streamlining

I'm fairly new to MS products and I need some NG help.

I'm doing a big construction project and I have serveral companies sending
me billing data in excell format. I want to create a summary of my spending
to see if it matches up with my budget.

What I want to do is to centralize the accounting data in access. My
problems is that each company has a different way of formating their data in
excell.

I thought that maybe I can create a form in access to allow each accountant
to input their data directly, but if they screw up, then I have bad data in
my database %P

Ideas?

Re: streamlining

If all of the accountants are on the same LAN then giving them each
their own copy of the application FrontEnd as an MDE with the BackEnd
in a folder on the server is the way to go. People are much less
likely to screw up the data entry on a well designed form than in an
Excel spreadsheet.

If the accountants are not all on the same LAN you could try basically
the same thing using Remote Desktop or Terminal Server.

If you must use Excel spreadsheets then you could provide an Excel
template that all of the accountants must use to report their data and
get into your hands. That would freeze the form of the data coming in
to you so you'll only need to deal with the thing you created.

HTH
--
-Larry-
--

"mttmwsn" wrote in message
news:S6sUi.25448$1_2.15904@newsfe12.phx...
> I'm fairly new to MS products and I need some NG help.
>
> I'm doing a big construction project and I have serveral companies
sending
> me billing data in excell format. I want to create a summary of my
spending
> to see if it matches up with my budget.
>
> What I want to do is to centralize the accounting data in access.
My
> problems is that each company has a different way of formating their
data in
> excell.
>
> I thought that maybe I can create a form in access to allow each
accountant
> to input their data directly, but if they screw up, then I have bad
data in
> my database %P
>
> Ideas?
>
>
>

Re: streamlining

> If you must use Excel spreadsheets then you could provide an Excel
> template that all of the accountants must use to report their data and
> get into your hands. That would freeze the form of the data coming in
> to you so you'll only need to deal with the thing you created.
>

I'm probably going to end up using an Excel template, but I'm anticipating
that these accountants have their own invoice templates which are linked to
their inventory spreadsheet. They will probably raise Kane if I try to ask
them to migrate over to my template. What can I do about this?

Re: streamlining

I receive telephone data from a number of different suppliers each
month for my clients. Obviously, they all use a different format. I
have devised a number of "translators" - excel files which take the
data in a particular format and convert it into "my" standard format.

If you are not successful in persuading the accountants to change to
your data format, then perhaps you could set out to do something
similar.

Hope this helps.

Pete

On Oct 27, 10:35 pm, "mttmwsn" wrote:
> > If you must use Excel spreadsheets then you could provide an Excel
> > template that all of the accountants must use to report their data and
> > get into your hands. That would freeze the form of the data coming in
> > to you so you'll only need to deal with the thing you created.
>
> I'm probably going to end up using an Excel template, but I'm anticipating
> that these accountants have their own invoice templates which are linked to
> their inventory spreadsheet. They will probably raise Kane if I try to ask
> them to migrate over to my template. What can I do about this?

Re: streamlining

I suugest the last thing you should do is try to get each company to change
the way in which it submits its data to you. I assume no standardised way
was specified when initial contracts were drawn up. To get all to agree and
follow a standard set by you would probably cause havoc and confusion -
besides which each company may have a valid internal reason for producing
its accounting data in its' own chosen way.

Since we are talking .Net here, it would surely be easier and potentially
less error prone to write a program using the office inter-op libraries, to
convert each company submission to a standard format Access, Excel or
whatever.

One of the great benefits of .Net is that in all areas from chosen
development language to data entry/storage you can allow people to do things
their own way! My experience has been to always let people do things the way
they want, unless there is a very valid reason for not doing so.

Regards
Terry



"mttmwsn" wrote in message
news:S6sUi.25448$1_2.15904@newsfe12.phx...
> I'm fairly new to MS products and I need some NG help.
>
> I'm doing a big construction project and I have serveral companies sending
> me billing data in excell format. I want to create a summary of my
> spending
> to see if it matches up with my budget.
>
> What I want to do is to centralize the accounting data in access. My
> problems is that each company has a different way of formating their data
> in
> excell.
>
> I thought that maybe I can create a form in access to allow each
> accountant
> to input their data directly, but if they screw up, then I have bad data
> in
> my database %P
>
> Ideas?
>
>
>

Re: streamlining

That's a business/political question, not an Access question nor a
technical question.

HTH
--
-Larry-
--

"mttmwsn" wrote in message
news:x2PUi.14053$xP1.13007@newsfe11.phx...
> > If you must use Excel spreadsheets then you could provide an Excel
> > template that all of the accountants must use to report their data
and
> > get into your hands. That would freeze the form of the data
coming in
> > to you so you'll only need to deal with the thing you created.
> >
>
> I'm probably going to end up using an Excel template, but I'm
anticipating
> that these accountants have their own invoice templates which are
linked to
> their inventory spreadsheet. They will probably raise Kane if I try
to ask
> them to migrate over to my template. What can I do about this?
>
>

Re: streamlining

Hi Terry,

Some of your points simply are not valid:

When I buy something online or by using a check or credit card, the
correct data has to go into the correct space provided by the issuer
of the form (cells in a spreadsheet, etc.). If you think not then
try putting your zip code into the amount space for everything that
you buy... The person or organization at the common point or with the
most situational clout has the initiative: Payers of bills in the
case under consideration; "The Golden Rule; He Who Has the Gold
Rules".

In this case that can well translate into a polite notice that "This
is notice that as of 'pick a date' bills submitted for payment to XYZ
must be entered into a copy of the attached Excel template, which will
be attached to an email from you. After 'pick a date' bills submitted
in any other format will be addressed only after all conforming bills
have been addressed. They will then be paid only after a conversation
with whomever submits the bills for your organization.

We appreciate your cooperation in helping us to control the costs of
doing business by eliminating an unnecessary translation stage in our
facilities.

Thank you.....

Notice that the vendors don't have to agree. They have only to do
what they will. Consequences are already spelled out.

Try the above on your local phone company or other utility provider
and you won't have much success.

If you are a builder and deal with lots of small vendors you'll have
success without complaint. There aren't very many vendors today who
haven't got a PC, email and Excel.

---------------
We are *not* talking .Net here! We are talking Access here. .Net is
down the corridor to your left.... .Net takes in a whole 'nother
universe of things that intersects here only slightly. There are
separate newsgroups for .Net.

---------------------
Laissez faire is a neat ideal. Supposedly, the US economy is operated
as "Laissez Faire Capitalism". However, it becomes ever more
regulated as real and imagined abuses are discovered and politicized.
Laissez faire really works well for independent and solo vacations.
Ahhh!, unstructured time and activities. However, in business,
wherever two or more entities (internal or external) meet, there have
to be rules and the adherence thereto for effective and efficient
exchange of information. In the existing case, it was the lack of
existing rules that caused Original Poster and his organization time
and money.

It will require some time and money to improve the situation to the
point that the stable amount being expended over time to achieve the
same (or better) result is attained.

HTH
--
-Larry-
--

"Terry Bourne" wrote in message
news:eNTfA0VGIHA.4628@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> I suugest the last thing you should do is try to get each company to
change
> the way in which it submits its data to you. I assume no
standardised way
> was specified when initial contracts were drawn up. To get all to
agree and
> follow a standard set by you would probably cause havoc and
confusion -
> besides which each company may have a valid internal reason for
producing
> its accounting data in its' own chosen way.
>
> Since we are talking .Net here, it would surely be easier and
potentially
> less error prone to write a program using the office inter-op
libraries, to
> convert each company submission to a standard format Access, Excel
or
> whatever.
>
> One of the great benefits of .Net is that in all areas from chosen
> development language to data entry/storage you can allow people to
do things
> their own way! My experience has been to always let people do things
the way
> they want, unless there is a very valid reason for not doing so.
>
> Regards
> Terry
>
>
>
> "mttmwsn" wrote in message
> news:S6sUi.25448$1_2.15904@newsfe12.phx...
> > I'm fairly new to MS products and I need some NG help.
> >
> > I'm doing a big construction project and I have serveral companies
sending
> > me billing data in excell format. I want to create a summary of
my
> > spending
> > to see if it matches up with my budget.
> >
> > What I want to do is to centralize the accounting data in access.
My
> > problems is that each company has a different way of formating
their data
> > in
> > excell.
> >
> > I thought that maybe I can create a form in access to allow each
> > accountant
> > to input their data directly, but if they screw up, then I have
bad data
> > in
> > my database %P
> >
> > Ideas?
> >
> >
> >
>

Re: streamlining

Larry
I think we are talking different things here. From the phrasing of the
original question I inferred rightly or wrongly that this was some Main
Contract/Sub Contract relationship where the format for submission of
progress reports - including financial - could have been expected to be
resolved at the time of drawing up the relevant contracts.
Clearly the points I made are not appropriate to scenarios you refer to.
I am a bit puzzled as to why you say we are not talking .Net here. This is a
..net newsgroup is it not?

Regards
Terry





"Larry Daugherty" wrote in message
news:uEjs9yeGIHA.2268@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Hi Terry,
>
> Some of your points simply are not valid:
>
> When I buy something online or by using a check or credit card, the
> correct data has to go into the correct space provided by the issuer
> of the form (cells in a spreadsheet, etc.). If you think not then
> try putting your zip code into the amount space for everything that
> you buy... The person or organization at the common point or with the
> most situational clout has the initiative: Payers of bills in the
> case under consideration; "The Golden Rule; He Who Has the Gold
> Rules".
>
> In this case that can well translate into a polite notice that "This
> is notice that as of 'pick a date' bills submitted for payment to XYZ
> must be entered into a copy of the attached Excel template, which will
> be attached to an email from you. After 'pick a date' bills submitted
> in any other format will be addressed only after all conforming bills
> have been addressed. They will then be paid only after a conversation
> with whomever submits the bills for your organization.
>
> We appreciate your cooperation in helping us to control the costs of
> doing business by eliminating an unnecessary translation stage in our
> facilities.
>
> Thank you.....
>
> Notice that the vendors don't have to agree. They have only to do
> what they will. Consequences are already spelled out.
>
> Try the above on your local phone company or other utility provider
> and you won't have much success.
>
> If you are a builder and deal with lots of small vendors you'll have
> success without complaint. There aren't very many vendors today who
> haven't got a PC, email and Excel.
>
> ---------------
> We are *not* talking .Net here! We are talking Access here. .Net is
> down the corridor to your left.... .Net takes in a whole 'nother
> universe of things that intersects here only slightly. There are
> separate newsgroups for .Net.
>
> ---------------------
> Laissez faire is a neat ideal. Supposedly, the US economy is operated
> as "Laissez Faire Capitalism". However, it becomes ever more
> regulated as real and imagined abuses are discovered and politicized.
> Laissez faire really works well for independent and solo vacations.
> Ahhh!, unstructured time and activities. However, in business,
> wherever two or more entities (internal or external) meet, there have
> to be rules and the adherence thereto for effective and efficient
> exchange of information. In the existing case, it was the lack of
> existing rules that caused Original Poster and his organization time
> and money.
>
> It will require some time and money to improve the situation to the
> point that the stable amount being expended over time to achieve the
> same (or better) result is attained.
>
> HTH
> --
> -Larry-
> --
>
> "Terry Bourne" wrote in message
> news:eNTfA0VGIHA.4628@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> I suugest the last thing you should do is try to get each company to
> change
>> the way in which it submits its data to you. I assume no
> standardised way
>> was specified when initial contracts were drawn up. To get all to
> agree and
>> follow a standard set by you would probably cause havoc and
> confusion -
>> besides which each company may have a valid internal reason for
> producing
>> its accounting data in its' own chosen way.
>>
>> Since we are talking .Net here, it would surely be easier and
> potentially
>> less error prone to write a program using the office inter-op
> libraries, to
>> convert each company submission to a standard format Access, Excel
> or
>> whatever.
>>
>> One of the great benefits of .Net is that in all areas from chosen
>> development language to data entry/storage you can allow people to
> do things
>> their own way! My experience has been to always let people do things
> the way
>> they want, unless there is a very valid reason for not doing so.
>>
>> Regards
>> Terry
>>
>>
>>
>> "mttmwsn" wrote in message
>> news:S6sUi.25448$1_2.15904@newsfe12.phx...
>> > I'm fairly new to MS products and I need some NG help.
>> >
>> > I'm doing a big construction project and I have serveral companies
> sending
>> > me billing data in excell format. I want to create a summary of
> my
>> > spending
>> > to see if it matches up with my budget.
>> >
>> > What I want to do is to centralize the accounting data in access.
> My
>> > problems is that each company has a different way of formating
> their data
>> > in
>> > excell.
>> >
>> > I thought that maybe I can create a form in access to allow each
>> > accountant
>> > to input their data directly, but if they screw up, then I have
> bad data
>> > in
>> > my database %P
>> >
>> > Ideas?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>

Re: streamlining

No. This newsgroup has nothing to do with .Net. It is a newsgroup
for developers helping developers of MS Access, the Relational
Database platform, to resolve specific technical issues. Original
Poster was unsure about using Access or Excel. It seemed that Excel
was the better choice for him.

I believe that the .net newsgroups all have the word "net" embedded in
their names.

HTH
--
-Larry-
--

"Terry Bourne" wrote in message
news:u6$FNShGIHA.6068@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Larry
> I think we are talking different things here. From the phrasing of
the
> original question I inferred rightly or wrongly that this was some
Main
> Contract/Sub Contract relationship where the format for submission
of
> progress reports - including financial - could have been expected to
be
> resolved at the time of drawing up the relevant contracts.
> Clearly the points I made are not appropriate to scenarios you refer
to.
> I am a bit puzzled as to why you say we are not talking .Net here.
This is a
> .net newsgroup is it not?
>
> Regards
> Terry
>
>
>
>
>
> "Larry Daugherty" wrote in
message
> news:uEjs9yeGIHA.2268@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> > Hi Terry,
> >
> > Some of your points simply are not valid:
> >
> > When I buy something online or by using a check or credit card,
the
> > correct data has to go into the correct space provided by the
issuer
> > of the form (cells in a spreadsheet, etc.). If you think not
then
> > try putting your zip code into the amount space for everything
that
> > you buy... The person or organization at the common point or with
the
> > most situational clout has the initiative: Payers of bills in the
> > case under consideration; "The Golden Rule; He Who Has the Gold
> > Rules".
> >
> > In this case that can well translate into a polite notice that
"This
> > is notice that as of 'pick a date' bills submitted for payment to
XYZ
> > must be entered into a copy of the attached Excel template, which
will
> > be attached to an email from you. After 'pick a date' bills
submitted
> > in any other format will be addressed only after all conforming
bills
> > have been addressed. They will then be paid only after a
conversation
> > with whomever submits the bills for your organization.
> >
> > We appreciate your cooperation in helping us to control the costs
of
> > doing business by eliminating an unnecessary translation stage in
our
> > facilities.
> >
> > Thank you.....
> >
> > Notice that the vendors don't have to agree. They have only to do
> > what they will. Consequences are already spelled out.
> >
> > Try the above on your local phone company or other utility
provider
> > and you won't have much success.
> >
> > If you are a builder and deal with lots of small vendors you'll
have
> > success without complaint. There aren't very many vendors today
who
> > haven't got a PC, email and Excel.
> >
> > ---------------
> > We are *not* talking .Net here! We are talking Access here.
..Net is
> > down the corridor to your left.... .Net takes in a whole 'nother
> > universe of things that intersects here only slightly. There are
> > separate newsgroups for .Net.
> >
> > ---------------------
> > Laissez faire is a neat ideal. Supposedly, the US economy is
operated
> > as "Laissez Faire Capitalism". However, it becomes ever more
> > regulated as real and imagined abuses are discovered and
politicized.
> > Laissez faire really works well for independent and solo
vacations.
> > Ahhh!, unstructured time and activities. However, in business,
> > wherever two or more entities (internal or external) meet, there
have
> > to be rules and the adherence thereto for effective and efficient
> > exchange of information. In the existing case, it was the lack of
> > existing rules that caused Original Poster and his organization
time
> > and money.
> >
> > It will require some time and money to improve the situation to
the
> > point that the stable amount being expended over time to achieve
the
> > same (or better) result is attained.
> >
> > HTH
> > --
> > -Larry-
> > --
> >
> > "Terry Bourne" wrote in message
> > news:eNTfA0VGIHA.4628@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> >> I suugest the last thing you should do is try to get each company
to
> > change
> >> the way in which it submits its data to you. I assume no
> > standardised way
> >> was specified when initial contracts were drawn up. To get all to
> > agree and
> >> follow a standard set by you would probably cause havoc and
> > confusion -
> >> besides which each company may have a valid internal reason for
> > producing
> >> its accounting data in its' own chosen way.
> >>
> >> Since we are talking .Net here, it would surely be easier and
> > potentially
> >> less error prone to write a program using the office inter-op
> > libraries, to
> >> convert each company submission to a standard format Access,
Excel
> > or
> >> whatever.
> >>
> >> One of the great benefits of .Net is that in all areas from
chosen
> >> development language to data entry/storage you can allow people
to
> > do things
> >> their own way! My experience has been to always let people do
things
> > the way
> >> they want, unless there is a very valid reason for not doing so.
> >>
> >> Regards
> >> Terry
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> "mttmwsn" wrote in message
> >> news:S6sUi.25448$1_2.15904@newsfe12.phx...
> >> > I'm fairly new to MS products and I need some NG help.
> >> >
> >> > I'm doing a big construction project and I have serveral
companies
> > sending
> >> > me billing data in excell format. I want to create a summary
of
> > my
> >> > spending
> >> > to see if it matches up with my budget.
> >> >
> >> > What I want to do is to centralize the accounting data in
access.
> > My
> >> > problems is that each company has a different way of formating
> > their data
> >> > in
> >> > excell.
> >> >
> >> > I thought that maybe I can create a form in access to allow
each
> >> > accountant
> >> > to input their data directly, but if they screw up, then I have
> > bad data
> >> > in
> >> > my database %P
> >> >
> >> > Ideas?
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >
> >
>

Re: streamlining

The OP posted this in four newsgroups - dotnet.general, Access, Excel
and Excel.misc - so I think we have all read it in different groups
and wondered what the other posters are talking about !!

Pete

On Oct 29, 1:28 pm, "Larry Daugherty"
wrote:
> No. This newsgroup has nothing to do with .Net. It is a newsgroup
> for developers helping developers of MS Access, the Relational
> Database platform, to resolve specific technical issues. Original
> Poster was unsure about using Access or Excel. It seemed that Excel
> was the better choice for him.
>
> I believe that the .net newsgroups all have the word "net" embedded in
> their names.
>
> HTH
> --
> -Larry-
> --
>
> "Terry Bourne" wrote in message
>
> news:u6$FNShGIHA.6068@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
>
>
> > Larry
> > I think we are talking different things here. From the phrasing of
> the
> > original question I inferred rightly or wrongly that this was some
> Main
> > Contract/Sub Contract relationship where the format for submission
> of
> > progress reports - including financial - could have been expected to
> be
> > resolved at the time of drawing up the relevant contracts.
> > Clearly the points I made are not appropriate to scenarios you refer
> to.
> > I am a bit puzzled as to why you say we are not talking .Net here.
> This is a
> > .net newsgroup is it not?
>
> > Regards
> > Terry
>