Cougar Mountain Software has been in business for close to 35 years. We’ve witnessed the transition from DOS to DB-based logic to SQL, and provided innovative robust solutions at every turn. Our tight-knit company attracts and maintains an accomplished staff of technical programmers, software engineers, UX/UI researchers, and accounting experts. Unlike software that predominantly invests in their front-facing UI façade or (at the other end of the spectrum) incomprehensible FTP programs designed for the HTML-literate, Cougar Mountain Software has spent decades making our products powerful AND intuitive. We make accountant’s accounting software. Think robust, nuanced, and highly customizable accounting solutions that can serve a 50-person accounting department as easily as a 5-employee business.

In an effort to entice some of our oldest and most loyal customers to try our flagship software, Denali, we have conducted dozens of interviews with users who have already made the switch. Following is the first of a collection of case studies in which we’ve done our best to curate and condense the most relatable stories, commonly shared concerns, and galvanizing advice for CMS Pro (as well as DOS) purists.

How You Can Close the Books and Ring in the New Fiscal Year on Time

It takes 60 seconds for the ball in New York’s Times Square to drop 141 feet and officially ring in the New Year. That’s not a lot of time to consider all the things you want to accomplish in the next 365 days, let alone think about all the things you didn’t quite get to before 11:59 on December 31.

Nonetheless, as you’re contemplating your quarter-one goals, and why you didn’t quite get around to running that marathon, you don’t also want to be confronted by the things you could have done better or devoted more time to, including your year-end financial close.

With the end of the year so near, we’re giving you our top four pro tips for ensuring your books are closed well before the clock strikes 12.

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A comprehensive accounting software, like Cougar Mountain Software’s Denali, should accomplish the basic but critical function of payroll. Payroll for manufactures is much more than just paying employees and calculating taxes. Processing payroll in your accounting software should also be a source of information to your other accounting needs such as tax data and filings, automated and accurate tax reports and forms (i.e. W-9 and W-2 forms), tax payment generation, employee benefit tracking, and labor, overhead, and expense costs.

Companies often approach payroll as an island of processing data which is separated from other business applications. Some even cling on to time-honored manual processes while others rely on a third party to handle payroll functions. However, today’s most cost-effective payroll systems work seamlessly with the accounting software to allow even small to mid-size companies to reap the benefits of manufacturing payroll and accounting automation.

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Enhanced payroll reporting is important for all businesses. If your business has employees, you will have payroll responsibilities.

Generating payroll means more than simply paying employees or printing W-2 forms at the end of the year. Old methods of tracking payroll expenses and tax reporting with spreadsheets and manually-prepared documents can result in very costly errors and time-consuming processes. Accounting software can take out the risk and provide a much faster approach to payroll through system automation.

As with any business, manufacturing and distribution companies must remain aligned with their senior management team and government agencies which each have specific mandates related to payroll. These stakeholders not only have specific required reports, but also mandate when they need to be generated. Your accounting software should provide payroll reports that meet these needs.

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Successfully managing your company’s collection activities is not easy task and even more difficult if you are using spreadsheets, post-it notes, or manually compiled customer lists.

In this post, we share best practices businesses need to manage account receivables as efficiently as possible to prevent cash-flow crises.

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