"24 Tips and Must-do’s” that will ensure you choose the best solution to integrate your budgeting and cash flow forecasting into your long-term plan seamlessly, easily and professionally.
Creating an Advisory Board takes business planning to the next level. Read “The Advisory Board, A Meeting of Minds” an informative and thought-provoking article by Cleveland Pendock, founder of Pendock Mallorn.
"AFP is the backbone of our practice. It is easy to learn, flexible and all encompasing. The support is an added plus. We have been using it since 1993 and couldn't work without it!”
Rodney N. Goetz, FCGA
The Pendock Mallorn Story
In the late 1980s, our first project at Pendock Mallorn was to develop a cash flow forecasting model for a mid-size air-conditioning contractor and a small distributor of ductless air-conditioning systems. The work put into both projects was far greater than our fixed-fee quote, but we came to realize that nothing like our model was available on the market at that time.
We approached a local University, through their MBA consulting group, to conduct a market study to determine if there was a need for this software and the results were a resounding “yes”. We then spent several months adapting the model so that it could be used by any company.
It was in June 1989 that the first version of Pro-Forma Plus (PFP) was released. Within three months, two major, national magazines had reviewed it. One reported they had never received more enquiries about a review than they’d had for PFP. The Financial Post newspaper carried a great article that September and afterwards the telephone rang continuously for three days!
In the mid 1990s, we saw a need to create a simple-to-use trial balance and working paper model. There were only a couple of products on the market at that time and we had a feeling that sole practitioners and smaller partnerships needed something easier to use. The initial release was a little too simple for most practitioners so it wasn’t off to a great start. However, we persevered until it had all the features public practitioners need and Accounting for Practitioners (AFP) is still the easiest trial balance and working paper software to use.
A sub-set of the write up portion of our trial balance software, now called “Pendock EZ Books”, was developed in the late 1990s. This was created for the specific use of small entrepreneurs where mainstream accounting programs were too complex for their needs. It’s a really simple data entry and financial statement template that can be used by anyone — even if they have no accounting knowledge.
Also in 2010, one of our AFP users mentioned they receive numerous shoeboxes of client data consisting of receipts for cash disbursements and credit cards and asked if we could develop software that can tabulate this data. We did so and what we now know as “Pendock EZ Books” was created.
About our chief software developer: Chip Pearson:
Preparing software with the capabilities of our products is a daunting task. At Pendock Mallorn, that task has been made considerably easier due to the talents of Charles “Chip” Pearson of Kansas City, MO.
Chip is one of the world’s leading VBA programmers having earned, and retained, the MVP distinction from Microsoft since 1999. “Most Valuable Professional” is a designation Microsoft reserves for programmers who have demonstrated their willingness to share information on a peer-to-peer basis. Chip has contributed to many online communities over the course of his career, helping people solve their problems and increase their performance in Excel. There are less than 40 Excel MVP's in the world.
Chip is responsible for most of the programming in all of our products, and also provided substantial design and wayfinding input. When you’re using any Pendock program, you’ll see his “signature” of clean and simple layout. Rest assured it sits on top of brilliant code.
Chip operates Pearson Software Consulting, a consulting practice in Kansas City. His clients range from some of the largest corporations in North America to the lady from Texas who needed help in monitoring the performance of her racehorses. Chip’s website, www.cpearson.com, is loaded with “how-to’s” and is well worth a visit.
Cleve Pendock
President
Pendock Mallorn Ltd.
