A funny thing happened on the way to the cloud. Small business accounting software became a lot more powerful.
The traditional line between desktop accounting software and ERP was pretty well defined. Sales guys had a solid list of advantages for ERPs – more customisable, scalable and could consolidate data in the business.
But now technology consultants are replacing smaller ERPs with QuickBooks Online and Xero, augmented with ecosystem apps.
Featured sessions:
- How to keep your best SME clients by avoiding ERPs – Wed, 2.40 pm – 3.10 pm, Pink room
- Testing the outer limits of accounting software – how big can you go?
- Big clients slowing down their software? Workarounds for QBO and Xero
Exploring the boundary between accounting software and ERP is a major theme at Accountech.Live, an expo in Melbourne on November 13-14.
Matt Paff, CEO of Value Adders, recently surprised an NGO in Sydney that was expecting to pay more than $10,000 a year to replace an aging ERP. Matt rolled out QBO and to the astonishment of the NGO’s CEO, it did everything they needed.
Matt Paff will be sharing this case study at Accountech.Live and explaining how the cloud has reset the parameters for small business accounting software. You can also catch a preview of Paff’s session next week – just tune into this 30-minute, informal webinar at 12.30pm AEDT (GMT+11) on Thursday 18 October.
There is an obvious follow-on question. Where exactly is the boundary between small business accounting software and ERP in the cloud?
Accountech.Live has two excellent presenters working on the answer. Inbal Steinberg from Convertworx and Tim Richardson from GrowthPath will be sharing the results of experiments with DigitalFirst.com to identify the limitations of Xero and QBO. You may have already run into those limitations with your larger clients.
“People perceive these cloud solutions as these huge things running on AWS and servicing hundreds of thousands of users so they don’t even think there could be limitations to the software,” Steinberg says. “You have to be aware of these limitations and know how to get around their them.”
Every accountant and bookkeeper should know where the current boundaries are for the accounting software they recommend. Xero does publicise a maximum 1,000 invoice-limit but only in vague terms, and it’s clear that the contents of those invoices affect Xero’s performance.
“We all know Xero users who have 2,000 or 3,000 invoices a month and it still worked. And we know someone who has 100 invoices a month with 100 lines in each invoice and Xero doesn’t work,” Steinberg says.
So how many invoices, and what type of invoices, can Xero and QBO take? When do they start to struggle? Come along to this session to find out. “The last thing you want is to get a client on a platform and for it to time out on them,” Steinberg says.
The session Testing the outer limits of accounting software – how big can you go? will outline ways of squeezing more out of your software before needing to move to ERP. But if you really want to know the nuts and bolts of these techniques then Steinberg returns to give you the low down.
Big clients slowing down their software? Workarounds for QBO and Xero is a breakdown of the inventory apps and programming techniques consultants use to save SMEs overspending on ERPs. Eventually an ERP is not just inevitable but the right choice for an SME. Come along to find out the tell-tale signs that it’s time for the Big Upgrade.
If you haven’t already register here for Accountech.Live and check out the rest of the agenda.
