Backup, before you wish you had.

by Michael Reinhart | Aug 3, 2014 | Highlights

We recently added Backblaze to our toolkit and you should too. It’s possibly the most affordable way to backup your entire Mac to the cloud. It’s simple, efficient, and even hooks into our Monitoring system so we can oversee it for you.

An added feature is the ability to access any file you’ve backed up using your iPhone or iPad.

You can read more about Backblaze for Mac here.

Or you can immediately download and install Backblaze for Mac here.

Accounting and Bookkeeping!

by Michael Reinhart | Jul 2, 2014 | Highlights

We will make your Mac based accounting simple. From start to finish, our team will implement your accounting system, and even do your periodic bookkeeping work such as entering receipts, generating invoices, recording time-sheets, and more.

We use industry leading technologies such as Xero, Receipt Bank, Vend and SimplePay.ca to make your system user friendly, intelligent, flexible, and collaborative. Your accountant will love you.

Our Code of Ethics

by Michael Reinhart | May 29, 2014 | Highlights

We:

• Conduct our work in an ethical manner so we earn the confidence of colleagues, clients, and the public.
• Seek to extend public knowledge and appreciation of the consulting profession and its achievements.
• Do not misrepresent our skills or experience.
• Abide by law.
• Do not engage in contracts that violate laws or that might reasonably be used by a client to violate the law.
• Safeguard confidential information or documents entrusted to us and do not divulge any confidential information without the consent of our client.
• Honor intellectual property rights and explain to clients what their obligations may be.
• Only use, install, or support fully licensed software.
• Complete all services for our clients in a professional and timely manner.
• Comply with clients’ established business practices, including those policies relating to gifts and gratuities to client employees.
• Strive to avoid improprieties, as well as the appearance of improprieties.
• Always show respect for clients, consultants, and competitors.
• Protect the safety, health, and welfare of the public and speak out against abuses in these areas affecting the public interest.
• Do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or national origin.
• Encourage colleagues and co-workers to act in accordance with this code and support them when they do.
• In all circumstances, use good judgment.

How much should I spend on I.T.?

by Michael Reinhart | Feb 18, 2014 | Highlights

This is not an easy question to answer. I like to start by referring to some research and surveys conducted by the Gartner Group, TechTarget, or other analysts. The most common range they talk about is 4% to 8% of Gross Annual Revenue for small to medium retail or distribution businesses.

I’m not convinced this applies to every business, and there are many variables to consider, but if we use these numbers as a starting point, with annual sales of $250,000, the budget range is between $10,000 and $20,000.

To reiterate, for a business with sales of $1,000,000 annually, that’s between $40,000 and $80,000 for information technology spending every year.

I tend to make more conservative recommendations. In my experience, especially because technology is a moving target, I believe a company should overhaul their I.T. systems every 3 years using those numbers as a guideline, and then spend about half of that amount in years 2 and 3 on maintenance and support. To clarify, with sales of $250,000 that’s $10,000 to $20,000 in year 1 and $5,000 to $10,000 in each of years 2 and 3.

The thing that trips up a lot of business decision makers (especially entrepreneurs, who by nature are incredibly shrewd) is that this can’t be looked at as discretionary spending… in 2014, I.T. is a crucial part of most businesses. What we really need to do is quantify the benefits of that spending– analyze the Return on Investment if you will. We can help you to do just that. To have a deeper conversation about this, give us a call– one of my most important services for our clients is Mentoring. My background in Accounting, Auditing, Business Analysis, and Technology can help provide answers to these questions.