"We’ve designed our ultimate Web-based bookkeeping, billing and
customer management system; a blueprint for a small business financial hub."

On the following three pages we outline the financial services and operations wish list for our small business. This functionality would allow us to run at maximum efficiency by automating many of the repetitive financial and accounting tasks. While this “focus group of one” isn’t projectable to your entire customer base, we think it speaks to the needs of small, service-based businesses. We encourage you to run focus groups and post “wish lists” on your small business Web to find out what would appeal to your current and future business clients.

Primary Interface/Platform

The financial hub for our business must run on a network. Why?

•  Remote access: Multiple people must access customer files from multiple locations.
•  Data synchronization: We don’t want to hassle with synchronizing the files across our eight desktop and laptop computers.

The network must run on an outsourced server, preferably at a financial institution, for several reasons:

•  Security/fraud: We know a financial institution has better security against hackers and thieves than we do.
•  Data integrity/backup: We aren’t much good a backing up data and storing it off-site, we want someone else to do that.
•  Peace of mind/trust: This is important. If you can’t trust your bank, whom can you trust? If we outsource the financial stewardship of our business, it must be someone who is well-capitalized, honest, ethical, and conservative.
  And it wouldn’t hurt if they had a few thousand regulators looking over their shoulders as well. This is not something we want the low bidder to handle. Financial institutions fit the bill to a tee.

Finally, the server must be accessed via the Web using standard browsers:

•  Travel: We need to be able to dial-in from the road using our laptop or other terminals at the hotel, airport, or another company.
•  Ease of use: Our people already know how to navigate the Web, we don’t want to train anyone on proprietary technologies.

Delivery Methods

The Web should serve as the foundation of our banking and accounting activities such as:

•  data entry
•  changing service preferences
•  running reports
•  paying invoices
•  running payroll
•  invoicing customers
•  processing payments
•  looking up answers to detailed questions

But we want to use email, fax, voice mail, and paging to handle routine matters such as:

•  balance inquiries and reporting
•  transaction confirmations
•  recurring bill payment; reminders and payment authorizations
•  exception reporting
•  routine customer service queries

Service Levels/Guarantees

Once we get past the issue of trust, our next biggest concern revolves around quality control and security. We want written guarantees that you will:

•  Protect us from fraudulent activities from your employees, our employees, and outsiders.
•  Back up our data on an agreed upon schedule and make it available within hours if we have a systems failure (you could charge a premium for more frequent backups).
•  Ensure that our payments and transfers are made in a timely fashion.
•  Build logical controls into the system to protect us from our own data entry errors, omitted payments, forgetfulness, and so on.
•  Be available to help 24 hours per day.
•  Protect our privacy from your employees, our employees, and outsiders.

Financial Control

Even with the guarantees listed above, it’s still important that we don’t feel a loss of control when we turn over the financial functions to you. Therefore, ð we want to be bombarded with communications about our account, especially at first. As we grow more comfortable with the system, we can ratchet down the message frequency. Our wish list:

•  An email each time our account is accessed telling us exactly how it was accessed (e.g., branch, phone, ATM, Web), who accessed it, and what exactly was done. Not only does this promote peace of mind, it provides a convenient record of our own activities.
•  An email, fax, voice message, or page when something outside normal parameters occurs such as out-of-state ATM withdrawals.
•  The ability to adjust account preferences using pull-down menus on your Web; and by all means use your expertise to suggest/install useful account “watch dogs.”

Access Controls

We have a number of different people that need access to various components of the customer management system. So we need a flexible system of access permissions all controlled by the business owner with oversight from the bank (e.g., if one Saturday night a request is received to allow the bookkeeper to begin authorizing payments to anyone, the bank should verify the change with the owner prior to implementation). Specifically, the system should:

•  Allow our bookkeeper to do data entry and reconcile the accounts, but not move money without authorization of the owner.
•  Allow our CPA to access and download all data.
•  Allow our marketing and customer service managers to access and update customer files.
•  Allow our Webmaster to access and update customer password files.
•  Use multiple passwords, user names, challenges, and logic controls to guard against unauthorized movement of funds outside the account.
•  Support consolidated personal and business financial reporting and analysis (for the owner only).

Customer Service at the Bank

We want our own e-rep; a single source of contact who has access not only to our bank records, but also limited access to our internal files. This person should be skilled on the nuances of online banking and be able to recommend appropriate financial services as needed.

Banner ad for Fleet’s “AM Fax Service,” a core requirement for our dream service.

Business Checking Account

The checking account is the core account, so we want maximum flexibility in how data is delivered and reported. And it should be easy to change the delivery mix at a moment’s notice to accommodate changing needs or travel schedules. Here’s our ideal set-up:

•  Fax and email each morning summarizing all account activity from the previous day along with the closing balance (see Fleet ad above). The fax is important because it’s easier to scan than an email, and we want a printed record anyway. We should be able to simply adjust the frequency, time of day, and fax number where reports are sent. We would also like to be able to choose exactly what data elements are displayed on the fax although at no time should full account numbers be displayed (the last four digits will suffice for identification purposes).
•  Simple Web templates to run quick periodic reports of account activity (weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually).
•  Email whenever our accounts go above or below preset balance levels.
•  Ability to transfer funds to and from an investment account by replying to the balance notification email.
•  Ability to access check images (front and back).
•  Funds transfer to and from any financial institution supporting ACH.

Bill Payments (outgoing)

•  Pay bills/invoices through multiple checking accounts, credit cards, wire transfer, or ACH. The system should remember exactly how the bill was paid previously. .
•  Multiple levels of bill payment authority. For example, our bookkeeper should be able to set up every bill for payment, but he/she might only be able to pay certain types, or certain maximum amounts, without additional authorization.
•  Optional email, pager, fax and/or voice reminders of pending payments; including an optional “snooze” button (snooze allows you to reply back to have the message sent again the next day).

• ð

•  Pending payments can be manually input and/or electronically scheduled (as electronic bill presentment becomes widely adopted).
•  Integrated messaging that automatically sends an email (or fax, page, voice message) to the payee alerting them to the incoming payment (see mock-up OBR 2/986)
•  The message should be pre-filled with all payment details including the date sent, check number, estimated arrival date, payee name, amount, our account number with the payee, and our standard personal message and signature line. We should also be able to personalize the message on the fly. The payee set-up form should look like a good contact manager (e.g. ACT!) with fields for email number, name, title, and so on.

Payroll and Payroll Taxes

•  Automated payroll system to process employee paychecks via direct deposit or regular mail.
•  Electronic payment of payroll taxes.
•  Integrated messaging so we can send each employee an automatic email “pay stub” and personal message(s).
•  Integrated time sheet for hourly employees and contractors (see TimeDirect screenshot).

Accounts Receivable: Billing

We want our entire customer database running on the Web so we can do billing, payment processing, collections, and so on. Automated messaging tools should be available from every function so that we can easily communicate with clients via their preferred method (email, fax, page, voice, or snail mail). The specific functions we are looking for:

•  Invoices presented to our customers on the Web with payment allowed by credit card or ACH.
•  Invoices (paper and electronic) with a link to the Web page housing the customer’s billing statement.
•  Payment reminder messages (paper and electronic) automatically generated at periodic intervals.
•  Easy-to-prepare customer lists sorted by billing date, past due amount, name, date paid, amount paid, and so on.
•  Mail merge capabilities so that selected customer groups can receive personalized messages by email, fax, page, voice message, or snail mail.

Accounts Receivable: Card Processing

As you can see by the table on page two, our biggest external financial expense each year is credit card processing. Therefore, we expect a robust Web offering in this area. Most of the following features are already supported by our current vendor, Authorize.Net www.authorizenet.com a Web-based virtual terminal program resold by Humboldt Bank www.humboldtbank.com and others. Authorize.Net says it is being used by 9,000 merchants. Here are our requirements for credit card processing (*already supported by Authorize.Net):

•  Credit card numbers received off-line can be entered into a Web-based form.*
•  Credit card numbers received online are automatically authorized in real time.*
•  Credit card charges can be submitted automatically at periodic intervals to support subscription services.
•  Email receipt sent automatically to buyer.*
•  Email confirmation sent automatically to business owner.*
•  Ability to query previous batches of charges.*
•  Ability to change/cancel charges before each batch is processed.*
•  Standard personalized message added to beginning and end of email receipt.*
•  Ability to change email messages on the fly.
•  Integration with customer database/accounting modules so customer record is automatically credited once card authorization is received.
•  Automatic reconciliation of charges processed vs. amount deposited in our checking account.

Accounts Receivable: Other

•  Integrated access to credit evaluation services such as D&B and NetEarnings (OBR 6/98) and general business information databases such as EDGAR, so we can easily research our clients prior to a sales, service, or collection call.
•  Lock-box for paper check processing integrated with our online accounting system. We want paper check payments to go directly to the bank to be entered directly into our accounting system.
•  Scanned images of incoming payments available for viewing on the Web. A link to the scanned image should be on our daily fax and email (see Business Checking).
•  If a lockbox isn’t cost effective, then use a messenger (or Federal Express) to pick up our deposits.

Loan Services

Integrate loan services at every turn. When our line of credit starts to fill up, offer a mini-application for a temporary or permanent line increase. Our receivables and complete financial situation are already available on the Web for the loan officer to review, so paperwork should be minimal or nonexistent. Also, let us know before we reach a critical cash crunch if additional credit is unlikely to be granted.

Expense Reporting/Reimbursement

Employees should be able to submit expense reports and be reimbursed by filling out a customizable template on your Web. For more ideas and information, refer to the Web site of expense report service provider Extensity www.extensity.com ).

Report Writing

A complete suite of common business reports should be available, e.g., quarterly P&L, budget monitoring, accounts receivable aging and so on. The reports should be easily customizable using drop-down menus. A good demonstration of drop-down menus at work can be seen at Yahoo! Finance <quotes.yahoo.com>. Set up a stock portfolio, then select “edit your personal view.”

Tax Reporting and Filing

Data should be downloadable in various formats to facilitate transferring to our accountant and/or importing into tax prep packages. Tax calculators should be available to help us project tax liabilities and do what-if projections.