BCL Soft teaches the Los Angeles Unified School District how to barter
BCL Soft is pleased to announce that its Barter21 software is being used by the Los Angeles Unified School District as their trading platform. Barter21 has been customized to fit the needs of the patent pending Vorsetrade system, a system of barter designed specifically for schools and other large organizations with surplus assets.
The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the United States with over 900,000 students, will now be able to move surplus assets efficiently and with little expense.
Scot Vorse, president and founder of Vorsetrade, had an idea – get public schools trading their excess inventory, such as desks, chairs, or textbooks for the items that they need. Instead of doing a direct trade, they can barter with their own internal credits. This is a barter exchange with a real twist. The LAUSD figured this could be a way to smartly reallocate resources that were sitting in storage.
Mr. Vorse came to BCL Soft to see if the existing Barter21 software could be modified to some very unique specifications. So instead of starting from scratch and taking several years to develop, modifications to the existing and very robust Barter21 software took only a few months to complete.
Schools in the LAUSD can now put up their “for sale” items onto a trading floor. Items for sale are approved by the school district and made available for purchase, not with cash but with barter credits, to the other schools in the LAUSD. So instead of having too many student chairs and holding them in storage, a school can now “sell” the excess chairs and use the barter credits to buy the desks they need.
For the 2011 – 2012 school year, the budget for the LAUSD is approximately $7 billion. The potential savings to the LAUSD could be in the millions of dollars. Plans are in the works to take the Vorsetrade system to other school districts. Large budget or small, this system can potentially save a school district a lot of money.
Barter21 by BCL Soft is the fastest growing barter and trade exchange management software in the industry. The patent pending Vorsetrade application of this versatile software is positioned to help school districts across the country save money while still getting exactly what they need to provide a better education for students. With more and more school budgets being cut, schools are learning what businesses have known for years – barter allows a school, business, or anyone to get the goods and services they need without spending precious cash.
For more information about the Vorsetrade System or Barter21 Software, call Catherine Cohen of BCL Soft at 623-242-2537 or email cat@bclsoft.com.
read moreSwipecards Are A Thing Of The Past
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First Mobile App For The Barter Industry
Barter21 introduced the first and only true mobile app for the barter industry.
BCL Soft Releases Industry’s First Mobile App
BCL Soft held its first “Conference within a Conference” on October 28, 2010 at the 31st Annual IRTA International Conference. Barter21 software users and prospective users came from as far away as China to learn about Barter21 and our newest feature.
While swipe cards have been an industry buzz word for years, there has never been an effective or viable solution for using membership cards to process barter transactions…Until now.
Swipe Cards? You Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Swipe Cards
2D Bar Codes are the next generation of bar coding and Barter21 software has taken advantage of this technology along with the technology of Android and iPhones. Barter21 now has a true mobile application that allows exchange owners, brokers, and members to view and search the directory, view and purchase from the Trading Floor, review account balances, and post transactions using a membership card with a 2D bar code. No swipe cards needed!
BCL Soft researched the swipe card feature for Barter21 software since our launch 19 months ago. And we always came to the same conclusion – the cost is prohibitive and not every business in your exchange has a swipe box for their merchant account. And most businesses don’t want to change merchant processors or cannot add programming to their swipe box. Plus those additional swipe fees can really add up.
With so few exchange members that have actual credit card swipe boxes and with the expense of supplying members with swipe card readers for your members, BCL Soft looked for a better and more universal way to read a membership card to process transactions.
Mobile Apps and QR Codes
BCL Soft has incorporated a type of 2D bar code known as a QR Code into our true mobile app – the first mobile app in the barter software industry. A QR code can be printed on anything from a membership card to a simple business card or a gift certificate. A QR code can even be sent via email and you can read it right on your computer screen.
Barter21′s new mobile app allows your members to download a program to their Android device or iPhone*. With this application (app) your member can log in to the app, scan the buyer’s membership card, and process the transaction. It’s easier than taking picture with your phone.
Questions or comments? Want a demonstration? Please call us at 623-242-2537 or info@bclsoft.com.
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Service is Key to Success. Accusations are Key to Failure
When you go into business for yourself, there’s going to be competition. Either you’ve come up with a great new idea and others create their version and follow you. Or, like Barter21, you’ve made improvements on existing products or services and now you’re the bad guy.
In his book “The Science of Getting Rich, ” Wallace D. Wattles instructs us to “pass from the competitive mind to the creative mind.” But what does that mean?
The barter business, like most businesses can get very competitive. Instead, in whatever business you’re in, try to be creative instead of competitive.
As a software provider, BCL Soft, along with professional associations such as IRTA (the International Reciprocal Trade Association), part of our job is to present information about barter to businesses. Through blogs, videos and other social media BCL Soft makes your job of explaining what barter is all about easier for you. We need to become creative in order to help promote a universal message – barter is good for business.
When you service your customers, bring them more information (knowledge is power) and help them increase their profits, you increase your profits. And you make things better for your entire industry. That’s what BCL Soft always strives to do.
Unfortunately, many business owners never move “from the competitive to the creative mind.” When your business becomes creative it becomes successful. Be glad in your success and be glad in the success of others. When exchanges do well and publicize it, that brings up all the exchanges and the barter industry as a whole.
Sadly, there are still businesses out there, in barter and in all industries, that think the best way to get ahead is to accuse their competition. “When in doubt, create false accusations,” seems to be their motto.
Work with your barter software provider, your professional organization (IRTA or NATE) and other exchanges to present positive messages about our great industry. And when someone else is doing well, don’t accuse them of being unethical or unprofessional if they aren’t. (That makes you look unprofessional.) Instead, look at what makes them a success and then mimic and improve on it. That’s what Barter21 is all about. That is how the creative mind succeeds.
read moreA Business That Thrives in Tough Times? Look to Barter
PHOENIX, AZ — (MARKETWIRE) — 08/25/10 –
When the economy takes a nosedive, few businesses have anywhere to go but down. They struggle to sell their products or services, are forced to eliminate staff and, ultimately, may end up closing their doors forever. But one industry remains a force to be reckoned with, even in the worst economic climate: barter exchanges.
“We’re one of the few businesses that actually thrives during an economic downturn,” says Catherine Cohen, CEO and marketing director for BCL Soft, a company that offers barter exchange management software and specializes in helping new exchanges get established. “And we also lend a helping hand to other businesses that are fighting to survive by saving them cash, increasing their profits and decreasing their cost of doing business.”
Entrepreneurs evaluating potential business opportunities face several options: starting from scratch, purchasing an existing business, becoming a franchisee or joining a multi-level marketing (MLM) business. While the safety of an established franchise may be enticing and the promise of residual income that comes with MLMs seems irresistible, Cohen would argue that barter groups have a leg up on the competition.
“With barter, you’re in business for yourself, but not by yourself,” she says. “The start-up cost is low, you don’t answer to a corporation or franchise, and we give you the tools you need to run a successful barter exchange. You’re not forced to get your friends and family to use some ‘miracle’ product. You are working with existing businesses to help them conserve cash and attract more customers.”
As anyone who’s used a barter exchange knows, the software is the tool that makes all the difference. “Our software, Barter21, is a ready-to-deploy barter and trade application,” says Barry Cohen, COO of BCL Soft. “This cutting-edge trading platform, developed by Luther Monson, our chief technical officer, allows clients to easily run their exchange and increase transactions both within and outside their exchange members. It features on-demand bartering with an online trading floor as well as a real-time directory and search information. This easy-to-navigate solution is all you’ll ever need to run and manage your exchange.”
BCL Soft not only provides the Barter21 exchange platform, but also teaches clients how to use the software, how to train their staff, answers questions around the clock, helps with IRS forms, offers tips to gain membership and provides marketing materials.
For more information, visit www.bclsoft.com
Barry Cohen 623.242.2537 info@bclsoft.com
WOW – You got nothin’ good so you make stuff up…
Recently my Google alerts informed me that another barter exchange management software did their entire blog on comparing our software to theirs. Which is fair enough, I’ve done that blog too…except he wasn’t comparing software. He wasn’t showing feature for feature or saying “look, our design and layout is easy to use and easy to understand.”
Instead this apparently rather insecure “developer” (who doesn’t have development staff but rather hires out as he can afford to) went after the number of members in certain categories.
Confused? So were we. Because let’s face it, BCL Soft’s Barter21 product has only been in existence 2 plus years. But in that short amount of time we have more features, are easier to use and yes, we don’t have as many exchanges as our competitor who has been around for nearly 10 years.
But our numbers are catching up and the old boys network is getting worried. So they produce numbers that can be faked or exaggerated. We know because before we were a software provider, we were a user of these other software companies. We saw how numbers were manipulated.
Even worse, we get calls from users and former users of certain other barter exchange software management providers asking for our help because of deceptive and sometimes illegal practices.
Now understand we are not talking about everyone. Most exchange management solutions are run by helpful, sophisticated, PROFESSIONAL people and don’t do illegal things. But the calls we here at the BCL Soft offices include such gems as, “I suspect so And so Likely hAs beeN reading my emails. Is there any way to check?” Sure enough we look at this person’s account and low and behold, “so and so” made himself an administrator and had access to all the emails going through that account.
Another panicked call came from an exchange owner who got shut down for no apparent reason by his provider. My colleague in the barter in Did not botheR to bAck up as suGgested before Now. He thought when he announced a switch to a new software, the provider would act in a professional manner. He did not. Even though this exchange owner felt another software was able to meet his needs more completely than we were, because we are professionals, because we don’t do illegal things and because we want to clean up this industry, we helped out as much as we could.
So when you read about a software provider resting on laurels that don’t really mean anything, dig deeper for the real story. You might be shocked at what you find. Or, like we did here at the BCL Soft office, you might just shrug it off. Because if you have nothing good about our product that you can talk about, then a little song, a little dance might not let people see you for who you really are. Isn’t that right Mr. So and So?
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BCL Soft Announces Barter21 Enhancements
Industry-first upgrade designed to substantially increase trade volume
PHOENIX, AZ — April 26, 2010 — BCL Soft (http://www.bclsoft.com) has released a major update their popular Barter21 barter exchange management software. A complete change from the barter industry standard software, these enhancements are designed to help increase trade volume. “We are making it easier for members of the exchanges using our software to find not only the products or services they were looking for, but also to find complementary products and services,” said CTO and Lead Programmer Luther Monson. “Whether searching through the Member Directory or looking on the click-to-purchase Trading Floor, the new layout and design associates similar items, leading to increased barter activity.” In addition to those layout and functionality changes, barter exchange owners now have the capability to select and rotate featured items throughout their website, enabling them to move and promote items that could otherwise sit idle.
A Different Way to Think About Business Categories
Barter21 has always been an industry leader in their approach to business categories. They were the first software to match Member Directory and Trading Floor categories, making it easier on both members and exchange brokers to place businesses into the Directory and items and services onto the Trading Floor. And in a new twist, rather than adding more categories that are very specific, Barter21 has substantially reduced the number of categories and made each heading much broader. This is contradictory to the industry norm for barter exchange management software. “Placing a member into a broader category rather than multiple categories that are very specific gives them the greater exposure. Rather than a specific category like ‘Italian Restaurant’ we’ve put all the restaurants together into one category. So for the exchange that does not yet have an Italian Restaurant perhaps their member will choose another place to eat in the same category. Instead of a lost sale, all the members will get greater exposure. Greater exposure leads to more sales and trade volume. More trade volume means greater profits for the barter exchange.” said Barry Cohen, COO of BCL Soft.
Catherine Cohen, CEO of BCL Soft, continued, “The combined power of a redesigned Trading Floor, a more robust Member Directory that shows not only the member information but items that member has on the Trading Floor, and a more intuitive category structure is sure to have a positive impact. The members will have greater ease of use and that will reflect well on the bottom line of barter exchanges using the Barter21 platform.”
Launched in February, 2009, Barter21 is the fastest growing barter exchange management software in the modern Barter & Trade industry. Barter21 specializes in assisting start-up exchanges as well as being able to handle the greater trade volume of established exchanges.
read moreIt’s so hard to be right all the time…
In two weeks a majority of your members will be paying their taxes to Uncle Sam if they haven’t already. One of the things included in their tax package should be a 1099B form from you, their wonderful barter exchange. The question is, dear barter exchange owner; did you send out the 1099B form correctly this year? Is the software you are using or the software provider you are subscribing to getting everything right for you and your members? Are you risking an IRS audit because you have blind faith in your software provider or your current software program?
Here at the BCL Soft offices, a number of exchange owners had called us back in February, after the 10909B forms were sent out, with complaints from their members who are sole proprietors. Especially from those sole proprietors that are also a member of other exchanges including big ones like (fill in the blank).
Is your barter exchange still taking the word of someone else rather than doing the research yourself on how a 1099B form should be completed? The biggest mistake in preparing a 1099B form is with sole proprietors. The next biggest mistake is that some organizations believe that corporations do not get a 1099B form.
This is just plain wrong.
The penalty for intentional disregard is $100 per transaction, with no maximum penalty. Now if you have five sole proprietors in your barter exchange, that does not mean that your fine is only $500. If you sent each of those sole proprietors only one tax return but each of those companies actually did 100 transactions each – that means you should have sent out 500 1099B forms to those members. And 500 incorrect 1099B forms times $100 per form equals a total fine of $50,000.
I’m sure you know…
A 1099B is different than a 1099 form. All members that did even one sale, no matter how small the sale, must get a 1099B. Every business entity gets a 1099B, including corporations. Also, for your sole proprietors a 1099B for each transaction must be sent. Cumulative 1099B forms can only be sent to LLC’s and corporations. Still don’t believe me? BCL Soft did the research, checked with the IRS, we did our homework. YES, a sole proprietor must get a form FOR EACH TRANSACTION. They cannot get a cumulative form. Barter21 software happens to be doing it right.
But if you still don’t believe us, or more likely if you are concerned that your members will be complaining, here’s the proof.
Excerpt from:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=215975,00.html
Barter Exchange Transactions
Exchanges occurring through a barter exchange are reported to IRS on Form 1099-B and show the value of cash, property, services, credits or scrip added to your account by the barter exchange.
Record-keeping and accounting for barter exchange transactions is basically the same as for direct barter transactions except that you are taxed on the value of the credit units added to your account even though you may not actually receive goods or services from other exchange members until a later year. You will have additional help in determining the taxable bartering amount by information reporting from the barter exchange.
Barter exchanges record all transactions and report them to the IRS on Forms 1099-B. The value of trade dollars received for your products or services must be included in gross income for the tax year in which they are credited to your account. If your business is a corporation, you will receive one aggregate Form 1099-B annually.
If you are a partnership, individual or a sole proprietor, you will receive a Form 1099-B from the exchange for each barter transaction with a value of $1 or more.
1099B reporting is the most important thing a barter exchange has to do according to the IRS. Not reporting correctly is not just an inconvenience, it is an expense that can destroy your business.
Barter exchanges that have been using Barter21 exchange management software have always been completely compliant with IRS regulations. Not every software company can say that. If you want to be sure that your barter exchange is IRS compliant, use Barter21 exchange management software.
Launched in February 2009, Barter21 is the best barter exchange management software in the industry. For more information on how Barter21 software can help run your barter exchange, please call Catherine Cohen at 623–242–2537 extension 101.
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Established Exchanges & Barter Industry Professionals Move to Barter21 Software
Utah Trading Company is a more recent barter exchange to use Barter21 software. Owner Graham Norris, formerly the owner of ITEX Utah and one time ITEX president, recently launched his new barter exchange. Mr. Norris’s choice to use Barter21 software for his exchange further legitimizes BCL Soft as the new industry software leader.
Barter industry veteran Ron Keister chose Barter21 software for a new project he has created called Corporate Connection which deals primarily in the hospitality industry.
Just over six months ago, BCL Soft’s Barter21 product attracted its first well-established exchange when Scot Mathewson moved iTtrade Earth to Barter21. A few months later, Annette Riggs of Corporate Connect, moved her barter exchange to the Barter21 software platform. Both Mr. Mathewson and Ms. Riggs are using Barter21 as a standalone product.
In late January of this year, LeeAnn Busman of Barter Consultants International asked BCL Soft to make several changes to the Barter21 platform in order to bring her exchange to Barter21. A large and well-established exchange of over 2500 members, BCI has brokers, sales staff, and licensees. Within three weeks, BCL soft was able to make the changes required by BCI, something no other barter exchange management software company was able to do for them.
Since December 2010, 18 Barter exchanges have started using or switched to Barter21 software. These exchanges are using varying levels of Barter 21, from a simple trading floor account to our complete management system with a professional account. Barter21 is truly the fastest growing choice in barter exchange software management.
BCL Soft owners Barry Cohen, Catherine Cohen and Luther Monson developed Barter21 with the needs of barter exchange owners and barter exchange members in mind. “When an exchange owner comes to us with an idea or need we do our best to include it in our already robust functionality,” says lead developer Luther Monson. “We are always looking at ways to incorporate the best ideas of barter industry professionals into our software to make our software better for everyone using it.”
Launched in February 2009, Barter21 is the best barter exchange management software in the industry. For more information on how Barter21 software can help run your barter exchange, please call Catherine Cohen at 623–242–2537 extension 101.
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