Pendock looks for the 'wow factor'
By JEFF BUCKSTEIN
(Reproduced with permission from The Bottom Line, June 2005)

A Toronto software firm that specializes in Microsoft Excel-based products has gained the quiet respect of professional accountants across Canada who have purchased, and are using, its bilingual Accounting for Practitioners trial balance and working paper program.

Cleve Pendock, president of Pendock Mallorn Ltd., said more than 6,000 firms around the world are using his products. Among them, he counts more than 500 firms of chartered accountants and certified general accountants, along with more than 50 certified public accountants south of the border.

Most of those firms are sole practitioners and partnerships.

"I'm a big supporter of Cleve and this software package has, for me, been a professional lifesaver," said Richard Fulcher, CA, a principle of the firm Gelberg, Fulcher, Velji, in Bolton, Ont., who has used various versions of the AFP software for more than a decade.

"First of all, its portability is phenomenal. I love that. The learning curve is so short (that) I've had non-professional staff (quickly become) functionally literate on this. Plus, it's a perfect working paper package," adds Fulcher, who also likes the way AFP handles financial statement formatting and notes, capital assets and their amortization, along with the calculation of various ratios.

The latest release of AFP is a "quantum leap" over previous versions, said Pendock, who developed the product with the assistance of Kansas City, Kansas -based programmer Chip Pearson. "I wanted to make the latest version of AFP with a real wow factor in it, so I got in touch with Chip, who is one of the world's leading Excel programmers. Chip and I took almost two years solid to develop it. There were times we worked seven days a week," he adds.

That meant providing features such as incorporating a much friendlier and intuitive user interface, able to assist accountants in ways the previous version couldn't.

For instance, the current version makes more extensive use of worksheet tabs as well as double clicks navigation, thus allowing users to move around much more quickly and easily.

Importing files is also much easier; practitioners can import whatever is capable of being exported to an Excel spreadsheet. That includes items from a client's accounting program, such as the trial balance, general ledger, or any journal.

"It's all-inclusive. With statements, for example, you get everything out of the same program. It's got amortization schedules in it. It's great for client write-ups, because we can record the cheques, sales and invoices there," said Rod Goetz, CGA, a principle with Goetz + Sambrook LLP in Kitchener, Ont., and another long-term customer of Pendock's.

"There are some downfalls; it doesn't have a sub-ledger, and isn't capable of doing the payroll entries, but AFP is phenomenal for writing up a client's records," Goetz adds.

Existing features that were updated in the latest version of AFP include a capital asset worksheet, which automatically calculates amortization, taking into account factors such as a pro-rated year or the half-year rule. AFP instantly calculates long-term loans, along with an amortization schedule for items that are both receivable and payable.

The software program also allows clients to select compilation or review checklists that conform to requirements of either the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants or Certified General Accountants Association of Canada, said Pendock. He adds that he was in contact with both organizations as he was preparing this software and, in fact, pays a royalty to each whenever a copy of AFP is sold.

AFP does not produce audit checklists, but does generate lead sheets, grouping schedules and ratio analysis. It also creates bank confirmation forms for up to five banks, as well as engagement and representation letters compatible with CICA and CGA requirements.

It also produces a full set of customizable financial statements, including extensive notes.

AFP comes in two versions, with the Standard version, which can allow licensing for up to five users from the same firm retailing for $799, while the Gold version, which allows up to ten users to be licensed sells for $1,199. The Gold model will also perform additional tasks, such as scan documents into AFP, prepare consolidated financial statements and operating budgets, as well as do a trend analysis for all P&L items based on their results over the past five years.

Pendock, a Montreal native, earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from that city's Concordia University. He was working as a financial consultant in the late 1980s after a long stint in the corporate world where he'd risen to become vice-president of finance at a construction company when, by his own admission, he "sort of fell into" software development.

When a client asked him to prepare a cash-flow forecasting model for his company, Pendock and his partner at the time obliged. Assessing the job after it had been completed, his partner suggested there was "nothing of this nature on the market for accountants in public practice," Pendock recalls.

"So I spent another three months adjusting the budgeting model that would be suitable for an accountant in public practice to use for any company," he adds. The completed product came out in 1990 and was called Pro Forma Plus. It remains a popular item on the market, and is sold in Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Australia.

The earliest version of AFP, developed in 1993, was originally called Quick & Easy, but the software program was subsequently given its current name just before the turn of the millennium. Pendock's dedication to constant program modernization and upgrades, and unflagging emphasis on customer support, was something Fulcher and Goetz were both quick to point out.

"Cleve has worked diligently to provide backup. When you phone Cleve (for support) you get an answer. He never charges you for it, and he keeps enhancing the program, which is marvelous," said Fulcher.

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