At the moment Exact Online provides a list of reports from which you can choose. When a report is added to your personal cockpit, you can set some settings. But how the report is shown (gauge or column) and what is shown in detail is fixed.

For example the current Revenue report shows  a “list of revenue per account”. You can set the maximum length of the list.
But what if you want to see the revenue divided per region instead of account or what if you want to express the revenue by column instead of a list?

In the development environment it is now possible to fully design your own reports. You can choose:

• which subject you want to build a report
• if you want to see a matrix or a graph
• in case of a graph: the kind of charttype. For example: line, bar, column, pie
• what should be displayed on the x-axis and y-axis of your graph
• which filters should be taken into account
• which data must be shown when drilling down from the matrix or graph

Example of report definition (please click on the picture for a good view)

As developers we are curious to hear if you as a user only want to determine “how you like your eggs in the morning” or if you also want to be able to “choose the type of eggs” you want to see.

Although this trespasser had clearly been testing – and finding – defects in the alarm system, he was not the same Michael Fagan whose investigative skills we appreciate here at Exact. This rather less controversial Mr Fagan cleverly invented a structured process for finding defects in programming code throughout the software development process – the Fagan Inspection.

Inspired by Michael (the second one!) we – at Exact Online – developed our own code review method and procedures to ensure that the code we produce, and the code our customers use, is not only as bug free as possible but future proof. And by reviewing each other’s code, we improve each other as well!

We choose to combine automated reviews with lightweight and formal reviews based on a checklist with only 7 items. The automated reviews make sure the reviewers don’t spend time on things that can be automated, while the 7 item checklist ensures the review can be done in one single check instead of cross checking code against a large checklist multiple times.

Keeping the reviews short and focused on the things that really matter is very important. This keeps code reviewing efficient, fast and worth the effort. Studies say the most bugs are found during first hour of reviewing. Extending the review time will not increase code quality, so be sure to use that hour of code reviewing as efficient as possible!

So, the next time you see the Queen on your telly, think of all those Exact Online developers and reviewers constantly thinking of ways to improve our software and its quality – inspired by the namesake of a 32-year-old mug thief who stopped by her bedroom for a midnight chat!

Each subscription can have many items each with their own validity and pricing. To allow you to manage your subscriptions as easily as possible you can update prices easily in one step by updating the subscription item price; you can also quickly renew or cancel subscriptions.  To keep your customers informed about their subscription details you can send these by email or by a subscriptions document.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our pilot customers whose valuable feedback and comments are helping us to finalize the subscriptions functionality. We still welcome their feedback and look forward to implementing new ideas, suggestions and changes made by our customers.

This phenomenon is becoming a real headache for many, costing people more and more time and money. You’re left with less and less time to do what you are really good at: Being an entrepreneur, running your business and earning money!

Sound familiar?
Well, the good news is that the financial software industry, together with the above mentioned agencies, has been busy trying to introduce and promote industry standards for a while: Standard formats, standard portals, etc.
These should make your life less stressful and reduce your costs.

The ultimate idea is that your financial software will automatically provide the correct requested data in a standard format to the appropriate agency at the right time – without any further hassle for you.
Of course, this is only after your approval – you’re still sitting in the driver’s seat. The financial software is just the gearbox to help you to drive in top gear.

The less good news is that this ultimate idea is not yet fully implemented. But be a little patient. We are on the way.
The current situation in The Netherlands is as follows:

Existing standard formats:

1. For detailed financial information: 
   Auditfile financial (XAF)  – Mostly requested by Tax authorities and accountants
   XBRL-GL – A worldwide standard which is expected to replace the auditfile in the future.
2. For financial reports:
   SBR – Standard Business Reporting. A worldwide standard formally known as XBRL.
   Mostly used for credit reporting requested by banks, annual statements requested by Chamber of Commerce, tax returns requested by the tax authorities, etc.

Existing standard Portals:

1. Digipoort:
   A portal for delivering the financial reports requested by Chamber of Commerce, tax authority and other government agencies.
2. RapportagePortaal:
   A portal for delivering the credit reporting requested by banks.

Regarding the standard format Auditfile:
This format was already available a few years back. Since then it has been regularly improved. The latest version of the auditfile is version 3.1. This version contains extra information in comparison to the previous version (version 2.0). Namely:

• Sub ledgers Accounts receivable and Accounts payable
• Opening balance

By using this format instead of the previous version, you can provide more data to the requesting agency. As such, the chance that they will come back to you with a request for more information will be reduced.
Since 16-06-2010 Exact Online supports both version 2.0 and 3.1 of the Auditfile.

So, to come back to the question from our title: Do you want to drive in top gear? I assume you do. One little step in the process of getting there is to already use Auditfile 3.1  – when, for example, the NL tax authority or your accountant is requesting financial data. It will save you time.

Regarding the other standards mentioned above and other developments around this ultimate idea: I will come back to them in future blogs. So stay tuned!

With the Dutch system LAR Exact already offers a student administration system for primary schools. But ICT has entered the world of elementary education in a broader way. Wished for are systems that not only support the registration of students.
In the Dutch market it’s now important that a system provides a solution for protecting the continuity of a student’s school career.

A mouthful meaning that it is essential that:
1. Student’s data is registered only once
2. After the initial registration the student’s data moves with him were ever  the path of his school career leads him to.

From a student administration system  this asks, beside the possibility to register a student, that it must be possible to exchange student data with all organizations that cross the student’s school career.

Examples of Dutch organizations that can come along during the student’s school career are:
• The school the student will attend for his/her secondary education;
• DUO for exchange of the student’s personal number (PGN) and the registration of a student in the domestic system BRON
• Other general platforms like for example a municipal platform that registers the timely drop out of students

Exact Online now offers the successor of LAR:  Exact Online Onderwijs (EN: Education).

In Exact Online Onderwijs the registration of student data and the possible forms of exchange of student data have been standardized. The system is developed in accordance with the standards that apply to the Dutch educational market.

Exchange of student data with PGN (Please click on the picture for a good view)

This standardization makes it possible to exchange relevant data with a variety of organizations in more than one way.
And this solution combined with the general Exact Online advantages, like there is no necessity to maintain administrative software anymore, makes life for schools really easier. Less time is needed to run the school’s administration and more time is saved for what a primary school’s entrepreneurship is all about: providing the best education they can.

The first schools are “back to school” with Exact Online Onderwijs.  Do you dare?

Believe it or not, the same principles are also at the heart of delivering great software. Exact Online’s development uses the SCRUM method, a process focusing on delivering the greatest added value to our customers in the quickest time possible. So, are our developers, designers and testers lining up in the office, binding at the shoulder and barging each other through desks and into the coffee machine? Not exactly.

What is SCRUM?

The SCRUM methodology breaks up our work cycle into periods of two weeks (‘sprints’) where work is effectively self-managed by the people building the product. The SCRUM teams respond to the prioritised needs of the ‘product owner’, deciding within their group what work can be feasibly driven to completion with the coming period– the highest priority always addressed first. In real terms this means that each sprint returns new, highly desirable functionality that’s practically ready to go. With the whole team aware of what needs to be achieved and happy that their commitments are matched correctly to the time-frame involved, the need for traditional project management is removed. It’s a system that gives control over building the product back to the people most suited to make the decisions.

And why choose SCRUM?

With other approaches to software project development (based on long, linear planning), some functionality can take months to reach completion. Unfortunately the nature of the business means that demands are always changing. When the scope changes, detailed plans for far into the future can often prove pointless way before they are realised. With scrum, you’re only ever dealing with what’s most important and making sure that it’s delivered. Regularly.

So, next time you come across 30 men in a field seemingly trying to kill each other, remember that there is some method in their madness. There’s a team in there working together, blending skills and experience to achieve success together. Just like at Exact Online. Our commitment to SCRUM is indicative of how we feel about our product and our customers – continually adding maximum value as quickly as it’s possible to do so.

Credit: FreeBirD

The web has become an important part of our lives. We use the web to find and share information, to communicate and buy stuff. We are spiders stuck in the World Wide Web. The web lives, every day new sites, services and opportunities emerge. The constant expansion and change also brings challenges and makes it hard to remember who you really are.

How many faces, or in other words usernames and passwords, do you have? I’m pretty sure they are quite a few and are hard to manage. Some of the usernames you could choose yourself while others are provided to you. The passwords all have different rules and you probably have heaps of difficulties to remember them all. This is a common challenge of the web and a solution is complex. There is a standard with OpenID, but adoption is slow and it takes time.

Wouldn’t it be nice if:
1. You identify and authenticate yourself at the portal of your accountant and with a single click you can log into Exact Online without having to enter your credentials again.
2. You could choose your own username and password for the Exact Customer and Partner portals
3. Keep your Exact logon credentials when you change your job from one Exact Partner to another or from a partner to a customer etc.

We will make this all happen for you. Exact Research has been working on an Exact ID that will facilitate the above scenarios and a lot more. In the future we will support OpenID, Microsoft Live ID, Google Account, etc. to authenticate yourself for any of the Exact web applications. This is a major step towards a uniform and transparent web, but dealing with user credentials require extreme care and for this reason we take a very small steps towards the implementation.

Keep a close look at this blog and the portals for more upcoming information.

New brand strategy: rebranding our products

This week we celebrate our anniversary and today we have reveilled a new brand strategy to the world. As you can see on this blog, a new visual identity with a new logo and a new tagline, ‘Exact. And it all comes together.”,  are part of this new brand strategy. We have launched a new website, all over the world our offices have been redecorated and the new logo already shines brightly on our new headquarter office that is under construction.

As a customer using Exact Globe, Exact Synergy and Exact Synergy Enterprise  you will notice that your product has been rebranded too. As of today, if you update or upgrade your software, our new visual identity will smile at you whenever you start your systems. Our Exact Online customers have maybe already noticed that the live environment of Exact Online has also been rebranded during the weekend.

For more information about our new brand strategy, please visit the new Exact corporate website. In the press release about our brand strategy you can also read the reaction of Bo Lykkegaard, IDC’s European Enterprise Applications Program Director.

Exact Online: more than 10.000 customers

But there is more to celebrate. Today we are also proud to announce that we are supporting more than 10.000 Exact Online customers in the Netherlands with growing their businesses. Thank you all for the trust you have placed in us! We will keep innovating and extending our Exact Online offering in the coming period of time, just like we have done in the past.

Product Update 395 now available

And like that is altogether not enough reason to have a party, today we have also made product update 395 for Exact Globe available for you to download. This blog is all about our products, so of course we have created a special blog post about product update 395 to show you what benefits this product update has to offer you.

If you would like to congratulate us with our anniversary: of course you are welcome do so in the comment section below.

On this blog we will of course share product related news with you, mainly focused on our corporate product lines Exact Globe, Exact Synergy and Exact Online. We will provide you tips & tricks and we will give you insight in the future direction of our products by showing you what we are developing for new product updates. But also if you just want to know what it is like working for Exact or if you’re wondering how Exact develops its products, you came to the right place.

At Exact, just like at many other companies, a lot of interesting conversations take place near the coffee machine. Colleagues tell each other what they are working on, exchange opinions and ask each other for advice. This Product Blog is our virtual coffee place where we want to have these kind of conversations with you, so your feedback is highly encouraged and appreciated. Feel free to share your two cents on how we could make this Exact Product Blog more useful and informative. If you want to keep track of what is going on here, please use the RSS-feeds or e-mail subscriptions to receive our latest posts at your own convenience.