Knives out in Xero, MYOB tussle

SUPRATIM ADHIKARI for the australian writes: The joust between accounting software outfits Xero and MYOB is clearly picking up steam, with both companies embarking on a flurry of deal making and product launches.

Dual-listed Xero has sealed an integration with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments solutions start-up Square in the US, with the integration to enable customers to link their Xero and Square accounts.

The integration allows transaction data to flow automatically from point of sale from Square to back office accounting software.

The Square deal comes a day after Xero announced a strategic alliance with KPM in the United Kingdom.

Under the terms of the partnership, Xero’s platform will play a central role in KPMG’s latest division, developed to provide select online accounting and tax services to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Britain from May 2014.

Not to be outdone, MYOB has launched its mobile payments solution MYOB PayDirect as a limited release to early adopters within the Australian SME community.

PayDirect is designed to turn businesses’ smartphones into payments terminals and offers integration with MYOB’s accounting solution AccountRight.

It also enables receipts and invoices to be delivered to their customers on the spot.

The PayDirect launch follows MYOB’s release of two new cloud solutions this week.  

MYOB has introduced Essentials Cashbook (initially in pilot mode), an online solution available exclusively through its partners, which enables accountants to allocate a client’s financial transactions for accounting purposes and manage the level of client involvement in this process.

The second solution is MYOB Accountants Office OnTheGo and MYOB Accountants Enterprise OnTheGo -- a browser-based interface that enables accountants to access their practice management data from any web browser, including mobile devices.