Computerizing the Commodity Trading Business Reprinted from Tea and Coffee Trade Journal The Integrated Solution The Trading Department The Traffic Department The Accounting Department Getting Started A Paperless Office? Powerful Reporting System The computer revolution has transformed the way paper­work is handled in the business world. Commodity companies are taking advantage of this new reality to maintain their competitive edge. New Data Systems, Inc. is a soft­ware company that has developed a specialized business system for commodity trading companies, Com­modity Accounting and Trading Systems (CATS). New Data Systems thinks this is just what your company needs now. Added complexities and rapid price swings make it other­wise almost impossible for manage­ment to stay current with the overall picture of the company. Without integrated software, data from trading is passed man­ually to the traffic department and data from traffic still passes man­ually to the accounting department. Each translation of the company’s activity from department to department loses information, and the result is duplication and even triplica­tion of effort. With each attempt at manual or oral communication, there is wasted time and potential for error. The Integrated Solution New Data Systems Inc. has installed its CATS integrated computerized accounting and trading systems at several well-known commodity importing firms. The prom­ise of this integrated system is that it can be used simultaneously throughout a company with the entered data being available instantaneous­ly in all departments. Each department performs its task, but that information is en­tered once and can be accessed by other departments as they go about their work. CATS systemizes record keeping and enhances a business’s ability to maintain accurate records. The scenario above does not produce a paperless office, but it does improve the value of reports and substantially streamlines the time and expense required to produce them. The Trading Department In the trading room a purchase or sale transaction is entered. Ex­change transactions for hedging and price fixing are also entered. The information automatically generates the appropriate standard contract, which is then edited and printed. Position reports are automatically updated. Exchange and physical commodity values are updated daily. Physicals are valued on a differential basis. The overall trading position is summarized on a single page combining physical and exchange positions with short and long quantities shown as a net result. Separate reports are provid­ed for differential and priced con­tracts. Complete detailed reports by grade position or contract are available. The entire history of every contract is immediately avail­able for on screen review. A buyer or seller history is available for on screen review at a touch of the keyboard while the key phone call is taking place. CATS provides unique flexibility for the user, providing essential information about any contract at a glance. Quantities may be entered as pounds, kilograms or metric tons. Conversion is automatic. Fixed price and differential prices can be used. Provision is made for trans­actions in foreign countries, pricing on a 46Kg basis, partial fixing and other subtleties of trading. A costing module permits quick and accurate estimation of the cost of bringing the commodity to market. A summary report by the traders al­lows accurate estimations without hesitation. Detailed cost break­downs are available for further analysis. CATS systemizes record keeping and enhances a business’s ability to maintain accurate records. The scenario above does not produce a paperless office, but it does improve the value of reports and substantially streamlines the time and expense required to produce them. The Traffic Department The traffic department adds location, shipment information, marks etc. This information trans­fers automatically to invoices. The invoices are then edited, printed and posted. The position is automatically reduc­ed. Inventory reports showing the location of open items may also be printed. Reports of afloat items, or items by warehouse etc. are avail­able. The history of any contract, in­cluding all charges, invoicing and the location of inventory is available on screen or as a printed report. Weight liquidations, price adjustments, and claims are all process­ed and printed through the system. The production of proforma and final invoices is automated. All in­voicing reduces the inventory ap­propriately and impacts the ac­counts receivable and accounts payable appropriately. Invoices can be in pounds, kilograms or metric tons. CATS systemizes record keeping and enhances a business’s ability to maintain accurate records. The scenario above does not produce a paperless office, but it does improve the value of reports and substantially streamlines the time and expense required to produce them. The Accounting Department The accounting department enters the payments against the pur­chase and cash receipts. A report of inventory, marked to market is always available. Profit on futures, on inventory, on sales and on ex­change transactions is calculated. An aged trial balance for receiv­ables and payables is available. Account statements and bank state­ments are printed. Loan statements show the value of collateral and the net position of the loan (collateral and outstanding invoices less the loan balance). Journals provide a complete audit trail for accounting information. Pre-posting reports and extensive error checking help insure accuracy. A trial balance and income state­ment from the CATS program may be printed at any time. Any pay­ment can be made by manual or computer-generated checks. Profit and loss can be reported on a daily basis. Profit on inventory auto­matically takes accounts of ex­pected freight and other costs that have not been received. The esti­mated costs are automatically back­ed out after the actual costs are entered. CATS systemizes record keeping and enhances a business’s ability to maintain accurate records. The scenario above does not produce a paperless office, but it does improve the value of reports and substantially streamlines the time and expense required to produce them. Getting Started The commodity business is complex and years of programming; interac­tion with commodity companies and successful use by these companies has shaped the latest version of CATS. Automation requires a strong commitment from management and good communication skills so that people working with the computer see it as a tool that enhances ­their performance and job skills. The worker becomes more productive while the computer performs the more tedious tasks. The CATS integrated system described here is user friend­ly. Generally, if invalid data is entered, a list of correct choices most similar to the incorrect data pops up for selection. There are help messages and help screens and a consistent interface so that learning one task helps with the next. Once the hardware and software are installed and the staff is trained, history information including accounts, names and ad­dresses, and open contracts must be entered, before current transactions can be entered. Then there will be a period when the new system must be used in parallel with the old system. After two quarters of carefully ­scrutinized performance the business can be switched over to the new system entirely. CATS systemizes record keeping and enhances a business’s ability to maintain accurate records. The scenario above does not produce a paperless office, but it does improve the value of reports and substantially streamlines the time and expense required to produce them. A Paperless Office? CATS protects your information. The computerized system is a manual system that has been automated. The distinguishing feature of the manual system is the penciled ledger books. The computer has the same journals and ledger cards except that they are generated by the computer. Therefore, printed-paper showing every transaction is as accessible when computerized, as it was when an entirely manual system was used. Since journals are printed as soon as current entries are completed, a hard copy of the company's data is always available independent of the operation of the computer. The computer system is backed up daily so that data can be restored corresponding to the close of the previous day. More frequent backups can be performed as desired. CATS systemizes record keeping and enhances a business’s ability to maintain accurate records. The scenario above does not produce a paperless office, but it does improve the value of reports and substantially streamlines the time and expense required to produce them. Powerful Reporting System The reporting needs of the traders and management are automatically generated as a by-product of producing the contracts, invoices and posting the purchase charges and cash transactions. The result is accuracy, consistency and tremendous savings in time. Included with the system are password controls that limit access as required. Reports that simply could not have been produced can now be generated with a few keystrokes. The CATS computerized accounting and trading system can be used for any commodity.		02/10/06-- Email With Mozilla Email your documents from CATS using Mozilla... 12/29/05-- Import eCOPS Marks Effortlessly import marks generated with eCOPS... 11/01/05-- New Contract Revision System Keep track of the changes made to your printed contracts... 09/12/05-- Redesigned Invoice and Contract Lookup Makes searching faster and more efficient... 08/14/05-- Contract Status Flags Added to CATS Tag contracts as Free Trade, Organic, or add your own flags... 07/01/05-- CATS Uses Windows Printer Drivers Making printing from CATS even easier...
			Home  |  Accounting  |  Trading  |  Traffic  |  Features Presentation  |  Request Info  |  Pricing Info  |  FAQ  |  News © Copyright 2008 New Data Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.