By David Wylie/contributor

A Kelowna entrepreneur has his head in the cloud.

Simon Shaw, founder and CEO of Kelowna-based tech company Bean Cruncher, wants to completely revolutionize the way accounting is done.

sa国际传媒淭he idea itself was many years in the making. Itsa国际传媒檚 me, itsa国际传媒檚 my experiences,sa国际传媒� says Shaw. sa国际传媒淗onestly, I was tired of apologizing to people for software that just wasnsa国际传媒檛 working. I thought to myself, sa国际传媒楬ey, I can build something that will fill the gaps.sa国际传媒�

Bean Cruncher was born.

Shawsa国际传媒檚 background is at the curious crossroad of commerce and coding. Hesa国际传媒檚 a chartered accountant who has been a computer programmer for 35 years. Hesa国际传媒檚 merged the two talents and created a unique customizable accounting software that operates in the cloud.

The company has customers all over the world, including Africa and Australia.

Shaw launched version 2.0 at the end of July. Itsa国际传媒檚 a complete behind-the-scenes overhaul to the source code.

Shaw says this update pushes Bean Cruncher well beyond the boundaries of whatsa国际传媒檚 on the market.

Kelowna business owner Ryan Deacon came to the launch party at the Kelowna Yacht Club to learn more about how the software takes advantage of cloud-based computing. His web design business, Oracast, is spread out across two provinces.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e got a business partner in Alberta and we both need access to the books,sa国际传媒� he says. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e been looking for a cloud-based solution for a while.sa国际传媒�

More and more businesses have locations across different cities, provinces and countries, says Shaw, and keeping accounting available to all in the cloud is the most elegant solution.

sa国际传媒淵ou can use it on any device,sa国际传媒� he says. sa国际传媒淔or example, you have your employees file field reports from their phone that includes locations, times and photos. One employee could use the software on a business trip across the world, while another uses it back at the office.sa国际传媒�

Chem Tec West, which was Bean Crunchersa国际传媒檚 first customer, uses the software to track inventory across four warehouses.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e able to track inventory at all times,sa国际传媒� says Chem Tec West CEO Les Weiss. sa国际传媒淚 can look at my inventory, I can look at my receivables, I can look at my bottom line any time and see how the company is doing.sa国际传媒�

In a way, Bean Cruncher is a testament to the power of small business.

Some of the pieces of the puzzle came to Shaw after he was asked to create an accounting solution from scratch for a large company. The big business had initially hired a large firm to do the work, but after a year, there still wasnsa国际传媒檛 a workable solution.

Carola Daiber, who worked with Shaw, said within two weeks he had a workable solution in place. Over time, he refined his software.

sa国际传媒淭he savings are huge,sa国际传媒� says Daiber. sa国际传媒淵ou can take a small company and be very lean. Simon is all about customizing sa国际传媒� and the big companies say they will, but they cansa国际传媒檛.sa国际传媒�

Visit Bean Cruncher on the web at .