Tag: industries

Professional Services Using CRM

In the past, professional services technology systems were closely tied to ERP systems, sometimes baked right in, sometimes as a third party product.  The common practice was to utilize the ERP’s architecture, database and financial modules to create a full-featured financial project management system that could produce very granular financial metrics.  I recently wrote about an evolution taking place whereby professional services technology applications can now work using CRM systems, and the advantages/disadvantages of doing professional services in ERP or CRM based technology.   

 

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January 21, 2016

Back-office vs. Front-office Pros and Cons; Four Points to Think about When Implementing a Professional Services Solution

Back in the day when computers first became common in businesses, accounting was the first part of the business that became “computerized”.  Many reasons caused this, but as time passed and computational complexity increased, these first accounting systems morphed into “Enterprise Resource Systems” (ERP) that allowed businesses to build on top of these first accounting systems in order to automate their other functional areas.  Inventory, Sales Order Processing, Purchasing, Service Management, Manufacturing and Professional Services functions were added as modular pieces of functionality that used the core accounting system as its base.  ERP systems proliferated and became the automation standard for businesses to scale, become more efficient and glean visibility into complex costing and other financial metrics. 

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December 22, 2015

DCAA Compliance and First Audit – This Should Be a Happy (But Careful) Time

I recently attended a workshop that was so spot-on I’ll even mention the speaker and his company: Kevin Grimes of CFO Leasing. I never met Kevin prior to that workshop but was very impressed with how clearly and succinctly he conveys the pitfalls and nuances of becoming DCAA compliant. 

Getting a notice that you are going to be audited by DCAA should not be frightening, but should be a joyful notice. The fact that your company has gotten the attention of DCAA means that you are about to be awarded a large contract or your business has grown so successfully that you are a larger federal contractor; both reasons to be happy, not frightened. However, at this point, you need to understand that: 

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September 10, 2015