How did we get here?

Understanding where Accounting Tech has been, to foresee the future

At the recent MYOB Incite, apart from playing semantics around “Disruption vs Transformation”, CEO Tim Reed espoused the line: “Today Defines Tomorrow”. I’d go a step further: I am a firm believer in understanding the past to navigate the future. In this article, I’m going to review from whence we came, so that I can shine a light on where I believe the accounting tech industry is at, and where we are heading.

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The countdown is on for MYOB

As part of the relisting of MYOB on the ASX, Bain Capital retained 57.7% majority shareholding with the following clause:

If the share price doesn’t increase by 20% in Mar 2016 (20 day Volume Weighted Average Price after the FY15 results are announced), Bain can’t sell down until Sept 2016 (after the announcement of the 1H16 results). At that point they can sell down completely if they choose.

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16 Predictions for 2016

Am I the only one to dream of what tagline I’d like below my name in my next TV appearance?

To-date, the best I’ve received from my 15 minutes of fame have been: “Matt Paff, Big Brother Applicant” and “Matt Paff, Carry Over Champion” (from a brief appearance on Burgo’s Catchphrase).

I’m not quite happy that this is how Australian TV will remember me, so I catch myself occasionally slipping into a jealous daydream whenever certain taglines appear below people’s names in the shows I am watching.
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Sage – The Waking Giant?

My Sage Preconceptions

Up until this point, my admittedly narrow assessment of Sage has been less than rosy. I saw them as a huge, reactive, disjointed company who thought they were in the acquisition and investment business rather than innovative technology space. I saw a company potentially headed the way of Kodak, from a major leader to irrelevance by not understanding what market they were in.
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Intuit #QBConnect 2015

Last week I was lucky enough to be in San Jose to attend Intuit’s second annual QuickBooks Connect. Only in America could you attend a technology conference headlined by Oprah, with the doyen of the accounting software industry, Scott Cook modestly chatting with THE guru of modern technology development Eric Ries, in one of 15 (yes fifteen) simultaneous stream sessions.

I thought I would sit down and share my takeaways and highlights from a very eye-opening event for me, before I head to #SleeterCon next week and learn some more.

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The 7 C’s

In May this year I was lucky enough to present at the Smithink Young Guns Conference on the Gold Coast. My topic, “Leading the firms’ to leverage cloud and new technologies”. In preparing the presentation into a structure that I hoped would be both impactful and memorable, I managed to codify my key points into what I call “The 7 C’s of Value Added services – the secret to en masse adoption of advisory”.

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The Future Of Payroll

Last Friday (25/9) I was lucky enough to attend and present at the 2015 Australian Payroll Association (APA) annual conference at the Australian Technology Park in Sydney.

Once again, Tracy and the APA team put on a super event. With 3 streams of fabulous content & presenters, great organising and catering, and a wonderful batch of exhibitors showcasing the best of industry suppliers.

I was charged with presenting the topic “The Future Of Payroll”. In preparing my presentation, I was reminded of a quote by Peter Drucker:

“Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window”

Nonetheless with the following caveat, I gave the improbable a crack:
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