Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnewsh!mbb
From: mbb@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (martin.b.brilliant)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Accounting/Finance/Business-operations-database system needed
Message-ID: <1458@cbnewsh.ATT.COM>
Date: 15 Jun 89 14:40:12 GMT
References: <9236@xanth.cs.odu.edu>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 40

From article <9236@xanth.cs.odu.edu>, by aiko@cs.odu.edu (John K Hayes):
> Hello.  I have been asked to find out what is available off the shelf in
> the way of business accounting/finance/database systems for use in a
> company of about 100-300 people.  It will be implemented probably on a
> PC.  They are looking for something that is already available and usable
> with minimal modification and setup.....

I answered a question like this by mail, but they keep coming.

A few years ago I was looking for an accounting system for a sailing
club.  It's the kind of club where every member does a little work,
and we have no building, so the cash budget is minimal, but the
organizational structure is complicated.  Anything that would handle
the complexity of our low-budget, many-hands operations would cost too
much, so I wrote a system from scratch, combining features from some of
the systems I looked at.

Companies differ greatly in their needs, not only depending on number
of people.  Are the 100-300 people doing service or manufacturing?  Do
they need job costing?  Fixed asset depreciation?  These are not
standard features of all packages.  Most have only accounts receivable,
accounts payable, and payroll, in addition to the general ledger.

The question included a database-system component.  Why?  How closely
does the database system have to be integrated into the accounting
package?  If it is to perform special functions peculiar to this
business, somebody is going to have to program those functions into
it.  That doesn't sound like minimal modification and setup.  For
some industries there are special-purpose packages already designed.

My advice to the first inquiry was for the friend to save some trouble
and expense in the long run by finding a good reliable consultant to
get a system that's right for the application.  I can only repeat that.

M. B. Brilliant					Marty
AT&T-BL HO 3D-520	(201) 949-1858
Holmdel, NJ 07733	att!hounx!marty1 or marty1@hounx.ATT.COM

Disclaimer: Opinions stated herein are mine unless and until my employer
	    explicitly claims them; then I lose all rights to them.