The app, part of a service called Deloitte Private Connect, incorporates some of the most advanced features of cloud accounting software and add-ons such as optical character recognition of receipts and invoices, direct bulk payments to banks, automated bank feeds and syncing data to client accounting programs such as Xero and MYOB AccountRight Live.
Clients could connect popular add-on programs from the Xero and MYOB ecosystems such as Receipt Bank and Unleashed so they could push data to the app. Deloitte Private Connect clients could then use the app to provide single sign-on access to any connected programs, and subscriptions for multiple programs were also combined into a single invoice.
“Deloitte Private Connect sets a new benchmark for what individuals and family businesses should expect from their accountant; the best cloud technologies and the best of Deloitte at a compelling fixed, monthly price,” said David Hill, national managing partner for Deloitte Private, in a press release. “We are giving our clients what we know they want – real time to do what really matters to them.”
In a breakthrough for professional services among the Big Four firms, Deloitte Private Connect is based on an online subscription payments model and fixed monthly fees. “We recognised that fixed monthly payments make it easier for our clients to manage their cash flow,” Hill said. “We have adjusted our business model and workflow management accordingly, to provide our clients with certainty, as well as best in class services,” Hill said.
The Connect service, which includes regular advisory meetings for a fixed monthly price starting at $1,200 for a small business, although a package for non-trading entities cost as little as $250 a month.
The service includes processing of supplier invoices and payments, general ledger, BAS activity statement lodgement, interactive management reporting, regular meetings with a Deloitte Private adviser, annual income tax return and ASIC company statement lodgement.
Despite handling some general ledger duties, “we are absolutely not competing with Xero” or other cloud accounting programs, Hill said.
The app handles such a large number of tasks that Deloitte Private could “hypothetically” stop using practice management software for everything but year end accounts, Hill told BoxFreeIT.
Deloitte Private Connect consists of two core apps, Transact and Analyser. The Transact app powers an automated bookkeeping service and incorporates cutting-edge technology developed internally by Deloitte over the past two years.
Transact includes automated bank feeds (Deloitte is confirming the supplier of the feeds but it is most likely to be Yodlee) and the ability to import general ledger transactions from cloud accounting programs. At launch the service supported Xero and AccountRight Live, with Intuit QuickBooks Online to be signed soon. Deloitte is also in talks with Reckon and larger accounting software companies such as NetSuite.
Transact also houses a receipt scanning service which Deloitte built internally. Suppliers and employees could send PDFs or photos of invoices and receipts to a unique email address in the app which scanned and translated the files into line item entries coded into the general ledger. Deloitte Private Connect stored all files with the transactions as ATO approved copies in a similar manner to Xero Files.
Hill said while there was “some overlap” with receipt scanning apps such as Receipt Bank and Invitbox, Deloitte Private Connect went further.
“We are fully automating bookkeeping. We use optical character recognition to scan the data on the invoice, we match it to a database, it goes into a queue and the bookkeepers’ only work is to approve it or flag it,” Hill told BoxFreeIT.
“Invitbox and Receipt Bank do part of the process but they don’t manage the bookkeeping for you. That’s what we do,” he said.
The Transact app includes a digital signatures function, also developed internally, by which clients could sign tax returns, approve BAS statements and year end accounts and other documents for compliance with the ATO.
Deloitte’s accountants can make bulk payments direct from the app to any Australian bank, a feature supported by payments gateway Payment Adviser, replacing the manual process of downloading ABA files. Xero implemented a similar feature recently but it was only available to two New Zealand banks.
The Analyser app creates live financial reports and business analytics such as profitability, cash flow, growth and trend analysis. The app can customise key performance indicators, perform live ‘what-if’ analysis and show alerts for metrics.
One of the most surprising aspects of the app is its ability to serve as a single log-on for a range of cloud programs. Deloitte Private Connect could add any cloud program appearing in the Nine Spokes app marketplace, a secretive New Zealand startup which has until now operated under a closed beta.
The apparently well funded Nine Spokes is the exclusive supplier of apps to the Deloitte Private Connect service.
Apps automatically populate an interactive dashboard enabling business owners to quickly review key metrics in real time. Based on the particular needs of their business, clients select from compatible apps conveniently grouped into simple categories such as staff, customers, marketing, product, money, and so on.
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One Response to “Deloitte Drops BombShell with Launch of Unified Accounting and Dashboard App”
- Great development of software and we would suggest this will suit the clients of Deloitte Private extremely well.Why the specific distinction? The majority of business in Australia could not envisage $1200 a month of adviser fees of any type or all types combined.Also the product works on the basis of what it calls “bookkeeping” being the catching and recording of transactions that have already happened. ie the Bank Feed of transactions or alternatively the receipt and dissection of Purchase invoices. This historic processing does not suit all businesses. This style of automation is (thankfully) coming across the board. This is an automation of the mechanical data processing of past transactions. This will definitely suit some businesses. Businesses who are maybe investors or with few transactions. Not for businesses who are active retailers, manufacturers or service providers where the “Bookkeeping” is more of an integral part of doing the business.We would argue that Best Practice Bookkeeping and Best Practice Business for “active” businesses is actually doing the business transaction and the accounting records are created as a by product. In this solution the Bank Feed simply automates more of the bank reconciliation process not creating the transaction.Well done Deloitte for bringing an advanced solution to market that will suit part of the market. We look forward to the commercially available accounting/business software packages continuing their development to bring us a similar comprehensive feature set.
BoxFreeIT is an independent news site covering cloud software for Australian and New Zealand businesses which launched in July 2011. The site is published by Sholto Macpherson, a business technology journalist in online and print media for over 11 years. BoxFreeIT operates in accordance with the MEAA (Australian Journalists Association) Code of Ethics.
The only Australasian site dedicated to cloud software, BoxFreeIT attracts 30,000 unique visitors a month with a strong following of accountants and bookkepeers exploring cloud accounting programs such as MYOB Essentials and AccountRight Live, Xero, Saasu and Intuit QuickBooks Online, as well as SMEs interested in cloud software.
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David Hill is the national managing partner of Deloitte Private writes:The next 12 months will be a watershed for businesses in terms of adopting digital technologies.
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David Hill is the national managing partner of Deloitte Private writes:The next 12 months will be a watershed for businesses in terms of adopting digital technologies.
Private businesses in Australia are in danger of missing out on an accounting revolution by failing to respond to the changes caused by digital disruption.
In a recently released report, Harnessing the ‘bang’, stories from the digital frontline, Deloitte updated its analysis of the impact of digital disruption, highlighting the pace of change is accelerating and affecting businesses big and small across Australia.
The next 12 months will be a watershed for private businesses; whether they adapt to digital disruption or not. Recent research on cloud computing conducted by the Australian Communications and Media Authority highlighted that 66 per cent of Australian businesses are still not using cloud technology. Two thirds of business owners are therefore failing to capitalise on a key potential source of competitive advantage.
This reluctance among business owners may be due to the fact that many business owners are simply not aware of how far such technologies have come over the past few years and thereby unaware of the positive impact cloud technologies can have on their business.
Every business owner can relate to the desire to spend less time on day-to-day transactions, paying staff and suppliers and scrambling to balance the books at month end.
Most business owners want to spend more time on the bigger picture; the things that helped their business succeed in the first place – working on the business, not in the business. Done right, adopting cloud technologies can now help make this a reality by providing business owners access to real-time accounting and live information at their fingertips.
Doing it right, however, requires more than just picking from the thousands of available business apps. It means managing and integrating all of the separate logins, subscriptions, security and connectivity protocols and placing the emphasis on extracting actionable insights rather than just getting data into systems.
Many business owners only receive their financial statements well after the conclusion of a financial year, which makes it hard for them to have an accurate understanding of their financial performance and position throughout the year and hard for them to take timely actions based on that information.
Cloud technologies are changing all of this, giving savvy business owners the ability to access their live and up-to-the-moment financial information from anywhere at any time and on any device. This ability to provide business owners with a real-time view of their financial performance has the potential to change the way they think about their business and, in particular, the timeliness with which they act to optimise the performance of their business.
What does all this mean for accountants and their clients across the country? Cloud technologies are setting a new benchmark for what entrepreneurs and family businesses should expect from their accountant. No longer should a business owner expect to wait until after year end to know how their business performed during the year that’s past and where their business stood at the end of the year that’s past. Real-time, online accounting makes everything faster and simpler.
If you’re thinking about how to migrate your business to the cloud, here are five things to consider:
- A system with an open architecture will allow you to work with other apps, which is important as your business changes and grows.
- Is there a way to see everything in a snapshot across your business? Do the apps you choose work together to give you the insights you need via a simple, intuitive dashboard or the like?
- Do your research and pick a reputable software provider. Look at demos and online tools. Pick the individual apps that are right for your business but think about how you will balance this with the proliferation of subscriptions, logins and management effort that comes from selecting ‘point’ applications.
- Make sure you have a clear understanding of where your data is held; who owns it and how it is available for back up.
- Doing nothing is not the answer. Move now so you don’t miss out on the opportunities to gain a key source competitive advantage.
David Hill is the national managing partner of Deloitte Private
