Org Charts(For more information on these topics, see PVTs 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 22, 29, 36, 42, 58, 60, 65, 81)In this issue, I will attempt to tell you how to determine the best sequence to develop Position Contracts.Whether you're in a business start-up or small business, you face this one problem:"More boxes (on the Org Chart) than people."In other words, when you first develop your company's Org Chart, you see how the number of positions (boxes) exceeds available people to fill them. So inevitably, certain people must occupy two or more positions at once.While filling more than one position has inherent problems, it also complicates how you sequence the development of Position Contracts. Let me explain.============================================================ What are the limitations of this "Standard Approach?" ============================================================If you stick to the "standard approach" to developing Position Contracts, you'll use the following strict procedure.You develop the Position Contract for the President (or CEO, or an equivalent title). You then have this Contract approved and adopted. (For more on Position Contracts, see PVTs 15, 18, 81)Then you proceed to the next management level (typically VPs).

Again, you (or someone) would write the Contracts for approval (with likely revisions) and adoption.Diligently, you continue this process down your entire Org Chart, one level at a time, until you reach the lowest positions.Here's the Good News:This "standard approach" is good since it sticks to the idea that a Contract for any position must be derived from its immediate managing position ("above"). Thus, the process is orderly and logical.Now, the Bad News:The problem is that this "standard approach" does not address your realities of start-ups or small-businesses.In these situations, the President typically fills many positions, including some of the company's low-level functions. In this case, your objective is to replace yourself in each position (even the presidency, if you wish), beginning at the lowest levels and progressing upward.So, you have two opposing movements:1. Replacing yourself ("moving upward") and 2. Developing your Position Contracts ("moving downward").Unfortunately, these movements rarely meet in a convenient location on the Org Chart or at a convenient time in your company's growth.This is annoying because you might want to hire a Payroll Clerk but, according to this "standard approach," you should not employ that Payroll Clerk until your development of Position Contracts has reached that level in the Finance Department.Since this "standard approach" is not consistent with start-up or small business priorities, you may want to abandon it for a more realistic, more effective strategy.Before developing Position Contracts, you should:1.

Develop your Organizational Strategy and Org Chart. (Only then can you determine which positions have no personnel to fill them.)2. Develop the Position Contract for the position you will ultimately occupy.3. Store all Position Contracts in their associated Operations Manuals.As I have mentioned before, a Position Contract is very different than a "job description." Why? A job description is NOT a binding contract.Next week, I will discuss a more effective approach to developing Position Contracts,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." -- Mark Twain ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Until next week...Quest^ions? Comments? Call me at (800) 637-8182 or send me an email.Best Regards,, Principal/Consultant Your partner in streamlining business.PS.

If you're not on our P V T Roster, sign up (fr#e) at: http://www.SeniorManagementServices.com* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *(c) 2005 , All rights reserved. You may use material from the Profitable Venture Tactics eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live website links and email link..

Our IT department liked the Vista platform and the functionality of the system. We look forward to going live in the second quarter of this year and using the system to its full potential.""We've grown from 300 employees to 1,000 in just three years," said Susan Brady, manager, Human Resources at Sifton Properties. "Much of our growth stems from our expansion into the seniors' living market, which has more complex payroll requirements. We wanted to move from our current in house payroll solution to an in-house option that would allow us to manage our HR information as well. PDS' has a strong customer service department.

To go to such a sophisticated system, we wanted to make sure we will have the support both during the implementation and well into the future.""We have about 4,200 employees and were experiencing significant issues with our existing payroll software and its lack of reporting capabilities," explained Anne Vekaryasz, Corporate Payroll supervisor at Tendercare. "With PDS' Vista solution, our processes will be much more automated, we will be able to produce in-depth reports and it will benefit more people within the organization than just the payroll department."About PDSCelebrating 31 years in the software industry in 2005, PDS is aprovider of a web-based, feature-rich, completely integrated human resource, benefits administration and payroll software application that enables organizations to focus on more strategic issues and less on administrative HR and payroll activities. PDS offers a full range of professional services to a wide variety of industries in the U.S. and in Canada. Founded in 1974, PDS is a privately-held company headquartered in Blue Bell, Pa.

For more information on PDS visit www.pdssoftware.com.PDS and the PDS logo are registered trademarks and Vista is a trademark of Personnel Data Systems Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are properties of their respective owners. This press release was distributed through eMediawire by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above..

This year, calibrating the sim revealed a $23 million loss."We believe that estimate is correct plus or minus $5 million," said SBS CEO Zenophon Abraham. "We've been very accurate in the past, and the Oakland Sim is rapidly becoming the standard to use in the classroom as a teaching tool. Mr. Abraham developed the Oakland Sim orginally as a tool to help a prospective buyer of the Oakland Athletics, when Abraham was Economic Advisor to then-Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris in 1997. After his stint with the Mayor's Office, Abraham built the simulation into the 968-equation device that exists today.

It's used at several universities, including Washington State University, The University of San Francisco, as well as high schools, like North Branch High School in North Branch, MI. Abraham talked about the recalibration of the sim that revealed the fiscal shortfall "I had to reset the organization simulation to reflect the fiscal position at the end of the season. At that point, the A's payroll had ballooned to $59.6 million. When I set the model equations to start at that player payroll level, and didn't reset the ticket prices, I noticed a huge shortfall in revenues versus expenses, so I researched to determine if the organization made any media release about ticket prices. I didn 't see one.

So, I reset the weighted average ticket price from $11 to $14 just to be on the safe side. "At that point, the franchise value the sim produced was $172 million, and a loss of $23 million (which varies by $2 million to $5 million depending on the random variable concerning response to ticket prices and won loss record, but the direction of the response is the same)." Abraham says that according to reports in the SF Chronicle, other well-placed sources, the team's worth between $150 million and $170 million. "The only way for me to reach $150 million in value would be to further reduce the initial ticket price, and $170 million is very close to that reported in the simulation," Abraham said, "That means an even deeper loss, but I don't think it's that great. I believe the $23 million, plus or minus $ 5 million, is accurate."Abraham says this shortfall explains not only why the A's let go of starts like pitcher Tim Hudson, but also marks the limits of the expense level the organization can maintain: "The A's raised player payroll to the highest level its ever been in team history," Abraham observed, "Management was spending for a championship, gambled, and lost."You can try the Oakland Baseball Simworld yourself at http://www.sbs-world.com Just go to "SBS Free Trial" to run the sim for free for a one day period. A subscription is just $12.50.

The Oakland Baseball Simworld also comes with a special curriculum called "Baseball Business Dynamics 101" which can be used with your current classroom teaching format. You can contact SBS at 510-444-4037 or Mr. Abraham direct at 510-387-9809..

This gives all the small to medium sized contractors the a growth path for an estimating system while still getting the complete Business, Contact Management and Project Management with Work Order processing, Job Budgets, Accounting, Job Costing Inventory Control and Job Scheduling capabilities in Priority One Plus.PrioSoft's growth path is to interface with the best specialty software for the construction industry. Rather than trying to handle it all, we decided to keep our customers happy by providing growth through the more sophisticated CAD, estimating, job scheduling, payroll and accounting designed for the construction industry today. That way our customers will maintain the same data and data flow but replace modules with that meet their growth needs..

Web services were first made popular by the on-line stock brokers like Ameritrade. The concept spread to banking, then to payroll services like PayCycle and now to the full back-office such that all of the major order-entry, billing, reporting, and financial functions of the office can be done on-line with services like JAYA123 (http://www.jaya123.com) and the Oracle Small Business service. Instead of buying or downloading a large and complex software package that is not only difficult to install but difficult to learn, vendors are now offering on-line services that you simply subscribe to and pay monthly, the same way you pay your ISP or cable bill. While programs like QuickBooks and Great Plains won't disappear, a lot of small and medium size business are switching to webware. The advantages of these services are many.

First, there is nothing to buy, so you don't end up laying out a chunk of change. Second, there is nothing to install because you access the software on the web using your browser. Third, you can use any kind of computer you wish.... as long as it has a browser. (Some services even run on a Palm Pilot-like device!) Fourth, there is nothing to backup or to crash.

Fifth, you are not tied to any one machine... you can run your business from anywhere in the world. The word "security" comes up all the time. But most experts agree that there is more hype than fact when it comes to Internet security. A well maintained "locked down" server that runs software designed to be a web-service is just as secure or more secure than the office desktop, that is easily compromised by any employee who has access to it, or anyone who might just help it "walk away." And as for "up-time" how often has your desktop crashed compared to how often your Internet connection has gone down or your ISPs server was not available? For most businesses, the answer is obvious.

People have been doing their banking on-line for years. Same with payroll and taxes. There are no known breaches. The back-office order-entry, inventory, etc., is simply a logical extension of what has been going on in other sectors. Should you switch? The answer depends on many factors.

If you have many tens of thousands of customers, you are probably better off with a traditional desktop, multi-user, network system like QuickBooks or Great Plains. However, smaller businesses, especially those on a budget, will find back-office "webware" to be very attractive. Also, if you have remote offices or if you have vendors (like fulfillment houses) that might need access to your data, web services are the way to go. You can buy a "read-only" account and give that to outside vendors (or employees) and they can use it (anywhere in the world) to view data, but not change anything. Large firms have Virtual Private Networks to do all of this.

The small business sector will now have the save advantage. The web is the network! One of the best things about webware is that you can truly "try before you buy" without having to download and install anything. The "demo" that you use on the vendor's web site is the same system that you will use "for real" when you subscribe. A lot of business people don't use the latest software products (or they don't update the software they have) because they fear they will have trouble installing it or learning how to use the new system. One of the advantages of webware is that everyone knows how to use a browser.

Well-designed webware is intuitive by nature... just like the web. There is hardly any learning curve. Contrast that to learning how to use one of the more popular back-office desktop systems. There is no underestimating what a well-oiled office infrastructure can do for your business.

Being able to take orders, create invoices, account for the money, keep track of customers, do your taxes, and create reports to show you how you are doing are invaluable assets to anyone running a small business. With webware, it finally gets easier..

All they need to do is pay for Migration (around k$3 + consulting fee to whoever your MBS VAR is).Unfortunately MBS did several rough turns in the process of this migration from ctree/Pervasive to SQL/MSDE.Until early 2004 you could see support expiration date for Great Plains 7.5 on Ctree/Pervasive was July, 31, 2005. In about April, 2004 ? Microsoft roughly changed it to December 31, 2004. This actually exposed all the clients with regulation-related modules (such as US Payroll ? where you rather do not risk with printing W2s without support) to serious problemsClients who migrated to Great Plains standard are now in the feeling that they paid for something that is free now. See above ? all the low price GP clientele now technically owns GP StandardCtree/Pervasive clients with high volume of employees count in GP Payroll/HR now have to cut it to 500 employees due to the cap for GP Standard. You can imagine frustration, especially due to the fact that a lot of mid-size and big companies were running very cheap Dynamics on Ctree for just Payroll/W2 filing.

This was a very nice alternative to products like Abra HR ? not any more.What to do. Well, if you plan to stay with GP ? the only alternative is to migrate to MSDE. Contact your MBS VAR (or call us directly: 1-866-528-0577). You will be given Migration Tool quote ? then install MSDE and Great Plains with exactly the same accounts structure that you have on Pervasive/Ctree. Tune Migration Tool, select all the tables in all the modules, click the button and wait a few hour ? and you are in the SQL World!If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! http://help@albaspectrum.com.

TALX now delivers high-value content on demand where it's needed the most - in the field."TALX developed the new learning solutions based on input from employers themselves. Clients had requested training solutions that would increase compliance and improve their ability to manage unemployment claims. As an industry leader in controlling and reducing unemployment costs, TALX now becomes a single source to identify areas for improvement as well as disseminate cost-saving training and education to individual locations to reduce unemployment costs.About TALXTALX Corporation is a leading provider of payroll-related and human resources services. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, TALX holds a leadership position in two key services -- automated employment and income verification services via The Work Number(R) and unemployment cost and tax management services via UC eXpress(R).

TALX also provides paperless payroll services, W-2 services, I-9 services, time entry and approval services, automated hiring services, and tax credit consulting and administrative services. The company's common stock trades on The Nasdaq National Market under the symbol TALX. For more information about TALX Corporation, call 314-214-7000 or access the company's Web site at www.talx.com.This press release was distributed through eMediawire by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above..

Romar operated business on very low margins, with hopes to increase its overall revenue and profits through its design studio, advertising/ marketing agency and off-shore production business. Romar's investigation also revealed that many of its ex-employees were involved in outside businesses that conflict with Romar's business units and interests, although each employee signed confidentiality and non-competing agreements. Some ex-employees were operating their businesses while they worked at a Romar office; and collected higher than market salaries. It was also discovered that some of Romar's managers possibly compelled staff to perform duties for their outside businesses, paid unauthorized vacation pay, theft of equipment, used Romar resources to manufacture products for their own benefit and created fictitious businesses and generated invoices while Romar paid for them.Don Polk said, "I am stunned to learn this. I trusted many of our employees gave them higher than market salaries and allowed them to "run day to day operations".

To add insult to injury, some of these people are part of the payback Romar scheme to distribute or circulate erroneous information."These practices and other problems created a temporary set back for Romar. Romar's accounting department was a separate unit of long time accountants located in Woodland Hills, California.Romar accountants' role has been to keep the books, issue payroll checks, pay vendors and suppliers and pay all applicable tax. Apparently, Romar's accountants failed to pay a small portion of its payroll tax roughly 180,000 out of one million dollars. Consequently, through further accountant negligence of failed payments and penalties, a lien was place on Romar's account at Manufacturer's Bank unknown to Romar's managers; and New Jersey accountants who handle the main financial business of Romar's shareholders/ investors. After Romar's accountant's agreed to pay its tax, a "surprise" lien was placed on Romar's account at Manufacturers Bank which left Romar, who was already experiencing cash flow problems, with four of Romar's Los Angeles accounts depleted.

After payroll and expense checks were returned to employees from their banks, cashiers checks were issued."If any current or ex-employee of Romar or companies where checks were cashed are owed monies and we can verify the information, we would be more than happy to make necessary arrangements to reimburse what we owe", said Gerry Pavo, accounting department.Don Polk, President, Chief Executive Officer and majority shareholder says, "Maybe this is an expensive but necessary lesson learned. I allowed complacency and took my eyes off one of our most hopeful and promising investments. I gave people management and decision making opportunities who were not ready. I also took my eyes off of my most important guidance counselor, my Lord Jesus Christ".Romar is a unique organization and private. "Maybe we are too private and should communicate better with out employees and the public, said Polk.

Doing so with caution, for example, could help eliminate openings for slanderous statements by unknown sources.Romar financed and finance its businesses mainly through private funding from its multi-millionaire shareholders. Romar shareholders/ investors will continue to support its businesses.Please contact us at e-mail protected from spam bots if you have questions or visit, www.romargroup.com. You may also contact Romar's general counsel or labor attorney by request.Contact: Linda Haithcox213-621-4403.

If you set a payroll amount for yourself, then decide you want/need more money, you simply write yourself another check and call it an "owner distribution" or a "draw."MYTHThere's too much paperwork involved once you incorporate. I don't have the time.TRUTHThere are some additional forms you have to complete. There are some additional taxes you have to pay. HOWEVER... read this carefully...

for the three or four extra forms and the cost of the additional taxes, most businesses will still save when compared to counting every dollar you make toward personal income.MYTHThe only good reason to incorporate is for personal protection. The difference in taxes isn't that much.TRUTHWhile incorporating your business will help protect you from lawsuits and from having your personal property seized, there are more benefits than that. The tax savings can be quite significant.MYTHWith the attorney's fees, the CPA's fees, the additional income tax returns, and the forms I have to file quarterly, it's just not worth it. I won't really save any money.TRUTHEvery case is different; however, most small businesses will more than make up the $1500 - $2000 it costs to incorporate within the first six months to one year. Also, most small businesses will save about 50% on taxes after they incorporate.

(A qualified CPA will be able to look at your books and give you a more accurate figure.)MYTHI'll have to hold meetings and keep lots of records that I don't have time to keep.TRUTHNot if you register as a "closed" S-Corporation. This means you have waived the requirement to hold all those meetings and keep all those records.How Do You Get Specific Details?Contact a qualified CPA in your local area. He or she can give you detailed information on how much it will cost to set everything up, and - most importantly - how much you will save in taxes.Incorporation is not something to be afraid of. In fact, if you're one of the many who will save 50% off your taxes in the next year, it's something to go after with a vengeance!Copyright 2004 Diane Hughes.