IRIS hoping to cash in on the internet

Called the IRIS Plus Partnership Programme, it is a subscription-free service, only available to accountancy practices that use IRIS products, and is aimed at increasing the amount of IT services it offers end users.

Speaking at the product launch in London, IRIS group chief executive Martin Leuw said it was important that firms provided new added value services such as ‘management accountants and business advice’ to their clients.

‘We are seeing an increased level of IT knowledge in businesses, and firms need to provide for a greater degree of IT services,’ Leuw said.

He added that the partnership was designed to ‘help clients grow their own practices’ and increase profitability.

The initial IRIS Plus offering will include access to IRIS iCash, its internet book-keeping product and IRIS PAYE-Master which provides payroll services.

The iCash move means the company will be competing against giant Sage in the entry-level book-keeping market.

Both packages are web-based, so no software purchases are required, and they automatically update with new features when developers add them.

They also come complete with a personalised mini-webpage – if required by the firm – marketing, training and online support and information guides.

In addition to the usual benefit of internet-based products – remote access from any location – all data is stored on IRIS servers ensuring that potential loss of critical data is minimised.

Roger Munday, of Josolyne Rogers in Hertfordshire, which has been testing iCash since January said the firm was ‘impressed by the software.

‘(For businesses), it will be like having a professional accountant looking over their shoulder,’ adding that the addition of ‘new features would add to its appeal’.

And Tildesley & Tonks added the software fitted in with the type of services it was hoping to offer its clients.