OK just remember there are two, different things happening: 1. One major software task is "matching" or "clearing" your own charges and credits, with the payments that have already been received (or paid) to settle them. You should not be using software that doesn't automate this job at least partially, by marking items cleared at time of creation of a payment batch, for example. Huge developer resources have been invested in these essentially internal "playpen" activities, making manual processes more pleasant.
2. Another major task is the whole area of account reconciliation. Reconciliation is about the other party, not your own books. Quicken and other products have had, for many years, various gimmicks for obtaining bank account listings and identifying differences with your own accounts. However, no small business software has ever been capable of sending or receiving account listings between debtors and creditors' software to my knowledge. Products like SQL Ledger that are native internet apps and not tied down to legacy systems could implement AR/AP exchanges between debtors and creditors relatively easily, once Dieter made up his mind to do that. Some work and thought has gone into the ARAP submission that is being presented to the OMG Finance this week. That's on the ARAP website below. But, there is plenty of other pre-existing work to draw from. In doing so, SQL Ledger would be the first implementer of standard AR/AP reconcilation choreography. This can only happen in open source since the commercial market cannot allow their data to escape from lock-in. Note, this is *not* about privacy, or about loss of security by sharing your AR data with debtors etc. We already do that when we send paper Statements, so, why not send the statement as an XML file ????????? Sheesh! Am I frustrated or what! I want my computer to send or receive account listings with the trading partner and automatically burn a 2nd attribute on all the things we agree about: RECONCILED. (the MATCHED attribute would already have been burned.) I want to see a screen showing every item my trading partner's accounting entries against me, only if they disagree with my books, and two choices: CLICK to accept, or CLICK to reject/compose a message to the trading partner. Todd Todd Boyle CPA 9745-128th Ave NE Kirkland WA International Accounting Services, LLC www.gldialtone.com 425-827-3107 AR/AP everywhere www.arapxml.net At 05:16 AM 6/26/02, Mark Williamson wrote: >On Wed, 2002-06-26 at 06:15, Todd Boyle wrote: > > Most reconciliation differences are business differences and > > the decision favoring one or the other party cannot be automated. > > [...] > > However, the simple identification of those differences is a > > mechanical matter that should have been automated long > > ago. And it would have been automated, but for the > > irresponsible and bad-faith behavior of the leading accounting > > software vendors, who placed such a high priority on lock-in > > of users' data that it was adverse to the interests of their > > own users. > >Hmm those irresponsible and bad-faith accounting softwares is what most >people are trained in, so I guess the accounting language does modified >from commercial interests, and yes I agree that those accounting >softwares vendors do lock-in their users... well that's why I am here >looking at SQL-Ledger, and now find out how people are using it, and the >best methods that we can use to use the software.. and I do believe >that some people do end up with some good methods in working in, within >the software design, and they may have found good methods, or bad >methods of use, and for anyone that is using the software do share your >methods, as that way other people will share their methods, and we all >learn. > >Cheers >Mark Williamson > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------- >This sf.net email is sponsored by: Jabber Inc. >Don't miss the IM event of the season | Special offer for OSDN members! >JabConf 2002, Aug. 20-22, Keystone, CO http://www.jabberconf.com/osdn ------------------------------------------------------- This sf.net email is sponsored by: Jabber Inc. Don't miss the IM event of the season | Special offer for OSDN members! JabberConf 2002, Aug. 20-22, Keystone, CO http://www.jabberconf.com/osdn
