MYOB to Launch SaaS Accounts Product

MYOB, the company which makes the accounting software installed in over 70 per cent of small-to-medium-sized businesses in Australia, has taken a step into the cloud with the announcement today of a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product called LiveAccounts.

“MYOB LiveAccounts will offer a simple, inexpensive and hassle-free way to do the accounts. Businesses can raise invoices, track expenses, monitor bank accounts, manage GST and keep in touch with every aspect of their business through real-time reports,” MYOB chief executive officer Tim Reed said.

LiveAccounts is currently in beta testing with around 100 clients, and is expected to be launched in the next few months. The monthly fee for the LiveAccounts has yet to be determined but was estimated to be around $35 per month. The hosting arm of Macquarie Telecom will house the new service in its datacentres.

More than 100 Australian banking institutions — including Westpac, PayPal and BPay ‐ have signed up to be a part of LiveAccounts and will provide daily updates of transaction information to the service. MYOB spokesperson Dominic O’Hanlon said today that because MYOB held a banking licence, the service will be as safe as a bank.

The announcement has come after MYOB had hinted at such a service back in March this year, when the company advertised for an infrastructure technical lead for SaaS.

Although it has made the move towards the online world, MYOB will continue to offer desktop products.

A MYOB survey of over 850 Australian businesses revealed that while Australian business owners are looking for online tools and functionality, they still prefer to run their business from their own desktop.

The research revealed that the majority of Australian businesses would prefer to have both desktop software and online services for business account management, while only 22 per cent of businesses found a single online solution “appealing”. “Most businesses tell us they don’t want to use purely online solutions,” Reed said.

LiveAccounts is aimed at the 22 per cent interested in the pure online solution, according to Reed. MYOB has committed to investing $70 million over the next three years for internet-based solutions.

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