APR 2026 | Vol.39 | No.3
THE VOICE OF THE GREATER ROCKFORD BUSINESS COMMUNITY
MODERN BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY Are you still doing your accounting on an abacus? By Alex Campbell, Morrissey Family Businesses Imagine running your company’s accounting on an abacus—rows of wooden beads sliding back and forth, every calculation done by hand, every number recorded manually. It sounds ridiculous in today’s business environment. But if your invoices are still typed in one at a time, your receipts pile up waiting to be coded, and your financial reports take weeks to assemble, your process may not be as modern as you think. Take a moment and look at how work actually moves through your accounting process. • Are invoices still being entered by hand? • Are receipts sitting in folders waiting to be coded? • Do financial reports arrive long after the decisions they should inform?
If so, the accounting function may be working far harder than it needs to. Most businesses wouldn’t tolerate outdated tools anywhere else. Manufacturers upgrade equipment to improve productivity. Retailers modernize their point-of-sale systems. Service companies invest in technology that helps their teams operate more efficiently. Yet in many organizations, accounting workflows have remained largely unchanged for decades. And when that happens, talented people spend their time recording transactions instead of interpreting them. One of the most important functions in a business becomes focused on recording the past rather than helping leadership navigate the future. Which raises an important question: Is your accounting function helping lead the business
forward, or is it still operating somewhere between a spreadsheet and an abacus? Modern Tools Change the Workflow When people think about modernizing accounting, they often focus first on software. But the real opportunity is usually not the software itself, it’s the workflow. Modern accounting platforms can automate many of the routine tasks that once consumed hours of staff time. Bank transactions can import automatically. Bills can be routed electronically for approval instead of circulating on paper. Expense receipts can be captured with a photo instead of stored in a shoebox or envelope. These may seem like small improvements, but collectively they remove a surprising amount of administrative friction from an CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
DESIGN BY THE NUMBERS
How math makes graphic design work By Corey Fraley, Heinzeroth Marketing Group Many years ago, during my first week with Heinzeroth Marketing Group, the staff took me out to lunch. It was both a welcoming gesture and a get to know the new guy exercise. During the outing, I was given a questionnaire. This was nothing hard hitting, just a Q&A to learn a little something about me. One of the questions stood out, because it was funny and a little insulting: “What is your favorite book? Or do you not read, because you’re a graphic designer?” In my case, this perceived stereotype was spot on. I don’t have a favorite book, and I’m not much of a reader. Of the foundational
skills of education—reading, writing and arithmetic (often called the “three Rs”)— reading has always been of little interest to me. I’d like to believe that I can fake my way through a writing assignment (I might be doing that right now), but it certainly isn’t my strongest skill. And, technically, I’m no mathematician either. But as a graphic designer, I actually am in many ways. It’s understandable that one might be confused by that assertion. Math and art, or graphic design for this discussion, operate in two disconnected worlds, right? While graphic design is largely
based in creativity, math does play an important role. In fact, math is fundamental to graphic design, acting as a support system for basic principles like balance, proportion, perspective, and symmetry. And it’s an ever-present guide for layout composition, grid systems, typography decisions, and logo development. Here are a few ways math influences design: Layout Composition The overall composition of a page layout is determined by a series of mathematical CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
IN THIS ISSUE CONTEXT AND ANALYTICS
By Andria Sykaluk, R1 Page 7
BUILDING A RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS By Sarene Alsharif, Tad More Tailoring Page 15
FORECASTING FLAVOR
By Michael Freeman, LaMonica Beverages Page 19
MATH AS A CONSTRUCTION TOOL By Paul Nolley, Project First Rate Page 22
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