Mobile tech drives collaboration between small businesses and their accountants

AUSTRALIAN small businesses will up the ante on cloud and mobile technology solutions in 2014 – and benefit from unprecedented collaborative opportunities with their accountants as a result – according to research by financial management system provider, Intuit.

Intuit APAC vice president and managing director, Brad Paterson said in 2013 there had been an “astronomical increase” in uptake of mobile and cloud technologies by Australian small businesses.

Mr Paterson said information technology (IT) upgrades and innovative software developments, driven by customer demand for more productive financial management solutions, will also be on the agenda for small businesses in 2014.

“With high expectations of productivity increases, nearly 40 percent of SMBs (small and medium businesses) are planning to buy or upgrade iPad and tablet technologies over the next year, with those businesses of 10 employees or more having an even higher planned adoption rate, according to the 2013 TechAisle Australia SMB Mobility Adoption and Trends report,” Mr Paterson said.

He predicted small businesses would be set to benefit from unprecedented access to timely data, professional advice and technological support with increasingly powerful cloud and mobile solutions facilitating faster, more collaborative ways of working in 2014.

While the trend was strong in medium and larger businesses, the action was at the SMB level.

“We’ve seen greater than anticipated usage of mobile devices by small businesses, with Australia now ranked second in the world for smartphone usage,” Mr Paterson said.

“According to a recent TechAisle study, telecommuting has also become the norm, with 72 percent of employees in smaller companies taking advantage of the latest mobility devices and working from home.

“In addition to access, small businesses and their trusted advisors including accountants and bookkeepers are also increasingly looking for ways to save time. Intuit’s 2013 research with 1000 small businesses in Australia showed that owners could save, on average, an hour each day by being able to complete business tasks on the go – this equates to an entire month’s holiday.”

Mr Paterson predicted 2014 would see increasing levels of collaboration enabled by cloud and mobile technologies and a deepening of the relationship between small businesses and accounting practitioners.

“Our customers tell us they love flexible, scalable online platforms and the sophistication of software which enables those with financial responsibilities to have access to their accountant’s expertise anywhere, at any time and from any device. As such, we are seeing the concept of having an ‘accountant in your pocket’ become a reality,” Mr Paterson said.

“The shift in the role of the accountant, from ‘number cruncher’ to trusted financial advisor, will only continue, meaning accountants will have to step up to the plate and differentiate themselves by offering value-added consultative services ¹.

“Small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers also need software that simply works and is intuitive so application suites will have to integrate the products and services that address the entire workflow and enable better communication and collaboration.”

Mr Paterson said Intuit’s focus in 2014 would be to bring together small business and accounting offerings with the power of the cloud and mobile, rolling out a ‘virtual office’ solution to streamline the entire end-to-end financial process, and introducing the power that will enable Intuit to be the operating system, or platform, behind small business success.

“We believe the interests of our small business customers and their accounting practitioners are now one and the same – the focus is on time saving, growth and service,” he said.

“To thrive in this environment, they need solutions that are built from the ground up for a mobile environment and contain the same powerful features as their desktop counterparts. We knew mobile would lead with customers and we’ve been preparing for it.”

Paterson said that this year, more than ever, Intuit was set to put customers in the driver’s seat, enabling participation-driven innovation.  

“Customers will continue to drive innovation as we dramatically increase the number of updates to the Australian business,” Mr Paterson said.

“Partnering with bookkeepers, accountants, developers and industry bodies, we expect to see some really exciting growth and platform developments in 2014 and beyond.”

www.intuit.com.au 

 

[1]The Intuit 2013 Future of Accountancy Report found these services were being impacted by significant changes in the global business environment, online and mobile technologies, social networks and the rise of Gen Y and Millennial.

 

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