Tuesday, June 3, 2014

India : New Accounting App to help Small and Medium Businesses, Start-ups & Self employed Individuals : Bookkeeper

Straight out of New Dehli : Imagine the hassles that SMB’s, start-ups, entrepreneurs and freelancers go through on a day to day basis, when it comes to keeping a track of all the financial transactions they need to make – raise invoices, generate sales orders, issue purchase order, maintain outstanding receivables and payables along with generating various financial reports like Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss A/C, Inventory Summary, Tax Computation… the list goes on and on. While it’s an obvious must, keeping a track of the financial status of the company is a tedious task, and requires professional help from tax consultants and accountants – an expense many start-ups and self employed individuals have secretly wanted to avoid!

Now, tedious accounting procedures are things of the past. BOOKKEEPER, an accounting based app, available on Android, iOS and Windows desktop platforms provides a simple user interface allowing accounting solutions on the move, that too offline.  The app allows an individual or firms to maintain financial records on Smart phones, Tablets or Personal Computers by just entering business transactions – on daily basis. It does all the double-entry accounting and generates various financial reports automatically, which can be exported in various formats like PDF, CSV, HTML; ready to be e-mailed or printed – all in real time.
 
Available on all major platforms, Book Keeper has already recorded 3.5 lakh downloads all over the world with 5000+ paid users from more than 15 countries. It is available as a free download from Google Play Store and App Store with a 30-day trial. After trial period expiry, it can be subscribed at a nominal fee of just Rs. 125/- per month.
 
Book Keeper allows the convenience of having the entire company books on one’s phone or tablet or PC, without the need to hire Accountants. One can manage all their books on their own – even without any prior accounting know-how and keep track of sales, purchases, expenses, receipts, profits, receivable, payable etc., all with just a tap!

Mr. Varun Mendiratta, the founder of Book Keeper App, talks about future plans, “We are planning to make Book Keeper compatible with TallyTM whereby one can sync Book Keeper data with TallyTM. We will also extend inventory management module adding new features like warehousing, alternate unit of measure etc, add new features like reconcile bank statements, cloud accounting - sync wirelessly across all three platforms, conduct webinars/online sessions, and introduce comprehensive video tutorials covering all features of the app.”

“With 60% of the users from India followed by US, UK, Book Keeper provides offline, cross-platform, stand-alone, easy-to-use accounting solution. Once you subscribe for Book Keeper, all updates are free,” Mr. Mendiratta added.

Features of Book Keeper:

·         Easy, double-entry offline accounting
Do all your accounting or book keeping directly from your smartphone or tablet without any internet connection. Keep track of sales, purchases, expenses, receipts, profits, receivable, payable etc., all with a tap!!!

·         Invoicing
Send professional invoices to your customers with ease while you are in the field. You can even add your company logo and signature to these invoices.

·         Outstanding Receivable/Payable Analysis
Real time visibility on outstanding receivables and payables with ageing analysis

·         Comprehensive financial reports
Book Keeper generates various financial reports like Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss A/C, Inventory Summary, Tax Computation etc. All these reports allow you to dig deeper into your company’s financial status. These can be exported in various formats like PDF, CSV, HTML.

·         Operates on multiple devices & platforms
Access your company data on Android or iOS smartphones and tablets while you are in the field. At home or office, access the same data on your Windows laptop or PC.

·         Order generation
Generate sales orders, issue purchase order on the move. Email or print them real time

·         Inventory Management
Create individual inventory items with your own units of measure and record purchase or sale transaction of these items. Book Keeper automatically evaluates closing inventory based on FIFO. Manage your stock efficiently by real time visibility of stock, reduce damages and order optimum quantities.

·         Sync across 3 platforms
You can always move your company data among three platforms i.e. Android, iOS or Windows. Work on Android, Transfer to iPhone and Connect to your Desktop. Enjoy full cross-platform compatibility!
Posted on 2:00 PM | Categories:

Zoho and Microsoft Partner to Develop Innovative Business Apps / Companies Unveil New Zoho Books App for Microsoft Phones, Desktops and Tablets

-Zoho today announced that it is partnering with Microsoft on several joint development projects focused on building innovative and useful mobile applications for business workers across the globe. The initial result of this joint development is the launch of Zoho Books for Windows 8.1 and Windows RT in the Microsoft Windows Store. The new edition of Zoho’s online accounting software is optimized for desktop computers and tablets running the Windows operating systems. Users can download Zoho Books for Windows from the Windows Store at http://ow.ly/xy6H3 and http://ow.ly/xy6qG (Windows phone).
“Increasingly, SMBs are looking for ways to simplify their accounting processes. Zoho Books allows businesses to easily manage the money flowing in and out, keep track of customers and invoices, record, monitor and reconcile bank accounts, and much more. It offers SMBs all the functionality they need to make accounting a hassle-free process, and we are pleased to work with Zoho to bring this application to Windows desktops, tablets and phones,” said Joseph Landes, general manager-developer experience and evangelism at Microsoft.
Union of Online and Offline Leaders
As reflected by its Zoho Books delivery, the Zoho-Microsoft partnership is a substantial union. Zoho brings one of the broadest suites of online applications for business, collaboration and productivity. Meanwhile, Microsoft brings its huge base of Windows users and growing Windows Phone and tablet (Surface) users.
Zoho Books for Windows also represents a substantial joint collaboration for the two companies. During the course of the project, Microsoft provided Zoho with training in Windows technology, assistance with application design in the Windows platform and help with application development. With the launch of Zoho Books in the Windows Store, Microsoft is partnering with Zoho in the marketing and promotion of the app.
“Zoho and Microsoft see eye-to-eye on the importance of delivering easy-to-use mobile and web apps that help business people work more effectively,” said Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, director of product management for Zoho’s financial apps. “By combining our suite of industry-leading business apps with Microsoft’s mobile and web platforms, together we will deliver a fluid and highly effective user experience whether you are working on your mobile device or your laptop.”
Zoho Books for Windows
With Zoho Books for Windows, Zoho now supports the entire lineup of Microsoft platforms, including Windows Phone mobile devices, Windows 8.1 desktops and Windows RT tablets. Zoho and Microsoft offer users a simple interface that is beautifully designed for freelancers and small business owners to manage their business finances easily. Zoho Books for Windows gives users instant insights about their businesses and helps them stay on top of their cash flow at any time.
Zoho Books for Windows focuses on helping users manage their cash flow and track the income and expenses incurred for their business. Other highlights include:
  • Powerful invoicing features let users track outstanding invoices and customer payments easily.
  • Built-in, multi-currency calculator simplifies international sales, invoices and payments when transactions involve two or more currencies.
  • Expense tracking and categorizing helps business owners identify and curb unnecessary expenditures.
  • Users can snap and upload photos of expense receipts, such as travel tickets or stationary expenses, to their account as well.
  • The address book organizes all customers and their contact information, making it easier to access customer information anytime.
Pricing and Availability
Zoho Books for Windows 8.1 and Windows RT is available immediately to download for free from the Windows Store at http://ow.ly/xy6H3 and http://ow.ly/xy6qG (Windows phone). Users can sign up for a 14-day trial to evaluate Zoho Books for their business needs. Business owners can add unlimited users as well as their accountant to their Zoho Books account. The monthly subscription is $24, and a yearly subscription is available for $240, which includes a two-month discount
For more information on Zoho Books, please visit http://www.zoho.com/books . For more information on Zoho, visit http://www.zoho.com . To get breaking Zoho news, follow the company on Twitter at @zoho and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/zoho . The latest news about Zoho products is available on the company blog, http://blogs.zoho.com
Posted on 1:55 PM | Categories:

Reporting made easy for accountants with Sage Pastel Online Intelligence Go!

Sage Alchemex is making powerful online business intelligence and reporting tools more accessible to accountants with the release of Sage Pastel Online Intelligence Go!, an easy-to-use cloud solution for anytime, anywhere reporting available as a free download on the Microsoft App Store for use with Sage Pastel Online.
The solution, designed with the needs of small businesses in mind, will grant accountants greater flexibility and control over the report design process, and will allow them to spend less time sorting through data.
Intelligence Go! extracts data from Sage Pastel Online and delivers it in a Microsoft Excel report template, which can be custom designed to almost any type of report. Accountants will have the freedom to decide what information they want to analyse and, using their existing Excel skills, design exactly how they want to present it. Instead of reformatting the same report month after month, they will be able to set up reports in their preferred format and thereafter will only have to refresh the data each month.
According to Michael Brennan, Product Manager of the app: "The feedback from accountants so far has been really encouraging; with Excel being such a familiar tool, it makes complete sense to be able to get access to Sage Pastel Online data in flexible reports without wasting valuable time doing manual exports and reformatting inside Excel."
Not only does Intelligence Go! provide financial reports, it also has the ability to report off operational data. From the flexibility of viewing sales by customer to a report that highlights top five customers and top five items, the solution can provide a wealth of sales intelligence. Other templates make it simple to see summaries of profits and losses or assets and liabilities.
Stephen Coull, Sales Director at Sage Alchemex, says: "Like larger businesses, SMEs need access to up-to-the-minute financial data to make good business decisions. With Intelligence Go! we are giving accountants a powerful and flexible reporting solution that allows them to easily customise reports and view data at different angles with little effort so that they can provide valuable financial and business insights to their clients."
Sage Alchemex is hosting an online seminar (Webinar) on 11 June at 9.30am for accountants to get more information on this online reporting software. Accountants can register for the Webinar here. For more information, visit go.sageintelligence.com.

Posted on 7:15 AM | Categories:

BoxFree IT : Spotlight Reporting Raises $2.7m From MYOB founder, Xero Directors [BI / Analytics for QBO & Xero]

Sholto MacPherson for BoxFreeIT writes:  Business intelligence tool Spotlight Reporting has raised $2.7 million (NZ$3 million) from several investors including MYOB co-founder and Xero director Craig Winkler. Xero’s chairman Sam Knowles and another director, Graham Shaw, also contributed to the round.
Spotlight_Reporting
“This capital raise allows us to continue building a great team, to fast-track product development and expand our physical presence in Australia, the UK and  US in coming months,” Spotlight Reporting CEO Richard Francis said in a press release.
Spotlight Reporting began as a tool for producing PDF reports from data in Xero for accountants, bookkeepers, franchises, small businesses and not-for-profits. It has expanded its range into a KPI dashboard, franchise benchmarking (up to 500 Xero organisations) and cashflow forecasting.
The company has a close relationship with Xero – Xero acquired sister product Spotlight Workpapers and added it to its Practice Studio practice management suite for accounting firms. Francis worked briefly as general manager of Workpapers at Xero post acquisition.
Spotlight Reporting has offices in New Zealand, Australia and is opening its first UK office in London. [end]
BoxFreeIT is an independent news site covering cloud software for Australian and New Zealand businesses which launched in July 2011.
Posted on 7:10 AM | Categories:

Tallie Introduces First Complete Cloud-Based Solution for Expense Management

Isaac M. O'Bannon for CPA Practice Advisor writes: Tallie, which makes online expense management systems, has released what it says is the first complete cloud-based expense management solution, providing the quickest path from receipt to balance sheet. Tallie was honored this week with a Tax and Accounting Innovation Award.
Tallie’s mobile-enabled solution simplifies and accelerates the painfully manual expense report process by automatically capturing, categorizing and processing expense transactions and integrating seamlessly with leading accounting systems.  The company’s native integrations with industry leaders such as Intuit’s QuickBooks, Bill.com and SmartVault meet the growing need by companies, accounting firms and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services for a system-wide cloud-based ecosystem.
Tallie is a game-changer," said Darren Root, CEO and founder of Rootworks, which advises more than 900 accounting firms. " [snip].   The article continues @ CPA Practice Advisor, click here to continue reading.
Posted on 6:58 AM | Categories: