Online accounting clouds balloon

Beverley Head
Thursday, 03 June 2010 14:54

Business IT - Technology

The cloud based market for accounting software is about to hot up with New Zealand's Xero signing an exclusive marketing deal with the ANZ Bank just as arch rival MYOB prepares to edge its way into the cloud.

Xero has for almost a year offered its cloud based accounting systems in Australia via Telstra's T-Suite, but the company's founder and CEO Rod Drury today acknowledged that the challenge remained getting the software out in front of potential users. From early in the new financial year ANZ will market the software to its 450,000 small business clients.

Telstra currently offers three levels of Xero access starting at $29 a month. Drury said ANZ's pricing was still being developed, but he did anticipate some special deals.

MYOB meanwhile continues to beta test its Live Accounts cloud based service, which is expected to go live in a matter of weeks. Again, pricing has not yet been revealed.

While Xero is only offered on a cloud or Software as a Service based model, MYOB is planning to give users the option of on premise or cloud based solutions. Last month it released a survey showing that only 22 per cent of small and medium businesses favoured cloud based accounting systems.

While MYOB is by far the more established organisation, Xero does have MYOB founder Craig Winkler as a major shareholder and a growing footprint of users. Established around three years ago and listed on the NZ Stock Exchange, Xero now has 17,000 clients, with several thousand based in Australia according to Drury.