Reckon Dumps QuickBooks Brand, Updates on Cloud Strategy

Reckon has replaced the QuickBooks brand for its desktop and hosted software with the name Reckon Accounts. Reckon had been slowly rebranding QuickBooks in Australia and finished process with a website update last week.

“When we rotate stock in March and April, on the shelves will only be Reckon Accounts,” said Clive Rabie, Reckon’s CEO.

• EasyStart 2013 (previously QuickBooks EasyStart)
• Accounting 2013 (previously QuickBooks Accounting)
• Plus 2013 (previously QuickBooks Plus)
• Pro 2013 (previously QuickBooks Pro)
• Premier 2013 (previously QuickBooks Premier)
• Enterprise 2013 (previously QuickBooks Enterprise)
• Hosted (to be updated mid-April)

Sales had picked up on the back of the name change because Reckon had been contacting customers and accounting partners about the name change. “We have been very active in the market and you start digging up sales,” Rabie said.

Reckon also revealed details of features included in its online accounting program, called Reckon One, which was due in the second quarter. The beta program was to be released in March to 400 people already using Cashbook Online, a lightweight, cloud-based financial tool.

Reckon One would be launched without payroll and only a simple inventory, although both features would be added within the following six months. “It’s strength is going to be time billing, and it’s going to be way ahead of what anyone else has got,” Rabie said.

“We were lucky coming in a bit later and we could look at everyone’s product. Bank reconciliation is much easier than anyone else’s. It will connect to bank feeds. The look and feel is not beautiful but pretty,” Rabie said.

“We have a lot of tools that will go in soon after, such as tax. It’s all there and done but if you put it all into it at once you put risk into the first release,” Rabie said.

Reckon had already moved its tax software to the same programming platform as Reckon One and would integrate it with the online accounting program after the launch. Once integrated the program would be able to upload tax returns directly to the Australian Taxation Office. “We are one of the few companies that have done XBR and SBR integration (with the ATO). It’s just a matter of changing the look and feel.”

Reckon One would connect to other cloud programs at launch, Rabie said. Reckon had recently built an application interface (API) for a top-four accounting firm and had used the code to build an API for Reckon One.

“For the people that want to use Salesforce.com and the rest of it we will have that API available,” Rabie said.

However, Reckon’s cloud program would not be handing over all functionality to third-party programs. “I hate the look and feel of products looking different,” Rabie said. Add-ons to online accounting programs could quickly become very expensive, he added.
Online accounting rival Xero, which targeted the same market as Reckon One, has reported that the majority of its customers have not used accounting software of any sort.

“If 60 percent of businesses have not used accounting products, I very much doubt they’re going to have complicated CRM systems or anything else,” Rabie said.