Many attendees at the recent TPAC Asia event in Saigon were pleasantly surprised when Sandy Needham entered the room. Sandy had been a prominent and respected member of the Sage 300 (formerly Accpac) community for over 30 years, but had retired in 2017.
The idea of a trip to Vietnam, and the chance to catch up with old friends and contacts, was too enticing to resist.
A Book is Born
With more time on his hands, Sandy was keen to see that his vast experience would be put to good use. He was sure the next generation of practitioners in the realms of accounting and accounting software could benefit from the lessons he had learned.
The result was a short book, “Accounting’s Beating Heart”, subtitled “Tips and Tricks in Creating a New Accounting System”, which is available on Amazon for a very modest price.
Sandy's introduction states that the intended audience is "some lucky Director of Accounting" tasked with implementing a new accounting system. I'm no accountant, but I read the book from cover to cover, and found the content very clearly written and understandable.
I'd suggest that a secondary audience would software specialists and consultants moving into the field of accounting software, providing them with a great primer on key terminology and concepts. Concepts like:
- The primacy of the Chart of Accounts - "the beating heat" - and the criticality of getting it right from the start
- Best practice for segmentation
- Special Structures (e.g. for Not for Profits, Localization, Languages)
- Reporting & Report Writers
- Budgeting
In his conclusion, he emphasizes that, while technology is always changing, the basics do not change much at all.
His closing remarks encourage us to be bold, think forward, listen to your customer...and test!
About Sandy
Sandy Needham had a background in auditing and financial management, working for large companies including Johnson & Johnson and Pepsi, before changing his focus to the implementation and support of computer financial systems.
He established and spent 20 years running one of the leading installers of accounting software for SMEs in the US. At the time of his retirement in 2017 he was Director of Operations for Net@Work. He continues to support a not-for-profit philanthropic institution as treasurer.
