MYOB strengthens connected accounting vision with Dovetail purchase
Announcement posted by MYOB 21 May 2014
MYOB strengthens connected accounting vision with Dovetail purchase
Dovetail to enhance MYOB client portal & document management offering
Australia’s leading business solutions provider MYOB has announced the purchase of Dovetail, an innovative start-up that provides online document collaboration solutions for accountants.
The deal is a key move to strengthen MYOB’s connected accounting vision by making cloud accounting easier for accountants and their clients.
General Manager Accountants Division Adam Ferguson says the acquisition will deliver tremendous value to both accountants and their clients, “MYOB’s focus has been on bringing accountants and clients closer together with the vision of the common ledger, which enables real-time collaboration on financial data in the cloud.
“The purchase of Dovetail is the next step in our vision of helping accountants move online, and working closer together with their clients. This will enable MYOB to deliver an enhanced collaboration platform for accountants. The platform will extend the accountants capabilities beyond financial data management to deliver an integrated, collaborative experience through intuitive workflows, document management, work approvals and more. The outcome of this integrated workflow is improved accuracy, superior turn-around time, reduced data-entry, increased client participation, and increased revenue for the practice,” he says.
“Together, MYOB and Dovetail have a distinct competitive advantage in delivering our connected accounting vision to bring more accountants online. We service more than 1.2 million client businesses and over 40,000 accountants and other partners across Australia and New Zealand. We invest more than $35 million a year in market-leading research and development because we’re committed to understanding the needs of accountants and their clients. We work alongside them to make their business life as easy as possible.”
Craig Stanmore, CEO & Director of Jaques Stanmore Financial Group says an online collaboration platform would significantly enhance their client relationships, saying, “As an accountant the relationship with our clients is paramount. An online collaboration platform is a tool that will exponentially increase contact points with clients.
“From their perspective, providing them with one place of reference for most of their business financial interactions will simplify their financial world, saving them time and allowing them to focus more on their business and ultimately their goals. From our perspective as an accountant, the increase in connection to our clients will lead to more client engagement allowing us to seamlessly partner with the client to achieve their goals. This also gives us the opportunity to transform our service offering from ‘informing and compliance’ to ‘advisory and coaching’ assisting clients toward growth and their aspirations.”
Aimee Campbell, Associate at Brentnalls SA says, “Using an online collaboration platform will allow our clients to have greater access to their information in a real-time environment, which will help us to assist them in gaining a better understanding of their business, which is our aim.”
MYOB is already developing online versions of its existing MYOB practice solutions for accountants, and in the last year launched a range of online solutions that accountants can take advantage of:
- MYOB Practice Cloud Partner Program, which enables accounting firms to move their MYOB Accountants Enterprise and Accountants Office practice solutions to the cloud via accredited Australian IT/cloud hosting providers.
- MYOB Accountants Office OnTheGo and MYOB Accountants Enterprise OnTheGo – a browser-based interface that enables accountants to access their practice management data from anywhere via a web browser, including mobile devices.
- MYOB Essentials Cashbook – an online solution that enables accountants to allocate a client’s financial transactions for accounting purposes while managing the level of client involvement.
The company will continue to enhance its existing product suite with online offerings for accountants in practice as it expands its software development and in-field teams (the latter increasing on what is already the industry’s largest).
Dovetail was founded in 2011 by Rob Cameron, who worked for MYOB in 2006 as a product strategy manager for five years within the accountants division. As a qualified accountant, Cameron’s extensive industry experience includes establishing ‘Innovate’, a provider of document management solutions such as Level 31, and consulting for accounting and business advisory firm PKF Australia. As a senior product manager for MYOB, Cameron will work across the business in developing integrated solutions for accountants and their clients.
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For further comment or to arrange an interview please contact:
Angely Grecia Jim Stiliadis
MYOB Public Relations Consultant Haystac Corporate Affairs
P: 02 9089 9071 / M: 0449 169 997 P: 03 9693 6445
E: angely.grecia@myob.com E: jim.stiliadis@haystac.com.au
About MYOB
Established in 1991, MYOB is Australia’s leading accounting software provider. It makes life easier for approx. 1.2 million businesses across Australia and New Zealand by simplifying accounting, payroll, tax, CRM, websites, job costing, practice management, inventory and more. MYOB also provides ongoing client support via many channels including a network of over 40,000 accountants, bookkeepers and other consultants. It is committed to ongoing innovation, particularly in cloud computing solutions, and spends more than AU$35 million annually on research and development. For more information, visit myob.com.au.