapidly as the technology we are using to achieve results. “All companies are software companies” Fragmented software is a serious business issue that many companies face, one that many never overcome. Over the years, teams with specific data needs create their own systems using databases and spreadsheets, however do not have any integration with other software solutions. While this might offer a solution in the near term, it eventually isolates information from other processes. Duplication of work, inaccuracies, incomplete data become inevitable as the business continues to grow and manual processes that were once viable become nearly impossible to maintain. Addons play a big part of Jira’s solution. Implementing an addon which can use existing data and build on it is an invaluable resource that will ensure all users have access to the latest data. Integration is a big part of the Jira, a software suite designed around the concept of integration. Here is a list of the main Addons that integrate with Jira; Tempo (timesheets) Tempo Timesheets makes time tracking in Jira easy and accurate. Easily integrable with Google Docs to facilitate data input for end users. Quick reports in seconds and drill down on elements to get the detailed information you need. Managers may review and approve timesheets, either individually or in bulk. Analyse high-level information of work performed across your business. Create custom accounts for all customers or cost centres within your organization. Categorize accounts as Billable, Non-Billable, CAPEX or OPEX. The Tempo cloud mobile app is available for cloud versions and can connect to google calendar. Tempo Planner A tool to access an overview of all team members, based on users and roles, to find available resources. The planner gives each user to save and share reports, managers the ability to plan and approve work or request resources from other teams. Furthermore, the Add on integrates with Tempo Timesheets seamlessly in order to account for vacancies, holidays, flexible employee work hours and distributed teams. Find available resources Filters can be used to find team members based on team, role or user. Planning and approval functionality Maximize team capacity Get a detailed breakdown of team capacity in real time, including the allocation and availability of each team member. Make sure you are not over allocating team members and estimate future resources needs at a glance. Jira Service Management Dynamic Fields configuration Create Dynamic Fields for request types. Copy whole configurations or single fields between request types. Both system and custom fields are available. Short and tailored request forms on the Portal Show or hide request form fields depending on previous selections. Display only context-relevant fields to your users. Improve customer experience of the support process powered by Jira Service Desk Cloud. Jira Service Desk customization Show your customers SLA metrics for their requests. Display important dates, attachments, and the issue's assignee as well. Enhance customer satisfaction during the support process. Confluence Confluence is Atlassian's content collaboration tool used to help teams collaborate and share knowledge efficiently. The environment is organised using spaces, pages and blogs, allowing users to write edit and collaborate on projects simultaneously. The interphase allows users to accept an array of attachment file types. Permissions can be set so that users may view and edit work assigned to them. Confluence has also been designed to prevent duplicates, and display only the latest information. Both Confluence and Jira were designed to work with each other, having a number of built-in integration points, giving users the ability to view, and reference Jira issues from a Confluence page. Confluence would be used for project collaboration, functional specification gathering, project discussion while viewing Jira issues or creating new ones without ever leaving Confluence. Insight platform - Asset Management in Jira Insight’s addon for asset management is a powerful visualisation tool within Jira. Build sophisticated asset structures with automation and advanced reporting. Insight is a highly customizable CMDB and together with Jira is a complete IT Service Management and IT Asset Management solution. Servers, computers, phones, etc. can easily be tracked and managed in Insight. The automation framework gives you total control of changes to all your assets. The graphical explorer enables you to drill down to visualize asset dependencies. Respond faster - reduce operational risk - Improve asset utilization with proactive asset management. Insight provide dependency mapping and impact analysis. Insight assets can be selected from the service desk portal and consequently connected to the Jira ticket. From the ticket, you can navigate directly into the asset database in Insight and back again. It decreases your MTTR.

Characteristics of good quality reporting and information can be defined with the acronym A.C.C.U.R.A.T.E. A good report must provide factual information. It is because you will make decisions based on these reports. Therefore, it is always important to take conscious steps to make sure that report contains all ACCURATE qualities. Qualities of good Accurate reports We have enlisted characteristics of a good report that you must know: Accurate Information given in the report must be accurate and unbiased. It must not contain any grammatical and arithmetical errors. Information presented in written form is always more reliable and can be retracted later with ease. Complete When it's about writing a good report, accuracy isn't the only thing to consider here. It must be complete as well. It means your report must contain all the facts and figures that are necessary. Nothing should be concealed or missing here. It is because presenting the information but not completely isn't of any use. Cost-effective You also need to analyze information in the report against the cost to obtain it. In a business context, spending money on accessing information every time isn't worthwhile. It will lead to a loss of money each time you need to obtain that information. Understandable The information presented in your report must be understandable for everyone. Always keep the receiver in mind when using jargon, sentence structure, and language in your report. Relevant In a report, you must present the right information to the right person. It means presented information to someone who doesn't have any control over decision-making will be of no use. Therefore, always present it to the authorities who can make the right decisions expected to come out of the valuable information you have given in the report. Accessible The report should contain information from reliable resources and must be easier to access for the receiver. It must be available for the receiver at any time. Timely You need to communicate information in a timely manner in your report. So, your report receiver must have enough time to review the report and make the right decisions accordingly. Therefore, presenting details of past events which have no link with the current situation is just a wastage of time. Even though what is timely information for your business depends upon the situation to situation. However, choosing an appropriate communication channel is a primary skill to achieve here. Easy to Use Keep the report as simple as possible and use the phrases as per the experience and expertise of the receiver. So, it can not only be easier for them to understand but to use that information further, as well. What’s next Writing a good report might seem a hard nut to crack. However, if you know the essential characteristics of good reports, then it will not be that difficult for you. It'll let you know how to judge your reports accordingly. Moreover with good software available, extracting data would be easier, and creating a report which follows the A.C.C.U.R.A.T.E rule will be slightly easier. At the end of the day, there’s no perfect report and each report will develop together with the needs of the users, in which case we will be available to assist with this evolution process.

In the knowledge of the increasing importance of business reporting, there are various reporting tools to choose from. Being spoilt for choice is a luxury for some while overwhelming for others as salient questions arise - Which is the best tool to fit my needs? Is it difficult to implement and use? and how will my business benefit from business reporting tools? Being all valid and major questions, this article walks you through four reporting tools to enhance business success namely, Jet Reports, Atlas Software, Spreadsheet Server, and Power BI. Jet Reports Excel Reporting Add-on for Microsoft Dynamics 365 NAV and Business Central What is Jet Reports? Jet Reports provides users with a simple way to create reports and business queries inside Microsoft Excel. Users can compile all financial and business reporting enabling teams to explore their data at the click of a button. One of the benefits of Jet Reports is that it delivers complete data access and control from Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Business Central without the need for technical resources, or data expertise, facilitating the decision-making process. Jet Reports is ideal for mid-sized companies to offer advanced reporting across multiple data sources with automated consolidations, flexible report formatting capability, scheduling, collaboration, report version management, and a web portal to access your Dynamics NAV data anywhere. How will Jet Reports contribute to success? Rapid Time-to-Value ​Jet Reports makes corporate business reporting quick and easy, all designed specifically for Microsoft Dynamics. You will gain valuable insight from day one. Easily Connect All Your Data (Centralised Data) ​Jet Reports integrates with hundreds of solutions to easily bridge the data gap between your applications and simplify your solution deployment. Accurate Business Reporting ​Avoid discrepancies that can impact the bottom line. No more missing the deadlines. Create accurate reports that everyone can rely on to drive revenue up. Why Jet Reports? Jet Analytics is designed with pre-built reports, dashboards, cubes, automated data warehousing, and an intuitive design. By using the familiar Excel user interface, It’s fast, easy, and effective. Jet Analytics integrates with hundreds of solutions to easily bridge the data gap between your applications and simplify your solution deployments such as Sage, Salesforce, and Google Analytics Designed for users Removes any need to understand the underlying data structure to design reports or dashboards in Excel and Power BI Atlas Software Excel Reporting Add-on for Microsoft Dynamics 365 AX and Finance & Operations What is Atlas Software? Through Atlas Software, you can build live reports with drill-down in Excel for Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations. This enables the user to get fast and simplified reporting! How will Atlas Software contribute to success? Eliminate manual processes ​No more re-keying data. Create dynamic reports inside any Microsoft Dynamics or Microsoft Office application and refresh on-demand to trigger when a value changes. Support closed-loop decision making ​Take action from within Excel with a write-back data capability that enables you to create new records and update existing ones in Microsoft Dynamics. Embed business data in Microsoft Office documents ​Insert live data from Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations and other business systems into any Microsoft Office document See the big picture ​Pull together data from multiple sources in real-time and visualize in one easy-to-read report Work with the latest numbers Get real-time access to the data in your business systems to ensure you are always making decisions based on the most accurate and up-to-date information Answer all your questions ​Full drill-down capability from summary to transaction inside any Office document, so you can identify and resolve issues immediately Why Atlas Software? Ever wondered how long does it take to create financial and operational reports? ​With Atlas for Microsoft Dynamics, users have one platform that will consolidate data from Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations and other key business systems into a single report. Our cutting-edge integration features enable you to design, build, and share real-time reports in Excel spreadsheets and other Office documents, easily upload additional data, and then visualize the data using Power BI or customizable Atlas dashboards. Spreadsheet Server Excel Reporting Add-on for 140+ ERP and accounting software What is Spreadsheet Server? With Spreadsheet Server you can create live, drillable reports from your ERP/accounting data right inside Excel. Spreadsheet Server enables you to uncover what’s truly going on inside of your organization with automated, real-time reporting. How will Spreadsheet Server contribute to success? If you’re tired of manually copy and pasting data into Excel to create reports, we understand. ​Spreadsheet Server puts an end to tedious, error-prone, and manual reporting processes while still letting you work in the environment you’re most comfortable with – Microsoft Excel. ​Connect Excel to your preferred ERP/accounting software and create complex reports with real-time data to ensure your entire organization has a clear and accurate view of exactly what is going on in finance and operations. Why Spreadsheet Server? Eliminate IT dependency ​Designed for everyday Excel users; you won’t need IT or super users to create or update No more data dumps Live access to all of your ERP data within Microsoft Excel Bring all your data into focus ​Create custom reports from any other databases within Excel with a simple click of a button. Answer all your questions ​Full drill-down capability from summary to transaction inside Excel so you can identify and resolve issues Support all your reporting needs ​Build a range of reports from simple ad-hoc workbooks to complex dashboard views of critical business data Safe & Simple Installation ​No server, staging area, or data warehouse required Power BI What is Power BI? ​Power BI's unified, scalable platform for self-service and enterprise business intelligence (BI) makes it easy to use and helps you gain deeper data insight. Achieve powerful results by listening to your data Connect & Visualize All Data How will Power BI contribute to success? Through Power BI, you can create amazing data experiences to easily connect, model, and visualize your data, creating memorable reports personalized with your KPIs and brand. Why Power BI? Create amazing data experiences - Get fast, AI-powered answers to your business questions— even when asking with conversational language. Get self-service analytics at enterprise scale - Reduce the added cost, complexity, and security risks of multiple solutions with an analytics platform that scales from individuals to the organization as a whole. Help protect your analytics data - Gain leading sensitivity classification and data loss prevention capabilities to help keep your data secure and compliant—even when it’s exported. All four software solutions are beneficial in their own merit. While being provided with insight is important, we understand that every case is particular, and needs its own attention. This is why we encourage you to reach out to us for a free consultation to ensure the providing of the best possible solution to help you make the most out of the experience and enhance your business success. If you’re still new to business reporting and would like to learn more about it reach out and we’ll be glad to help ⬇️ Contact | On Point Malta

You have just been to a very fruitful meeting, you are motivated, the team is motivated and work is set in motion. The project plan is implemented, tasks scheduled and all departments involved are liaising together to make this project work. As a manager, you have a lot on your plate and while you do your best to support and keep track of your team, you do have a hundred other things to deal with - clients to tend to, emails to send, appointments to fix, and problems to solve. Caught up in work, you find yourself detached from the very core of the initial project and while know you can trust your team, you need a way to keep track and analyze performance to identify areas for improvement and opportunities for growth. This is where business reporting comes in. Irrespective of size or industry, business reports are vital tools for any organization. Some business reporting is required as per legal necessities such as financial reporting as stipulated by the governing entities. Nonetheless, structured business monitoring and reporting are essential for regular updates to keep management and involved stakeholders in the loop. Aim of business reporting Through business reporting, one can critically analyze how the business is tracking in all aspects of the organization. Thorough reports provide for a deeper insight through which business owners and senior managers can make informed decisions based on relevant data. Why risk-taking a leap in the dark when light can be shed through a click of a button? A clear overview of the current situation of the organization provides a guideline to enhance decision-making and facilitate the thinking process. The reporting process involves: Compiling relevant data Reviewing information within specific areas (such as sales, finance, operations, etc.) Analysis Drawing conclusions Recommendations The ultimate result of the report may provide an explanation for the occurrence of an issue, identify performance glitches, and recommending a pertinent course of action to address the issues in question. Benefits of business reporting Adherence to Regulation and Compliance With the right implementation set-up to cater to the organization’s particular requirements, you can have your mind at rest that no salient criteria are missing through your most important reports. Human error is natural. Business reporting tools can lessen unnecessary concerns. Transparency Business reporting facilitates communication as members of your organization can be on the same page. Having the possibility to provide a clear picture for everyone involved can gear members of the organization to align with the organization’s goals. Facilitates decision-making process and improves efficiency In the lack of a functional and practical business reporting system, managers and business owners tend to rely on their experience or intuition which does not necessarily quantify in a clear sense of direction to the members of the organization. Sustaining experience with the right data can help managers have all things considered to make an informed decision. Troubleshooting Problems are inevitable but the way they've dealt with is under our control. Identifying problems and in time to act can sufficiently decrease the likelihood of escalating problems to higher levels. Regular monitoring through reporting enables the organization to trace and address hiccups in a timely manner before it’s too late. Cost efficiency A key characteristic for survival is the ability to adapt. In the business environment, reviewing and assessing strategies are crucial activities to amend as necessary and switch gears where needed. This is not possible without having the right data to allow managers to respond to a continuously changing environment. having the data at one’s fingertips allows for proactivity which is essential for cost efficiency. Customer focus At the end of the day, business reporting efforts are there to improve the organization on every level and hence provide for a better customer experience. with more data about the needs of the customers, management is equipped to improve customer service. Automated reports can facilitate the generation of quarterly and annual reports for your clientele. Business reporting for business success Business reporting guides strategic decision-making to help business leaders plan ahead and work out budgets among other functions. Report data is used to sustain and back decisions while also identifying already proven successes to strengthen their strengths while addressing weaknesses. monitoring and reporting go beyond highlighting problems but more importantly, they can identify opportunities for growth and development. Contact us 👇 to learn more about business reporting https://www.onpointserv.com/contact-us

Expense management checklist Expense management is a vital part of any organisation. Businesses need a fully transparent expense report process to always be on top of employee spending. Employees on the other hand want to be reimbursed quickly and effortlessly, so they can focus on their core jobs. Your expense management solution should enable your organisation to reach both goals. However, if it fails to ensure an efficient, transparent, and compliant expense reporting process, your current process is wasting your organisation’s resources. In that case you should think about replacing it with a system that does fulfil your needs. This checklist summarizes the signs that your expense management system is a money-drain. 1. Your current process is manual If you rely on manual processes to manage business expenses, you should consider automated alternatives. Asking employees to save receipts, scan them, fill out printed or digital forms, and copying these forms into the financial software becomes problematic as the organisation grows. Large organisations that have to process many expense sheets might not have real-time insights into their current spend because not all expense reports are processed yet. This can severely impact accurate reporting and may even affect decision-making at a higher level. 2. Insufficient data availability Aberdeen Group has estimated that about 10% of company spend is spent on business expenses. It can be the largest cost a business faces after salaries. But how many businesses know how much is spent on hotels, and what the average accommodation price is? Using an automated and cloud-based expense reporting solution will give you these insights. Relying on sheets instead of expense reporting software usually means that these answers are unobtainable. If you were to have this kind of knowledge, you would be able to control costs and negotiate with vendors more effectively. 3. Late expense reports that contain many expenses If reporting business expenses is time-consuming and painful for employees, they will postpone it as long as possible. This means that at the end of the month or quarter, the finance department will be overflown with expenses. Having to process them quickly increases the chance of mistakes and presents a distorted picture of your cash position earlier in the expense report period. By giving employees an expenses app to quickly capture and submit expenses, you can prevent this from happening. You will be able to see the expenses from the moment the picture is taken. No need to guess anymore. 4. Employees do not adhere to the expense policy Controlling business expenses starts with an expense policy. The policy probably includes rules like the type of expenses certain job roles can report and the maximum amount they are allowed to report. Certainly it will policy is important to streamline the process and to prevent expense fraud. But is everyone aware of the rules, and do they live up to them? If expenses often have to be rejected because they are not policy compliant, you have to think about expense reporting software. In these solutions, you can setup workflows and business rules to make sure everyone adheres to your policies. 5. Many missing receipts Do you often receive expense reports in which receipts are missing? This might be the most obvious sign that your expense reporting system needs replacement. Having receipts is of the utmost importance to ensure that all expenses are justified. After all, more or less allowing expenses to be submitted without a receipt makes your business prone to expense fraud. Missing receipts can seriously hurt your company when it causes problems for audits. Think for example about the possible fines from the tax authorities and the damage on the company's reputation if the media finds out. 6. No foreign VAT reclaim over business expenses If your employees travel internationally, there is one last reason why your current expense reporting system can be a money-drain. By not submitting foreign expenses for vat reclaim, you are depriving your organisation to reap the benefits from international tax regulations. When relying on an expense management system that is not in the cloud, it will probably be too time consuming to go through all foreign expenses and find out what laws are applicable to it. Switching to an expense reporting solution with a foreign vat reclaim integration will make it as easy as one click to get all the money your organisation is entitled to. Business expense management doesn't have to be painful. SRXP offers an expense management solution that automates the expense reporting process. Finance teams can free up their time to focus on other duties, and expense reporters and managers can focus on their core jobs. To find out more about how you can stop the money-drain that your current expense reporting process causes, visit our website or schedule a demo.