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Linking to XERO Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: I’ve imported my data but the graphs look empty!
A: Once you’ve finished importing your data, it is important to make sure that you have correctly setup your mapping. To make sure your mapping is correct:

Q2: What is mapping data?
A: Data Mapping is a process of creating a map between two data models. It allows you to create a logical link between each of your KPIs or financial balance sheet items, for example linking your Revenue within Xero to the Revenue field within Virtual CFO Pro.

Q3: Do I have to import data monthly?
A: Yes, you will need to import your new month’s data each month.

Q4: What does my Z-score mean?
A: The Z-Score was first published by Edward I. Altman (Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University) in 1968. Dr Altman researched companies that had gone bankrupt and then tried to develop a formula that would predict if a company was likely to become insolvent. The resultant formula uses a combination of a number of ratios, then weights and combines them into one score.
This has been widely used by professional analysts and has proven to be an excellent indicator.
Note that this should be used as an indicator that further analysis should be done on a company rather than a definite predictor that there is a problem. For instance, companies that have written off assets would appear to have a low score on this scale but be fundamentally sound.
There are two types of Z Scores depending on whether the business is a manufacturing type or non-manufacturing type. The reason being that different types of businesses have different asset turnover rates.
For reference to your score:
For Private Firms:
Z’ > 2.9 -“Safe” Zone
1.23 < Z’ < 2.9 -“Grey” Zone
Z’ < 1.23 -“Distress” Zone For Non-Manufacturing & Emerging Markets Z > 2.6 -“Safe” Zone
1.1 < Z < 2.6 -“Grey” Zone
Z < 1.1 -“Distress” Zone

Q5: How does this link to my KPI Dashboard module?
Once imported and mapped your data is automatically link to the Financial Statement scorecard in the KPI Dashboard.

Q6: What is the what if analysis?
You can use the what if analysis to see what impact small percentage changes can have to your revenue, profit and cash flow. It can be effective in helping stimulate brainstorming sessions to devise possible strategies that could help achieve the what if outcomes.

To download a copy of the linking to xero user manual please click the pdf below.

Pdf_by_mimooh.svg

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Exit & Succession – The Next Economic Bubble

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Have you ever encountered a client who is planning to sell their business? Or do you have clients asking for ad-hok advisory services? You would be a rare case if you answered ‘no’ to each of these questions! It is due to questions such as these that Accountants and Advisors are needing to diversify the services they are providing to their clients to ensure they remain competitive in the market.

The good news is, diversity means opportunity! And for Accountants and Advisors, there is a fantastic way to tap into an up and coming ‘Blue Ocean’ or potential industry whilst leveraging the vast experience you already possess. And this is called Exit Planning.
 

WHY EXIT PLANNING?

Over the next 10 years, 75% of business owners will be knocking on your door needing an exit plan.

Consider that there are over 2 million business in Australia, with a combined worth of approximately $1.5 Trillion. Throw into the mix that that nearly 50% of these businesses are owned by Baby Boomers. At an average of 61, you will begin to be inundated with one common question; ‘how do I maximise my personal wealth, given so much of it is tied up in my business?’

Position yourself now to benefit from the greatest transfer of wealth in history, worth approximately $600 billion in Australia alone.
 

WHAT IS EXIT PLANNING?

Exit planning is the process of maximising business and personal wealth for your clients.

What must be stressed here is Exit & Succession planning is in every sense a process, not an event! Exit planning is the conscious effort to maximise the business value, while enabling the conversion of the business ownership into personal financial freedom and peace of mind.

“I don’t want to sell my business?” is a common misconception made by business owners when speaking with them about Exit & Succession. Exit planning is not just about selling! It includes not only maximising the business value, but managing personal financial issues such as tax planning and estate planning.

As Accountants and Advisors you are already in a great position! You have developed a client base in which you are a trusted advisor who already manages and handles client’s personal financial issues. – What a great way to expand your services and shift your engagement with them as they look to transition out of their businesses in the future.
 

HOW DO I LEARN MORE AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS BOOMING MARKET?

Take your fist steps and gain an overview so you can discuss the topic with your clients

To ensure you are at the forefront of this opportunity and capture your own slice of the market, there is an internationally recognised introductory training that takes place over the course of a single day. Obtain a certificate in Exit Planning, hosted by MAUS Business Systems and endorsed by the Exit Planning Institute, an internationally renowned organisation at the forefront of Exit & Succession training. Contact MAUS on (02) 9907 1669 or email Graham Martin to proceed. Alternatively visit http://www.maus.com.au/certificate-exit-planning-one-day-course/ for more information.

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MAUS Introduces the One Day Certificate Course in Exit Planning

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MAUS is pleased to announce our new partnership with the Exit Planning Institute, a leading organisation and trendsetter in the field of exit planning across the globe. This partnership means that for the first time ever MAUS is able to offer the Exit Planning Institute’s award winning training courses right here in Australia.

Learn how to engage your clients with this $600 Billion dollar ‘blue ocean’ opportunity. The Certificate in Exit Planning One Day Program was developed by nationally recognised experts who serve as faculty members for the Exit Planning Institute’s Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) Program.The one day program was designed to take professional advisors, as well as sales and marketing professionals and colleagues of existing CEPA’s, through a one day course that gave an overview of the overall Value Acceleration Methodology and provided some insight into the CEPA Program itself.

The program takes the attendee through six modules which concentrate on the core elements of the Value Acceleration Methodology and the organizing principle of the methodology called Master Planning. Master Planning has three critical components referred to as the “three legs of the stool”
      [icon icon=”check-square-o” color=”#0079c2″]Maximising Business Value
      [icon icon=”check-square-o” color=”#0079c2″]Personal Financial Planning
      [icon icon=”check-square-o” color=”#0079c2″]Life After Business Planning.

Participants will also learn to describe deliverables at each of the three major gates of the methodology and understand how the exit planner and the “triggering event” creates action and generates business opportunity and deal flow for other professional advisors while significantly improving value and probability of a successful transaction.

One Day Course Details

  • Where – Sydney NSW – Brookvale, the lifestyle building (117 Old Pittwater Road)
  • When – 29th July 2016
  • Time – 8:30am sign in for a 9am-5pm course.

To take advantage of this great opportunity simply call Graham Martin at MAUS Business Systems on (02) 9907-1669

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MAUS announces today the expansion of the international consulting group and adds another 5 consulting partners.

MAUS a SME software publishing and consultancy group continues to build and grow MAUS throughout Australia and around the world.

“We are very proud to announce the successful addition to our ranks of 5 highly capable business advisors that will service the Western Australian, Queensland, NSW and Canberra markets”  says Peter Hickey, the CEO and founder of MAUS. “These new advisors that have just completed training will offer business advice and help small to medium sized businesses. Our tools and training are designed to help business advisors, accountants and financial advisors around the world to build a successful practice based on our methodologies which have been implemented in over 60,000 businesses around the world.”

Having just completed our May training we would like to welcome Jonathan Lucas, Vic Ernst, Simone Mills, Kenneth Andersen and Michael Altenburger to the MAUS Network!

Our offer to consultants, accountants, financial advisors and anyone wanting to startup a new consultancy

Are you passionate about helping business owners achieve success? Do you want someone to provide you with hand holding, step by step instructions and mentoring? If you want to have one of the most respected brands in this area work with you and provide you with all the tips, secrets and best practices that we have learnt over the last 20 years. Don’t re-invent the wheel! Learn how to become a highly successful business consultant / coach just like our most recent graduates through the MAUS accredited training program.

Learn how to:

– Attract new clients using state of the art marketing and lead generation tools

– Justify your fees by adding value to your clients with resources costing millions of dollars to develop

– Grow your business by turbo charging your first few months with training, confidence building and proven client acquisition models

– Implement best of breed client methodologies

For more information about future training and the accredited partner program, visit the website at www.maus.com.au or send a quick email to request a free more information pack to sales@maus.com.au

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6 important questions all start-up companies should consider when developing a business model

Is the Market Saturated?

Sometimes a company may try to reach customers who don’t need more of a certain product. When customers are satisfied with what they have, they have no incentive to purchase more, and the market is therefore considered saturated. If this is the case, it will be hard to win over a customer base that already have invested in the product or service.

Is there too Much Competition?

If a market is competitive, a company must work harder, and spend harder, to gain market share. In fact, established competitors are likely to be very powerful and resourceful and can easily drive new companies out of business. For example, major retailers like Woolworths in Australia, and Walmart in the United States have been blamed for the failure of many smaller businesses that simply could not compete.

Are there Barriers to Entry?

Some industries are difficult to get into. This could be because legal requirements (such as environmental, Health & Safety or other legislative requirements) are prohibitive or because start-up costs are high. This can make the process of entry too resource intensive and may even cause failure before the start up gets off the ground.

Is The Idea a Bad Idea?

Many entrepreneurs think they have the next big idea. They believe their product will be a huge success the moment it hits the market.  This can be bias thinking, and reduce the amount of time spent completing careful research into the target market, or cutting corners on the quality of the product or service.

Is the Idea Too Difficult to Implement?

Some businesses can be too optimistic about what it takes to get off the ground. Is the product or service too complex to the target market, or too complex to design, deliver or assemble?

Is Your Business Technology Outdated?

Businesses must understand the importance of technology to their business. State-of-the-art computer or manufacturing systems may streamline a competitor’s business and save them millions of dollars. But a business that tries to compete with outdated technology is unlikely to hold a competitive advantage, or they’re unlikely to hold one for long.

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Significant changes to the ISO 9001 standards! What you should know…

A new version of the ISO standard has just been launched, replacing the previous version (ISO 9001:2008)

What is ISO 9001?

ISO 9001 is a standardised framework that sets out the requirements for a quality management system. It enables businesses and organisations to be more organised, efficient and customer satisfaction focused.

Why has the global ISO standard been reviewed and revised?

The world has changed and with ever changing business environments, organisatsions today are very different from decades ago. To ensure the ISO standard remain relevant in the marketplace, it is reviewed every five years and revised if needed to incorporate this new evolution of change.

What are the major differences between the old and new standard?

The main difference to the new standard is the new structure and an increased focus on risk based thinking. It now follows the same overall structure as other ISO management system standards. This brings a common framework to all management system standards which helps to maintain consistency, alignment, and common language across all standards.

What are the benefits of the new ISO version?

Main changes to the standard are as follows:

  • A much larger emphasis on business leadership towards achieving goals and objectives.
  • Addresses business risk and opportunities using more of a structured framework.
  • Simplified language, and structure of application and terms for organisations using multiple management systems for WHS, QA & Environmental.
  • Communication and awareness
  • Fewer prescriptive requirements, more accessible for service/knowledge based organisations.

I am currently using the old ISO standard. What should I do?

Don’t let your business get left behind! It is highly recommended that you update your quality management system to the new ISO standard as soon as possible so you can stay current with the needs of today’s changing business world.

With every organisation being unique its own way, its important you take the necessary steps to fine-tune your management system to fit the new standard.

I am certified to the ISO 9001:2008 standard. What should I do?

If you are like many businesses who wish to maintain your ISO 9001 certification status, it is advised you upgrade your existing quality management system to the new version of the standard and pursue certification to it. Organisations have a three-year transitional period from the date of the official publication (September 2015) to move to the new standard.

[biginfobox color=”#1e73be” textcolor=”#ffffff” title=”Looking to upgrade to the new ISO 9001 standard? ” href=”http://www.maus.com.au/product/quality-assurance-software/” button_title=”Click Here”]Simple, affordable and an easy way to upgrade your quality management system to the new ISO standard[/biginfobox]

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Three Simple Ways You Can Use Google Ad-Words To Improve Your Lead Generation

Three Simple Ways You Can Use Google Ad-Words To Improve Your Lead Generation.

 

Google Ad-Words is very well known for its traditional method of targeting a potential customer while they are browsing on Google. It uses advertisements for specific brands, based on predetermined key word searches or search history, but it actually goes far deeper than the most commonly known pay per click (PPC) method of Google Advertising.

Google has a whole suite of advertising tools and analytical products to help get your brand to your consumer. Below are three relatively unknown features that Google Ad-Words provides business which can help any business to instantly increase their inbound leads.

Google Ad-Words

Gmail & YouTube Advertising:

Gmail ads use an algorithm based on an individuals’ Google account activity and the type of emails an individual receives in their inbox. This means that if one of your competitors has emailed the potential lead and your keywords are a similar match to the wording in the email from your competitor, an ad for your product will appear in the promotions tab of the users Gmail account.

YouTube, like Gmail ads is another relatively unknown method of advertising with Google. YouTube uses a system called TrueView ads, which allows you to target your customers while they are consuming videos on, or hosted by the popular streaming giant. This allows you to promote your brand or product in a completely different medium and only pay for what people actually watch and engage with. What this means is, if someone opts to skip your ad you don’t get charged for the impression or a view. YouTube also uses a different algorithm to target content to your potential leads, by targeting users based on a combination or pre-set demographic information as well as taking into account a user’s browsing habits.

 

Call-Only Campaigns

At the beginning of 2015 Google introduced Call-Only Campaigns. Call-Only campaigns work similarly to traditional PPC campaigns, the major difference being that rather than encouraging people to click on your ad to visit your website, visitors will be prompted to call your business instead.

 

 

Call-Only Campaigns
This is how a Call-Only Campaign Advertisement would be displayed on Google

Using a call only campaign gives you the potential to immediately convert hot prospects, and capture all of the inbound leads immediately while they are still a hot prospect. Call-Only Advertising also gives you the ability to services a potential customers’ questions and needs more personally and specifically rather than leading them to a non-specific landing page.

 

Remarketing lists for search ads

Remarketing Lists, referred to as RLSAs allow business to target people who have already visited their website through tracked cookies that were stored in their web browser from a previous visit to your site. These ads will be displayed the same as traditional Ad-Words, but are targeted in a far more effective way.

This is beneficial for business as it works out a far more cost effective method of advertising, and engages with customers who have already shown some interest in your product at one point in time, meaning they are not only going to be a warmer lead then someone seeing your brand or product for the first time, but they are more likely to convert when they see that your product is continually showing up in their search results.
 
 
 
References:
1. https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2701222?hl=en-AU
2. http://adwords.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/charge-up-your-phones-with-call-only.html
3. http://adwords.blogspot.com.au/

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Is there a way to effectively generate leads that consistently come to you?

Don’t like cold calling!? No one really does. We all dream of sitting back in our banana chair and watch while our leads come to us. But in an environment where winning new business is getting harder and harder, it doesn’t quite work that way.

So should you go back to techniques such as cold calling if you need more leads? While it can be effective, perhaps you should go back to the basics. Have you carefully considered who you are and what you do?

Carefully consider who you are and what you do

It is hugely important to define who you are, and what you do before embarking on the lead generation process. Are you restricting your expertise and reducing your lead potential? Are you too targeting a client base that is too broad and reducing your perception as an expert?

Determine who you are and your area of specialty:

  • Dictates your entire program.
  • Will have consequences on your potential for generating leads.

Carefully consider how broad you define your expertise:

  • Too specific and you will reduce your potential for leads.
  • To broad and you will not appear to be an expert in a particular industry or area.

 

Want to know more about this topic, watch the video

Video demonstrating the first step in lead generation for consultants

Video demonstrating the first step in lead generation for consultants

Actions:

  • Find a mentor to help determine who you are.
  • Research opportunities. In order to find leads you may need to partner with particular industry bodies or related professions.

 

Why is it important to always improve your lead generation?

Winning new clients can be one of the most frustrating, time consuming and expensive elements of your business, and it is one that is often done very poorly.

Without leads and an effective sales conversion system, it doesn’t matter how good your internal systems, your personnel and your product is…your business will simply fail.

 

Articles to come about Lead generation

Effective Lead Generation – Prepare two types of high quality material.

Effective Lead Generation – Begin by defining your target Market

Effective Lead Generation – Communicating your lead generation campaign

Want more detailed Training?

If you liked what you have read today, there is a formalised and inexpensive option to access a professionally created consultants fundamentals training course.

This great course includes the following:

  • Video recording of 7 passionate presenters covering core topics.
  • “High Performance Consultancy – Lead Generation” video training.
  • “High Performance Consultancy – Win profitable clients” video training.
  • “High Performance Consultancy – Coaching v. Consulting Secret” video training.
  • Award winning MAUS consultancy software (RRP $999).

“Your Business Success” 165 page workbook containing a strong client structure.

More info click here

By Graham Martin

Marketing Manager, MAUS Business Systems

02 9907 1669

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Three simply ways that any business can help improve their credibility in the marketplace.

Three simply ways that any business can help improve their credibility in the marketplace.

Credibility is usually perceived as something very difficult to be obtain and is often associated with spending a lot of money on both advertising and branding to help produce top of mind awareness and goodwill, however there are lots of relatively inexpensive ways of producing credibility that almost any business should be able to start implementing in 2016.

 

credibility

 

1. Customer Feedback/Testimonials

The first of our credibility generating mentioned is customer testimonials, these help to build almost instant credibility by displaying praise from an existing customers who have has a good experience with your company. A testimonial should cover the kind of questions or objections that a potential customer or an on looker may be asking themselves about your company before they are willing to put money down to make a purchase.

Testimonials should be relatively concise so potential customers can easily skim them in a few seconds, if they are to long people won’t read them. It is also important to ensure that the customer who writes you the testimonial puts their name to it, an anonymous testimonial is about as helpful as no testimonial at all, as it screams of a something that the company has forged to increase their number of testimonials.

 

2. Customer Success Case Study

Another effective technique to use along with customer testimonials is one or two ‘customer success case studies’ explaining a specific challenge that one of your customers was facing and how you helped the customer overcome their challenge by utilising your services, it is also important to mention the successes the customer has had as a result of using your services.

To make a success story more credibly to potential customers it is important to make them relevant to your audiences and interesting to read, it may be valuable to identify a common problem that your customers have and using that as a bases for your case study.

 

3. Customer Recommendations

Recommendations are as simple as asking one of your satisfied existing customers to introduce you to one of their colleges of friends who they feel could benefit from your services or knowing about your brand, this is an almost expenses less way of distributing your brand name and credibility through word of mouth.
Simply ask your customer to send an email to one of their colleges with you attached to act as an initial introduction to the potential new customer. This eliminates the need to approach the lead as a cold targeted and also creates instant credibility in the process.

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MAUS Stock Price Data Subscription Changes

MAUS Stock Price Data Subscription Changes

You may have noticed that your MAUS down loader has recently stopped downloading price data, and is showing an error message.

Recently MAUS has switched its third party provider for our stock market data down loader service.

This will not affect the service, cost or expiry date of any of our current Live price data/data downloader subscribers, in fact you will even notice some improvements with the new service.

 

Features of the New MAUS Stock Data Downloader

  • The price downloader is now built directly into the stockmarket plus software, streamlining the process and saving you time when getting your daily or live price data
  • You can now download international and hybrid stock prices directly into the software. (Some restrictions apply).

The reason for this change is due to our original 3rd party supplier having recently ceased trading. You may receive a letter in relation to this soon. This letter is referring to our supplier, not MAUS Business Systems.

If you have any questions regarding your current data subscription or if you are a stockmarket Plus user and would like to use our data downloader service please contact the MAUS team on 1300 300 586, or email sales@maus.com.au.

 

To see the MAUS Data Downloader Webpage: Click Here

 

About MAUS

MAUS Business Systems is a leading publisher of innovative management software and learning programs targeted to the small to medium sized business sector. It publishes one of the largest ranges of management software titles in the world. These multi – award winning business tools are now being used by more than 60,000 companies around the globe. The company also develops nationally accredited training programs and has sold resources to educational institutions such as universities and tertiary educational centers around the world.