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Introduction and Goals
This website provides Sales System Education and Sales System Software Templates.
Our offerings are ideal for Small Business Owners as well as students of all ages who are seeking education in Commerce, Accounting, Bookkeeping, Finance, Management Science, and numerous facets of useful Technology. The majority of our Education and Software Offerings are free and provided anonymously. No user names, no user accounts, and no passwords are required to access our offerings.
Our offerings were well thought out with many goals that extended well beyond "competing with" the current educational curriculum publishers, providers, and software vendors. We sought to replace them.
We sought to produce student-centric Educational Curriculum with companion Software that led to the elimination of the Accounting and Management Science courses currently offered at the high school and/or college level. W sought to do that via the production of an immersive experience into commercial literacy, accounting literacy, spreadsheets, cloud spreadsheets, cloud computing, data modeling, simple database design, do-it-yourself software development, graphical user interface design, java script, google script, and much more.
When proper educational content is included in written curriculum with functional companion software, as is the case here, students can learn with minimal interaction from others. Class time can then be spent on supervised computer lab time or learning other skills. The offerings on this sub-domain are only a small portion of of many that we have developed to contribute to that level of change.
We sought to produce user-centric Software solutions for "Real World Use", as well as Education.
Our software solutions have been designed to decommission the current Small Business Accounting Software Vendors. They are also meant to eliminate many other software, education, and consulting service providers involved in personal efficiency management and programming education. Most of the current vendors are producing software and educational solutions good for their bottom line more so than those they serve. Most larger competitors entering the marketplace are thinking about buyouts and/or sellouts before they've figured out if the actual needs of users and students have actually been met by the capitalists yet. When you see "what can work with no ongoing costs" for most Small Business users for life, in solutions that could have been offered decades ago, an "ah ha" moment should arrive. What our software lacks in flashy, it makes up for in function in many ways. In addition, the technical documents for the software, including detailed code examples and explanations for the expanded functionality are world class.
We sought to provide you with a personal experience that enabled you to understand our education and software problems in a bold way. We wanted you to be able to feel the problems, not just talk about them. Hopefully our offerings provide that experience.
90% of the information on this website could have been published and presented in a similar fashion decades ago. That gives rise to questions like, "Why wasn't this provided decades ago, Who has been writing and controlling the curriculum and What was their goal? " Many of us who are older are familiar with Pink Floyd and educational system concerns. Most, however, don't yet understand the level to which the technology education opportunities that arose after Pink Floyd were suppressed as well. Technology Controllers relied on a deeper air of confusion to implement next level suppression, and as of 2024, that has now been transpiring for over 20 years. Hopefully, with this education, you can come to realize the level to which our newer educational problems were engineered, and not a a function of happenstance or due to lack of useful technology either.
If you like our approach to education, software, or industry disruption, please express that via financial contributions inline with the value you gain from our offerings or your appreciation for our approach to properly serving consumer needs and commercial change. Please tell others about us as well.
This is about a Revival
We are seeking to revive the losing constituency from the 1980's who felt higher education should be community supported and affordable, and that computer software should be open sourced and donation based. Doing this requires socially organized financial support from communities and Big Commerce to keep talented developers leading the pack with properly aligned incentives. If that rings a bell, this is for you.
Such a shift requires rethinking everything about capitalism models, monetary systems based on debt issuance, and individual contributions to GDP as the only factor worthy of investing. However, we believe it's worth it.
For Technologists from the 1980's and 1990's who might like to participate in the technology and software portion of this, the stand alone Visual Basic, Fox Pro, and MS Access applications were the model for these software solutions, but with many modern twists.
Most technologists have seen "software" attempted with spreadsheets before. Some may have even seen an elaborate system or two, but few saw any with database programming standards so well woven in.
Worksheets are the Graphical User Interface (GUI), obviously. We do all relational database work with intrinsic spreadsheet functions, not scripts. The scripts are not as reliable, they have other limitations, and scripts would make it spreadsheet platform specific. We limit scripting to functionality for things like automated pdf generation, saving and emailing of portions of workbooks, file and folder manipulations, and many other cool things all modern cloud (spreadsheet) software can do.
NOTE: there is no "updating" of software solutions as was available in the prior distributables. It's not software in that since. These are stand alone software templates with a very unique bang. With benefits come drawbacks, but we feel this is where we need to be to provide the balance that is missing today.
We are presenting a new paradigm for programming opportunities. It was designed to open up entrepreneurship and offset those opportunities diminished in the past 20 years.
To prove our worth, we've provided Business and Technology Education and Software here that is novel, and beyond what any can initially imagine. We've pursued a strategy to maximize market reach, not profitability. The proof of our potential is in the pudding.
The 1980s as a Point of Entry
In the 1980's, the Accounting, General Business, and Data Computing Education was cleaner but not clean. It was better due to the lack of "futz-i-fication" of the software privatizers. The Software Privatizers won the "public property vs privatization" software dispute. After they won, they needed to cloud business and technology education further for their own long term benefits. Thus, to properly revive this open source technology thought, we are having to "un-futz" a large portion of the entire Education Industry too.
The Commercial Education available here is startling. It's short and dense. It takes minutes and hours to obtain what is splattered across semesters and years in formal education.
The Technology Education available here goes far beyond what any can initially imagine. A new genre of "cloud spreadsheet based software" combined with a desire to maximize market reach, not profitability, has produced "big bang" style results.
We've combined newer "cloud" spreadsheet technology with older relational database design techniques to create a new "genre" of software with loosely defined "software development standards". These standards should be recognizable quickly worldwide.
Software Development standards are important for usability, maintainability, and customization of stand alone systems. Standards are something that often get mired in group think if a smaller group of professionals fails to get them over an initial hump, as has transpired here already.
New users can learn to use these newer software solutions in minutes and be done with technology learning, as long as there is a little community support available when they need it. Those interested in use only can then learn technology nuance over time, if that's of interest.
However, for those interested in learning how the software works out of curiosity, for customization needs, or for other commercial reasons, learning about the underlying technology is only minutes or hours away. Not days, weeks or months.
Our software solutions expose users to spreadsheet literacy, cloud spreadsheet literacy, relational data, relational databases, relational database design theory, relational database functionality in spreadsheets, spreadsheet equations, graphical user interface design, javascript, google script, a commercial programming interface, and much more.
When the best of the 1980's is combined with the best the 2020's have to offer for individuals and small business, and it's offered from adults who were the teens toiling in garages during the first digital revolution, the sky is limitless. The stars and moon are magnificent but there is much more to explore too.
Sales Systems can be Manual or Digital Systems
"Sales Systems" are one of the two required systems all Small Businesses need in order to manage the Accounting and Financial portion of their business. The other required system is a "Bookkeeping System".
We suggest learning about Sales Systems first. They are straight forward with data and data management education that is generic and broad. It's fun to think about bringing money into one's life. The nature of data relationships learned about in sales systems can be seen in a Bookkeeping System, but it has some technical nuances that make it harder to understand what is universal and what is application specific without a more direct primer. Bookkeeping systems also focus on money going out, not money coming, and while that is a requirement, it's less fun unless the money coming in minus the money going out still leaves a handsome amount.
Sales Systems track the sales of a business and assist with invoice , statement and receipt generation. They also need to provide some level of aggregated reporting. Many have to offer other functionality too, but that is based on individual business needs.
Sales Systems can be manual or digital.
This day in age, most aspiring to learn about this information presumes everything is supposed to be digital, when in fact, for some people, manual systems may still be better.
In this curriculum, we describe both manual and digital systems. We define the functionality a Sales Systems is supposed to provide. This will give you an idea of how it was done and can still be done manually, and it will help you decide if and when a manual system is a better fit for a given situation.
As a side note, a portion of the Paycheck Stub is in fact a "Sales System" for an employee. They aren't thought of that way because the employer is creating them instead of the employee, but functionally, that is what the first portion of every stub represents. Employees sell their time to employers. They receive money and other benefits for that sale. In that regard, it's easier to see how 1) everyone needs to learn about sales systems and 2) most have been engaging with them without even knowing it.
Sales System Software
The Sales System Software we offer is created in Google Sheets using technologically correct relational database schemas and strategies. This "genre" of database systems in spreadsheets we offer is new. We pioneered it.
Our Sales System Software Templates are free, open source and very customizable. What they lack in "flashy" due to spreadsheet platform limitations, they make up for with cost, customization capabilities, and overall functionality, believe it or not.
There is a difference between using Education and Technology for your benefit and understanding it. One need not fully understand the technology methodology to benefit, but seeking to understand it may lead to unforeseeable benefits in other aspects of one's life.
If all you want to do is to learn about Sales Systems, learn about Manual and Digital Systems and then explore our Software to reinforce understanding about the required and optional components of a system, you are in the right place.
If you are in it for a bit more technology education, or interested in using software for your real world application, we have real treats in store for you. You get immersive exposure to Spreadsheets, Cloud Spreadsheets, Relational Data, Database Design, JavaScript Programming, Google Script, Cloud computing, a commercial programming console and much more in a matter of minutes. Of greatest interest for some should be the powerful scripts used to email data in a cool way. This has been created so you can get your toes wet, walk in up to your waste, or dive in, all at your own pace. This isn't an all or nothing design. It's been designed to support gradual and progressive interest.
For some individuals, our general education combined with the software we are offering may save you $1,000's, $10,000's, and even $100,000's over a 40 year small business career. This isn't a sales pitch as we are selling little to nothing. This is a fact that is meant as call to action. There are other ways to do education and business.
No one has seen this level of value provided in education and software prior. Nothing remotely close has been published prior, and that was not an accident. That suppression had to be by design, and that should become easier to see when you realize what's been prepared for you. Much of this could have been done decades ago. Instead of trying to sell you on what we offer, we provide it all to you. As you grow to recognize it, and appreciate it for what it is over time, please contribute financially, so we can produce more.
A very viable alternative to QuickBooks for Invoicing and Statement Generation
Most small businesses currently using QuickBooks for invoicing and statements can likely save time, money and headache with our offerings, but it will take a small mental shift to benefit because we are a "publisher of curriculum and software", not a "software vendor".
The largest difference there is related to "technical support". While we don't offer it, you won't need it like you might imagine now. Most of you are trapped in a paradigm that was intended to require technical support, instead of one designed to minimize or eliminate it. Requiring you to depend on them is a marketing trick, not a sign of good software.
In healthy software systems you are not dependent on your software vendor , you are not beholden to them, and you are NOT supposed to be sharing your data with them, whenever that can be avoided.
To address these requirements for a proper software to human relationship, we've developed our open source software in a way that any person with technical skills can provide support, and anyone seeking to be self sufficient can learn how to do it that way as well. Furthermore, the platform we provide instructions on does automatic file backups, so you can't mess things up too bad without a fall back you can use for self recovery at any time. If you choose to learn with ours but select another platform, one of the first things you'll need to do is think about a saving routine for yourself, if that other platform doesn't auto save. Beyond that, you are free to roam.
Integrated Credit Card Processing vs Separate Credit Card Processing
Some people have become addicted to invoicing systems that include an integrated link for payments and auto updates to their invoices when digital payments are made. Those systems are convenient but they also tie you to software unnecessarily. They get you to forget that semi-automated systems might only take a few seconds to update, and that process might provide data integrity, customer service, and customer retention benefits you forget about over time.
For many small businesses, keeping your credit card processing separate from your software is a benefit. It allows you to change software or payment vendors without being required to change the other, if the software vendor or their processing service becomes too pricey or dysfunctional. The term used by software vendors when they can get you to commit to both integrated together when it's not in your best interest is "STICKY". When you go all with a sticky vendor, they know they can make more changes and increase rates more, with less concern for your departure because they got you "stuck to them". In general, "sticky" is something you want to try to avoid as a consumer of software and credit card services. It's hard these days as some of it looks so appealing, but the underside if it typically more like a "glue trap" than a human benefit.
What most people in small business need, is 1) a sales system and 2) a payment link that allows a consumer to enter the amount owed and pay for the products or services that way. A simple "online cashier". Those can be integrated with any manual or digital invoicing system easily. On the invoice you print a website address that is easy to type into a computer for payment. If you are invoicing by email, in the outbound email, a link to the online cashier of your choice can be provided. When they make a payment, an email is sent to you. From that email you then update your system with a payment journal record. It really can be that simple. We can identify companies doing $500,000 to $1M in sales that work this way. They likely work this way because it's actually a lower cost to them and it provides simple controls for modifying payments with no unnecessary fuss.
At this time we are reaching out to the major online processors to find those who offer ways to create "online cashiers" for companion credit card processing system. One way you can benefit us is by using our referral links if/when you sign up for those systems. Eventually may offer our own private branded version of one of those, so you can proudly promote our work when collecting money for your work, but that is a step away right now.
A QuickBooks Summary Statement that most might find shocking...
Quickbooks was not developed by accounting professionals. It was developed by software programmers with limited accounting understanding who were trying to fill a mysterious market void after 15 years of intentionally avoiding it themselves. The story is really quite interesting and quite revealing. It explains how they became a monopoly via marketing prowess, not proper technology. On this website, somewhere, you will find more about that story in detail. It makes for a wonderful and fascinating short story. We don't provide a link for it, as we want you to have look for it a bit to find it, but trust us, it's around here somewhere and quite a fun read. For those who haven't used Quickbooks or haven't used it enough to realize it's them not you, do an internet search for "Quickbooks Sucks" or "I hate Quickbooks". The posts in their own forums are some of the most revealing. Learn from those before you. They've been screaming for 20 years. This education and these solutions were designed to help recall them from detours that arose in the mid 1980s while supporting those trying to learn for a first time about money, accounting and finance in challenging times.
Best Wishes
This has been a work in process for many years. Truth be told it's been a work in process for decades now, with a growing gaggle of silent supporters that have been marvelous to engage with. It's been fun to watch it grow. Hopefully you, dear reader, can now benefit more in many new and cool ways too.