Q1. |
Why should we outsource our financial and accounting processes to SDGL? |
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By outsourcing your financial and accounting processes to SDGL, you will be able to leverage on our trained professional personnel, best-of-class Web technologies. Our accounting and technology staff are trained to use the most efficient business information processes that support complex multi-business, multi-country and multi-currency operations.
Better information means better decision making. Improvements in technology and our competitively priced labor force reduces overhead costs. Better decision making and lower overhead translates into an increased bottom-line profit for your enterprise. We can be more effective because we save your recruiting, training and employee turnover costs and eliminate the administrative time of running an accounting department.
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Q2. |
How would I benefit from outsourcing our financial and accounting processes to SDGL? |
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Your benefits are manifold.
You need only a browser on any computer and a connection to the Internet. This makes it very easy to deploy the system throughout your organization.
Clients pay a nominal setting up fee to implement the new technology. Costs may be incurred to add RAM to the file server, replace the server’s hard drives, maintain the system, etc.
Clients avoid the need to hire an expensive IT professional staff or consultants to maintain the system. Salaries for this caliber professional can range from $75,000 to $125,000 and above. With our Web based model, certified engineers are on 24/7 to maintain your system.
Our Web-Based accounting system run on secure databases that are capable to power the largest companies in the world. In other words, small and medium sized businesses need not worry about outgrowing the system’s capacity.
Your important information is maintained for you in a state-of-the-art data center, backed up and replicated, protecting all of our customers from data loss in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.
Our Web-Based accounting solution applies enhancements and patches on a continuous basis. The result is that our solution is more responsive to our clients’ needs and the application itself always reflects the latest version. There is no more need to pay consultants hefty fees to implement system upgrades – this occurs automatically on a timely basis and with no additional cost to our clients.
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Q3. |
What do I need to get started? |
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Our professional accounting personnel will perform a review of your business processes with you at your office. We will help you determine the business processes that can be readily outsourced and develop a service agreement that will outline which of our services you will be using and the costs associated with such services.
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Q4. |
How do you protect our data given that access is allowed over the Internet? |
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Our data is firewall protected, password protected and utilizes NT security and secure socket connections for data transfer across the Internet. Our solution has its own built-in security whereby you have to be log in into our system in order to view your data. No data will be left behind in your cookie trail as the data is only stored in the Random Access Memory (RAM) while you are logged into the system.
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Q5. |
How do we change over from our current accounting system without losing time or data? |
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Our technicians will handle the extraction of all of the necessary data from your present accounting system. You will need to select a month end to move over from your present system to export your master files e.g. debtors, creditors and inventory list into our system. After your account balances are migrated, you will be able to start using our Web-Based accounting system.
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Q6. |
Can I migrate our historical data from other systems? |
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Our systems are capable of importing historical data, but the results can vary depending on the system and the integrity of the data. We generally do not advise moving historical data unnecessarily as it will require additional technical assistance and raises the potential for data corruption.
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Q7. |
How does SDGL’s financial and accounting process work? |
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Your financial information is collected in digital format, using a desktop scanner, all-in-one digital sender, fax machine or through an Internet browser. The work is forwarded to a secure, dedicated server in USA and the digital information triggers a new “work flow” that is assigned to the work team that handles your business processes.
Financial information is captured, invoices rendered, payables are scheduled and the documents are filed away in a secure data service center. Follow ups and approvals are routed to you electronically.
You have access to the processed work through sophisticated dashboards (financial presentation formats) that report on the activities in progress and completed work. With next business day turnaround, you can access all of your critical business information in one place in as little as 18 hours through an easy to use Internet webpage.
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Q8. |
Where is SDGL located? |
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We are headquartered in 230 Park Avenue, New York and have an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Q9. |
How much will financial outsourcing cost? |
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Our fee will depend on the scope of work and approach we would agree to take. For most back-office operations, reduction in core overhead costs range from 10 percent to 50 percent, depending on process improvements and relative labor costs. What we can say now is we will give you a firm price and will adhere to it.
How do we commit to this? For our financial outsourcing services to be successful, we will commence by carefully scoping the work required in order that respective responsibilities are clear to both parties. The detailed scope and service planning work enables us to give firm prices which offer our clients value for money at realistic prices that can be sustained over the contracted period.
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Q10. |
What is RFID ? |
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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a proven technology that uses radio waves to identify individual items at specific locations. Many enterprises are presently seeking ways to mobilize and automate their field force operations with wireless tracking, in areas such as asset management, maintenance, repair, manufacturing, item tracking, delivery scheduling, customer billing data collection, and work order management.
A wireless tracking system may consist of several components: tags, tag readers, edge servers, middleware, and application software.
The purpose of an wireless tracking system is to enable data to be transmitted by a mobile device, called a tag, which is read by an wireless tracking reader and processed according to the needs of a particular application. The data transmitted by the tag may provide identification or location information, or specifics about the product tagged, such as price, color, date of purchase, etc.
In a typical wireless tracking system, individual objects are equipped with a small, inexpensive tag. The tag contains a transponder with a digital memory chip that is given a unique electronic product code. The interrogator, an antenna packaged with a transceiver and decoder, emits a signal activating the RFID tag so it can read and write data to it. When an RFID tag passes through the electromagnetic zone, it detects the reader's activation signal. The reader decodes the data encoded in the tag's integrated circuit (silicon chip) and the data is passed to the host computer.
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Q11. |
Describe the different types of RFID tags. |
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RFID tags can be either active, semi-passive (=semi-active) or passive.
Passive
Passive RFID tags have no internal power supply. The minute electrical current induced in the antenna by the incoming radio frequency signal provides just enough power for the CMOS integrated circuit (IC) in the tag to power up and transmit a response. Most passive tags signal by backscattering the carrier signal from the reader. This means that the aerial (antenna) has to be designed to both collect power from the incoming signal and also to transmit the outbound backscatter signal. The response of a passive RFID tag is not just an ID number (GUID): tag chip can contain nonvolatile EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) for storing data. Lack of an onboard power supply means that the device can be quite small: commercially available products exist that can be embedded under the skin. As of 2006, the smallest such devices commercially available measured 0.4 mm × 0.4 mm, and are thinner than a sheet of paper; such devices are practically invisible. Passive tags have practical read distances ranging from about 2 mm (ISO 14443) up to about few metres (ISO 18000-6) depending on the chosen radio frequency. Due to their simplicity in design they are also suitable for manufacture with a printing process for the antennae. Passive RFID tags do not require batteries, and can be much smaller and have an unlimited life span.
Semi-Passive
Semi-passive RFID tags are very similar to passive tags except for the addition of a small battery. This battery allows the tag IC to be constantly powered. This removes the need for the aerial to be designed to collect power from the incoming signal. Aerials can therefore be optimised for the backscattering signal. Semi-passive RFID tags are faster in response and therefore stronger in reading ratio compared to passive tags.
Active
Active RFID tags or beacons, on the other hand, have their own internal power source which is used to power any ICs and generate the outgoing signal. They may have longer range and larger memories than passive tags, as well as the ability to store additional information sent by the transceiver. To economize power consumption, many beacon concepts operate at fixed intervals. At present, the smallest active tags are about the size of a coin. Many active tags have practical ranges of tens of metres, and a battery life of up to 10 years.
Using the right RFID tag in your application
Because passive tags are cheaper to manufacture and have no battery, the majority of RFID tags in existence are of the passive variety. As of 2006, these tags cost an average of Euro 0.20 ($0.24 USD) at high volumes. Today, as universal RFID tagging of individual products become commercially viable at very large volumes, the lowest cost tags available on the market are as low as 7.2 cents each in volumes of 10 million units or more.
Reading ratio close to 100% is a mandatory requirement for successful application. While the cost advantages of passive tags over active tags are significant, other factors including accuracy, performance in certain environments such as around water or metal, and reliability make the use of active tags very common today. The final quality metrics is a probed reading ratio for a representative statistical basic population (fairly 100 plus tags in minimum), this unfortunately never reaches the 100% ratio. Sound system designs with wireless tracking take the deficiencies into account and compare in real-time already known data with just captured data on the basis of fuzzy reasoning.
There are four main frequency bands for RFID tags commonly in use. They are categorized by their radio frequency: low frequency tags (125 or 134.2 kHz), high frequency tags (13.56 MHz), UHF tags (868 to 956 MHz) or 463 MHz, and microwave tags (2.45 GHz or 5.8 GHz). UHF tags can be used globally when specially tailored according to regional regulations; as there are no globally unified regulations for radio frequencies in this ISM band range.
There is a wide variation of transponder devices and contactless chip cards which deliver similar functions.
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Q12. |
RFID tracking applications. |
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