The typical accounting department deals with far more than a single database – there maybe multiple accounting systems for different divisions, as well as separate files for payroll, human resources, 401k plans, several timekeeping systems, and so on. A significant efficiency barrier is having people constantly looking up access links, logging in and out of databases, and sometimes even changing to a different computer to access information.
There are varying degrees of centralization that resolve this problem. On the simplest level, it is relatively easy to provide the accounting staff with a set of bookmarks for their Web browsers that take them to a variety of the more common web sites. However, users may not update these links, and they will still not have access to any internal databases or application software.
A better approach is to cluster a number of links on a single web page, which allows the company to more easily update links. Our company uses this approach, and has made the following information (including several on-line databases) available to the accounting staff on one page:
- Customer electronic invoicing sites
- Employee database
- Employee manual
- Forms in pdf format
- Link to 401k database
- Link to credit card processor
- Link to credit reporting bureau
- Link to electronic payroll remittance advices
- Link to flexible spending account records
- Link to timekeeping system
- Links to bank account records
- Month-end close checklist
Though these alternatives are certainly an efficiency improvement, users must still log in and out of the various databases, and they probably will not have access to application software, unless these systems are accessible over the Internet.
A more integrated approach that resolves these problems is to purchase a portal platform that not only provides for the creation of the site just described, but also provides a single point of entry for in-house software applications, and requires only a single user log-in for multiple in-house systems. One such product is AquaLogic, by BEA Systems (www.bea.com). However, this is an expensive solution that is only cost-effective for very large accounting departments.