Accounts in real-time

An interesting article in AccountancyAge the other day about Warren Tayler, the chairman of AIM-listed direct marketing group, Themutual.net, he has blasted the accountancy profession.

In a letter he wrote to the FT he said the group’s auditors had trebled the fee without explaining why.

He goes on to say that ‘while many businesses are cutting overheads and staff costs by the use of technology, the accounting profession, while stating that they too are moving with the time, end up greatly increasing the costs to clients’.

He went on to question why auditors could not use the internet to update client accounts in real-time.

Well Mr. Tayler, they can and we do!

We don’t act as auditors, and we don’t have AIM-listed clients, we offer our services to smaller businesses, and since September last year (2005) we have offered FREE online real-time accounting software to all our client (that want it) in association with WinWeb. 

Tags: WinWeb, Holden Associates, SaaS, Online accounting, AccountancyAge, Warren Tayler, AIM, Themutual.net, FT, Accountants, Auditors, Real-time accounting

3 Responses to “ Accounts in real-time ”

1. Dennis Howlett
   
   Said on September 27th, 2006 at 1:34 pm

   Warren was talking audit not accounts production. Even there the tools exist to do things remotely. The more important point is the way the profession (or rather the Big 4 + next 50) are going is smearing the profession. If it’s not careful, the profession will be rendered irrelevant. Sole practitioners might disagree but they’d better have an incredibly well differentiated value proposition. Little signs of that I’m afraid Jason apart from the few handful of folk I’ve found – maybe 35 in total so far?

2. Jason Holden
   
   Said on September 27th, 2006 at 3:36 pm

   Hi Den, Yes I know he was talking about audit, the premise is still the same whether it is for audit or accounts, the work can be managed online up to a point, a visit for pure audit purposes is still required, however, a lot of ‘grunt’ work can be carried out from the auditors offices before descending with a more focused approach for a quicker and less time consuming audit.

   The point Warren was getting at, is that the auditors turn up to do a lot of work that could be managed from their offices in the first place with an online solution, thus saving traveling time and all the other costs associated with ‘going out on audit’ that the client ultimately picks up the tab for, and I agree with him totally.

   He then went on to complain that the fees they have been charged have increased three fold with no real explanation, again another thing accountants/auditors are good at doing.

   However Den, the profession will not render itself irrelevant, I have heard this for many years starting with products like Sage that ‘can do away with the accountant’, then the introduction of self assessment in 1996, this banging the drum about becoming irrelevant is total nonsense.

   Furthermore, the average man in the street does not have any idea about the larger firms, no does he care, he has a good local accountant who offers him services he wants, that’s how it has always been and will always be.

   There has always been a market place for the smaller practice and always will, and many will innovate because they are smaller and as such can move quicker.

   The firms in my opinion that will struggle to find a market place in the future are they larger independents, the larger firms will always exist for the bigger business, the smaller firm with judicious use of technology can now act for larger businesses of say up to £5million turnover with ease, this then leaves those trapped between the little guy and the big guy, they are faced with grow or become a dinosaur, and their problem is no one can make a decision quick enough, and there in lies the problem, oh that and recruitment issues, but we all face them anyway!

   Only a person view, but in the last 20 years I have seen the smaller business now needs a good accountant/business advisor more than ever!

3. THE SMALL BUSINESS BLOG » Blog Archive » WinWeb, SaaS and the Environment.
   
   Said on September 28th, 2006 at 12:15 pm

   [...] Reading Jason’s post on accounting in real time and Phil’s ( BTW, thanks for mentioning us ) post on SaaS and some CIOs comments, it struck (!) me, that nobody is talking about the environmental impact of SaaS. [...]

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