Xero-ing in on Christmas

Allan Swann | Friday December 19, 2008 - 01:11pm

Xero has chosen Monday to release the global version of its online accounting software, taking the mantra “we’ll release it when it’s ready” to strange, Christmassy new heights.

Xero communications advisor Lucy Hempseed said the product was original due to come out last week, but last minute tweaks mean that the product is now ready as the perfect accountant's stocking stuffer.

“We were looking at an early 2009 release, so we’re actually ahead of schedule,” she said.

The product has been launched in Britain and Australia, but adjusting the software to international markets and their own specific intricacies has taken some time.

The global version utilises a configurable sales tax engine, allowing it to adpat to virtually every small business in the world the companys says.

It’s been priced at $US29.

Xero said it will finish the calendar year with 3000 customers, achieving customer growth of 650% in 2008.

Xero has capitalized on the uncertainty arising from the imminent MYOB takeover , and the flexibility of a software as a service model (SaaS) which allows the books to be kept anywhere, anytime as long as access to the internet is available.

The company’s half year report showed a net loss of $3.47 million that it described at the time as "in line with expectations."

Revenues from ordinary activities for the six months to the end of September were $333,000, an increase of 1287% from a year earlier.

Operating costs of $3.8 million reflected the investment in building the software platform, scaling delivery and support infrastructure and adapting it to international sales and marketing standards, the company said.

The company listed 16 months ago, and sits at 82 cents from a high of $1.17 in mid 2007.

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Comments

Not quite

Allan - I've been commenting about Xero since soon after its inception both at diversity.net.nz and at cloudave.com.

I've been a critic but at least an accurate one - your comments are just plain wrong. The international release is not "long delayed" it's earlier than promised.

As far as I know there are no aggrieved shareholders about the international version - some might be concerned about revenue numbers but not the international issue per se.

Ben

Posted by Ben Kepes at 05:47 pm on December 19, 2008

Yes we know

We called to see if it was an editing glitch. Maybe one christmas party too many. Oh well.

Posted by Rod Drury at 11:23 pm on December 19, 2008

Overthemoon Shareholder

What are you talking about? Show me one shareholder that is not stoked with an EARLY release of the international version that was BROUGHT FORWARD due to so many requests from international want to be customers...

Go Xero, Great news!

Posted by Ryan at 11:01 am on December 20, 2008

Interprise Suite

This may be of interest, Interprise Suite bridges the gap between SaaS and client/server applications...

Evolve Systems Australasia (ESA), distributor of the integrated Accounting, CRM, E-Business and Point-of-Sale software solution Interprise Suite, announced today that it will be actively targeting MYOB’s small-to-medium business software customers.

After experiencing a very favourable response to the first phase of the Australian/New Zealand rollout of Interprise Suite, ESA has identified an enormous opportunity to penetrate the customer base of the established leader in the business software arena, MYOB.

Unlike the current product offerings from the likes of MYOB and Xero, Interprise Suite delivers a complete business solution that combines the best aspects of a Web application (internet enabled, easy to deploy and update) with the best attributes of a desktop system.

The development of Interprise Suite has been based on the rationale that customers should not have to settle with a business solution that is either wholly Internet-driven or LAN-based.

“For some time now the big players in the business accounting software market have been promising, or at least foreshadowing, the release of an affordable, reliable and comprehensive business solution which users can run over the Web as a browser-based application or over a LAN as a desktop application”, said Floremee Charles, Managing Director of Evolve Systems Australasia. “Unfortunately for the tens of thousands of small to mid-sized businesses which are struggling to remain profitable during these challenging economic times, the current market leaders have let their customers down.

“With Interprise Suite business owners can finally have the best of both worlds. Interprise Suite has bridged the gap by providing the business connectivity customers want without sacrificing the performance and rich user interface they have come to expect from a desktop application. Whereas MYOB and its main competitors would have to completely re-write their software to meet the connectivity demands of today’s small-to-medium sized business, Interprise Suite has been developed from the ground up.”

Whether a user is connecting via the LAN or the internet, Interprise Suite’s state of the art ‘Smart Client’ technology will automatically optimise itself based on the connection method. Interprise Suite’s ‘Smart Client’ technology allows a desktop application to run over the Internet like a secure browser application. For companies that do not need internet connectivity, Interprise Suite can be installed on a local area network just like any other Client/Server application.

In the lead-up to the release of the 2009 version of Interprise Suite – scheduled for rollout in July 2009 – ESA will be aggressively marketing Interprise Suite not only to the broader small-to-medium sized business market but also to existing users of MYOB and competing products. This will be supported

by an expanded product sales and support team at ESA, as well as by an ever-growing network of channel partners.

“We are projecting big things for Interprise Suite in 2009 and we have every reason to believe our high ambitions for the product will be achieved”, said Charles. “The simple fact is that the big players in this market cannot deliver what their customers demand right now, namely an affordable and easy to use business solution that includes all the powerful functionality of Interprise Suite – namely accounting, CRM, point-of-sale, ERP and e-business.”

Interprise Suite was developed by US-based Interprise Software Solutions, Inc. In April 2008 Interprise Software Solutions was acquired by the Services and Technology Division of Taylor Corporation, a Forbes Private 200 company with over 100 subsidiaries and 14,000 employees worldwide. A leading provider of business and personal communications products, technologies and services, Taylor Corporation provides products and services to over 3,000,000 small businesses and consumers and the majority of the Fortune 500.

In July 2008 Evolve Systems Australasia secured exclusive distribution rights to Interprise Suite for Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the Pacific Islands.

Pricing and Availability
Interprise Suite is available now from Evolve Systems Australasia for an average price of $2,000.00 per user including support. Multi-user licences are also available. There is also the option to obtain software finance from Evolve Systems Australasia from $30.00 per user per week. For further information on Interprise Suite contact Evolve Systems Australasia on 1300 736 637; email sales@interprise.com.au; Web: www.interprise.com.au

Posted by John at 03:24 pm on December 20, 2008

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