Question:
Your description of the software sounds great, but tell me, what won't the software do?
Answer:
Good question. Most other software products are good at telling what they will do, but hardly ever mention what they will not do. We do not want to waste your time or ours, so we are going to tell you.
ZeBud does not:
a.) provide for the use of multiple currencies (Uses a single full-integer currency, i.e. US$, CD$, British Pounds).
b.) provide for 13 period accounting (Uses 12 calendar months).
c.) provide for multiple versions of the same budget. (Do you really want to subject your users to the confusion of multiple versions of their input? Which version will they save as the final version?) You can however, create an additional set(s) of budget data tables to create a variable budget or alternative budget. Actuals can be imported into these additional data tables to measure budget to actual variances for multiple budget plans. Changes to the budget can be made at any time by the budget manager, or "write-enable" permission can be granted to users on a department by department basis.
ZeBud is not:
d.) a modeling system to test various budget scenarios. (You do not use your general ledger as a modeling tool, so you should not expect to use ZeBud as a modeling tool.)
e.) a tool to forecast the balance sheet.
f.) an encumbrance accounting tool which monitors specific purchases
g.) a cost accounting system.

Question:
If ZeBud is not a modeling tool, why should I consider it? Other budget software packages claim to be modeling tools.
Answer:
It’s our view that spreadsheets make good modeling tools. Spreadsheet models can be specifically tailored for your organization. We question the usefulness of some of the modeling tools out there. Will they really be applicable to your organization? ZeBud’s strength is its ability to accept input from your department heads and managers to completely document their budget requests, tabulate the results on demand, and to facilitate the review process. Also consider cost. Many other budget programs cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. ZeBud is not a high-cost product. Only you can decide what you really want out of a budget program. ZeBud could be an economical first step towards automating your budget development process. Once you've automated your budget development process, you can decide at a later time to take it to the next level with more expensive and sophisticated software tools. In the meantime, you can be using a familiar desktop set of tools in which you have not invested a significant amount of money.

Question:
Why do you call your product ZeBud?
Answer:
ZeBud is a derivation of the zero budget concept made popular some years back. The original zero budget was a cumbersome process as originally used. The original concept was that every item in the budget should be justified, rather than simply increasing the current budget or actual by some percent to account for inflation or increased spending. ZeBud simplifies the process with a “fill in the blank” approach. Comparative prior year budget amounts are on the budget input data form. The user simply inputs the current year amount with a note of explanation where appropriate or where required by budget policy. New items can be easily added. Items that were present in prior years can be passed over by entering a zero in the current year budget form. The budget can be detailed to whatever extent your organization requires. e.g. your television advertising general ledger account budget could include five different campaigns. The proposed cost for each of the five campaigns can be entered as five entries with separate notes, with the same general ledger budget account. The total budget for that account will of course be the total of the five entries. The organization can demand the details of each item in the budget account be documented by the requesting department, rather than accepting a single input item for the account with important details lacking for each item.

Question:
What about salaries, payroll taxes, insurance, rent, and other such accounts. We do not want detail salaries disclosed in our budget document or budget input. Our department heads and managers have no direct knowledge of insurance and rent. What do we do with those kinds of costs?
Answer:
It’s our view that insurance, rent and other allocation type entries should be reviewed and controlled by the budget manager. Staffing plans should be approved and detailed by the budget manager in spreadsheets. The totals from the spreadsheets can be entered into the budget program to keep the salary details confidential. This is contrary to the normal best use of the program for the other accounts. For most accounts, it should be expected that the details will be entered into the budget program rather than posted to an inaccessible spreadsheet on a department head’s PC. However, confidential budget details such as salaries can be retained within a spreadsheet on the Budget Manager's PC, outside the view of the budget database, and posted in summary by department to ZeBud.

Question:
We’ve been talking about costs, but what about revenue? What about restricted funds for government agencies or non-profit organizations? Or manufacturing costs in the private sector?
Answer:
ZeBud can easily handle these budget items. ZeBud should be set-up with multiple ledgers that reflect your organization’s Operating Statement. There should be one ledger for revenues, cost of sales in the private sector, together with the usual SG&A ledger. Government and non-profit organizations can create separate ledgers for any variety of restricted revenue or expense, as required. Department responsibilities and access can include any number of ledgers.

Question:
For what size organization is ZeBud best suited? How many users can use ZeBud?
Answer:
According to the Microsoft Knowledge Base online (Q208778 page 2), the Access database engine supports up to 255 concurrent users. Users would typically be department heads or managers, resulting in a user count much lower than the maximum. As an example, your sales manager may gather information about projected sales estimates by soliciting information from his sales persons, but we would not view it appropriate to give each sales person direct access to the budget system. Depending on your organization structure, you would probably also give access to a marketing manager or product managers and the division VP. The underlying Access Database should not be a limiting factor in the use of the software. The quality and nature of the network will impact response. NT server networks or Windows 2000 servers are preferred, but any network that supports the Microsoft Suite of office products will work.

Question:
I’ve got one department head that is not computer literate. He’s an important player in the budget process. I cannot exclude him from the data input and collaboration process. What can I do?
Answer:
ZeBud can produce a paper-input form. Give him the printed forms and have someone key the input for him.

Question:
How do I count the number of licenses I need? I have twenty users, but only four or five will use the system at any given time. Can I get by with a ten-user license? Can I install the program on the server?
Answer:
Sorry, the answer is no. The data is installed on the server. The program is installed on each user’s PC. Each PC installation counts as one licensed user. The server does not count. If you are a very small organization and only have a limited number of PC’s which are used by several users in a common work area, then again, the number of PC installations is what counts. We can grant a Special Use License by request if you need to load the program on a Wide Area Network or Metaframe Server for remote locations.