Cloud accounting software for technology companies

The TAS Group (now Altify) Moves Group-Wide Accounts Online to AccountsIQ

Executive Chairman of Altify, Donal Daly, explains,

We needed an accounting platform that allowed us to manage our global business with local and central access. AccountsIQ has been a huge improvement on our previous systems, giving our management team instant access to the latest information from all locations. AccountsIQ’s SaaS pricing model meant no upfront capital investment was required to put our group accounting systems in place.

Altify (previously known as the TAS group) was formed in 2006 following the merger of sales software company Select Selling with Siebel’s training arm to create sales effectiveness training and software solutions for large sales organisations internationally.

The Challenge

Altify had grown to a stage where it had subsidiaries in the US, Europe and the UK to deliver training and consulting services to a wide range of international customers, as well as a software development subsidiary in Ireland. Their existing systems were struggling to cope with increased volumes and the multi-jurisdiction aspect of the business provided challenges for the finance team in terms of monitoring its activities across different timezones and processing transactions in multiple currencies. They needed a platform that allowed them to manage the business across multiple geographies and currencies with access both locally and centrally.

Financial Controller, Dan Murphy, explains,

Our team evaluated a number of online solutions, and selected AccountsIQ, mainly because it handled all our complex multi-currency issues very well. We also wanted a solution we could later integrate with Salesforce to allow confirmed orders to be automatically transferred, and that integration was already in place.

The AccountsIQ team was able to convert all our historical data and was even able to facilitate us changing year ends after the first year, including re-aligning prior year values for comparative purposes.

The Solution

Altify decided an online accounting solution would complement its use of Salesforce and evaluated a number of solutions before choosing AccountsIQ. The solution included the full version of AccountsIQ with all its accounting modules and product-based sales invoicing and pricing. They also implemented the consolidation module to allow group-wide results to be produced including customer sales analysis.

Results

• World-wide access for subsidiary companies in US, Europe, UK & Ireland.
• Easy roll-out giving everyone an up-to-date view of company results at anytime.
• Handles multi-jurisdiction, multi-currency transactions with ease
• Visibility of group results and group sales analysis at the touch of a button
• Retained a full transaction history and facilitated altering the group year-end easily.

The benefits of partnering with AccountsIQ - ION Industries

ION Industries Ltd, who deliver business and financial transformation through the application of market-leading technologies such as AccountsIQ, have been a business partner for two years. As an implementation partner, ION is licensed to resell AccountsIQ, and implement and customise the software to suit individual customer needs.

As the AccountsIQ Lead Implementation Consultant at ION, David Tinnion has been responsible for implementing AccountsIQ for clients such as Ramarketing, BayWa r.e. and Oxford Royale Academy:

We wanted to find a market leading mid-market Cloud accounting product and were delighted to discover AccountsIQ could offer our clients everything they needed in one system,” explains David.

Getting new partners on board

Prior to carrying out any projects, new partners are given in-depth training carried out by one of AccountsIQ’s product specialists. Additional support and guidance are provided within the product itself, for example, Help Juice articles and FAQs. Partners are continually supported by a dedicated Partner Manager and are kept up-to-date with new product features.

At the outset of the relationship, one of AccountsIQ’s product specialists (Ellen) came to us on site to provide in depth product training which was great. We also have a weekly call with Ellen to go over any issues – her product knowledge is exceptional,” explains David.

AccountsIQ’s e-Learning platform ‘AIQ Academy’, containing hundreds of video product tutorials, enables partners to access on-demand training on specific features and makes it easy for partners to support their customers.

From an implementation perspective, AccountsIQ is incredibly easy to work with. The system gives you a lot of information that you need on-screen, and it guides you through the process.”

Easy customer onboarding

A recent implementation that David has worked on is Lepra, the international charity working to beat leprosy. The Lepra project was really straightforward and the implementation aspect of the project, prior to UAT, was performed within a week.

The Lepra project is a great example of how well and completely seamlessly an implementation can go. The in-product guidance within AccountsIQ is easy to understand and bringing the data into AccountsIQ is incredibly straightforward.”

What features does David like best?

• The fact AccountsIQ is fully cloud-based, and it has an incredibly easy to use interface.
• Powerful reporting and dashboard functionality, incredible consolidation and multi-currency functionality.
• Easy to maintain and manage access with the user permissions settings.
• Easy allocation to different companies.
• Bank Reconciliation feature to either match manually or configure rules to do this automatically.
• Incredibly easy to adopt the product with on-screen help and in-product support.
• Approvals, from a supplier and dimensional level for multiple transaction types, with the benefit of being able to submit to an approver who isn’t setup as an AccountsIQ user.
• Powerful integration with CRM and other 3rd party platforms including Salesforce.

There is so much versatility within the product in comparison with similar desktop-based or hybrid cloud products. After over 20 years in Accounting Software implementation, I would say that the intuitiveness of the AccountsIQ system is second to none. We know that for many, getting people onboarded with new software can be challenging, but with AccountsIQ, our customers have found their teams were able to make use of the system straightaway.”

A key benefit David has discovered when implementing AccountsIQ is the huge timesaving gained by clients.

For Lepra in particular, the levels of automation within AccountsIQ have proven to be hugely beneficial. Having previously needed a third-party product to handle bank reconciliation, involving multiple data downloads and uploads, Lepra have been able to significantly reduce this 11-step process to just a 3-step process with the introduction of AccountsIQ into their business.

“Lepra are very happy with the product, AccountsIQ has been a massive time-saver for them.” 

AccountsIQ was the only solution we found that combined the ease of use of cloud based accounting systems and the multi-dimensional analysis that is needed for charity accounting at a cost that we liked!” Nick Avery, Director of Resources, Lepra. Read Lepra Case Study.

Ramarketing, an award-winning pharmaceutical PR and digital agency, multi-entity consolidation and the ability to handle multiple currencies were key objectives when looking for a new accounting system. The powerful consolidation and multi-currency accounting functionality of AccountsIQ were just two of the many features of the system that met the business requirements for Ramarketing, hence ION recommended and implemented AccountsIQ to replace Sage Financials.

Ramarketing were looking for an SME solution that provided a variety of insights into project profit-bility, whilst managing group consolidation and multi-currency. ION helped us select, implement and support the introduction of AccountsIQ to achieve this, without compromising the statutory requirements of an accounting system.” Barry Goddard, Finance Director, Ramarketing. Read Ramarketing Case Study.

Interested in becoming a partner?

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Learn more

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AccountsIQ provides a feature-rich Cloud accounting solution for Australian SaaS business, Educrowd

Based in Victoria, Australia, Educrowd launched in 2015 as an online learning and skills management platform for multinational companies. Educrowd is a rapidly scaling SaaS business and as their clients are based in 50 countries around the world, strong multicurrency capability was a key requirement for the business. The finance team will soon need consolidated reports as they look to acquire another business. For Educrowd’s small finance team, the accounting system also needs to be easy to use, saving time on everyday processes. Morag McKeand, Educrowd’s Financial Controller, tried several other accounting platforms including Sage and Xero before deciding that AccountsIQ was the best option for Educrowd’s needs.

The time-saving details that make life easier for small teams

For a small finance team with clients in many international markets, AccountsIQ not only provides detailed analysis in multiple currencies, it is also rich with features that make life easier when it comes to daily tasks. Compared to other accounting platforms for small businesses, Morag prefers AccountsIQ for its usability:

AccountsIQ is full of really user-friendly details. Being able to have more than one screen open at the time gives you really good visibility and makes referencing or comparing things much easier. The Transaction Browser will find anything; you might need to find a customer code, for example, and you don’t have to move away from the screen you are working on to find it. When I’ve tried to do this with Sage, it was just really clunky. AccountsIQ is much more intuitive. I just go to the main dashboard and everything is there.”

Educrowd’s client base includes self-serve clients who are billed monthly. The Educrowd team also works with other suppliers who bill on a monthly basis. AccountsIQ allows Educrowd to automate recurring billing on both the customer and the supplier side. “This is very handy,” says Morag, “And multicurrency, a key factor for us, is straightforward with AccountsIQ.”

“The Email Log is a feature I like a lot” she continues. “It’s very handy when a customer is unsure of whether or not they have been sent an invoice or reminders. You can find it really quickly in AccountsIQ’s log and resend it. It helps provide a better customer service as well as keeping payments and cash flow on track.”

Australia-based support and implementation

AccountsIQ collaborates with Sydney-based Saoi Business Consulting to provide a local implementation and support service for businesses ‘down under’ looking to move up a step from Xero or Sage. Darren Donohoe, an original Co-Founder of AccountsIQ and now Head of Operations at Saoi Business Consulting worked directly with Morag to set up AccountsIQ for Educrowd. His team continues to be her first point of contact for support.

Darren says, “AccountsIQ is the only financial management software available in Australia or New Zealand which offers accounting, consolidation and business intelligence, all on one platform and at an affordable price. It fills a real gap for evolving businesses like Educrowd which needs scalability without a large upfront investment.”

Morag sums up her overall experience with AccountsIQ:

I have used numerous accounting packages over the years such as Xero, MYOB, Sage, Reckon, and I’ve found AccountsIQ to be the most intuitive relative to the vast amount of functionality available. Its in-depth reporting functionality is a standout for me and when management often requires variations to the standard monthly P&L, the ability to tailor the reporting parameters saves me valuable time and a lot of frustration.”