Accounting Data Representation

tdr

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Hello everyone,

I found a way to represent all business data (over any period of time) of a company in one graph/picture. I don't think it's anything new, it's just the method is different from what I've seen before. The advantages are that:
- you have it all in one place and you can see the interconnections between anything that interests you (eg. profit related to assets, or cash)
- if you have a ruler, a calculator, and know a bit of geometry you can derive out of the graph anything; from individual expenses of the business to asset turnover and ROI.
- it only takes 5-10 minutes to understand how the graph works and what the lines represent

disadvantage: - you need every transaction (dated) that the firm has. Non transparency can yield bad results.

First I did this with the purpose of finding the profit for a business (in a more graphical way), but later when I looked at it I realized you can do much more with it.
The business for which I did this is rather small, with one owner and no interest in investors or sharing their data too much for that matter, so for them this has a just a little managerial usage.

Do you think there would be demand for such a graph? would accounting software companies be interested in such a thing?

Thank You in advance.
 
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Interesting idea. If I'm hearing correctly, it sounds like an alternative to a "dashboard"-type program, except that the analytics are presented in a single chart or window, as opposed to multiple, single-purpose charts.

If that's indeed the case, then perhaps the dashboard programs represent the paradigm against which you'd be providing a superior alternative.

Have you been able to avoid a cluttered look and feel? I mention it because it's a common complaint against graphs and charts and such, in some cases. Maybe you give your program the functionality whereby the user, through buttons or checkboxes, say, could have the nonessential parts ghosted out while simultaneously highlighting the particular analytic the user has selected.

You mention using a ruler and a calculator to derive certain results. Shouldn't the program be able to make those calcs automatically? For example, once a curve has been plotted into a graph on most graphing utilities, the program can give stats on the curve such as the first derivative, maxima and minima, area under the curve, etc.

I'm sure you've already thought about this one, but it'd be enormously helpful if the program could import the raw accounting data directly from the major accounting / bookkeeping packages, such as QuickBooks.

Again, it sounds like an interesting idea, one which well might find a market.
 
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tdr

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Thank you for replying ArcSine.

You are right, cluttering is always a potential problem in these cases; the idea to have the functionality of highlighting certain parts of the graph with respect to what the user is looking for is very good.

I personally find it better because all the data is given in the same graph with the same rules, not a combination of pi-charts and timegraphs. This automatically rises the comparability of every resource. So if the user wants to go inspect information in depth, he highlights other parts; similar to zooming into a picture as opposed to looking through an album.

I mentioned ruler and calculator, because I have not created any program yet. I made the graph with excel, and calculated what I needed of that. Given I was able to do it that way means it is not cluttered. Transferring the method into a program is a formality that requires certain resources, I'm trying to find out if it's worth investing those resources.

I guess the functionality would be the same as this program : Product: CRM Accounting Dashboard- your financial reporting dashboard in SFDC - YouTube

I say mine is simpler, but how should I ensure a non biased opinion?
 
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One thing you've got going for you is that there are a boatload of dashboards out there. That gives you a clear picture of what you need to have in order to be seen as a big improvement over the existing status quo.

For the test-marketing stuff you'll maybe need to chat with a marketing type. I'm sure there are some time-proven paths which successful software launches tend to follow. Or perhaps with some Googling you can come up with some do-it-yourself methods of testing the waters with which others have had success, using creativity in lieu of big budgets.

I realize you're at that early stage where you want to get some preliminary feedback on the "manual" version (perhaps leading to tweaks and enhancements) before you or someone begins coding the program itself. Marketing isn't my strong suit by any stretch, but I'm still leaning toward the possibility of gathering a few "How I Successfully Developed and Launched My Software" stories from the 'net.

Amazon and/or the Entrepreneurial / Small Biz aisle of your friendly neighborhood Barnes & Noble might have a couple of inexpensive how-to books on getting a program from idea to launch.

Just a thought, as an example: Send some screenshots out to a handful of small, local accounting firms, with an invitation that if they like what they see, you'll agree to install it on their machines. No cost or obligation to them; they can keep it if they want, in exchange for test-driving it for a month or so and giving feedback. (Like I said, marketing ain't my bailiwick by a long shot :) ).

Keep us posted on the progress....it'd be cool to see it come to fruition.
 
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