current thinking, in which systems of all types are being re-evaluated from the perspectives of price, maintenance, longevity, and also of a wider range of functionality, with emphasis on process control and management information. It is no longer enough for a billing system to bill accurately and swiftly. It must also do this on any fee schedule a customer prefers, deliver an attractive, appropriate invoice, and do other things as well.

Traditional billing software has proved inadequate for the new task, variously described as revenue administration, revenue control, revenue management, etc., all suggesting a global function rather than simply debiting or producing invoices. A procedure that used to be done by narrow, specialized back office systems has become a process in which analysis and control of revenues are critical functions. Advantage provides a means of handling the entire process, from data import to analysis. At the core of our design assumptions are these requirements:

The core of this process is the billing module, which imports data from your portfolio management or trust accounting system, groups the accounts, calculates fees and expenses, and generates invoices or advises of debit. To do this, it collects a unique data set peculiar to the billing process with special uses in the creation of reports (see Data Transparency, below.) The throughput of this Advantage module when installed on appropriate hardware allows volumes in excess of six figures to be processed on a monthly basis. It accepts data from any trust accounting or portfolio management system, including proprietaries.

Knowledge is truly power in banking and finance. Where do you stand? What did you earn? How did it happen? What will you earn next year? What could you earn? Which products are most profitable? How do your sales groups compare?

Data Transparency is a term we have coined to suggest the level of information access today's CFOs require from billing systems. The Advantage data set includes fee schedules, accounts, activities, revenues, receivables, accruals, tiering and rebates, etc., and our architecture allows access to that data. This can provide highly detailed knowledge of your business.

The system comes with a number of basic reports, to which most users add our Accruals and one of our Management Information modules. To these reports may be added custom ad hoc reports created through standard tools like Microsoft Access® and Crystal Reports®.

When change is the real constant you don't want written-in-stone software, and we don't build it this way. Advantage operates in any currency or language and supports billing for any type of security processing, including ADRs, asset and portfolio management, employee benefits, institutional trust, mutual funds, master trust, all types of custody and stock transfer. Reports can encompass as many areas as the system is applied to, group by group, unit by unit.

Advantage also has technical flexibility, and can operate on a single-station or as a high-throughput NT/LAN/WAN system. Another kind of flexibility is seen in our ancillary modules, which are optional, purchased as needed.

Finally there is what could be called purchasing flexibility. Three levels of the system are available in different price ranges, Version 4, LTD and Lite.

Because internal resources of users vary widely, we also offer two approaches to implementation: Turnkey Installation, in which we do the conversion in its entirety, and Cooperative Installation in which the iT team works with a client team. The former is more expensive and faster; the latter enables large institutions to use their greater resources.