“Its about giving clients a choice” Mark Woolley, Commercial Director, Reckon UK
Accountants are actively encouraging their clients to switch to Cloud accounting systems to help create closer collaboration and financial intimacy. According to recent research, the UK profession has set itself a target of moving 35% of clients online by the end of 2016. Currently, 10% of small businesses in the UK are using online accounting software, behind Australia at 20% and New Zealand at 35%.
If this bold target of 35% is achieved, the UK may well prove a serious challenger to New Zealand for the number one position.
For Accountants wanting to get more involved in their client affairs, online accounting makes perfect sense. They can get closer to their clients and understand their financial affairs in real time and not on an historic basis.
As trusted advisers, Accountants are frequently asked to help clients decide which online accounting software is best for their needs and this can prove difficult when there are so few packages out there. This has resulted in firms sticking to one brand they recommend and work with simply because of the lack of competition. However, the UK may do well to learn from the experiences of accountants in New Zealand and Australia where Cloud accounting is making an even greater impact and where clients are now demanding greater choice.
It is absurd to think that one size fits all and what suits one client, simply won’t suit another. One of the most common complaints is that Cloud accounting is overpriced and if the only option on the table is for a monthly subscription more suited to a larger business, then the client is unlikely to be impressed.
Micro sized businesses do not want a monthly subscription that is the same as a larger business and with no flexibility to pause a subscription at a quiet time. Why do seasonal businesses need to pay a subscription for project management all year? This module might only be needed at certain times when final costs need to be forecast and a better insight into the figures is sought.
This gap in the market for an online system that is priced at a level the smallest businesses can afford and where users can turn their subscription off during quiet months is about to be filled. Accountex has been chosen for the launch of the a next generation online accounting platform that will help make managing finances easier than ever for accountants and small to medium sized businesses.
Although a newcomer to the UK accounting software market, Reckon Group has an impressive track record as a leading provider of software solutions for accountants, bookkeepers and small to medium sized businesses in Australia and New Zealand with over 600,000 active customers globally using its proprietary solutions.
This exciting next generation modular and affordable approach to managing all of a small business’s accounting needs marks the beginning of a new era. Giving the business the option to pay only for what is used and when it is used marks a major step forward in this arena where monthly add-ons can become an issue.
Because Reckon One is an online platform, it caters for the change in the way business owners are working and allows them to focus on running the business rather than managing IT. The movement to cloud based applications is one that no one can stop. Social change says that people want the information on their device 24/7 and technology companies are building applications to suit that appetite.
Now is the right time to look at offering clients more choice and if the pricing is sharp, consider throwing in the online accounting package as part of a fixed fee package? This approach can help to create a completely new level of collaboration that can only enhance the accountant client relationship.
