Login
iscover
A recap on all the developments, new software features and industry events that happened over the third quarter.
Newsletter
Latest tech updates for the accounting space
06 December 2024
•
13 minute read
You’re out of free articles for this month
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Welcome to our third quarter 2024 tech updates for accountants. My co-host Tyler Caskey and I’ve been travelling extensively and benefiting from flexible work. Tyler explored Europe and Bali destinations while rolling out a massive global HR and Payroll project across 9 countries. I meanwhile connected with the global accounting community, attending and speaking at three overseas AcounTech conferences. This lifestyle broadens and enriches our knowledge in this space, and hopefully you can benefit from what we learnt.
This blog post accompanies our podcast released via the Accountants Daily channel.
Firstly, let me share with you some personal news, slightly adjacent but still relevant to this world. I was elected to the CA ANZ QLD Regional Council and selected to be part of the AirTree Explorer program, which exists to cultivate the next generation of angel investors in ANZ. Both opportunities will expand my network, knowledge, and the value I can share with you.
But let’s get back to why you’re here, all the latest news about features, functionalities and updates from the accounting technology world.
At Xerocon Nashville the CEO, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy presented the investor one pager and said the strategic focus for both investors, customers and product development was a 3 by 3. 3 core markets - US, UK & AU. Notably US first and AU last. Yikes! And to prioritise 3 areas, core accounting, payroll & payments (getting paid and paying your vendors). Many of the other announcements were US centric though notably Xero now offers Tap to Pay on Android devices in Australia. This means a tradie can raise an invoice and accept payment in a few minutes on their mobile phone.
In light of trending interest in flexible financial and board level reporting Xero acquired the South African reporting package Syft Analytics. We shall watch with interest to see how it integrates, pricing impacts, and the fallout on other reporting solutions in that category.
==
==
Along with 22 000 people I attended SuiteWorld & Cloud World in Las Vegas. SuiteWorld showcased NetSuite, a robust ERP solution aimed at the smaller end of town. Some of the NetSuite releases included:
-
NetSuite Financial Exception Management, to help detect and mitigate financial risks.
-
SuiteAnalytics Assistant, to empower users to generate and customise reports and dashboards using natural language.
-
NetSuite Prompt Studio, which enables users to configure AI-generated content to suit their business needs.
-
AI SuiteScript API, which helps programers connect and access most NetSuite records, custom records, and event/trigger points.
-
Code Assist, which assists developers in writing code.
Approval Max, an end to end accounts payable automation solution, was amongst the thousand exhibitors at the conference and Matt Lowry their CRO wrote an interesting post about his observations that vendors in that space did not offer free trials.
Intuit introduces Intuit Enterprise Suite, an online ERP solution aimed at mid-market single- and multi-entity businesses.
MYOB has partnered with the Benelux cloud accounting platform Silverfin for its AI-powered digital workpapers and a financial reporting platform. This helps MYOB Practices using desktop solutions, move to the cloud. In case you missed it, GreatSoft was rebranded MYOB Practice Management and MYOB Advanced, the multi-entity ERP solution is now called MYOB Acumatica.
Let’s talk about Practice apps
The online payment processing platform Stripe is expanding its interoperability so it can work seamlessly with almost any app or product. Recently Stripe domestic card processing fees decreased. I have my invoices set to on-bill processing fees, and have written on my invoices ‘to save us both from these charges please pay into my bank account directly’. Tyler shared that one of his membership clients implemented the Aussie payment solution Pinch Payments, and the integration was smooth and seamless for both the invoicing team and clients. Clients get a dashboard showing payment status, history, and synced invoices from Xero, with instant payment options from multiple cards or accounts. He remarked that Pinch Payments were slightly more expensive than other solutions, but the additional functionality made it worth it.
XBert, the data quality tool and the cheap and cheerful accounting solution Free Agent, have announced an AI driven integration.
Developed out of Adelaide, AccountKit is a suite of tools that assists with: Div 7A loan calculations, lease calculations, simple intercompany balancing, time sheets, and a sophisticated task management workflow with a visual, Kanban-style board for tracking job flow and task progress. New functionality includes improved navigation and integrated client notes, which users can add and access directly within the tool, allowing for better tracking of conversations and key information without switching between systems.
ApprovalMax updates include an extra layer of oversight, allowing reviewers to check and edit requests before approval for QuickBooks Online. Automatically pushing comments, approvals, and rejections to Xero’s History and Notes, enhancing the Audit Trail and bulk actions for Xero line items, similar to Find & Recode functionality.
Systems like A2X, Parex Bridge and Synder consolidate eCommerce data from solutions like Shopify and push it through into accounting solutions for reconciliation. New A2X updates include Shopify Cost Sync, a tool that helps online shop owners keep track of how much each item they sell costs. It syncs the information directly from Shopify every day, so they know exactly how much money they’re really making on each sale. A2X also introduced a Monthly Export Feature which generates reports to help users find and fix any mistakes between their sales channels, A2X, and their accounting software
If you’ve found this information helpful, our podcast on the Accountants Daily channel deep dives into even more updates—subscribe and tune in!
You are not authorised to post comments.
Comments will undergo moderation before they get published.