Your omputer systems should do two things:  1) help you get the job done and 2) provide useful management information that underpins decisions. For instance, in a project tracking system, recording the status of each project and the date that it changed can create a simple traffic-light system that shows at a glance where things are going awry. Extrapolating from the specific to the general: All businesses can be thought of as a series of flows and balances (or pipes and buckets if you prefer). Management information tracks the speed of these flows, the volume of flow and the level in the buckets.  Examples of flow volume are number of new enquiries per day, value of invoices issued per month or, in my client’s case, projects completed per week.  Examples of flow speed are average project duration, sales lead-time or quote turnaround time.  Examples of levels are debtors, or quote bank, or cash in the bank. Every part of your business can be thought of in this way....