Now’s the time for Excel-lent productivity. Introducing Budget Wand.

Excel4apps has introduced a new tool called Budget Wand to help customers improve their ability to manage the ever-changing budget and forecasting needs of business.
"Tough economic times put added pressure on financial professionals who are being asked to find additional efficiencies and provide customized reports to senior executives. Our GL Wand users already know they improve their GL reporting and save time with GL Wand. Now Budget Wand allows users to meet their important financial budgeting and forecasting requirements all from within Excel," says Shaun Pendrigh, co-founder of Excel4apps.
"We are very pleased with the reception we've received from customers who have used Budget Wand," Pendrigh says.
Budget Wand is a GL Wand add-on that provides the ability to use Excel as the front end of the Oracle General Ledger Budgeting process. Budget Wand makes it easy to create layouts that contain any combination of Actuals, Budgets, Periods and Books to simplify budgeting and forecasting and to update budgets with real time data.
Best of all, because Budget Wand is easy to use, deployment is rapid, with minimal IT involvement needed and virtually no training required for users.
"Accounting professionals know and use Excel daily and most use it for their budgeting needs. Pulling Oracle data into Excel is easy with GL Wand. Budget Wand makes it easy to upload new budgets or forecasts into Oracle. There is virtually no impact on the IT staff, and the add-on takes just minutes," Pendrigh says.
A fully functional trial version of Budget Wand is available by visiting www.excel4apps.com Download GL Wand incorporating Budget Wand

U.S Customer Support Center Will Serve North American Customer Needs

Financial professionals are under intense pressure to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, and the Excel4apps products allow them to generate reports faster and spend more time analyzing financial data to develop strategically smart business solutions.
The "try before you buy" offer we make to customers who want to try GL Wand results in an impressive 75% sales rate. We think that success rate speaks volumes about our products and how much users appreciate them.
Now with more than 3,500 licensed users for GL Wand worldwide, and sales offices in Raleigh NC, London, South Africa, Sydney, Dubai, , Excel4apps continues to expand its Customer Support Team. The new U.S. Customer Support Center is now open for business in the company's Raleigh offices.
Chris Meyer, Managing Director Americas, notes that the growth in North American business customers has been rapid since the sales office opened in the U.S. last year.
"Customers tell us that GL Wand speaks to the issue of improving productivity, and we know it does it at a price point that yields an incredibly fast ROI," Meyer says.
"Since we deal with customers who come from both the financial and Information Technology sides of business, and we deal with businesses both large and small, we hear a lot about the ease of implementation, minimal user startup time, and reliability. Of course being able to leverage Excel as the reporting front end makes the tool amenable to any financial analyst," Meyer says.

Chris Meyer Joins Excel4apps as Managing Director Americas

Raleigh, NC – January 15, 2009 – Excel4apps, a global software provider, has announced that Chris Meyer has joined the company as Managing Director Americas. He will be based in Pittsburgh and will direct American strategic and operational efforts. Excel4apps creates software tools that allow financial professionals to use Microsoft Excel within Oracle® financial systems.

Mr. Meyer most recently was a member of the leadership team at the U.S. headquarters for macs Controlling, a financial analytics software development firm. Prior to macs Controlling, he was employed by Perot Systems Solutions Consulting where he assisted U.S.-based, multi-billion dollar corporations with their technology system analyses and new system implementations. His ten- year consulting career also included major global projects for KPMG Auditing and KPMG Management Consulting.

“We are very fortunate to have Chris joining our team in this leadership role. He brings very specific expertise at building global software businesses and has an in-depth understanding of the accounting profession and the responsibilities faced by our product users. Among other duties he will be responsible for establishing a U.S. Customer Support Center that will make it even easier for customers throughout North America to use our products,” said Shaun Pendrigh, co-founder of Excel4apps.

The company’s flagship product, GL Wand, has quickly become popular with Oracle GL users worldwide. Originally launched in South Africa and quickly adopted by global businesses, the company has expanded rapidly in the U.K., Australia, and the UAE. Since officially launching the product in the U.S. and opening a U.S. sales office in 2008, the growth in North American business has been tremendous. In just a few short years Excel4apps has grown to support more than 3500 users worldwide.

“Chris will provide the leadership that we need to continue our current growth trajectory. His presence in the U.S. will help serve our customers with products that give financial professionals the ability to do more with the financial data they already have. Chris understands financial, cost management, and profitability analytics – issues of major concern to our customers who are seeking enhanced financial insight. He will be a key asset in serving our North American customers and growing our business,” said Michele Buson, Global Sales and Marketing Director.

“Excel4apps has an excellent product with GL Wand, as well as exciting new developments with additional products that will be introduced in the U.S. this year. Financial professionals are under intense pressure to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, and the Excel4apps products allow them to generate reports faster and spend more time analyzing financial data to develop strategically smart business solutions. Customer adoption of the software is like nothing I’ve experienced before, as 75% of software trials turn into software sales,” Meyer said.

“GL Wand speaks to the issues finance users are encountering at a price point that yields incredible ROI. The ease of implementation, minimal user startup time, reliability and integrity of retrieved data leveraging Excel as the reporting front end makes the tool amenable to any financial analyst. I am very excited about our prospects and anticipate a continued acceleration of our growth rate,” Meyer said.

Excel4apps makes GL Wand available for trial free through an online download, and the company offers regular webinars to assist users in experiencing its capabilities. The free trial version and more information is available at http://www.excel4apps.com/, or call 919 882 2114.
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About Excel4apps
Excel4apps is a global organization with offices in the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, and UAE. The company works with resellers in more than ten countries. It is headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Excel4apps’ first product, GL Wand, was developed exclusively to work with Oracle Financials. The company has a reputation for superior customer service, with a product that is appreciated by financial professionals and IT experts alike. GL Wand is easy to install and maintain, simple and familiar to use, tightly integrated, and secure. The tool makes financial reporting using Excel simple, accurate and fast. Additional products include Budget Wand with more in development.

The Wanderful Times - Newsletter OpenWorld Edition

* Taking the World by the Wand P.1
* Financial Power P.2
* Budget Wand Preview P.3
* Simply Magic P.3

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Excel4apps Inks Deal with HBO®

Cable Programming Giant Becomes 100th GL Wand Customer

Raleigh, NC – September 21, 2008 -- Excel4apps, an independent software developer focused on creating applications that work with Oracle® financial reporting systems, has reached an important milestone in the adoption of its GL Wand product with Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) as its 100th customer. This brings the number of licensed users of the product to more than 2000 worldwide.

HBO, America's most popular pay television service, adopted the GL Wand package to allow their Finance department to run their Oracle reports directly in Microsoft Excel. They began working with Oracle and their E-Business Suite in 2007 to support their financial reporting needs for their growing business in the evolving media and entertainment industry.

"GL Wand lets us access our Oracle data with Excel in an easy and proficient manner. The way it is linked to the system makes reporting, pulling balances, and accessing detail much easier," said Michael Hinck, project manager, Finance Systems at HBO. "Just as importantly, the security remains intact, yet employees at all levels have the ability to do a lot more with the data they have."
Customer surveys by Excel4apps have indicated that GL Wand saves customers an average of two to four days per person per month on financial reporting, while enabling them to capitalize on their familiarity with Excel.


Oracle PartnerNetwork, which works with more than 20,000 companies that create innovative software solutions based on the Oracle software, has recognized the value of the GL Wand system and has listed Excel4apps on the Oracle ISV solution maps for Financial Reporting Analysis.

"Our customers are excited about the GL Wand offering. They already use Excel and when they see the ease of access to their information during the free trial stage it's not uncommon to hear excited exclamations during a demo. Our tool allows them to perform their jobs better by offering the best of the Microsoft Excel interface plus the security and performances inherent to Oracle offerings. GL Wand is simple to install, and employees have no problem learning to use it. They very quickly realize that they can save hours on routine and special tasks. They also have the ability to slice and dice their Oracle data in real time and drill down to ledger detail with a few clicks of the mouse," says Michele Buson, Global Sales and Marketing Director for Excel4apps.
GL Wand can be downloaded from the Excel4apps website and tested with a simple pass key from the online demo system. A 30 day free trial is available. Technical support is available to users worldwide.

For more information on GL Wand, visit the company's website at www.excel4apps.com, or call 919 882 2114.
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© 2008 Home Box Office, Inc. All Rights Reserved. HBO is a service mark of Home Box Office, Inc. ®Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners

About Excel4apps
Excel4apps is a global organization with offices in the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, UAE. The company works with resellers in more than ten countries. Excel4apps currently has more than 2000 licensed GL Wand users at more than 100 E-Business Suite customers around the globe. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Excel4apps developed GL Wand exclusively for Oracle Financials so it is easy to install and maintain, easy to use, tightly integrated, and secure. The tool makes financial reporting using Excel simple, accurate and fast.

About the Oracle PartnerNetwork
Oracle PartnerNetwork is a global business network of more than 20,000 companies who deliver innovative software solutions based on Oracle software. Through access to Oracle's premier products, education, technical services, marketing and sales support, the Oracle PartnerNetwork program provides partners with the resources they need to be successful in today's global economy. Oracle partners are able to offer their customers leading-edge solutions backed by Oracle's position as the world's largest enterprise software company. Partners who are able to demonstrate superior product knowledge, technical expertise and a commitment to doing business with Oracle qualify for the Certified Partner levels.

About HBO
Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., providing two 24-hour pay television services – HBO and Cinemax – to over 40 million U.S. subscribers. The services offer the most popular subscription video on demand products, HBO On Demand and Cinemax On Demand, as well as HBO on Broadband, HD feeds and multiplex channels. Internationally, HBO's branded television networks, along with the subscription video on demand products HBO On Demand and HBO Mobile, bring HBO services to over 50 countries. HBO programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide. Read the full story

Excel4apps: Taking the World by the Wand

The growth of Excel4apps in its three short years is a testament to the company's ability to identify market needs and execute viable solutions that are literally thrilling both IT experts and financial professionals worldwide. With a young and vibrant leadership team and an enviable knowledge of how businesses really work, Excel4apps is poised to continue to make life easier for finance departments in businesses both large and small.

As a company borne in the internet age, Excel4apps was created to sell and support its products globally and harness the knowledge and skills of a globally dispersed workforce all joined by the internet. Originally launched in South Africa and with its first GL Wand customer being a UK listed bank, the path to globalization was set in motion. After opening offices in Johannesburg, Sydney, and the heart of England, and with a new presence in Dubai and the United States, Excel4apps is servicing the world.

The company's original founders Michele Buson and Shaun Pendrigh, and key executives like Warren Brugger, all have extensive experience working with Oracle in dozens of different business situations. A recurring theme they'd always seen was the desire by financial professionals to use Excel.

"We saw early on that accountants do not want to move away from Excel, yet so many companies were trying to create business intelligence tools that were Excel-like. We thought, 'Why not just create the interface so they can use Excel?' and that is exactly what we did," says Buson.

Oracle's open framework architecture welcomes independent software companies to design applications for their users, and Microsoft Excel is also extendable, so the Excel4apps team set their sights on building the seamless integration that was so desperately needed.

The result: one of the fastest growing software tools available: GL Wand.

Acceptance of GL Wand has been fueled not only by need and its ability to perform, but by its ease of installation, ease of use, and unbeatable customer service. The company has built a worldwide presence quickly by developing a tool that offers an inexpensive option that allows users to work with tools they are intimately familiar with.

"Our success continues to be based on our understanding of what business users need. The flexibility of GL Wand means that ad hoc reports can be created in minutes from data in Oracle financials. IT professionals appreciate the ease of installation and deployment, which can take less than an hour," Buson says.

As the history of this company continues to evolve and awareness spreads through the global business network, one thing is certain: though the past is relatively short, the future is going to be long and exciting.

See us in San Francisco!

Excel4apps is poised to share its "magic" with visitors to Oracle Open World 2008, Sept. 21 – 25 in San Francisco. Our international and U.S. teams will assemble in Booth 3920 in Moscone West, where we're excited to meet the best and the brightest of our industry to share our time-saving software products -- tools that are helping to improve productivity in finance departments worldwide.

If you're planning to be at Oracle Open World, please make a point to stop by and visit with Michele Buson, Shaun Pendrigh, Scott Stollwerk, Ryan Schmidt and the rest of the members of the Excel4apps team, and pick up your free demo copy of GL Wand, our premier tool for enabling Oracle users to easily and efficiently create reports using Microsoft Excel. We'll be in Booth 3920 in Moscone West.

If you're already one of our more than 2000 valued users, please come by and say hello. We always enjoy hearing from satisfied users and appreciate any feedback you can provide to help us add features or otherwise continue to make GL Wand the best product available for reporting out of Oracle.

This show also marks the U.S. debut of Budget Wand, the newest offering from Excel4apps for making budget creation a snap. If your team loves GL Wand, we've got the next tool you're really going to have to have. Stop by for a demonstration and to hear more about our plans for making your future budget cycles easier with Budget Wand.