Something very interesting is happening. Six months ago it would have been almost impossible to get any professional accountant to give the time of day to discussing the merits of SaaS. As far as most professionals were concerned there was only one game in town – Sage Line 50. That’s rapidly changing.
The last month has seen a steady stream of questions being raised where professionals and end user clients alike (check AccountingWEB here and here) are asking for recommendations as to which SaaS accounting service is better and why. This is a tough question to answer because those I currently see offer different things.
At present, I’d recommend both clients and professionals exercise care. Current SaaS offerings that have an accounting element are not as mature as their at-premises alternatives. For those that believe tick list comparisons are the be all and end all the you’ll likely reject a SaaS offering. That would be short sighted.
I have long held the view that proposing an ‘all you can eat’ solution is wrong. Too often, clients find solutions like Line 50 too complicated. It’s like being presented with a Thai 49 course banquet. Great to look at but guaranteed to give indigestion.
As a professional, it is better to have a clutch of solutions you can recommend on the basis of what is appropriate. So for example, Emily Coltman regularly talks about More! Winweb and Sage. One SaaS, one semi-SaaS and one at-premises. To that mix I’d add Twinfield, QXLite and Kashflow. For some businesses, I’d add in Blinksale and perhaps QuickBooks Online Edition. These last five are all on-demand, SaaS offerings.
This is counterintuitive to the perceived wisdom of having a single supplier but until a vendor emerges that delivers a fully configurable service – which isn’t going to happen any time soon – then having these choices allows professionals to focus on client needs.
That’s something that takes professionals out of their comfort zone but it has benefits. For the first time in many a year, professionals can now offer clients what they need and not just what’s convenient to the professional.
Some solutions, like More and Kashflow will require additional work by the professional because they are solely focused on the end user. That’s not a bad thing though I’d encourage developers to bear in mind that part of the rationale behind these services is to reduce the amount of time professionals spend on routine work.
What I find encouraging is the extent to which developers are looking at accounting from the client’s perspective. It’s been a long time a-coming. There is so much more that can be done.
Technorati Tags: Kashflow, Kashflow, QuickBooks Onnline Edition, QXLite, Sage_software, Twinfield, Winweb
