  UPDATE In May 2012 I left Australia and moved to the United States to marry. I still maintain an active interest in all things happening in Australia and will continue to keep this website active and even updated from time to time. My contact details below have been amended to show just my email address and anyone may still contact me there if they wish. I also still maintain an active interest in the Internet, computers and technology in general. In fact, I have recently been experimenting with the RebelMouse web service which is basically a user controlled and configurable information aggregation service which can collect information of any kind from just about anywhere on the Web and present it in a beautifully formatted web page. Content flowing into it can be fully automated or completely manual at the control of the user. An example of a site I have been working on recently is https://www.rebelmouse.com/technologyhub/. It is still a work in progress but it presents beautifully without the user needing any web design or coding skills. I developed it using the free version of the RebelMouse web service which is very comprehensive and can be used by anyone at all. In fact the service could be used to design your own personal or business web page with all content manually loaded by the user. It will accept text, images, videos and links. Services BCA provides accounting,
business, consultancy, bookkeeping, computer and general advisory
services to individuals, businesses and the Accounting profession and
specialises in the installation, maintenance and management of
computerised accounting systems such as Quickbooks and MYOB. Services provided include:-
Since the introduction of GST and the New Tax System in 2000 many smaller businesses have been forced to introduce some form of computerised Accounting system in place of the proverbial shoe box or shopping bag of receipts and statements and sometimes a hand written Cash Book of sorts that used to be presented to Accountants.Whilst some businesses decided to engage the services of a bookkeeper skilled in the use of Accounting software many businesses adopted a do it yourself approach and have tried valiantly to grapple with the task of installing and setting up Accounting software on their home or work computer. Unfortunately this has in some cases created more problems than it solved due partly to insufficient knowledge on the part of the business owner and/or their clerical staff of the correct use of an Accounting software application and also the wide variety of Accounting software available ranging from simple electronic Cash Book programs to sophisticated multi user Accounting programs. However I have seen actual situations where a client has set up a Computerised Accounting system using "off the shelf" software and done it very successfully with little outside assistance. Unfortunately this is the exception rather than the rule.Many businesses have acted on recommendations from family, friends, acquaintances or other business associates when purchasing an Accounting package to manage their business or simply taken the cheapest option available. Even when advice is sought from their own Accountant the Accounting firm may be an accredited software vendor/provider of a particular Accounting package and will push that package without properly considering its suitability for that particular client. Suitability of an Accounting product for a particular client can actually involve many variables and considerations of a practical Accounting and business nature as well as a personal nature. The package should suit the situation as well as the skills of the business person who will be using it.I have found from practical experience over many years that programs that provide too many features and functionality can be the least appropriate choice in some situations and for some clients. The resulting scenario is often that an electronic mess has superseded what used to be a paper mess and is passed onto the Accountant/Tax Agent to sort out. An electronic mess can often be more difficult for the Accountant to sort out than a paper mess. The business person then finds it difficult to understand why their Accounting fees have not decreased and in some cases may have actually increased! Anyone considering installing an Accounting package to manage their business records should ensure they become totally familiar with that package and if that involves spending money on a training course and/or engaging an independent training consultant then that will be money well spent. I can assure you that the fees your Accountant will charge you to sort out a poorly kept data file will far outweigh the cost of good training. Ironically it is the motivation to save Accounting Fees that drives many business owners to set up and maintain their own electronic business records. This is fraught with danger unless done correctly. Most TAFE's and Adult Education Centres offer basic courses in various Accounting packages. There are also online courses available as well as independent training consultants (myself included) who generally advertise in local papers or on the Internet. One of the most important functions that needs to be carried out with electronic record keeping is the reconciliation of your bank balance in your electronic records with the bank account balance as per your bank statement on a periodic basis, usually monthly. This function should be provided in all Accounting software packages however it is often overlooked and not carried out on a regular basis. It is not simply a matter of checking off amounts entered against your bank statement. The reconciliation procedure provides the facility to print out a report showing that the bank balance as per your bank statement agrees to your electronic records after allowing for any reconciling items such as unpresented cheques. For anyone maintaining their own business records it is imperative that this be done at least monthly and preferably at the end of each month. Once a reconciliation procedure has been carried out it is critical that no further entries are made which affect the reconciled balance. In other words all subsequent data entry should be dated after the latest reconciliation date. Any good Accounting software should provide a warning when an attempt is made to enter a transaction dated prior to the latest reconciliation. Please contact me for further advice on this point. As with any business decision no matter how small, proper planning and advice should be sought from a number of sources before a business takes the plunge into setting up its own computerised Accounting system. Also, there is now so much information available on the Internet and well constructed Internet searches can yield much useful information. A properly set up and managed Accounting package maintained by a client or a specialist bookkeeper can and should result in reasonable savings in Accounting fees however this is so often not the case for a variety of reasons. As mentioned above proper planning and management both at the set up stage as well as on an ongoing basis is critical to achieve this result. Another procedure which is is so often overlooked on an ongoing basis is the regular backup of data entered into an Accounting software package or database or any data capture application for that matter. Most software packages that are designed to record data have an inbuilt backup facility however this generally requires the manual execution of this procedure by the user. The ideal backup solution is one which can be scheduled to run at a pre-defined time and without user intervention. This can be done using Windows own Backup and Task Scheduler utilities or one of the many very good freeware utilities downloadable from the Internet. The better ones of these also provide data compression and encryption features. Either way it is imperative that a backup be created on a regular basis AND a copy of that backup be transferred to an external drive or storage media (CD, DVD etc). There are now many very good online storage services available at a minimal cost. The better ones usually utilise purpose built data centres designed specifically for the secure storage of online data. An excellent online backup service which became available in Australia in May 2008 is Carbonite. It comes highly recommended and is worth checking out. As to the frequency that this procedure should be carried out, this will depend on the frequency that data is entered into a program. If data is entered on a monthly basis then a monthly backup may be sufficient. In some cases it may be desirable to backup data weekly or even daily. For the sake of 10 to 15 minutes carrying out a backup routine and archiving that backup to external media, many hours can be saved in not having to re-enter lost or corrupted data. BackgroundMy name is Peter Wills and I am the Sole Proprietor of BCA Services Plus. Since November 2002 I have worked for myself from a home office as a Business Consultant and Adviser. Prior to that I had worked as a Senior Accountant with various accounting firms in the Newcastle area since completing the Higher School Certificate in 1969 and commencing an Accounting traineeship in January 1970. I have worked for large national/international accounting firms based in Newcastle and small regional and local firms. ExpertiseApart from my extensive and varied Accounting experience I have a particular interest in computers and their utilisation for both business and personal purposes dating back to the mid 1970's when I purchased my first computer. Since that time I have accumulated extensive experience in the use of spreadsheets, databases, accounting and financial software and Internet applications including but not limited to Quicken, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works and free open source software such as the Open Office Productivity Suite which is a free alternative to Microsoft Office and the Mozilla Firefox web browser, a free alternative to Internet Explorer. I am also skilled in the use of Accounting software particularly MYOB and Quickbooks and have been assisting clients with these products since 1994. I am available on a casual basis at very competitive hourly rates or a negotiated fixed contract basis. Rates vary depending on the nature and scope of work undertaken. Services can be provided onsite or offsite as well as by remote connection to your computer. Please click on the email link at the bottom of this page if you wish to find out more about the services offered and fees involved . Please note that no specific advice or assistance is provided without prior arrangement and acceptance of terms of engagement however I am happy to answer general questions where possible. Contract Accountant ServicesMany businesses that do not require or cannot afford an internal Accountant on a full time basis but require an Accountant's expertise utilise the services of a contract Accountant who may come in on a regular basis such as 1 or 2 days a week, a couple of days a month or as required at different times of the year. These Accountants are often sourced from Personnel agencies which will involve fees being paid to the agency for the ongoing hire of the Accountant as well as a one off placement fee in some cases. As well as providing services on an Accountant/Client basis as detailed above I am also available for these types of contract engagements where I will carry out the services normally provided by an internal Accountant. In these cases the business still utilises the services of their own external Accountant to carry out the periodic Accounting and Taxation compliance procedures and other specialist services that may be required of an external Accountant throughout the year as well as at year end such as Tax, Investment, Retirement and Estate planning. My role in these cases is to ensure the recording and production of relevant financial and management Accounting information is carried out and is made available to the business owners and their external advisers on a regular and timely basis. Rates charged for this contract service where the business still engages their own external Accountant are generally less than my usual client charge rates. In addition, due to my extensive Accounting experience, the information that is made available to your external Accountant can and should result in less work required for your external Accountant to complete your monthly, quarterly and annual statutory reporting obligations. I can also liaise with your external Accountant in this regard. As my charge out rates are considerably less than those of an Accounting Practice this should also translate into actual dollar savings. Rates charged by Accounting practices vary considerably depending on the size and location of the Practice but can range from $60.00 an hour for junior or clerical staff to well over $300.00 an hour for qualified Accounting staff and Principals of the Practice. If you would like to find out more about this Contract Accountant service please contact me. Rates charged for the various services offered can be found here. AvailabilityMy availability for Contract work varies depending on current work commitments and may result in delays of between 2-4 weeks as this is usually the period of time that I have firm commitments scheduled in advance. These availability constraints mainly apply to onsite contract work during normal hours of business Monday to Friday. Apart from onsite contract work and visits to regular clients my work is home office based which allows me to carry out work at any time. I am also able to connect directly with clients' computers with their consent to upload and download data and/or to work directly on a client's computer.I am currently investigating online scheduling systems which will enable anyone requiring my services to log on to an Internet site and see my current work schedule and available times for appointments/meetings and to book themselves into a time slot.In the meantime however please email me for available times.LinksFollowing are links to some
web sites which I visit often in the course of my work and which may be
useful to visitors to this web site. Further links will be added in future pages and will eventually be listed in categories. This SiteFollowing are links to other pages on this site. More pages are currently under development.
New Content Automatically updating Currency Cross Rates table added to Financial Calculators page 20 July 2008. Site Navigation The links immediately above are to all pages currently making up this site. Each page with the exception of the Home page has a Home and Bottom link at the top of each page and a Home and Top link at the bottom of each page to allow quick navigation between pages. Your browser's back and forward buttons can also be used to switch back and forth between pages visited on this site. These should also be used to bring you back to this site if an external link is followed from this site. The header logo at the top of each page with the exception of the Home page is also a clickable link which will return you to the Home page. As the site grows a site map will be provided to allow for speedier navigation. Interests Outside of work my main interests are my family, computers, the Internet, Sports and Geocaching. I am an avid sports fan and have an interest in most sports including Rugby League, Rugby Union, AFL, Cricket and Tennis. Contact InformationPeter J WillsEmail: pjpw2320@gmail.com This site is under ongoing development and enhancement and further pages and links will be added in the very near future. These will include information and discussion on a wide range of business topics and further links to business information as well as pages containing links and information which may be of interest to personal visitors to this site. Dedicated pages will also be added with interactive financial spreadsheets which will allow visitors to input data and view results right in the web page. In time download links to these spreadsheets will also be provided.
Site Design & Content Copyright © Peter J
Wills 2008-2009 All Rights Reserved
Last Updated 24 January 2014
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