Change the way you think about Facebook

When a new social network is born

Since its birth in 2004, Facebook is now eleven years into their social media dominance, and fundamentally nothing has even come close to the continued growth it has.

(source http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/feb/04/facebook-in-numbers-statistics)

Back in its embryonic state, it smashed the quarter  of a million users in its first quarter, toppling to 1 million by the year end, Facebook suddenly had a sense of meaning and value which as we know is something the likes of MySpace had struggled with.

MySpace had no perceptual value to its users as it was so unstructured and non consistent. The layering was wrong, full of jumpy bugs and bad coding. Users were bored, and looking for something new.

To just say quickly, one thing MySpace did bring out of the woodwork, was that most profile pages were mirrored egotistical dreams of what people wanted to be perceived as, not who they actually are. Facebook saw this, and by simplifying the user experience dominated the market immediately.

However Facebook began to grow into a multi usage platform, basically it had/has a personality disorder, and this has grown to a climax in recent years. To some users its an angel, and to some it became a demon; to some an opportunity for maintaining relationships, and to others - to broadcast narcissism.

Recently I've noticed a huge spike in blogging regarding Facebook privacy rights, advertisements etc. I have to firstly say that its my choice to "like" certain pictures or comments that my friends, whom again - I have chosen therefore whats the issue?

Yesterday I understood the issue for the first time, I hit a final straw attitude with the chaps and chappettes at Facebook, and here is why - sponsored adverts are the bane of my life, not only are they not relevant and I would never click on them, but secondly WHY would they think I would? Here's some examples of today's sponsored links:

• Disney Mobile Games - Why why why? I don't have children for starters, and oh...wait, I liked my friends Frozen share....damn 
• JCB - Seriously, no seriously? I am not interested in JCB's at all so....ah, nope that's right I liked my friends Digger land photo.
• Perfect365 - A "make yourself look really pretty app" I can't believe these apps exist and nope I haven't downloaded anything of similar caliber so, oh no wait I'm a woman so I must want this app!! no, no i don't.

These streams dominate my news feed, so I miss out on my friends actual stories which when the sponsored links are totally non relevant really winds my bobbin up.

How to have a more natural Facebook

STOP liking things, yes that's correct - no matter how much you are tempted to like your friends share of a funny cat advert, don't! Write instead "oh how I lol'd at your funny cat video" or something of similar high intellect.

I did this, I completely stopped myself from liking my friends shares of where they've been, specific comments linking to organisations or brands, or to give an example, my friend is getting married and in the midst of this she would write most days about said wedding plans, boom my page explodes with wedding suggestions, and I can tell you as a fact, I'm always the bridesmaid, never the bride so well done Facebook for giving me a complex.

After a week, something beautiful happened....I started to see hardly any sponsored links or suggestions and actually saw what my friends were up too. It was awesome, I call this the organic Facebook and its much, much better. Try it!

The Problem with Excel

The Problem with Excel…

We all know that Excel can do an awesome amount of tasks for you to ease your working day and of course, most businesses use it in some manner. Though the ever changing updates and constant self-training involved can often lead to more issues down the line so yes its sturdy however it often leads to mistakes.

As a person who has used Excel for many years, from holidays to mileage forms I have lost track of my own path numerous times, and whilst managing other employees expenses made something sturdy, inconceivable to use.  

Showing the pitfalls in big business

A prime example of this would be JP Morgan, an American finance organisation whom, as others in the financial sector used Excel on a daily basis.

Fundamentally, a simple copy and paste plus a faulty equation made them a loss of $6 million dollars, with possible fines of $600 million. This is an extortionate mistake for a company of such stature.

Ok, so no I have never lost a company that much money but I may hold my hands up and say that I might have signed off a private expense inadvertently as there are so many loop holes, from general errors, to managing holidays and expenses you can make mistakes from all angles. 

The issue with using Excel as an accountancy package

1. Everybody studied I.T in school/college but how much do we actually know about it as a product and service. As mentioned the updates, confused ribbons and changing formats means that without an Excel Bible glued to your hip, chances are you’d miss a trick.

2. Setting up your accounts through Excel is time consuming and can often lead to a general lack of understanding of how it can help you in the long term. However the huge catch-22 is that it’s free so you balance its ease of use (or lack of it) with the fact it’s free. Actually you waste time and money by trying to work out how to use it.

3. In Excel, there is no flexibility, once you’ve set it up you can’t change or reconfigure later on. So you’re limited to its usability.

4. Yes we all know this, Excel is massively susceptible to fraud. I can remember working for a organisation where managers in separate departments used the same spreadsheet to compile and edit their own departments expenses, who’s to say that a colleague didn’t change £150 to £15000, we wouldn’t really know and fundamentally this could break your business.

5. Performance issues are a huge thing with Excel, when you start putting in large amounts of data onto your worksheets Excel simply has a nervous breakdown. Accounting software will integrate everything for you.

6. Hello road block, as Excel doesn’t track anything for you. Its down to you to monitor and understand your accounting software.

Why software is a better solution for you

It’s easy! The cloud based super secure network leaves you in control, with real time dashboards and data information, and you’ll wonder why you never have used it before as it’s so simple and puts you in control. 

Have as many or as little users as you’d like, remembering that you are able to control who sees what within the dashboard, giving you the knowledge that your secure information isn’t being viewed by employees whom don’t need to see such sensitive information. You’re guaranteed maximum up time of the software, and backups are done nightly in highly secure, offsite servers, giving you peace of mind. It also takes the pressure off your business to provide adequate storage, which can be costly.

No chance of fraud here, our solution is double SSL encrypted so exactly the same but even more secure then online banking, which is something we do every day and we put our complete trust that we’re never going to get hacked. 

Reporting should be easy, and take you no time at all. From profit and loss, balance sheets, tax returns, reporting for management and much more, it’s all there under one simple click.

Reasons why accounting software is better than Excel

1. Feel confident from the start

With our easy to use dashboard, you’ll feel confident in the knowledge that you are on the right track with your business straight from the word go!

2. The data is always correct
    Real-time financials are always kept in one central place, no longer do you need to worry about being glued to your desk, access our solution anywhere as we’re fully mobile integrated whilst maintaining the highest level of security.

3. Live information
   Panic stations over, if you’ve got a big investor coming to visit you, its no problem as you can get all the information you’d require in minutes. Think of how accurate your finances will be, leaving you in control and giving you the time to grow.

4. You’ll have a clean audit trail
   All of the historical information that your investors might need is available at their fingertips. A proper audit trail ensures your data cannot be compromised. It also records a document of every business transaction. This includes sales contracts, payments to employees, and more. Having a complete audit trail reassures investors about the validity of the company and meets the tax department’s needs.

5. Access to data anywhere, anytime
   Give any member of your team access your data online anytime, anywhere (as long as you grant them permission to do so.) Cloud software enables you to share your financial information with your employees, accountant, bookkeeper or financial advisor.

It’s about letting your business grow

I know, it's a tricky one about letting go of something you feel is tried and tested. However fundamentally change is for the positive in this case,  you'll feel in control, and save yourself time, effort and money in the long term. Try clarity365 for free today.

Its all in the Cloud!

Cloud computing is moving into mainstream businesses

It doesn't seem long since the expected reaction to talking about ‘the cloud’ was a mixture of befuddlement and skepticism.

But this emerging technology, once viewed as niche and a little ‘out there’, is slowly but surely starting to become a normal part of our business world.
This is one of the findings of research carried out by the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) into the adoption of cloud services by companies in the UK.
The cloud is a general term used to describe accessing data, services and applications from external servers – rather than needing to be stored on your PC or handheld device.
The CIF survey, based on interviews with 250 British companies, found that 79% had now ‘formally’ adopted at least one cloud-based service – an increase of 15% on previous figures.
But the figures also indicate the move to the cloud is happening gradually and rather cautiously rather than a dramatic shift – as some analysts had predicted.
Most of the businesses, 45%, said they were currently using just one cloud service, with just 14% saying they were using four or more.
The most popular uses were for web hosting and data backup, followed by collaboration tools, business apps and video conferencing services.
At the moment, therefore, most organisations are adopting a hybrid approach; integrating traditional on-site IT set-ups with these new cloud based services.

Alex Hilton, chief executive of CIF, says that:

“Nine out of 10 companies will continue to invest in on-premise IT alongside and integrated with cloud solutions. In other words, we are in-fact seeing the normalization of cloud in the hybrid IT market.”

The adoption of cloud services allows companies to significantly reduce IT spend with no need for internal servers or software maintenance. Users can access cloud services from any device with an online connection.
Clarity365 is one of a new generation of business tools using the technology to transform the way organisations operate – replacing manual, paper-based expenses with more efficient digital processes.
The growing use of cloud services is allowing companies to explore new mobile working methods with a move away from the traditional reliance on a 9-to-5 office based approach.