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2 Packages

Businessman is available in 2 packages to suit the requirements of different businesses.

1a. Small Business Accounting Package for Cashbook Only

An entry level system for the businessman who wants to computerise the manual Cashbook and doesn't require Debtors or Creditors tracking at this stage.

* Replaces Manual Bookkeeping

* No more adding up columns of figures

* Easy searches for transactions

* Allocate more accounts for better analysis

* Easier Bank Reconciliation

* Allocate Budgets

* Better control of business

* Spreadsheet Interface

* Upgradable to Debtors and Creditors with Invoicing

1b. Small Business Accounting Package for Cashbook plus Debtors and Creditors Invoices

An accounting system for the small business and the non-accountant. This is particularly suited to service businesses with a mixture of sales and service. It's also suited to schools, charities, and government. It is easy to use.

* Contains the Cashbook package

* Debtors control

* Creditors Control

* Easy transaction entry and lookup

* Allocate accounts easily for better analysis

* Spreadsheet Interface

* Better control of business

2. Integrated Accounting Package

An accrual accounting system for the advanced business. This is particularly suited to businesses with advanced product pricing and stock requirements.

* Debtors control

* Creditors Control

* Order Entry

* Stock Control

* Purchase Orders

* Sales Analysis

* Easy transaction entry and lookup

* Allocate accounts easily for better analysis

* Spreadsheet Interface

* Word Processing Interface

* Better control of business

* The source code is available under licence and may be modified to suit the changing needs of the business.

 Integrated means that each of these modules connects with the others in a logical manner with little or no operator intervention.
The system is design to be easy to learn and use with simple menus and screen driven prompts.
It protects against inadvertent errors by various data integrity checks.

The system is designed to provide for growth in several ways.

* It allows for large files with many transactions.

* Programs can be customized for users who purchase the rights to use the source code therefore the user is not locked into an inflexible standard package.

* It provides for the importing of data into spreadsheets and word processors to take advantage of their advanced capabilities.

* The file system is rich in features and is robust.

* The system is multi-user allowing more users to be added as the company grows.
 

The system is designed to be simple.

* The operation is simplified. Where the application itself is complex, the computer takes care of the complexity.

* Easy lookup using scroll lists and dynamic searching is used.

* Flexible report generation is provided where the user specifies the selection criteria with from and to ranges and in some reports can nominate the sort sequences and sub-total fields.

* The file design and structure is kept simple to allow easier lookup and reporting. Users who can grasp the file design of a system are more likely to become the masters of it.

* Full add, change, delete access to records is made available wherever possible.
 

The system is unique.

* It contains industrial secrets and intellectual property known as the Aceway method of design and programming.

* This design is transaction oriented. A detailed transaction audit trail is kept with balance forwards being created when transactions are purged.

* It is transaction driven which primarily means that the transactions are used to produce totals for screen inquiry and reports rather than summary files. Summary files are used for lengthy historical recording such as previous years where the accounting is closed and no more transactions are applied.

* This transaction approach avoids the duplication of data which gives the system greater integrity. For example, a report of sales in a period from the Order Entry/Sales module should always balance to sales figures from other reports.

* Transactions are logically grouped in such a way that the minimum of files are used. Transaction types and transaction status are used to make one file multi-functional rather than having many files.

* The files are normalized and relational which is technical jargon meaning that they suit the way computers like to process data.

* The General Ledger Account structure is unique. Rather than the just account/sub-account it has control account/account/sub-account-1/sub-account-2/sub-account-3 which allows for breakdowns of say sales by Branch (or State), Department (or Sales Area and/or Service) and Project (or Product Group). The meaning of the sub-accounts may vary.

Understanding the System

This section  gives a better understanding of some of the terms used. It is important for even experienced people to read this so that common meanings can be attached to words and concepts that are often subject to more than one meaning.

The Key to Understanding

There's no hope of understanding any subject if you don't understand the key words used in that subject. So let's look at the meaning of the key words used in this area of computers and accounts processing. These definitions apply to an understanding of Businessman.
 

The Cashbook System  

A Cashbook system is a method of keeping track of receipts and payments allocated against account numbers. Most businesses operate on one cheque account and it is generally presumed that the reconciliation of your records to the bank statements is part of the Cashbook system. This reconciliation is very important as it verifies that the Cashbook balances to an independent record of transactions (the Bank's). It is the simplest and most basic type of accounting that can be done by the non-accountant. It can be regarded as the minimum level of bookkeeping for a business. It is sufficient to conduct a business provided an accountant is used to supply the remaining requirements of the law.
 

The General Ledger

The simplest General Ledger is a Cashbook. This is called Cash Accounting since it only concerns itself with actual receipts and payments (single entry). The more advanced type of General Ledger is based on Accrual or Current Cost Accounting. This means that it also accounts for the value invoices and for assets and liabilities using double entry bookkeeping. For example, the value of accounts receivable, buildings & fittings, motor vehicles, work-in-progress, outstanding debtors & creditors etc. The Balance sheet is one of the main outputs from such a system and all businesses in Australia are required by law to produce one. This requires advanced accounting knowledge which is usually supplied by an accountant. Balance Sheets require double-entry bookkeeping, that is, two entries - one to each side of the ledger.

Account Number

In Businessman, Account Number means the account used in the Cashbook or General Ledger as in the term Chart-of-Accounts. So debtors may be costed to a Sales Account (0100) for instance. In the case of a Debtor's or Creditor's individual account the term Name Code is used, being a short form of their name rather than a number. Although numbers could be used since it is an alphanumeric field.

Name Code

Name Code is used to avoid the ambiguity associated with the term Account Number. All entities with a name, whether they be a Debtor or a Creditor or even special purpose entries (such as CASH or BANK or individual store LOCATIONS) are stored in the names file.

There is only one Names File. Not a separate one for Debtors and Creditors as some system insist on. In fact, a name can be both a Debtor AND a Creditor.
 

The Name Code (8 alphanumeric) is the key to the names file. It is usually made up of the first six characters of the name with the last two characters uniquely identifying similar names e.g. PARKERPT, SMITHBT, or abbreviations ELECT, RACQ.
 

Chart of Accounts

A Chart of Accounts is the list of account numbers that are available in the General Ledger. It is the accounts that are available to you for allocating amounts. In a simple sense, it is the columns you may be using in the case of a manual Cashbook. A computer system allows many more breakdowns than say a 9, 13, or 18 column Cashbook and there is really less overhead in using more accounts because the computer does all the adding up and you get the benefits of better analysis.
 

The Chart of Accounts can vary from one business to another. Your Accountant will give the best advice on the Chart that is best for you. A standard chart comes with the system. New accounts can be added at any time.
 

Control Accounts

A control account is a way of grouping many account numbers together so that a group total can be obtained. Businessman allows up to 99 control accounts, however, for practical reporting purposes i.e. the number of columns available across a page, not more than 10 are recommended and about six for Purchases and four for Receipts may be typical (e.g. Stock Purchases, Administration, Operating Expenses, Financial Charges, Drawings, Sundry).

These control accounts can be changed at any time.

Full Account Structure

The full account structure is presented here for the benefit of the person setting up the Chart of Accounts. It is designed to allow flexibility and analysis often difficult to get from other structures such as the Account/Sub-Account style.

A sample may be:

Project : 01 Product Group 1