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KashFlow and Absolute form iXBRL alliance

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9th Jun 2010
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Cloud accounting supplier KashFlow has teamed up with Absolute Accounting to create a path from client books through accounts production to efiling the final accounts in iXBRL format.

The alliance follows a recent investment by IRIS in FreeAgent Central to create a similar path for accountants to get client data into their final accounts and tax systems. Somewhat ironically, Absolute Accounting’s managing director is Tim Good, who founded PTP Software and developed a low cost suite of  tax and practice tools. Having built up a successful niche by undercutting the practice software giants, PTP Software was acquired by IRIS in 2005.

With the advent of iXBRL filing for Companies House and HMRC Corporation Tax accounts, Absolute is positioning itself to repeat the PTP experience by offering lower cost tools to do the job. 

“What [the KashFlow alliance] does is provide us with a suitable bookkeeping front-end for the Absolute accounts preparation package,” Good told AccountingWEB.co.uk “It also provides us with a further product that our clients and customers – the accountancy practices – can sell to their own clients in a way that enhances their ability to do the accounts preparation and tax return work.”

According to Good, the advent of online applications is going to have a considerable impact on practices over the next 3-5 years, "so the opportunity for Absolute to have an arrangement with an outfit like KashFlow is extremely good". As part of the arrangement, Absolute will host its own whitelabel version of KashFlow.

“Having used KashFlow to manage the accounts at Absolute, I feel a bit like Victor Kyam in that old advert. While I haven’t bought the company, adopting it gives us another product in the Absolute stable and follows the original PTP model of using third party developers to create best of breed products which we then support,” Good explained.

Having sold PTP to IRIS four years ago, Good said he had not intended to get back into the software industry, but a chance meeting and conversation with David Forbes last Christmas about iXBRL rekindled his interest. For accounts production and corporation tax, Absolute Accounting will be relying on Forbes's pioneering iXBRL products, which already integrate with the KashFlow accounting engine.

Good is forthright about his intention to replicate the PTP model in terms of both customer support and product pricing. “I spend most of my time lecturing to accountants. The last thing I need is to have disgruntled customers throwing eggs at me in the lecture room, so we’ve got to get the software and support right,” he said.

“The second way we’ll replicate PTP is in the pricing. With this sort of software product, the business model is to keep prices extremely keen and not increase them year on year – you increase the number of customers instead. That increase is disproportionate to the increase in your costs, so there’s no need to increase prices. You make sure the products are good and your customers are happy, so without raising prices you can increase revenues 5-15% every year. That’s the model we went for at PTP.”

For KashFlow's view of the arragement, see the company's press release on AccountingWEB.co.uk's Suppliers page.

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By carnmores
09th Jun 2010 19:03

Joined up thinking at last

this is very interesting - if Kashflow is read by Absolute accounts then are accountants being done away with? the production of abbreviated accounts is hardly rocket science - all that is needed is the tax calculation - what price that that will be the next link up with Absoluute - you go guys!

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