business

Global body for professional accountants

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:05:49 +0100

As the global body for professional accountants, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCAGlobal) provides support to their 147,000 members and more than 420,000 students; based in London, with administrative offices in Glasgow, they have an active presence in over 170 different countries.

Take a look at "Teach Accounting" ACCA's e-magazine for teachers of finance professionals.
Now published exclusively via email, it includes ACCA news, industry updates, resources and guidance for learning providers, as well as technical support and exam-related articles.

Visit http://www.accaglobal.com to find out more.

Facebook for Business

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:24:08 +0100

Facebook launched its “Facebook for Business” resource centre on the 25th July 2011; a collection of instructions and guides for using...
Pages - ads - Sponsored Stories - Platform applications
An ideal resource for those responsible for marketing and advertising within learning provider organisations; guiding them through the purpose and functionality of Facebook’s core products in simple, plain English, and links to PDFs where they can learn more. Facebook is showcasing the depth of its existing business offering and making it easier for organisations to engage in marketing.
Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/business.

Business Model Canvas

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 10:45:55 +0100

The Business Model Canvas can be downloaded as a PDF from Alexander Osterwalder's website. (http://www.businessmodelalchemist.com/)

It is a tools for creating a visual business model and covers the essential elements included in any business plan; Alexander has provided this easy-to-use business plan template and a guide to the information to be included.

The business plan template is divided into 9 sections (each accompanied by a short series of questions making it easier to fill out the information). The sections include...

Key Partners;
Key Activities;
Value Propositions;
Customer Relationships;
Customer Segments;
Key Resources;
Channels;
Cost Structure; and
Revenue Streams.

Visit http://www.businessmodelalchemist.com/tools to find out more and/or to download the pdf.

Plan Cruncher

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:37:21 +0100

"Dragons' Den" has raised awareness of some of the many start-ups trying to get funds; PlanCruncher is an online tool that streamlines part of the process by letting users create a short business plan without writing lots of paragraphs.

PlanCruncher...

makes use of...
- creative icons and
- an easy-to-read design to get the message across;
asks users to fill in 6 different sections...
- Idea;
- Team;
- Product;
- Revenue;
- Funding; and
- Partnership.

Users...

choosing icons that represent the scenario/option that best fits them, PlanCruncher takes care of the rest; Plan Cruncher’s icons remind you which questions your business plan must answer.
- Are you ambitious?
- Can you build a business?
- Do you have the skills to build the product or service?
- Can you already demonstrate the product?
- Have you worked out how to monetise the product?
- How much investment capital do you need?
- Do you have a revenue forecast?
- How long will it take to reach profitability?
do need to enter details, in some places, but never more than a couple of sentences.

Once completed, PlanCruncher generates a plan for the start-up and if required, reviews it for suggestions and improvements.

Users can then download the generated business plan as a PDF document.

Visit http://plancruncher.com/ to find out more, download a sample business plan, and/or alternatively, download the Plan Cruncher icon set (ZIP, 247 Kb) and do-it-yourself.

Book-keeping just got easier!

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:34:14 +0100

Brightbook has the potential to be used as a teaching tool for those who need hands-on book-keeping experience and/or for Informal Adult Learning for "Community Group/self-employed Book Keeping" courses.

The aims of Brightbook are to provide an easy way for small business owners to keep their monthly accounts in shape. The whole premise is providing users with an application that is free from specialised accountancy jargon, and its list of features is aimed directly at such individuals.

The basic operations are all covered...

creating invoices;
printing & emailing customer statements;
registering customer payments; and
managing company expenses on the whole.

A nice touch is that this solution is also accessible on a users smartphone. The mobile version sticks to the same philosophy - nothing unnecessarily fancy or over-complicated.

The one thing that will surprise many is that this service is provided at no cost, and it is meant to remain like that.

Signing up takes just a couple of minutes, so that if you like the whole approach and philosophy you will be able to test it out in person easily.

The one drawback is the lego-like images used on the home and other pages.

Find out more, including terms and privacy, at http://www.brightbook.co.uk/.

Brightbook is for bookkeeping. It's not a full accounting package. It won't do a tax return for users, but it will get everything together that they or their accountant need to do it.

Brightbook is for ordinary people to do their regular accounting. For people that basically just need to create invoices and get paid.

A Decade in Business: 120 Images and Articles

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:57:24 +0100

I'm not going to enter the debate about is 2010 the start of a decade or the last year of a decade but, The Guardian has produced a Decade in Business infographic.

The Decade in Business is comprised of 120 images representing various business stories from the past ten years.

Click on any image in the infographic to learn more about that story.
Most stories are based in Europe; some have a more global basis.

Practitioners of business related courses and/or economics may find The Decade in Business to be a good reference for learners studying the ups and downs of the economy during the 21st century.

Visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/interactive/2009/dec/30/business-review-of-the-decade to try it out.

Online Barcode Tools

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:42:01 +0100

I have, in the past, reviewed tools like...

Barcode Label Printer <http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/index.php> and
Barcode Generator <http://terryburton.co.uk/barcodewriter/generator/>

...that allows users encode information (text, phone number etc) into a barcode label. That Information, behind the barcode label, can then be read by a standard barcode scanner or a mobile phone with reader software.

Online Barcode Reader, on the other hand, lets you decode and read the information behind the barcode label online from your browser.

Simply...

upload a file with the barcode (as a PNG, JPG, GIF, TIFF or BMP) Note: Max upload file size 1 MB; and
click “Send file”.
Online Barcode reader automatically detects the barcode format and type of encoded information (text, URI etc.) and extracts the value. (Online Barcode Reader currently supports common barcode formats UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-8, EAN-13, Code 39, Code 128, QR Code, Data Matrix, PDF 417 and ITF).

Online Barcode Reader is...

Free, with no registration.

Try it out at http://www.onlinebarcodereader.com/.