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Learn some simple BI lessons from life

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8th Dec 2008
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Here's a classic story which you have probably seen but which I believe serves to illustrate, tongue firmly in cheek, the importance of business intelligence in any business.

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.
The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.
When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour.
Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.'
After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.
The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?'
'It was Bob the next door neighbour,' she replies.
'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'

So what has this got to do with a business intelligence blog? Well it just goes to show that you have to be able to share critical information pertaining to finances, credit and risk with all your stakeholders, because this in turn prevents unwanted exposure.

Gary Boddington

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By AnonymousUser
13th Dec 2008 22:53

OPERA 15 VAT implementation
Dear users,

Please ensure both Opera financial products have a new VAT rate of 15% to be effective from the 1st December 2008 along with the original historical 17.5 % effective date.
The 14 day rule will be calculated on the basis of the tax point/delivery date in relation to the invoice date.

What not to do:

Change existing 17.5 % VAT rate to 15 % and set up new VAT rate of 17.5 % from 1/12/08

Set up a second vat rate of 15 % within the 17.5 % VAT rate. Both VAT rates should have individual records for the sccounts.

Richard

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By janeswain
08th Dec 2008 19:12

A poodle is always a dog but not all dogs are poodles
I smiled when I read this post but, I am not sure why because I have just arrived back in the office after yet another meeting with a firm of accountants who are operating the equivalent of a self insurance arrangement with regard to tax investigations because someone told them it was ok who sounded convincing.

I have been a legal expenses broker for many years specialising in Professional Fee Protection pre and post regulation. I am at a loss to understand why a firm of accountants particularly a small firm would take on an overhead they don't have to assume in order to offer a service which can be simply delivered at no cost by a regulated firm such as mine.

Business intelligence is as much about not falling for slick marketing or well rehearsed sales chat. It is also about recognising when someone is actually acting in our interest as opposed to their own.

I am happy to explain what I mean when using the Poodle analogy to anyone interested in offering Professional Fee Protection without any complications or costs.

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