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.

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

Bean Cruncher was born.

Shaw乌鸦传媒檚 background is at the curious crossroad of commerce and coding. He乌鸦传媒檚 a chartered accountant who has been a computer programmer for 35 years. He乌鸦传媒檚 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. It乌鸦传媒檚 a complete behind-the-scenes overhaul to the source code.

Shaw says this update pushes Bean Cruncher well beyond the boundaries of what乌鸦传媒檚 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.

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

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.

乌鸦传媒淵ou can use it on any device,乌鸦传媒� he says. 乌鸦传媒淔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.乌鸦传媒�

Chem Tec West, which was Bean Cruncher乌鸦传媒檚 first customer, uses the software to track inventory across four warehouses.

乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e able to track inventory at all times,乌鸦传媒� says Chem Tec West CEO Les Weiss. 乌鸦传媒淚 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.乌鸦传媒�

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 wasn乌鸦传媒檛 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.

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

Visit Bean Cruncher on the web at .