New Zealand Accounting Software 2010
Tony Gorham – Polychrome Limited
Agenda
 About Tony
 Who are the players in NZ accounting software?
 What do these products do?
- What are their strengths / weaknesses?
 Where are they heading?
 Why should someone buy each product?
 When will they all play nicely together?
 How to choose an accounting product
Page  2
About Tony
 Spent the last 21 years developing accounting and business
software in the UK and now in NZ
 Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer
 Spent 6 years at Attaché Software, responsible for Attaché PRO –
medium level product used by approx 1500 NZ businesses
 Now runs Polychrome, a new company developing accounting
integration and web solutions.
- You can find these slides at www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
 Surveyed NZ based accounting products
Page  3
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Who are the players in NZ Accounting Software?
Very crowded industry in NZ
Small Business 1-5
Medium Business 6-49
Larger business
 Xero
 MYOB Premier
 MS Dynamics GP
 Quickbooks
 Accredo
 MYOB EXO
 MYOB Accounting
 Advanced Business
Manager
 Greentree
 Attaché All In One
 PRONTO
 Attaché PRO
 SAP
 Infusion
 IRIS Exchequer
 Oracle Financials
 MoneyWorks
http://sme-centre.massey.ac.nz/
In New Zealand, our 350,000 or so SMEs make up more than 99% of all businesses and account for about 60% of
employment. The SME sector broadly covers micro-enterprises (fewer than 5 staff), small enterprises (6-49) and medium
enterprises (50-100).
•Not everyone I contacted responded.
•I stuck to NZ based companies in the SME arena.
•Accounting systems are not that easily mapped to number of staff – more number of operators
Page  4
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Who are the players in NZ Accounting Software?
Coverage of systems
Small Business
Medium Business
Larger business
Xero
QuickBooks
MYOB Accounting
MYOB Premier
Advanced Business Manager
Attaché Accounts All In One
•There are
more products such as Sage, SAP B1 and Sybiz
Attaché PRO
•Most of these are Accredo
arguable up or down a bit 3rd Party Apps
Money Works
Infusion
IRIS Exchequer
MS Dynamics
MYOB EXO
Lowering prices
Greentree
Oracle
PRONTO
SAP
Page  5
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Who are the players in NZ Accounting Software?
Coverage of systems
Small Business
Medium Business
Larger business
Xero
QuickBooks
MYOB Accounting
MYOB Premier
Advanced Business Manager
Attaché Accounts All In One
Attaché PRO
Accredo
Money Works
Infusion
IRIS Exchequer
MS Dynamics
MYOB EXO
Greentree
Oracle
PRONTO
SAP
Page  6
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Who are we talking about today?
- SME products but mostly those in the medium business space
- Key point, most software is at best 90-95% fit
- Many rely on third party developers and applications to offer a full suite
- For example
- job costing, fixed assets, CRM, payroll, integration to MYOB acountants office, EDI
- Many have developer tools and training/support
- Pros / Cons
- Accounting software consultant is key to sucessful implementation
Page  7
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
What do they do? – Micro Business
Micro/Small Business Packages
Feature
Banking
Invoicing
Payables
Fixed Assets
Multi-Currency
Web based
Financial Statements
GST
*Xero
*QuickBooks Pro
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* From public sources
Page  8
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
What do they do? Small to Medium Sized
General Ledger
Cashbook
Stock Control
Debtors
Creditors
Fixed Assets
Job Costing
Orders/ Invoicing
Quotations
Purchase Orders
Data Importing
Data Exporting
Reports Design
Serial Number Tracking
CRM
PoS
Web Store
Foreign Currency
Bill of Materials
ODBC / OLEDB
Scripting / Automation
EDI
Page  9
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MYOB
Money Works
IRIS
Exchequer
Infusion
Attaché PRO
All In One
Attaché
Accounts
ABM
Module
Accredo
 Full module  Partial availablity  = third party solution available
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EXO
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
What are your strengths / areas for improvement?
Accredo
Vendor feedback
Strengths
 Reporting, integration, automation,
low cost of ownership.
Improvements
 Inventory needs some work and
addition of serial and batch tracking
is in progress
Tony’s comments
 Accredo has a very comprehensive
integration model that really does
allow implementors to round out any
missing functionality.
 Average costs are comparable to
most other providers and they have a
good network of support consultants
and are very proactive with training.
 Addition of SNT will complete the
suite nicely.
Page  10
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Where are you going?
Accredo
Vendor feedback
 Building on our existing client base
and adding to existing suite.
 Longer term goal to have complete
suite offering database platform
independence ISAM / MS SQL /
Oracle etc.
Page  11
Tony’s comments
 Accredo has quietly gone about
building a business based on their
product rather than the next big
thing. Time will tell if this is the best
strategy.
 This is a solid product but it runs the
risk of being surpassed in the
industry as it is rarely in the spotlight.
Whether this actually impacts on
them is another thing altogether.
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
What are your strengths / areas for improvement?
Advanced Business Manager
Vendor feedback
Strengths
 Ability to customise, with 3rd party
programs able to integrate to both the
database and at the application level to
create a seamless interface. Also, a clear
focus on user interface, ease of use and
audit trail.
Improvements
 ABM has a clear focus on continual
improvement in all areas. Job Costing is
receiving particular attention in 2010 with
new functionality being added to improve
productivity of users and depth of
analysis.
Page  12
Tony’s comments
 I really enjoyed talking to ABM. I
have been to them for support in the
past couple of months. I was a
complete stranger to them and the
product, they were great at helping
me solve my issues.
 Technically, this product has a really
good infrastructure and it can be
made to do most things.
 More importantly, here is a company
I suspect I would enjoy doing
business with.
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Where are you going?
Advanced Business Manager
Vendor feedback
 Moving more and more of the
business logic into seperated web
services.
 Developing our own integrated CRM.
Tony’s comments
 This product is already very
accesible and with the planned
developments it will be able to work
both locally and online.
 This will be a very clear industry
trend for this section of the market
and ABM are getting in early.
Page  13
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
What are your strengths / areas for improvement?
Attaché Accounts All In One
Vendor feedback
Strengths
 It's a complete system with strong control
of debtors and stock, embedded business
intelligence tools & CRM, remote access
and an integrated payroll solution.
Tony’s comments
 Attaché has an interesting business. It
sells on a rental basis and that makes it a
good choice from a cashflow perspective.
Improvements
 For smaller businesses it ticks all the
boxes but the underlying structure is
showing its age.
 Constantly being improved with more
than 100 client requested features added
every year.
 Whilst ticking many of the boxes it doesn’t
go the distance in some areas such as
FC.
 This is an Australian product with good
local support and a local office.
 Having worked for Attaché for 6 years
means that I have a soft spot for them.
Page  14
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Where are you going?
Attaché Accounts All In One
Vendor feedback
Tony’s comments
 Continuing to add features based on
user feedback.
 Unfortunately, due to time constraints
I couldn’t get more detail of their
future strategy.
 Constantly being improved with more
than 100 client requested features
added every year.
Page  15
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
What are your strengths / areas for improvement?
Attaché PRO
Vendor feedback
Strengths
 Strong in stock management and bill of
materials, full foreign currency support for
export & import companies, data
integration.
Improvements
 The areas which we don't specifically
cater for, such as CRM, serial numbers,
POS and business intelligence tools.
Tony’s comments
 Attaché’s second product has some good
integration options but could do more.
 Whilst having fewer modules, it is a much
fuller product on a feature by feature
comparison.
 It still has some missing modules such as
serial number tracking, that will put off
some business types.
 This product is developed here in
Auckland but is owned by an Australian
company.
 I ran the development for six years so
obviously I love this product but it won’t
suit every business.
Page  16
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Where are you going?
Attaché PRO
Vendor feedback
Tony’s comments
 Continuing to add new modules and
features based on user feedback.
 Unfortunately, due to time constraints
I couldn’t get more detail on where
they are heading.
 We aim to have two new releases
each year. One which includes a
new module, and one which includes
enhancements to the existing
software.
Page  17
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
What are your strengths / areas for improvement?
Infusion
Vendor feedback
Strengths
 Our Software is designed for the general
SME Market, giving the user the ability to
customise the software to suit their own
business- the major strength is the
support provided by our company, and
our Certified Partners Across NZ, No
matter how good our software is - quality
support is critical to ensure that the client
is set up correctly and provided with a
high level of ongoing qualified support
and assistance
Improvements
Tony’s comments
 Infusion seem very good to deal with. I
have been to them for technical advice
and they have always been great.
 Whilst I haven’t seen it, their web solution
is based on a sound strategy and
(osCommerce and server application) and
it loads orders back into OE – which
surprisingly, most don’t seem to do.
 Infusion suffer form being a smaller player
in the market but 1800 users mean they
are a safe bet and their size has its
advantages also, no corporate structure
makes them reactive and nimble.
 Adding FX to our new development,
which has been underway for two years,
due for release in 2011
Page  18
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Where are you going?
Infusion
Vendor feedback
 Adding FX as part of roll out of new
dot net version of the suite.
 Won contract for 84 Stihl shops
across NZ.
Tony’s comments
 Moving to dot net means that the
product has good longer term
prospects.
 Many accounting systems in NZ are
developed in older tools which may
be great but it is getting harder and
harder to find the developers.
Page  19
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
What are your strengths / areas for improvement?
IRIS Exchequer
Vendor feedback
Strengths
 Comprehensive Project, Job & Time
Costing. Fully integrated stock control.
True multi-currency throughout. Ability to
link to third party packages using multiple
solutions. Serial and batch number
tracking. Fully flexible to suit a wide range
of industries. Able to grow with your
business. Low total cost of ownership.
Improvements
 IRIS invests considerable resources in
R&D ($45m in 2009) and is continually
developing and refining new modules to
expand our offerings and to take
advantage of emerging technologies.
Page  20
Tony’s comments
 Everything but the kitchen sink. Rather
sadly the pricing is very complex and I
gave up trying to establish a price for a
typical 5 user system with core ledgers,
stock and invoicing. They just couldn’t tell
me what their pricing is.
 A UK product that probably has a lot to
offer. It is at the very front of XML EDI and
other web based technologies.
 However, I got the impression that they
are not a very open company that sticks
firmly to the corporate script.
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Where are you going?
IRIS Exchequer
Vendor feedback
 In a nutshell - cloud based solutions.
Tony’s comments
 I can see some merits in Cloud
based solutions but they aren’t
necessarily shared by IRIS. I
understand the need to stay current
and where the popular mind set is
but it can often lead off on a dead
end.
 To me the benefits of moving to the
cloud are in the opportunity to move
to a more open structure that more
easily enables data exchange – it is
however, equally possible to move to
the cloud and miss the opportunity.
Page  21
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
What are your strengths / areas for improvement?
MoneyWorks
Vendor feedback
Strengths
 Upwardly compatible family of products
from SOHO to 30+ concurrent users (one
consistent UI and DB).
 Cross platform Windows and Mac
 Transaction centric, easy to get info out,
APIs for external app, easy to use and
excellent documentation
Tony’s comments
 Only cross platform product I saw, this is
a real plus in some industries like design
and media companies as well as
education. Though the Mac has made
real in-roads into other business types
and Cognito have seen that it isn’t always
who you expect to have a Mac.
Improvements
 Nice set of COM interfaces should make
it easy to talk to, so third party
applications are available and growing.
 Navigation UI getting old and being
worked on for next version.
 They have a large client base 15,000+ in
NZ.
 Grant is a very passionate MD who
understands technology and is using it to
drive the company.
Page  22
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Where are you going?
MoneyWorks
Vendor feedback
Tony’s comments
 iPhone app on the way for road
based sales functions such as
account query and simple order
taking.
 I had a real connection with Cognito,
here is a company that is run by a
man who understands the software
he is selling, I like that in a company.
 Seeing more SaaS via hosted
application options.
 MoneyWorks is not as well known as
many of the other products but its
definately worth looking at. It’s cheap
too, maybe they don’t realise their full
value.
Page  23
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
What are your strengths / areas for improvement?
MYOB SME Product Range
Vendor feedback
Strengths
 MYOB offers a broad range of accounting and business
solutions designed for businesses from sole traders to larger
enterprises. With more than 100 solutions, we recognise that
not all businesses are the same and so we have a range of
services and products to meet different business needs. With
more than 80% market share with both SMEs and Accountants,
MYOB accounting solutions have set the standard for over 10
years in NZ. In the words of one of our smaller competitiors "
For the last 10 years MYOB has been the gold standard.
Accountants, Bookkeepers, Trainers, Consultants and small
business owners have built businesses over their tools". We
know that people do business with people and so we have a
nationwide network of more than 2500 Approved Partners to
ensure any NZ business can get face-to-face support where
and when they need it. With an annual R&D budget of $NZ30
million in Australia and NZ, our clients trust our financial
stability, our commitment to innovation and that we're about
providing them with choice.
Tony’s comments
 Slightly disappointing as MYOB
responded as a range of products. It was
probably fair given time constraints but it’s
hard to split out a clear argument as we
are essentially answering with three
products. While most answers are good
they don’t all come from the same
product.
 The existing product is old and tired and
creaking in places. The underlying design
is really showing it’s age – but wait...
 Our approach is that as a greater range of options are
presented by cloud computing and online or remote solutions,
as well as advances in desktop capability and features, that
rather than try and constrain businesses to a single method of
operation, we should provide them with the freedom to work
how they want.
Page  24
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Where are you going?
MYOB SME Product Range
Vendor feedback
 With an annual R&D investment of
NZD$30million we're constantly looking to
innovate and enhance our solutions.
 In April 2010, MYOB will launch a new, range of
SME solutions with an improved user interface,
dashboard reporting and auto-updates. Further
innovations will see our the next generation of
our "SaaS" Online Accounting solutions
released in Q2, 2010, which will allow kiwi
businesses to connect with over 150 banks and
financial institutions in NZ and Australia in realtime to enhance invoicing, payments, cashflow
reporting and forecasting.
 A further element of our enhancement strategy
is to improve the collaboration and
communication between the Accountant and
the business owner and we'll be introducing
new professional accountant solutions in the
next 6 months to support this initiative.
Page  25
Tony’s comments
 MYOB are looking to really upset the
apple cart this year. A whole new
technical infrastructure combined with
focus on moving suitable areas of the
product online could mean that MYOB
blow everything else out of the water.
 MYOB have the size and the money to
pull this off but history would suggest that
they might not get it right technically. I for
one am hoping that they do, it will really
redefine what we think about accounting
software and that will be good for
everyone.
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Why should someone buy Xero?
Share data with your accountant
 Xero is leading the way in many
areas. The ability to let your
accountant have access to your data
is an obvious plus point.
 However, much needs to change
before we can rely on the internet for
mission critical functions required by
larger companies. It’s hard to do
stock control when the internet fails...
Page  26
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Why should someone buy Accredo?
Great integration and scripting
Kevin says
“We are a friendly, helpful, accessible
company. We back you up, we look
after you and we give a damn about
our customers. We have the ability to
change with your business.”
 I think he is probably telling the truth.
Page  27
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Why should someone buy ABM?
Fully featured and grows with you
I think ABM have solid roots. No
product fits 100% and at the moment
they are one of the better products
for filling any gap in required
functionality.
These guys know how to help, I was
genuinely impressed with their
attitude.
Page  28
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Why should someone buy Attaché Accounts All in One?
Strong heritage
• Been around for 30+ years
• NZ and Australian offices and
consultant networks, so if you trade
in both countries you have local
support.
• 6 Months money back guarantee
• No upfront cost, monthly rental
Page  29
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Why should someone buy Attaché PRO?
Feature rich product
• Detailed implementation of every
feature.
• Consultant network for local support
• 6 Months money back guarantee
• No upfront cost, monthly rental
Page  30
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Why should someone buy Infusion?
Feature rich product
• Flexible design and easy to use
• Support 7am – 7pm – 7days a week!
• 80+ partners in NZ
• Link to Accountants Office
Page  31
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Why should someone buy IRIS Exchequer?
It’s got the lot
• If you buy from the tick list then this
has it all
• If you trade electronically, this has full
EDI
• IRIS Exchequer clearly achieves
‘best in class’ among what we would
call its direct competition.
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
• Lots of existing verticle market apps
to choose from
Page  32
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Why should someone buy MoneyWorks?
Cross platform, inovative design
• Windows and Mac on the same
network
• Clever integration options
• Seem like nice people – which is
often undervalued by many people.
Page  33
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
Why should someone buy MYOB?
Popular products
• Easy access to staff who know the
software
• Accountants versions
• Products for small, medium and
larger businesses
• Good bang for you buck
• New versions April 2010 - promise to
be the next big thing
Page  34
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
When will they all play together nicely?
Is there any hope of this getting any easier?
EDI The holy grail?
Changes already happening
USP – Good or Bad?
 Business has been trying
to make EDI work since
the 60s
 Xero leading way in the
shift to online accounting
 Part of the problem is that
in order to sell products,
we need to add features
that seperate us from our
competitors.
 Sending transactions
electronically makes
sense and reduces costs
 Why is this important
 Common
infrastructure and
data formats
 Fibre to the door is
coming – game changer
Page  35
 These differences are
what stop accounting
software systems from
talking to each other.
Copyright (c) 2010 Polychrome Limited – www.polychromenz.com/nzica.html
How to pick an accounting product
 There are too many choices in NZ and nobody knows all of them well
 It’s all about the consultant – find someone you can work with
 Look for 90% fit but remember most will cover this
 Can it be extended? If not, then what about the other 10%?
 Don’t let old software hold you back
- Recognise when it is time to move on
 Identify your business type and pick a product that is strong in that area
 Speak to other people – don’t just get what a friend has, especially if they
don’t have the same type of business as you
Page  36
Thank you for your time
Page  37