A computer can't do anything you can't do by hand. Because of this, many farmers (and others) find it difficult to perceive how owning a computer could change the way they farm. Most potential clients do not believe they will have more money in their pockets at the end of the day because of owning a computer. There is the perception that computers are useful to do the GST and save some money at the accountants but otherwise they are expensive and time consuming. With the right software computers are able to do the task more quickly. The number of computers in use nationally is difficult to determine. A survey by the Kellogg farm management unit indicated 8.4%. In the Wairarapa we have 11.6% of farmers using our software on their PCs. At Computer Concepts we have always focused our financial software on budgeting and on farm business management. This process in simply a matter of knowing where you are today, and from that position projecting (budgeting) into the future. It sounds so simple. In farming the production and prices are always changing. Each week the budget is old, it halves in value. All budgets need to be constantly updated. This means that most farmers are very sceptical of the usefulness of a budget. Keywords: budgeting, computer software
