It's tax time again!

Hopefully, you have been reconciling the information in your General Ledger throughout the year. If you have, then the financial information you currently have in your GL is correct and ready to hand to your accounting firm for the preparation of the year-end taxes.

Reconciling the GL to the controls will assure that the sales, cost of sales, expenses and profit in your system are correct. The rule of thumb is: if the balance sheet is reconciled and in balance, the information listed in the income
statement must be correct. The numbers may not be in the correct field,
but the bottom line is correct.

Reconciling the balance sheet should be a monthly activity for you. It serves many purposes, the most important is that you will have an accurate snapshot of your profitability on a current basis. This will assist in the decision making process.

If you don't reconcile the GL, start now.  If you do, keep it up. Financial reporting accuracy is paramount to good business decisions. Inaccurate financial information is the road to disaster.
 

Assessing the "right" time to move to a new warehouse system

Don’t wait until your warehouse operations are no longer competitive to evaluate whether you need a new system. Here are some important tips to help you plan ahead:

Keep pace with industry trends - The availability of new technologies and increased market demands are driving rapid change in many industries. Watch for trends such as rising customer expectations, increased competitive pressure or dropping margins. Introducing new or improved automation management technology to your warehouse can be a powerful tool for increasing competitiveness in a challenging market.

Ensure compliance with EDI requirements - If you plan to sell to large retailers, you’ll need to comply with the vendors' terms in order to remain in good standing and keep your margins in place. Most large retailers have strict vendor compliance requirements that make a modern warehouse management system absolutely critical for success. Since many large retailers use electronic data interchange (EDI), an ideal WMS solution will have EDI integration and be able to automatically transmit order information into the warehouse system or the accounting database.

Manage the changes required by e-commerce - If you’re one of the many businesses selling products over the Web, a warehouse management system is essential. An online business encounters higher transaction volumes and greater customer expectations. Your material-handling needs also change when you ship directly to consumers rather than to businesses. Instead of pallet or case shipments, most online businesses fulfill many small unit shipments. Without the right system, many errors can occur. And with thin margins, shipping errors can be detrimental to your business. You want a WMS solution that supports and integrates with your e-business initiatives.

Invest wisely in new equipment - If you’re investing in new material-handling equipment for your warehouse, such as carousels, conveyors, or reach trucks, make sure you put that investment to good use. A good warehouse management system will effectively integrate these islands of technology for your staff, optimizing performance and maximizing total warehouse efficiency.

Make the most out of a warehouse move - If you plan to relocate to a new warehouse, this may be a good starting point to implement a new warehouse management system. By designing a plan from the ground up at your new location, you can eliminate the bottlenecks and inefficiencies of your old warehouse. The sooner you plan and implement, the sooner you can reap the benefits of your new system.

Measure your current capabilities - An objective way to assess your warehouse efficiency is to conduct a detailed benchmark measuring your current capabilities. The benchmarks can show you how well your warehouse is performing and the areas you may want to improve. If your assessment indicates significant changes are necessary, now is as good a time as any to implement a new system that provides the required functions for your warehouse.  

If any of the above situations resonate with you, it may be time to explore a new solution - we have the business knowledge and customer experience to guide you efficiently. Simply reply to this message to set up a introductory call.

Key benefits of a tailored warehouse management system

Many companies regularly engage in a review of their operational costs as well as their customer service costs. To accomplish this, companies are embarking on a wide range of process improvement initiatives in the hopes of taking advantage of new technologies to improve supply chain efficiencies.

By implementing a warehouse management system (WMS) with an integrated back-office accounting system, organizations can achieve a higher return on their software dollars and provide the best possible service to their customers, without adding headcount. Here are a number of significant benefits:

• Reduced picking/shipping errors
• Improved inventory count accuracy
• Increased employee productivity
• Elimination of most warehouse paperwork
• Improved space utilization
• Reduction of physical inventories
• Better workload control
• Improved labor management and reporting
• Better support of customer EDI requirements
• Ability to better prioritize warehouse activities for preferred customers

If you are contemplating a review of your existing processes, consider calling on us to leverage our expertise in this field. We'll work with you to recommend improvements, within your time schedule and budget.