Add-ons solve accounting dilemmas

by Ryan Stevens
PC Today
July 1995

ost of us would like to come to work in the morning, click a button, and have our computer fill orders, send checks, schedule appointments, and make coffee. The reality, however, is that few programs can automate office chores to the extent users prefer.

The United Way of Greater Los Angeles experienced some of these processing blues when it changed accounting packages about five years ago. Installing and implementing the new package, ACCPAC Plus Accounting from Computer Associates , was difficult and, although the organization was pleased with the program, there were a few tasks that took too much time.

To rectify the problem, the United Way turned to a popular solution - third party add-on-programs. The move made some accounting tasks easier, reducing the organization's reliance on paper accounting.

Computer Associates allows companies to write hundreds of add-on programs to ACCPAC. United Way's favorite is a program called TELEPAY BANKREC from Datatech EDI Systems in San Rafael, Calif.

Jess Sibert, accounting manager for the Los Angeles United Way, says the automatic reconciliation program saves the charity organization about 14 hours and at least $200 each month.

CHECK AFTER CHECK

According to Sibert, the United Way may write as many as 2,000 checks a month. That kind of volume used to bog down manual reconciliation efforts. Before Sibert bought the $400 add-on program two years ago, a clerk reconciled the checking account by manually comparing paper deposit slips and checks in ACCPA to paper bank statements.

Now, the organization's disbusement bank in Albany, N.Y., sends them a monthly diskette instead of a bank statement. The clerk pops it in the computer, runs TELEPAY BANKREC, and the program automatically compares checks with checks in ACCPAC's accounts payable module.

"It was really a very clumsy and awkward system that was in place when I got here," Sibert says. "But this system really organized reconciliations to the point where they're almost routine."

The program compares the checks and prints several reports showing discrepancies between the bank statement and ACCPAC as well as statements showing which checks have cleared.

LEARNING FROM MISTAKES

In the past, the bank has cleared checks for the wrong amount and even has credited the United Way's account for checks written to another organization. Sibert says such mistakes happen infrequently, but they do make reconciliations necessary.

TELEPAY BANKREC can be set up so users call their banks via modem and download information regarding cleared checks every day. Such information tells companies how much money they need to have available to make payments, which helps monitor cash flow. The program also can track payroll payments made by a payroll service.

Setting up and accessing such a system requires cooperation from your bank. Datatech EDI says that as long as a bank can download a file, it can hook you to a call-in system. Datatech EDI will provide the link for a one-time fee of $200.

Sibery says the United Way doesn't have such intense aspirations. The computing power desired, however, occasionally requires Sibert to seek more help than ACCPAC can provide.

United Way officials, for example, use a fixed asset program that attaches to ACCPAC to inventory furniture and equipment. They also use the program to estimate depreciation on current equipment and property, Sibert says, which helps prepare the annual budget.

Because the United Way buys dozens of supplies, Sibert says he talked to Datatech EDI about developing another add-on program to ease the burden of checking invoices. When an invoice comes in, clerks scrutinize the items on the invoice, ensuring they received the items listed. Sibert would like to get the invoice on diskette so comparisons can be made automatically. Right now, though, clerks enter vendor numbers, invoice numbers, and the dollar amount of each item.

"There's quite a few keystrokes involved in getting that invoice into the system so a check can be produced," he says.

Someday, Sibert may be able to come in and command his computer to take care of all his accounting chores. But for now, he says, he'll continue to look for ACCPAC add-on programs to make tasks a little easier.

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