Small Systems for Small Businesses
| Date | 01 July 1981 |
| Pages | 33-35 |
| Published date | 01 July 1981 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057205 |
| Author | Paul Dockerill |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Small Systems for Small
Businesses
byPaulDockerill
Manager, Sun Computing Services
The decision to install a small business computer is gen-
erally taken by small companies when all traditional
manual methods have failed. At this point in a com-
pany's history, two options are available. Either the
company can employ more staff to process the paper-
work, or they can install a microcomputer to automate
their accounting routines. The total costs of installing
such a system is often less than that of employing an
extra staff member for a year and this is probably one of
the reasons why such systems are still regarded as a
threat to employment by many company staff members.
In fact, the opposite is true and most small businesses
have found that the decision to install a business system
has enabled the company to increase its business turn-
over by freeing staff from the unproductive administra-
tive aspects of their work.
When cash-flow or administrative
problems appear is the wrong time to
install an automated accounting system
It is therefore only when cash-flow or administrative
paperwork problems appear that most companies look
to the micro market-place for a solution. In general, this
is the wrong time to install an automated accounting
system.
No one will deny that microcomputer based account-
ing system can radically improve the cash-flow and
organisation of a company, but such systems cannot
perform miracles. In order for a business system to con-
trol all accounting procedures from a given date, the
manual accounts and figure work must have been com-
pleted up to that date. Too many companies install
accounting systems in the belief that they will solve
their book-keeping problems but subsequently find that
they are not able to go "live" until their figures have
been manually brought up to date. Obviously, the time
to install a business computer system is when a manual
system is working quite satisfactorily.
Once the decision to install a computer has been
taken, the company, in conjunction with the distributor,
must decide exactly what the system will be doing both
at the present and in the future. There is a wide range of
software available for all micro-systems, ranging from
general accounting packages to purpose-written soft-
ware. Each have their advantages and disadvantages,
the main problem being that of price.
The three most commonly accepted types of software
are:
standard software - a straightforward suite of prog-
rams that contain all of the normally used routines; ver-
tical software - such as a hotel accounting packages,
which were originally written for a particular user before
being marketed; and purpose-written software which is
designed to exactly solve the individual problems of an
individual user.
A company who decides to opt for a microcomputer
system, is clearly not in the market for expensive soft-
ware, and must therefore be prepared to modify its
existing accounting procedures to fit the structure of the
software package. Obviously, such standard packages
contain a number of options, such as tax codes, VAT
rates,
etc, but in general, a standard accounting package
forces the end-user to rationalise and standardise his
accounts to suit the software - in itself by no means a
bad thing. Without exception, micro or mini-computer
companies supply a range of packaged software to meet
the normal business requirements of their average user.
These packages have the advantages of being tried and
tested in many installations throughout the UK and, in
fact, many are modified to run on a number of differing
machines. At the micro-level for example, there are
only a few standard word-processing packages and the
majority of companies adapt these "masters" to suit
their own particular product line, or market them under
licence from the original developer. Wordstar is prob-
ably the best known of these, and this particular word
processing package is available on nearly all of the less
well-known micros or minis.
A company who decides to opt
for
a
microcomputer system is
unlikely to be in the market
for expensive software
Vertical software is software that has been designed
to meet the needs of a vertical market sector. For
example, solicitors require certain specific accounting
routines that are not fully covered in a standard
accounts package, and the same is true of many profes-
sional companies. Thus an initial approach by a solicitor
to a competent micro/mini marketing company will
eventually result in the development of an accounting
package specifically for that one profession - a package
which exactly solves the problems of solicitors' account-
ing. Once this software has been developed and is run-
ning it may be that other solicitors find that that particu-
lar system solves their problems more effectively than a
standard accounting package, and the marketing com-
JULY/AUGUST 1981 33
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