Here goes, after a fairly ordinary go at it in 2019 (which I reviewed here), I’m laying bare my reputation and saddling up for another shot in 2020.
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Predictions for 2019 – in review
It’s that time again. A new year and time for Matt Paff’s predictions for the year ahead in BizTech/ Cloud Accounting. BUT, as always, before I do, its only fair that I take the time to review how I fared last year (here’s last year’s predictions).
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QB Connect Au 2019 – the review no-one else will write
The end of May marked the third installment of the Australian QuickBooks Connect (QB Connect) event. This was the first year Intuit took their big show to Melbourne, in fact it was the first year the event traveled away from Sydney.
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3 Accounting Tech Whales under the investor’s microscope
May is a big month for Accounting Tech investors – we get the “3 big whales” of SME accounting software all reporting within days of each other. Its the one time of year we can assess how much the “rising tide is raising all ships”.
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Winter is coming, Why May is my favourite month in Accounting Tech
For us antipodeans, May is a stark reminder that winter is coming. The introduced deciduous trees we have, have given up hope that this year, climate change means they can keep their leaves, and so our streets are littered with the dry, brown, yellow and orange cast offs of these foreigners, as the days shorten, the weather chills and we all await the next episodes of GOT.
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Not quite 19 Predictions for 2019
Over the last few years I’ve tried my hand at predicting the year in cloud accounting and related biztech ahead, publicly critiquing my efforts at the start of the following year. Call me silly, call me brave, call me whatever you like. I do it because I feel too few are willing to back up their guessing with reflection. So rather than complain about it, I do what I think others should.
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2018, how’d my predictions fare?
Predicting the future is hard.
Holding yourself publicly to account for your predictions is even harder, and probably why few people do…
Before I publish my 19 predictions for 2019, it is my tradition and want, that I review my 2018 efforts.
After a solid performance in 2017, I’m marking my 2018 edition a solid B, with comment that “the student can improve with more focus in 2019!”
Here they were and here’s how I went:
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QBConnect 2018 – the review no-one else will write
The stated theme of QBConnect 2018 was “anything is possible”. I tend not to be a believer in the life philosophy of infinite possibilities. I don’t think it possible that I could break the world 100m sprint record held by Usain Bolt in the process of winning the 100m Olympic final. At 41 I’m too old to start on this momentous life goal. I wasn’t genetically endowed with a sprinter’s body, an elongated gate nor a mass of fast twitch fibres. Aspiring to such a lofty goal would be ludicrous (at my age especially), and assured of failure. So in summing up the Negative teams argument, if I can’t aspire to break Usain’s 100m world record and win the 100m gold medal, anything is NOT actually possible…
Hey mid-market, get your heads out of the sand, Xero & Intuit are coming!
It’s time the mid-market accounting technology space woke up and realised its 2018. In Australia, MYOB have handed them the “goose that lays the golden eggs” with their decision not to take Single Touch Payroll to MYOB Premier (see my previous article) and yet none of them are in a position to genuinely capitalise, because they aren’t even playing the same game as the likes of Xero and Intuit!
Where are the bank feeds? How about a solid ecosystem of best of breed add-ons? How about AI and machine learning? How about a modern, mobile optimised UI with decent UX design? Why are these the domain of “small business” systems like Xero and QBo at one end and “corporate solutions” like Workday at the other? What happened in the middle?
A recent experience with a client (which is representative of what is going on in the broader mid-market) has really “got my goat” and compelled me to speak out!
QB Connect Sydney 2018 – the review no-one will write
Last November I was lucky enough to be invited as guest of Intuit to it’s annual conference in San Jose, California. I had so much to write about the event and the key insights I garnered, I spread my review across two separate posts:
- QB Connect 2017: The Review No-one Else Will Write – Part I
- QB Connect 2017 – The Review No-one else Will Write Part 2
6 months on and the QB Connect event landed in Sydney for the second edition of the Australian conference. Armed with a “media pass”, I was fortunate to gain entry to the main day of the event and a one-on-one interview with Rich Preece, Intuit’s Global Accountant Segment Leader.