Six months after its soft launch, Keytime has formally announced the release of Keytime Books, the software company’s online bookkeeping solution. Jon Wilcox reports.

Available in multiple versions to cater for accountants and individuals alike, Books is the latest software as a service (SaaS) product to come to market aimed at small- to medium-sized businesses. The new product was developed in partnership with Arithmo Accounting Solutions, continuing a decade-long relationship between the two companies.

For accountants, initial setup costs for Books are £370+VAT, and include a fully branded site, and a licence to add five clients to the system. An annual fee of £370+VAT is then applicable after the first twelve months, with an extra £80+VAT per additional client.

Individuals can choose between a standard or premium version of Books, which cost £35 and £45 a year respectively. Limited trial versions are already available on the Keytime website [1].

Data security remains one of the key concerns for SaaS clients, and is highlighted by Keytime Books’ feature list. Client data is secured by Thawte, a subsidiary of VeriSign, and back-ups are performed every half hour.

Keytime's Anthony Boggiano spoke with AccountingWeb about the launch of Books: "We have carried out development work to integrate Books with the Keytime Accountants Suite, as per the press release, and are looking to make the Books platform the basis of a whole range of products in the future."

The formal launch of Keytime Books comes just months after the company released Keytime Account Production, an on-premises bookkeeping product, which forms part of the firm's wider Accountants Suite of solutions.