This weekend saw some hard work on the online accounting package video demonstration. We’ve had one for some time, but we really thought it was not up to scratch. It showed what Arithmo does, but it wasn’t really informative enough about how a small business could benefit.

So we’ve tweaked it. We think it’s easier to follow, and tells more about the aim of Arithmo and how it can help. There’s a very quick section on data entry, and we’ve also put some more about the bank statement import which we reckon is a great feature.

Special thanks go to Jenny for the voiceover (she followed my rambling script beautifully), Annie for the sound engineering (and computer splicing it to the video) and Andy for getting all the different bits of video and flash to work together. Well done guys.

I did a demonstration of our Client Bookkeeping Solution yesterday at a practice in Burnley. He was very interested but only after asking a load of technical questions. In particular, as a trained bookkeeper he saw how the double entry function was carried out in the background, but

I thought I’d share some of them here…

Does it allow you to choose between VAT on a cash and accruals basis?
YES

Can you make entries after the end of the accounting year without first running the year end?
YES. You will be warned that the accounting period has finished, but you can make entries.

Can you run a monthly trial balance?
YES. You can run a Nominal Activity Report which shows the trial balance details for any time.

Is the cost based on users or clients?
There are unlimited users available to any company / business within Arithmo. This includes any clients set up in an accountants version.

Can you make journal adjustments?
YES. There is a full adjustment facility within the system.

Voting has started for the 2009 business Software Satisfaction Awards. And we are quoted in the publicity for it…

http://www.businesszone.co.uk/topic/technology/how-much-do-you-care-about-your-business-software

We hope to be up there with the big names in the industry. We are offering something that other companies don’t necessarily have - a system that is focussed tightly on the needs of our users.

Fingers crossed this should be reflected in the voting.

Mike has just been looking at the stats, which is what he does quite a lot of. He’s worked out that accountants are getting really great retention rates when they use an online client bookkeeping solution. From the figures he’s examined, up to 90% of clients are staying with accountants when they come to renew. Given the natural wastage inherent with the business, this is pretty remarkable.

It stands to reason I suppose. If the accountant is seen by the client to be looking after them all through the year, there is less chance the client will say “well, what have you done for me lately”.

It’s not just Arithmo of course. We do have a particularly nice way of branding the accountant’s version, but the very nature of online accounting, with a good “accountant / client” interface, means far more interaction. (Or the illusion of interaction, which is just as useful.) Any system where the accountant can easily get access to the information will have this benefit.

We are pleased to announce that Arithmo will now be available as an addition to the package provided by Accountant Websmiths. They are one of the UK’s leading suppliers of websites to accountants.

Their bespoke sites are great for accountants. The practice can choose which elements of a site they want to buy, and the team at Accountant Websmiths create a bespoke website for them, fully branded in the practice logo and colours. (It’s similar to the way we can create a branded version of Arithmo for accountants.) Their service has been used by hundreds of practices across the country.

Offering Arithmo alongside their existing services means accountants can get a fully branded online accounting system at the same time as getting a professionally built website.

Not only that, they are offering a discount to old and new clients – 25% off if you have a website from them which potentially saves hundreds of pounds.  

Read more about it on Accounting web also http://tiny.cc/hjL96 

Scandal! India is being rocked by a huge corporate fraud surrounding the fourth largest software company in the country. And it appears a big part of it was down to the way accounting software was manipulated to allow the top management to post fake invoices. 

Just goes to show how important security is when you are dealing with online accounting systems.

The management of Satyam Computer Services, principally B Ramalinga Raju, have been accused of posting fake profits, raking in a whopping 30 billion rupees from the fraud. They are said to have allowed really weak password systems, failed to integrate various parts of the organisation properly and generally allowed unauthorised transactions.  Click here to find out more. All this lead to vastly inflated profit figures.  The management then sold off their shares, reducing their holdings in 2001 from 25% to 1.5%.

Not bad, except the more you read about it, the more ludicrous their actions seem. Like this for example on Bloomberg news. It may just be me, but surely you’d realise that selling off that quantity and value of shares may perhaps lead to a little bit of checking from the authorities.

If he is found guilty, Raju could face life in jail. If he’d used Arithmo, he would not have had chance as our system is secure!

We are partners with Accounting Web, where accountants go for the latest news, so I’ve posted a press reslease about the survey I wrote about yesterday. Click here to read it http://tiny.cc/rxiof

It will be interesting to see how much accountants take on board about the advent of SaaS and web based accounting software. It is the future of software, and it really does bring many benefits to both the clients and the accountants.

We’ve carried out a small study to see whether accountancy practices can make cost savings by switching clients from traditional bookkeeping systems to new online software. 

Of the accountants asked, most found that the using Small Business Accountancy Software increased efficiency when processing clients’ accounts. In many cases, this lead to substantial time savings and consequently meant cost benefits in the practice itself. 

There were a number of reasons, mostly as a result of the software being online. Having the client’s bookkeeping records immediately available was regularly quoted as being a major factor as the accountant could view exactly the same data instantly. 

Time savings were also found because the accountant could manipulate the information from the practice office if needed, rather than having to visit clients to fix problems. 

And, as the data is in a standard format it means that the internal procedures of the practice could be more clearly defined. Obviously traditional software allows for this, but only with extra administration.

We’ve always thought that there are big time and cost savings available to accountants, so it’s nice to have it confirmed.

Don’t you love it when you get a very nice surprise?

We’ve just run some statistics, with it being just after the end of the financial year for most people and everything, and some really pleasing results came up.

The most gratifying statistic is the retention rate. Of all the people who took Arithmo last year, over 90% have signed up for next year. Given the incidence of people no longer needing accounting software (no longer self employed for instance), we think that is great.