The future of accounting software

The future of accounting software

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I'm gathering additional material for an upcoming talk I'm giving in 2 weeks time.
I'm interested in the factors which underpin developments in accounting software products (for businesses) at all levels, from simple cashbooks to vast ERP systems.
This won't be a 'technical' talk, and it won't be about practice or tax software, just business/commercial matters.
Some starters:
Microsoft's role, including its imminent introduction of cut-down and cut-price systems
The role of the Internet as a connection medium, enabling remote computing, e-business in all its forms, etc.
Any unfulfilled demands for functions?
Any/all external factors could be relevant. I'm not looking for essays, but I'd value those out there with opinions based on experience and reflection to contribute their thoughts!
Regards
Mike James

Mike James

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By mikeopolo
25th May 2003 06:07

A review of SME products (2)
Part 2

Users want to drill-down to or from anywhere, and fix mistakes easily. They also want good and flexible reporting, proper training, and explanatory help menus.

Accountants concerns with SME software include the pedigree of the vendor, reporting capability (most SME programs are inadequate), compliance with accounting standards including stock value, foreign currency, depreciation, GST accounting integrity (very few programs are water-tight, Moneyworks has the edge over the well-known programs),

Other concerns include end of year procedures, coding consistency (each program has means to assist there), audit trail (QuickBooks stands out), and data retention (MYOB is especially poor). Access and internal controls matter (each program offered some security features).

I reviewed a number of up-and-coming products on the NZ market, all multi-user, all developed locally, which broke new ground in terms of features offered:
Empower by Intersoft, for ultra-reliable GST reporting.
Maxim by Maxim Software for a product which offers financials, distribution, contract management, light assembly (with BOM)and POS, all in one package, with cross-platform ability
Propella, by Focus Systems, a VB/Access/SQL offering with impressive features for import/distribution, plus manufacturing and job-costing under development.
Ezijobz, from Ezijobz, with an unfinished GL module, but offers extensive features for tradespeople and service industries, with quotes, jobs, service contracts etc.

Continued in post 3...

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By mikeopolo
25th May 2003 06:10

A review of SME products (3)
Part 3

Future trends:

Microsoft Business Solutions and it’s approach to the mid-market with .Net offerings cannot be anything but a huge threat to existing suppliers.
Mobility – access to your accounting software anywhere you can connect to the web
Connectivity – as outlined in earlier post
Regulations – in NZ there are moves to make audit of private companies compulsory
Licensing – moves by software vendors to a cheap initial purchase and subscription licensing are on the increase. This improves revenue stream and obliges users (sometimes against their wish) to stay current.
Open source applications – we have seen the introduction of Odessey from Mid-Comp in Australia as an open-source ERP-level product, aimed at distributors. There will be more.
Business process driving development – step away from modular programs to component delivery of processes
Browser software – not only use of software via browsers, but delivery of software the same way, rather than by CD; ASP solutions are an early example.
Service industry solutions – current market emphasis is for distribution/manufacturing sectors, and the service sector deserves as much attention.

I would (as always) be interested in further feedback on these topics. I am very grateful to those extremely knowledgeable individuals who provided comments here prior to the talk.
Regards
Mike James


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By mikeopolo
25th May 2003 06:16

A review of SME products in NZ
I have posted a summary of this talk in 3 parts. I'd like to emphasise that I am based in New Zealand, and therefore the products may not be the same as those offerred overseas, or may simply not be available.
However, I suspect that the general content would be applicable to any market.

The requirements of business operators for this level of software were taken in part from a survey in CFO magazine in 1997, and comments from this forum have been incorporated. Otherwise the material is believed to be original.

Regards
Mike James
Accountant/Software consultant

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By mikeopolo
25th May 2003 06:05

A review of SME products (1)
Part 1

Thank you for the request to provide feedback on the talk. I will give an abridged summary here, posted in 3 parts.

The theme of the talk was ‘A personal review of selected SME products on the New Zealand market’ (following a request by the sub-group committee). The talk was held at the ICANZ conference centre on 13th May 2003, and given to the computer awareness sub-group, with about 200 attendees.

SME software includes simple cashbooks, full ledger programs and larger multi-user products. This talk focused on the full ledger programs. Some products will not be available to UK readers.

Requirements of business owners, users and accountants were reviewed, and applied to selected products to see how they fare. Products used for demo included MYOB, QuickBooks and Moneyworks, a local offering.

Business owners want software to be reliable, with flexible reporting, easy to use and suitable to NZ conditions. The cost of software is less important. These days the trend is for greater connectivity, for example direct to or from banking software, or to government departments (IRD GST filings), plus e-commerce trading and document email . A notable local development is a link to the govt PPSR register, using xml data exchange (by Intersoft Systems). In the future I believe this will be a standard component for better credit management.

Continued in post 2...

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By mikeopolo
25th Apr 2003 22:45

Thanks to respondents so far
Thank you all for your replies, which have prompted further trains of thought, as I knew they would!

I'd like to invite the other 327 people who've read this topic to consider submitting their thoughts. It really is a wonderfully large topic, and whilst I'm getting feedback from the larger players, I'm also interested in the views of the VSME (very SME) players!

Regards

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Gary Turner
By garyturner
24th Apr 2003 09:49

RE: The future of accounting software
As far as SME's are concerened, the future of accounting software, in a word, is speed.

The speed at which you process, operate, report on, act upon, share and manage your business processes.

This will be due to not one single event or technology, more a continuation of the trend that began around 10 years ago when the first second generation systems began to appear.

The Web will certainly play a big part in this by connecting businesses together with each other and with their employees.

Gary Turner
Sales Director
Pegasus Software

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Gary Turner
By garyturner
24th Apr 2003 16:52

Microsoft
The whole XML movement is growing and evolving but needs to consolodate. The next version of MS Office, which is due shortly, will feature XML heavily. But probably a MS flavour, I've heard that they've made certain compromises in the deployment of XML in Office that the XML purists dislike.

On the accounting s/w side, MS will have an evolved .net financial system in a couple of years that they'll use to consolodate the current roster of four suites currently in MSBS. They intend to open up the .net Business Framework to other developers in order to establish .net as a (or the) main player 5-10 years out from now.

It is therefore probably reasonable to presume that five years from now accounting applications will be much more mobile and untied to desktops as they are now, whether their architecture is based upon .net, Java/J2EE or some other web based applications environment.

What this will mean for users is much more pervasive systems, smart devices like PocketPC, Smartphones etc. all linked together with the back-office suites and, in turn, with trading partners systems too. Massive automation and time savings, all adding up to, hopefully, more speed.

If you'd like to discuss in more detail please drop me an email.

[email protected]

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By David Turner
24th Apr 2003 16:19

View from the ERP end of the market...
A big subject, Mike, but from a player at the high end (CODA - www.coda.com) the issues are increasingly around getting information out of transactional (accounting and other) systems and using that to drive and measure strategy. So, focus on datamarts for more efficient reporting, opening up access to information across the enterprise, product costing and profitability measurement (ABC is coming back!), scorecarding, planning and budgeting, integrating Excel with accounting systems.

At the transactional level, previous comments on thin client (driving efficiency savings through centralisation and shared services) and XML (efficiency savings through automation and ease of integration) are the key areas.

Internationally, there are still alarmingly few accounting systems which can handle global requirements within one system - you'd be amazed how poor the 'big names' in ERP are at doing that. But enough of that....

Cheers

Dave Turner
([email protected])

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By jacp400
24th Apr 2003 11:40

Think thin
Hi Mike (and Gary),

The openess and flexibility to manipulate and analyse data quickly and easily is becoming a bigger factor. Pegasus, Access, and Great Plains (as was) have all made good progress in this matter over the last couple of years. Interestingly Sage, the market leader of the 90's seem to be a little way behind on this.

Systems are generally now more open and some (including those listed above but again not Sage) have some good two way linking to Excel. Systems will become more open to integration.

I would hope to see more use of email / internet and XML in the next few years so that not only can I email an invoice from my accounts system but my customer on receipt can click a button to import this directly in to their accounts system. This would hopefully be regardless of accounting systems used.

XML (Microsoft standard) was supposed to achieve this but I havent really heard anything about this for a few months now.

Entering an invoice in to a system is undoubtedly slower than it was 10 years ago when everyone used Dos based applications but hopefully with XML or equivalent you can speed up operations.

Finally, as for internet, I suspect most products will have a "thin client" solution in the next 5 years so that you can access your software from anywhere in the world using a standard web browser. Many products do this already.

Hope this helps.

John Clough
Numerica Business Services Ltd
Tel: 023 8070 2345
[email protected]

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By jacp400
24th Apr 2003 11:45

Addendum - Microsoft
Just as a quick addendum, I did hear that Microsoft may be bundling an accounting solution in to Back Office Small Business Server when they have written their replacement to Navision/Great Plains. The software I assume would be designed for 5-50 users as SBS is.

I'd be interested to know if anyone knows anything about this? Especially anyone from the mid tier players (Sage/Access/Pegasus).

John Clough
Numerica Business Services Ltd
Tel: 023 8070 2345
[email protected]

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By AnonymousUser
21st May 2003 09:14

Mike, could you share your findings on this with us
Hi Mike.

I wondered whether you might be able to share your findings on the future of accounting software with us. It is a fascinating area.

All the best

Justin

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