tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18744156397989550512024-03-12T18:10:51.905-07:00Teamwork OzRobert Saltalamacchiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01521121091078104602noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1874415639798955051.post-17589539979686667372012-11-01T19:09:00.004-07:002012-11-01T19:24:51.962-07:00Thinking Out Loud<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every morning around 9am I gather together with around 10 of our key team
members for morning briefing. <br /><br /> It's something I picked up from my days
working in hospitality where each morning the executive management team would
sit in the General Manager's office and each manager would give a quick summary
of what was happening in the hotel that day. <br /><br />Attendance was
compulsory.<br /><br />As Teamwork Oz grows I have become reliant on these briefings
to keep me in touch with our clients, our team members and our suppliers.
<br /><br />But what I love the most about these briefings is what I call thinking out loud.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QL6Plfngl2k/UJMm5zfsYwI/AAAAAAAABE4/GqOOM5mS1vU/s1600/team-room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QL6Plfngl2k/UJMm5zfsYwI/AAAAAAAABE4/GqOOM5mS1vU/s200/team-room.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The glass wall doubles as a whiteboard</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of our best ideas come from these briefings. The simplest
comment from a staff member can spark a discussion that turns our 10 minute
briefing into a 30 minute discussion and brain storming session. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each morning, the briefing points are documented in our team room, which is an electronic collection of all Teamwork Oz meeting minutes, weekly summaries and reports, ideas and action plans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To support and encourage the team to think out loud we adopted some initiatives that help to generate an atmosphere of comfort to ensure team members have the vision to know what needs to be talked about and to offer suggestions and solutions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have whiteboards in every office and area in the building. But i love to just use the glass in the boardroom when I am thinking out loud. Sometimes I'll just wander into the main office area and start thinking out loud. Somebody is always willing to join in.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-20SmypfMcdQ/UJMm9qncoaI/AAAAAAAABFA/WGy93B6-4uw/s1600/leisure-area.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-20SmypfMcdQ/UJMm9qncoaI/AAAAAAAABFA/WGy93B6-4uw/s200/leisure-area.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The leisure area is a relaxing place to meet</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have also recently created a leisure area for team members to relax in. They can take their work in there, they can eat their lunch there or they can have meetings in there. As long as it is used, I am happy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, as I continue on the exciting path Teamwork Oz is taking me down, one of the things that keeps me excited and engaged at work is the ability to keep our organisation and its service offerings at the front of the pack. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And not just coming up with new ideas but following those ideas through.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Robert Saltalamacchia</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.teamworkoz.com.au</span>Robert Saltalamacchiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01521121091078104602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1874415639798955051.post-8426185356127305402012-08-30T19:15:00.002-07:002012-08-30T19:15:54.361-07:00Continuing to invest in the latest technology.<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">You may have read a previous blog about my determination to find a True Cloud accounting package. We gave the <a href="http://www.intuit.com.au/small-business.jsp?gclid=CJHm1ovekLICFSFNpgodYEMANA" target="_blank">Quickbooks online</a> offering a trial, which in reality was just their standard software solution dished up to the web using a terminal service or Citrix.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aYWaNEopQSM/UEAdWTzhj_I/AAAAAAAABEM/b0-ZTB94NZg/s1600/xero-dashboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aYWaNEopQSM/UEAdWTzhj_I/AAAAAAAABEM/b0-ZTB94NZg/s1600/xero-dashboard.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Well I think I may have found what I have been looking for. <a href="http://www.xero.com/" target="_blank">Xero</a> is a true cloud offering so it meets our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICT" target="_blank">ICT</a> strategy perfectly. It is simple to use, completely web based and even has an <a href="http://www.apple.com/au/ipad/" target="_blank">iPad</a> app to allow me to check things on the go - which I never do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This is not an ad for <a href="http://www.xero.com/" target="_blank">Xero</a>. It's just that I love when technology is affordable and can make a difference to productivity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Some of the things <a href="http://www.xero.com/" target="_blank">Xero</a> will allow us to do is fully integrate with our Enterprise solution. We are very proud of our purpose built software solution, however, it still requires some duplication of work to ensure our accounting software is up to date.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">We are working at the moment with our IT team, <a href="http://www.tlasoftware.com/" target="_blank">TLA Software Solutions</a> to share information between the two systems which we are confident will generate significant efficiencies within our organisation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">These efficiencies also flow through to our competitive pricing model ensuring we offer value-for-money on the services we provide.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Xero already allows us to do a number of tasks that previously weren't available to us including</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Online payslips available for viewing by staff.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Online annual leave requests.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Daily bank account reconciliation, using the online bank feeds</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Eileen, our payroll officer loves that payroll can be saved so she can work on other things and come back to where she left off.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Xero doesn't do everything we would like it to :</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Job costing for individual jobs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Past payslips are not easily accessible. The pay officer must find the actual pay run to find the payslip for the individual.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall we are pleased with our decision to switch from Quickbooks to Xero. Please feel free to comment on this blog and thanks for reading.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Robert Saltalamacchia</span><br />
<a href="http://www.teamworkoz.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teamwork Oz Pty Ltd</span></a></div>
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Robert Saltalamacchiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01521121091078104602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1874415639798955051.post-16338805722623308682012-07-30T16:28:00.000-07:002012-07-30T16:30:31.424-07:00Goodbye Telstra, Hello Vodafone<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One week has elapsed since I ported our mobile numbers from <a href="http://www.telstra.com.au/" target="_blank">Telstra</a> to <a href="http://www.vodafone.com.au/business" target="_blank">Vodafone</a> and the sky didn't fall in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-orK9YP_Hljs/UBcYSGNgNyI/AAAAAAAABD4/l-Bso74snkA/s1600/business-man.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-orK9YP_Hljs/UBcYSGNgNyI/AAAAAAAABD4/l-Bso74snkA/s1600/business-man.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I mentioned to some people that I was changing I got some puzzled looks. It seemed that many people questioned my decision with one person asking whether I valued my business.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yes I am well aware of the problems <a href="http://www.vodafone.com.au/business" target="_blank">Vodafone</a> had with their network. Yes their network had severe issues, but do you realise that was back in 2010.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the end, their offer was to good to refuse. I stand to save thousands of dollars over 2 years. Each time I raised an objection they simply shut it down by upping their offer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I know the mobile phone is integral in both business and in my personal life but there are alternatives. Just hours before writing this blog my mobile phone went flat while on an interstate trip. No problem, I had skype,and email as backup. Still plenty of ways for me to keep in touch and people to keep in touch with me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And to the people who questioned my decision I ask, would my customers really hold me responsible for any problems of my mobile network provider? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My switch to Vodafone should save me thousands and if it means a few drop outs well I guess I am doing my bit to keep the industry competitive. Really, where would we be if we were still at the mercy of just Telstra.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have my fingers crossed and I am sure Vodafone wont let me down.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Please let me know what your mobile network provider is like.</span>Robert Saltalamacchiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01521121091078104602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1874415639798955051.post-47281885071868326422011-07-22T02:03:00.000-07:002011-07-22T03:51:24.383-07:00QuickBooks Online - getting started<style>
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Part of our ICT strategy - (</span><span class="st">Information Communications and Technology Strategy)</span><span lang="EN-US"> - is to have our IT systems in ‘the cloud’. Our main enterprise solution has been in ‘the cloud' since we began in 2004.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tlasoftware.com/">TLA Software</a> has hosted our enterprise system in a server farm in the US and in that time I cannot recall a single time our server went down.<br />
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With this experience I was excited when I discovered <a href="http://www.quicken.com.au/">QuickBooks</a> had an online offering. As I researched it I became less enthusiastic about it as it was not what I considered a true ‘cloud’ solution.<br />
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What Reckon had done was simply deploy <a href="http://quicken.com.au/">QuickBooks</a> via a terminal server solution. For non-geeks, the best way I can explain it is that a<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_server"> terminal server</a> allows your desktop to connect remotely to it via a web browser. It ends up that you are viewing the server via your browser such as <a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/internet-explorer/products/ie/home">Internet Explorer</a> or <a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/fx/">Mozilla Firefox</a>.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Pros</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
I though I would start with the good things about QuickBooks Online.<br />
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1. <b>It is relatively inexpensive. </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Each user is just $295. For a little more you can have it for a Mac or via a tablet.<br />
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2. <b>It offers the benefits of being portable.</b> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">For <a href="http://www.teamworkoz.com.au/">Teamwork Oz</a>, it allows us to work from home.<br />
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3. <b>No more upgrades are required. </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The annual task of upgrading each PC with the latest version and updating the tax tables becomes a thing of the past.<br />
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4. <b>You do not have to invest in any server hardware or it personnel to manage the system.</b><br />
<b><br />
<span style="color: red;">Cons</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><u><span style="color: red;"></span><br />
</u>This is the reason I wrote this blog. I wanted to let other people know the problems you may face getting started on QuickBooks Online especially if you are an existing QuickBooks user.<br />
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1. <b>The instructions when you get started are poor. </b> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">When I first signed up I did not receive my username and passwords. I paid and selected three users. I entered their details and I should have received an email from QuickBooks which included my system generated usernames and passwords. A call to QuickBooks support rectified this and they sent me an email with these details. More thorough instructions would have eliminated this issue. <br />
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2. <b>No link was provided between the QuickBooks website and the QuickBooks Online program.</b> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I logged on to QuickBooks website and followed on screen instructions. I should have ended up with a link to QuickBooks on my screen. But I didn't have it. Another call to support and discovered they preferred I use Internet Explorer. <a href="http://www.teamworkoz.com.au/">Teamwork Oz’s</a> preferred browser is Firefox. So I didn't accept this especially when the documentation I read said that Firefox is supported. The guy in support suggested that I could download the Internet Explorer tab for Firefox and so I did this.<br />
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Success! I finally was able to log in to QuickBooks Online.<br />
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3. <b>Uploading the program was a real drag. </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The next hurdle was just around the corner. How do I get my existing QuickBooks file onto the server? Once again… NO instructions. So I called QuickBooks Support again. They suggested I copy and paste from my PC to the window to the server. We left it to upload overnight…. no success. Seems our 200mb file was too big using this method so they directed me to a QuickBooks file upload webpage…. same problem.<br />
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By now, my frustration was beginning to get the better of me.<br />
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So I suggested to them that I would upload it to my <a href="http://docs.google.com/">Google docs account</a> and shared it with one of the support team leaders. It took about 1 hour to upload it. On the Monday I finally was able to access it, when I had actually purchased it on the Tuesday before.<br />
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4. <b>Only User 1 could access the system.</b> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">User 1 began using QuickBooks. All seemed to be going well. Then User 2 tried to login but had no file to access when they got onto the server. Another day passed before User 2 and 3 could access the file.<br />
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5. <b>Could it really be that they left us with 2 separate copies of our QuickBooks file? </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">On the Tuesday user one began working on invoicing. On Wednesday user 2 began preparing payroll for 78 staff. At 5pm user 1 logged into quickbooks to approve payroll and upload the pay file... nothing there. It seems that when QuickBooks corrected the error of no access for user 2 and 3 they moved the file to the correct location but then left the original file that user 1 had started using. This meant that for 2 days we were using 2 different files.<br />
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Well we missed the deadline with <a href="http://nab.com.au/">NAB</a> and our staff were paid late for the first time in 6 years. This was a very disappointing outcome to say the least.<br />
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6. ‘<b>It was all my fault’</b> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> The following day after we had explained to our staff that their pays would be late I contacted QuickBooks to discuss what happened. Their response was, "I have been doing this long enough to know that this is your fault. You didn’t follow the instructions properly and you will have to manually correct the file"<br />
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This got me mad. After I explained to him what I think happened he put me on hold for some time. When he returned all he said was that he was going to pass me over to one of the team leaders.<br />
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They agreed that they had made a mistake.<br />
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Surely that is the end of it.<br />
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8. <b>Auto generated emails come from QuickBooks Online.</b> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">When we send payslips our staff receive an email from QuickBooks Online rather than <a href="mailto:payroll@teamworkoz.com.au">payroll@teamworkoz.com.au</a><br />
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It's not a big deal but it should be something that is highlighted<br />
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9. <b>When customising reports any columns that you add will drop out of the report when trying to print or export the data.</b><br />
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In conclusion, I believe it is worth persisting with QuickBooks but I think they were too quick to launch their 'online' offering. Their online help is both lacking and often inaccurate. If you rely on the online help to do things you will waste a lot of your time. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">My suggestion is to ring support and be guided through any issues you have.</span></div>Robert Saltalamacchiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01521121091078104602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1874415639798955051.post-5429905897602062542011-05-11T20:35:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:46:56.401-07:00Going Paperless - One step closer to a carbon neutral office!<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>"I became obsessed. Every single piece of paper I saw on someone’s desk I picked up and read. I didn’t want to see it."<br />
</i></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sc2tinnKWlo/TctYvpkFkMI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/XeuxMcM9cUU/s1600/going_paperless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sc2tinnKWlo/TctYvpkFkMI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/XeuxMcM9cUU/s320/going_paperless.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">The idea of going paperless was not something that I planned. It started out when I decided to investigate an alternative to faxing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The nature of our business meant we received hundreds of faxes per week. Faxes go missing no matter how organized you think you are. Especially when we have a combined fax, printer. People often pick up something they printed but don't check whether they have inadvertently picked up a fax.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">STEP 1 - Ditch the fax machine.</span><br />
</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had one of my team members, Daisy, look into a fax to email solution.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We decided on <b style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.faxmate.com.au/">faxmate</a></b>. It was cheap. In fact far cheaper than our fax line cost us and they had an inexpensive porting option which meant we could get rid of our fax line all together but retain our existing fax number.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Our technology provider <b style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.tlasoftware.com/">TLA Software</a> </b>then developed a simple database which all our faxes forwarded to. Now all our faxes were in an electronic format.</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">STEP 2 - Give everyone a second monitor</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Daisy continued to help me iron out any issues.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We found that it was really annoying if you had to transpose information from a fax into our enterprise solution so she started printing up the faxes.... so I bought her another monitor. This meant she was able to have the fax in an electronic format on one monitor and the enterprise system open on the other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Then everyone got a second monitor. Got them really cheap from <b style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/">Catch of the Day.</a><i> </i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Just a side note to this, some of the PC’s we had required an adapter to accommodate the second monitor. Cost if buying from a retailer is around $100 but you can buy online for half this.</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The benefits were immediate. We weren’t ringing people and asking them to fax something they had already faxed, we were saving paper, documents were being filed accurately and immediately and even our invoicing was quicker. And the office was tidier. You could see the efficiencies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Robert was happy!</span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>STEP 3 - Stop people sending me stuff in an envelope</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now I was obsessed. Every single piece of paper I saw on someone’s desk I picked up and read. I didn’t want to see it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">So we started ringing suppliers to see if they could email us invoices. I have to say I was surprised at how many businesses still could not email me invoices. Hopefully they will read this blog</span>. <br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>‘…..<i>we used to print up staff payslips. <br />
Not any more!</i>’</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span></div><b style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: large;">STEP 4 - Stop sending out stuff in envelopes</span></b><u></u><br />
We rang all our staff and asked them for an email address. I can't believe we had not done this before. We pay up to around 100 staff each week and we used to print up their payslips. Not any more!<br />
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Now I haven't noticed a reduction in mail yet but I hope to be able to report back in the coming months that this is the case<br />
.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>STEP 5 - Get a really cool scanner</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is the next step in our quest for a paper free office</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The problem I have is that I don't want to get just a standard all in one from Officeworks. I have been researching and found some really cool scanners which have cameras on both sides of the paper. This means that the paper is only fed through once.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The hurdles in getting one is the price, around $3000, and the availability. It has hard to actually find a model to demonstrate. They seem to be an 'order in' product</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><b>STEP 6 - Now what do I do with the paper I have scanned?</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now I have all my documents scanned into an electronic format what do I do with the original? At the moment we are just putting them into an archive box. In theory I should be able to destroy the original but I just don't have the courage just yet do this.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i style="color: #45818e;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">The benefits of going paperless have been enormous. I wish I did it years ago. I'd love to hear from other people who have gone paperless</span>.</b></i></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span>Robert Saltalamacchiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01521121091078104602noreply@blogger.com0