After finding the perfect software solution for your self storage business, you may unfortunately discover that there are extra modules and services needed to run the software. For example:
Updates: Many software companies charge additional for updates to the self storage software that are released in the future. These updates can include new features as well as “bug fixes”. Charging for these updates is standard practice but you can find companies that provide these updates for free. Some companies force the user to purchase updates even if their software is running fine. They force the issue by refusing to do technical support for the user unless they have purchased the latest version. A more reasonable approach is to provide the technical support, and if it is discovered that the problem that the user is experiencing has been fixed in a later version, to notify the user. The user can make their own decision whether they want to find a work- around for the problem or to go ahead with the purchase of the newest version which includes the corrected self storage software.
Additional Feature Modules: Many software companies have a standard price, but additional, and often necessary, features cost extra and can really increase the price. Look for software which includes all of the features you need, or make sure to add up the additional costs when you are making price comparisons.
Technical Support: Technical support represents a very important ongoing relationship with the software vendor. Most companies offer a user manual included with the software but this is often not enough when you are confused about how to use the software or are experiencing an error in the software. It is important that the vendor has free or low cost options for technical support for those with a quick question or error to report. For example there may be a free user forum or free email technical support. All software has occasional errors. A vendor that allows you to report errors without penalizing you by charging for reporting the error is a must.
It is important that the software vendor offer some type of telephone support for those who don’t want to search the manual. For those who need to get back to business quickly and want to be able to pick up the phone for quick answers, a telephone support plan is useful. Telephone support is almost always a paid option. However, the cost of this telephone support can reflect on the software program. Software vendors must maintain some sort of recurring revenue from their customers in order to stay in business, and to pay their trained technical support representatives. However, if the telephone support is overly expensive, it may suggest that the software is full of errors and requires a lot of hours spent working with technical support.
Software Supplies:Often a software company will add features into the software which require you to purchase more products from them. For example, a software program that offers a check printing feature may require that you use their printing company to purchase check forms that are compatible with the software’s banking feature. Other companies will also offer an alternative and less expensive option, such as the option to use checks compatible with QuickBooks or other software for which it is easy and inexpensive to purchase check stock.
Value Added Services:Many software programs offer value added services embedded in their self storage software. For example, there may be a credit card processing service that will process payments for you. Often the software company itself receives a portion of the user’s cost for each use of the feature. You need to decide if you can get the feature less expensively elsewhere or if the added cost is worth the convenience of the feature interacting seamlessly with your software.
Watch for hidden costs when you are considering a purchase of new Self Storage Software. Find Storage Sidekick – Software with no hidden costs, specifically designed for management of self storage facilities at Self Storage Software.
Posts Tagged ‘Self’
Beware of Hidden Costs When Purchasing Self Storage Software
Posted in Software Tools 
Tags: Beware, costs, Hidden, Purchasing, Self, Software, Storage 
Comments OffHr Software, Employee Self Service (Ess) Defined
HRMS Software employee self service (ESS) systems continue to be one of the most popular options with HRMS software and the demand is only growing. From a random sample of those that completed our HRMS Payroll and HRMS Software Selection Tool we found that 75% of those who completed the survey had an interest in ESS systems and of those 83% said ESS was a required option. For those that scored the importance of the option from one, being the lowest, to ten, being the highest, the average score was 8.5%. In short, this information reflects what we are already know; when it comes to HRIS or HRMS, ESS is a highly demanded option. The objective of this article is to define the typical capabilities of today’s HRIS ESS systems.
If you find this article helpful you may also want to read our other HRMS Software ESS Article. With this article we covered a few other topics regarding ESS including the types of companies and employees that ESS works best for.
Typical HRMS Software ESS Options
Employee Access – In the most basic sense, employee access is the main purpose of ESS systems. Employees have the ability to view or update their own information without having to communicate with HR or their managers to do so. This access may include simple demographic data, emergency contacts, attendance details, benefits, training, payroll information, or insurance plan details. When an ESS product is setup, an HRMS software administrator will typically have the option to define field by field what information employees can view, not view, or update. There may also be situations where they can change data but that change must be approved by others before the change is live. This important capability will be discussed later in this article under the option title Work Flow Management.
Manager Self Service – With many of the companies I have worked with in the past, this option has been viewed as being more important than the employee self service. With this option, managers are able to view or change data on their direct and indirect report employees. An indirect report is an employee who reports to the manager and also has employees reporting to them. In this example, the CEO or President of your company should be able to see all employees. Managers typically may be provided access to all the information employees are but they may also be able to run additional reports on their employees and managers.
Integration of HRMS and Payroll Information – If your HRMS and payroll application are integrated or you have an interface that can populate an HRMS software ESS option, employees and managers may also be able to see payroll data or payroll history. I worked with a twelve hundred employee company recently and, for them, the most important capability of ESS was having the ability for employees to print their own direct deposit advices.
Work Flow Management – I briefly touched on this very important capability under the employee access option section. With this option, you can designate an approval process for any changes that may occur in the system. For example, an employee requests time off, the manager then may approve or disapprove this time, if they approve it, the information may move to human resources to make a final approval. If the manager is out of the office, they will typically have the capability of designating a temporary approver while they are out.
As I mentioned earlier under employee access, the HRMS software administrator has the ability with each field to determine if the employee can view, not view, or change the item. You are typically allowed to setup a work flow for each change, as well.
Time off Management – We briefly touched on this topic already but the important thing to mention is that employees are typically able to view their time off history, balances, leave balances, and request time off. Managers are typically provided the ability to approve or disapprove this time and view reports relating to when employees are scheduled to be out or view attendance summary reports.
Benefits Open enrollment – Benefits Open Enrollment may or may not be an option included with ESS. Sometimes it is an extra option with its own price.
Benefits open enrollments allow for the creation of a benefit setup wizard by the HRMS Administrator. The employees are often able to read details regarding the plans and compare the costs and coverage of multiple plans side by side. This allows employees to complete their benefits setup and changes at home where they can, perhaps, view their spouse’s coverage options to make the best decision for their family.
Training Management – If your HRMS software has a detailed training management system, you may also see a number of the following options included in your HRMS application:
Ability to register online for in house classes
View training history
View course catalog
Take online tests
View reports associated with programs requiring CEU’s or credits for completion or renewal.
In House Recruiting – If your company HRMS software offers a recruiting option, you may also be able to offer in house recruiting options to your employees. They may be able to view a job, the description and requirements or post directly for a job.
Company Information – If your company does not offer an employee intranet, an ESS application can also assist with this demand. You may typically place a variety of links within the employee or manager access portion of the ESS product that may include the following:
Employee handbook
Company policies
Links to benefit providers
On the first page of the employee or managers access, notes may be added on upcoming events such as benefits open enrollment or other company news.
NLP ? The Self Improvement and Personality Development Tool Kit
NLP may be one of those terms that you have heard referred to a million times, yet have never really investigated what it is or what it means.
NLP stands for Neuro-linguistic programming, which is admittedly a bit of a mouthful, hence the handy abbreviation. NLP is sometimes referred to as “the study of excellence” and is believed to be extremely effective in developing and improving communication skills as well as playing a fundamental role in successful organisational change.
The techniques involved were initially developed in the 1970’s by John Grinder and Richard Bandler at the University of California, in Santa Cruz.
So, who can benefit from NLP and how exactly does it work? Well, at the core of neuro-linguistic programming is an understanding of “self”. How our inner self works, how we think, how we reason and how we behave. It is believed that this intimate understanding of what makes us tick and what makes us perform the way we do, is a great starting point for improving everything that we may accomplish.
NLP training helps to identify these inner workings and home in on all those positive aspects, the things that provide us with success in all manner of life experiences, both on private and social levels and indeed with business and career activities.
Essentially, neuro-linguistic programming provides individuals with an extremely useful behavioral toolkit which can be used in practically any situation and with an emphasis on all things positive, improved results and progressive outcomes can be achieved.
Using Tax Accounting Software to Produce Self Employed Tax Returns
Tax accounting software has its basics in each of the three elements of the title. Accounting being the production of the financial accounts in a template format suitable for the tax system. Tax and tax software denotes the inclusion of the tax rules with software being a description of the fact that the process is automated.
Self employed accounting
To be most effective the self employed accounts should be in a format that can eventually be used by the accounts program to produce the financial information required to complete the tax returns. Since in the UK as in many countries there are several types of tax returns then the accounting software should cope with all variations.
Database accounting software is frequently based upon a chart of accounts which is not necessarily tax return friendly. Accounting template spreadsheets being more fixed in nature do offer an opportunity to be tax friendly.
Facility should be available to distinguish between revenue transactions and the purchase of fixed assets as fixed assets are treated differently for tax purposes being subject to capital allowances which are tax allowances written off against the net taxable profit according to the tax rules as opposed to being able to deduct the whole cost of that asset in the one financial year.
Income Tax and Vat Tax Return Software
In the UK the self employed accounts need to supply the numbers for up to three different variations of the self employed tax return. One of two tax returns has to be completed each financial year, those returns being known as the short tax return and the full tax return which have replaced the self assessment tax return.
The short tax return is completed according to the sales turnover of the business. Less detail then the full return is required with only totals required for businesses with a sales turnover under 30,000 pounds.
In addition to the financial year end tax return self employed business whose sales are above the vat threshold must also complete a quarterly vat return. With various types of vat schemes available the accounts package and tax software should be capable of dealing with different vat schemes.
Not all accounting packages have the facility to deal with diffenent value added tax schemes which is important to produce the desired results of an automated tax software package. Tax accounting software is a serviuce provided for the self employed client and must meet that clients requirements.
Tax Software
To be effective in satisfying the description of tax accounting software the system should also include the tax rates and rules applicable. The tax accounting can then take those tax rates and produce an estimate of the potential tax liability which is a principal concern of all self employed business when the time for filing taxes approaches.
The term software indicates automation based upon data input which the computer package then processes to produce the desired output. Tax software produces the tax requirements of the user.
A tax accounting software package takes the prime financial transactions, converts those numbers to the format required to produce the year end self employed tax returns and quarterly vat returns as required. In addition the tax software function would also use the tax rates to automatically calculate the income tax and national insurance liability
Posted in Software Tools Tags: Accounting, Employed, Produce, Returns, Self, Software, Using Comments Off