BT launches into SME online accounting market

BT Business has
launched an online accounting application channel aimed at SMEs and their
advisers.

It will offer
Xero, an
online accounting package of which its owner is listed on the New Zealand Stock
Exchange, to customers for free on a 30-day trial.

‘Customer feedback is that traditional accounting packages are complicated to
use, and can only be accessed while in the office. The research shows that
employees are working harder and longer during the downturn anyway, so we hope
that Xero users will instantly be more productive and redress an often dire
work/life balance,’ said Chris Lindsay, general manager at BT Business
applications.

Delivered as software as a service (SaaS), Xero can be implemented quickly
without the upfront licence fees, maintenance or upgrade costs associated with
on-premise software.

The move by BT and Xero was ‘clever,’ said John Oates,
Baker
Tilly partner and chairman of the
ICAEW
IT faculty.

‘It’s a coup for Xero, partnering with the biggest telecoms operator, and for
BT offering online applications will require customers to have resilient
broadband.’

Xero passed the ICAEW IT faculty’s product accreditation scheme last year.

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the ICAEW IT faculty’s product accreditation scheme website