The Accounting Library Analysis Program

While we will discuss the analysis program is more depth in several of the later chapters, I think it might be well advised to introduce you to the program now. The analysis program is a database containing detailed information on many of the leading products available. We asked each vendor 2,500 questions in the Standard Edition and 4,000 questions in the Enterprise and Modifiable Editions. The program itself has been created to assist you:

• define your requirements in as much depth as you feel is appropriate by selecting from the same list of 2,500 or 4,000 questions asked of each vendor,
• add additional requirements unique to your organization, and send your revised questionnaire to any vendor in whose product you have an interest (Modifiable Edition only),
• assign a numerical value (0-9) to each requirement representing its relative importance,
• define critical functional, numerical or price requirements which must be met by each prospect, otherwise it will be eliminated from the analysis,
• review your requirements in detail to ensure that they are both accurate as well as comprehensive, but without becoming more complex than appropriate for a company of your size and industry,
• discount each vendor's response if specific requirements cannot be met by their core applications, but provided through a third party developer, report writer, program modification, added field, or future release of their product,
• compare your requirements against each product and rank them according to how close they meet your needs,
• create and examine reports that highlight the relative strengths and weaknesses of each product selected,
• compare your requirements in detail against selected products,
• segregate all missing requirements for selected products, and
• compare two or more products side-by-side with no reference to your requirements.

The analysis program is no more than a tool to help you define your requirements, and determine which products you should examine in more depth. It should not be used to make a final purchase decision, nor do we guarantee that all information is absolutely correct. Only you can make that final purchase decision. The program has been designed to assist you define your requirements by listing many features, functions and reports found in the leading products. Many companies, particularly smaller organizations, have found that the features list actually helps them define what they need by presenting both specific features and processing methodologies they may not have considered prior to purchasing The Accounting Library.

The program itself is only as accurate as your needs definition. If you don't take the time to define an accurate representation of your requirements, or select requirements just because they are available, or don't analyze each finalist in sufficient depth to confirm its applicability, the analysis will be flawed, perhaps fatally flawed. Use the program to help you define your needs and narrow your field of focus, but use it wisely. You are the only person who has an intimate knowledge of your organization sufficient to determine which product is best-suited.