Stop the Short-Cutter!

I continue to be amazed at the number of Financial Systems out there that are designed with the stupid idea that users NEVER make a mistake.  The software developers assume that users will always post invoices, payments, etc. correctly.  Really . . . . . .

I continue to be amazed at the number of Financial Systems out there that are designed with the stupid idea that users NEVER make a mistake.  The software developers assume that users will always post invoices, payments, etc. correctly.  Really I-G-N-O-R-A-N-T !

How can I say this?  Don’t these developers provide recovery procedures or methods to correct mistakes?  Well, yes, but clever users find ways to take shortcuts and circumvent the “safeguards.”

For example: Let’s say someone incorrectly posted an invoice to the wrong general ledger account and then updated the G/L with this incorrect account number.  The standard method to correct the problem would be to go back to the A/P system, void the invoice (creating a negative posting to the G/L for the incorrect account), and re-post the invoice with the correct account.  However, in a crunch, or if just a tad on the lazy side the “short-cutter” will just make changes in the G/L, leaving the A/P alone.  Auditors just love this!

Wouldn’t it be great if the System protected the integrity of the data and would not allow such “corrections?” It would be nice if software developers would provide tools to make corrections easier and be less time consuming for those overworked accounting types.  They stress out so easily.

Agree?