Banks feeds were the killer feature that fuelled the rapid rise of cloud accounting software. But the bank rec is not fully automated yet. MYOB says it knows what will take it another big step closer – detailed supplier feeds.
MYOB is investing in higher quality, direct feeds to plumbing distributors Reece and TradeLink and office king OfficeWorks, with line item detail flowing directly into AccountRight and Essentials.
The idea is to create a “holistic” approach to expense management, says MYOB product manager Dale Dixon.
“We found that customers struggled to keep track of expenses on the job,” Dixon said. “The Reece integration brings in the (item) lines of what they purchased and also allocates to the job in the system.”
MYOB AccountRight can switch on tracking for reimbursables in each job. Tradies give a purchase order number at the point of sale which is added to the invoice. Then when the tradie invoices the customer the software automatically adds a selection or all expenses.
“In the past you got your paper copy of your statement and worked out which ones you have invoices for that work. Now you can integrate it end to end,” Dixon says.
MYOB is not the first to add feeds to major suppliers (Xero has OfficeWorks and Reece already) but it is the first to add line item detail. This one change will make a huge difference to the speed of bank reconciliation, says Dixon.
“We are working with a bunch of suppliers to automate those feeds. It’s not just about getting the bill in the system, it’s about automating the workflow,” Dixon adds.
The supplier feeds are one part of MYOB’s push to improve data processing. It has also switched from billsapp@myob.com.au to a unique email address for forwarding invoices to an “in tray”, similar to Xero’s Inbox.
Now a company can hand out the unique email to suppliers so they can send bills directly to the accounting software, or multiple staff within a company can forward invoices they have received.
MYOB Essentials can also store receipts as well as bills by attaching them to transactions in the bank reconciliation screen, Dixon says.
You can hear more about MYOB’s plans at Accountech.Live, November 13-14 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Register for free now.
Session: The next killer feature in accounting? Holistic expense management
Presenter: Simon Dennis, head of partnerships at MYOB
When: 10:05am – 10:35am, Tuesday 13 November
Image credit: MYOB
