Accounting, Announcements, Industry News, Technology

The ACCC has concerns about the MYOB Reckon deal – I have concerns about the ACCC?!

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WARNING: This article is heavily laced with opinions and is not suitable for consumption by those who are sensitive to strong views…

At the end of March, the ACCC released its preliminary findings into the proposed acquisition of Reckon’s Accountant’s division by MYOB.

2 documents were released:

In short, I find the media release ridiculous, poorly worded and off-point. The Statement of Issues, whilst not without some substance, shows a lack of genuine investigation, understanding of competition and technical wherewithal.

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Accounting, Future, Technology

18 Predictions for 2018 – AuNZ Biztech

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Here goes, my 3rd annual attempt at being an accountable, amateur “futurist” in the Cloud Accounting and general Biztech industry.

2017 proved (for me anyway), more predictable that 2016 (remember 2016 was the year of Trump, Brexit, Cronulla Sharks, Western Bulldogs, Leicester..). By my own marking, my 2017 Biztech predictions saw me score a respectable B upon reflection, after a horrid F for 2016.

So again I saddle up with my futurism skills moving in the right direction and a continued promise to be transparent about my predictions.
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Accounting, Fintech, Future, Technology

17 Predictions for 2017: How’d I go?

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For the second year in a row, I started last year with my crack at being a futurist, by publishing my predictions for the Biztech/AccountingTech industry for the year ahead. Unlike most other people who make bold predictions, again I am happy to hold myself to account on how I went.

I’m happy to proclaim my 2017 edition easily surpassed the accuracy of my predictions for 2016, and in a world of continuous improvement, my 18 for 2018 will be even better…

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Accounting, Bookkeeping, Company News, Technology

Will the MYOB acquisition of Reckon APS suffer from the Northern Eagles Effect?

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On the 16th of November it was announced that MYOB (subject to regulatory approval) had acquired the assets of Reckon’s Accountant’s Practice division for $180m. Over the past month, I’ve spoken to more people about the deal, than I care to count. Rarely at my instigation I might add. It seems everyone wants to talk about it! From people close to Reckon to big ticket clients, former staff, current staff and the average man on the street. I was even provided the opportunity of a private audience with senior MYOB execs in a no-holds-barred session in which they laid-bare their core strategies.

I’ve distilled my own thoughts, stolen some from others and now have my opinions and theory of what is to come. Here goes:

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Accounting, Company News, Fintech, Technology

QB Connect 2017 – The review no-one else will write Part 2

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This article continues on from Part 1 from last week.

Whilst in Part 1 I reviewed the “big nuggets” from the Smarter QuickBooks messaging from QB Connect, this week I reflect on my own takeaways from the event and my “access all areas” pass.

The World Event…

An American, a Canadian, an Aussie, an Englishman and an Indian walk into a bar… No, its not a joke, its QB Connect 2017. The bar was the Fairmont San Jose and the topic of conversation was typically accounting and accounting technology.

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Accounting, Company News, Fintech, Industry News, Technology

QB Connect 2017: The Review No-one Else Will Write – Part I

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Alex Chriss, Intuit’s SVP & Chief Product Officer, Small Business, commented that he felt the next 18 months would see more innovation than the previous 2 decades at intuit!

So, I am sorry #StephSocial (who made the point to tell me my conference reviews aren’t designed for her short-attention span #snap), but with this year’s review of Intuit’s annual conference, I have so much to write about, it is actually going to be longer than my previous articles!
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Accounting, Fintech, Technology

Xero 1H18 Results The Verdict: the yays, heys and OKs

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Perhaps it’s ironic that I write this assessment of Xero’s 1H18 results at 10,000m above the Pacific Ocean, on my way to Intuit’s #QBConnect 2017. But 15 hours without kids, work, social media or Stranger Things 2 distracting (well at least 3 out of the 4), is a great opportunity to sit and analyse last week’s results and announcements (whilst listening to the new Gang of Youths album), then get some sleep #winning.

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Accounting, Fintech, Technology

Xerocon 2017 – The Review No-one Else Will Write

Preamble

When Decartes penned his treatise “Cogito ergo sum“, all that he could conclude from critically testing all that he believed to be true was “I think therefore I am”. His very existence was the only thing he could definitively know beyond doubt, all other beliefs could be argued against, ultimately they were opinions or perceptions, not indisputable facts.

A number of people who I met for the first at Xercon this year exclaimed something to the effect: “ah, Matt Paff, you’re that guy who posts those controversial articles!”.
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Accounting, Consulting, Governance

How I Ate My Own Dog Food – Twice Over

Originally posted on: https://www.governright.com.au/

One of my favourite tech. industry sayings is “eat your own dog food” (aka “dog-fooding”). For those not familiar with it, Investopedia explains it as:

A colloquialism that describes a company using its own products or services for its internal operations…The basic premise behind “eating your own dog food” is that if a firm expects paying customers to use its products or services, it should expect no less from its own employees.

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Accounting, Technology

Cloud Accounting Tech Companies: Why my clients didn’t buy your system

Ahhhh, its August, time to take a breath from the crazy time of year for those in accounting and payroll tech implementations and support!

This year, whilst GovernRight and vSure remain my primary focuses, I had the pleasure to work with a few clients on accounting and payroll tech selection and implementations. From a small NFP, to a professional services firm, to one of Australia’s largest hospitality groups, I’ve been lucky enough to be exposed to a broad cross-section of systems and put them all to the test.

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