Home » E-News » News

Categories

Accountant Aged Care Allied Health Annuity Asset Finance Asset Planning Asset Protection Asset Protection Strategies Assets Assets and Risks Ato Bas Binding Death Benefit Nominations Binding Financial Agreement Bonds Brexit Budget Budgeting Business Business Registrations Business Support Business Tax Deduction Business Value Capital Gains Tax Capital Protection Catherine Frost Cgt Checklists Commercial Property Community Corporate Trustee Cryptocurrency Death Benefit Nomination Debt Debtors Deceased Estate Depreciation Director Director Id Divorce Economic Update Economy Emily Kermac Employees Estate Planning Executor Fbt Federal Budget Finance Finances Financial Advice Financial Plan Financial Update Franking Credits Government Grants Gst Home Office Hybrid Unit Trust Individual Ownership Information Session Insolvency Insurance Interest Rates Investment Loan Investment Loans Investment Property Investments Janet Kohan Jobkeeper Jobmaker Joint Ownership Ken Burk Land Tax Lending Market Update Mortgage Broking Mygov Negative Gearing Overseas Gifts Parental Leave Paris Financial Pat Mannix Payg Payg Variation Pension Practice Practice Valuations Private Wealth Property Rebecca Mackie Record Keeping Research & Development Retirement Retirement Planning Retirement Savings Salary Sacrifice Scams Self Managed Superannuation Self Managed Superannuation Fund Self Managed Superannuation Fund Borrowing Shares Small Business Smsf Smsf Borrowing Smsf Self Managed Superannuation Fund Strategic Business Structuring Structures Succession Plan Superannuation Superannuation Fund Tax Tax Benefits for Super Tax Concession Tax Deduction Tax Losses Tax Offset Tax Planning Tax Savings Temporary Full Expensing Tenants in Common Tfe Training Trust Trusts Will Working from Home

The History of Accounting Software for Small Businesses

The History of Accounting Software for Small Businesses

Grab yourself a cup of tea or a coffee, folks. The history of accounting software is below.

The beginning

In the mid 90s, we had a heap of DOS-based software. It was terribly designed and very difficult to use. You needed a real boffin or a poindexter to run it.

Eventually, things started to change. The price of PCs started to drop and Windows came around to compete with Macs.

Bringing MYOB to Australia

MYOB started as a tiny company in America. It was designed and built specifically as a Graphic User Interface ( GUI ) piece of software which meant built for Mac/Windows. A couple of Australian lads noticed how advanced it was for accounting software and decided to head over to the U.S. and check it out. One of the boys, Craig Winkler, was a local lad from Blackburn. The other, Brad Shofer, was from Sydney.

They saw it and immediately agreed that MYOB was a game-changer. Hence, they brought the software back to Australia and put it into all of the new PCs that were coming out with Windows.

It was a winner among small business people, bookkeepers and accountants and quickly stole the market. I would estimate it took 70% of this huge market in Australia.

Craig and Brad did it so well in Australia they ended up buying the U.S. company and then growing it into a public company here in Blackburn.

What about QuickBooks?

QuickBooks was another piece of software that was the only real competitor of MYOB and it took up most of the remaining 30% of the market. Quickbooks was in some ways easier to use but the bane of us clunky Accountants because too many figures would move compared to the rock solid debit/credit system of MYOB.

However with both QuickBooks and MYOB, tax accountants across the country were able to deal with and organise their client’s accounting information so much easier and the transfer to a tax return was also far easier.

The introduction of cloud based software

A few years ago when cloud-based software was introduced, everything turned on its head. Craig, then the CEO of MYOB, tried very hard to get MYOB into the cloud. He knew it was the way of the future But, he was being restricted a lot by the directors of MYOB at the time.

Craig eventually cashed in his MYOB shares to Private Equity and he walked out the front door and dumped millions into Xero.

Switching to Xero

Xero is software designed and built in New Zealand specifically for the cloud with automatic bank feeds. The fact that the software, like MYOB in the 1990s, was purpose built for the modern IT platform meant they constructed with a clear vision unconstrained by historical influences. The company has skyrocketed in popularity.

Xero is great because it only has one version, whereas the old MYOB had multiple versions of the same software. Having just one version makes it efficient and simple. Accountants are using exactly the same software as their bookkeepers and clients. The other benefit of cloud based Xero is that everything is done in live time. Accountants can get into the software and make changes, and bookkeepers/clients immediately know what is going on.

If you want to know what the Tax Champion recommends as the best current software for accountants, read: What Is The Best Software For Accountants?

Pat Mannix, Partner, Paris Financial


Tags: Accountant | Paris Financial | Pat Mannix |