Unusual situation, advice.

[BipolarGuy]

I know this is an unusual thing to ask on a suicide forum, but I have mentioned in a thread before about how I'd like to make a accounting software to shake up the accounting industry:

This is going to sound technical, even verging on geeky....

I've been working for myself for a few years doing accounting.

To be totally honest, I'll admit that I don't add as much value to businesses as I could. This is because I spend 90% of my time doing basic bookkeeping, VAT or payroll tasks that can very easily be done in house using modern accounting software, rather than business planning or other 'higher' stuff that I'd rather spend my time doing and could really help with.
I think getting me to do these easy tasks makes them feel 'more secure' in some way.

But this is where accounting firms take advantage of business owners: by convincing them to outsource basic tasks by making out that they're far more difficult and technical than they actually are!
And no, the business owner isn't saving money by freeing up their time - the things I'm talking about take no time at all, especially using modern cloud accounting software....which is where I'm going with this....

Accounting is one of those old school industries.
Software such as QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, etc has essentially been developed by accountants for accountants.
Access may be granted to users to allow them to send invoices, and record payments and expenses.

The layout and terminology may put business owners off - they feel that they're using a piece of software designed for accounting, rather than a piece of software from which they can easily run their business, but can be used by accountants in the background.
Occasionally you get a business owner with an actual interest in accounting (to some extent), and they find it easier.

But basically you have accountants working with accounting software companies to sell their products and services to business owners.

What is needed is a piece of software designed by businesses owners for business owners, with access granted to accountants where necessary.
It's difficult to explain what I mean by all of this without going into all the details, which I've kind of already started to do!

But long story short, I'd like to roll out a piece of software from which business owners and self employed people can run their business, which is easier to use, and has greater functionality; for example QuickBooks and Xero do not have functionality to prepare accounts to tax returns, yet more software is needed.

There are also specific issues with various pieces of software currently on the market, but I won't go into details.

So essentially the desire would be to 'democratise' accounting, so that accountants are only paid when actual technical advice is needed.

Yes, I'm the turkey that would vote for Christmas, but I care about the people I serve.

Sorry to bore you all to death.

Well I've got in touch with a guy who has created a piece of software.
It will need changes, but that's fine. He doesn't have specialist accounting knowledge whereas I do.

I've introduced myself and explained what I want to do, and he has said that he likes my idea so much that he has REFUSED to sell me the software....


....and said that he wants instead to form a business partnership with me and do this together!!



Hmmm....are things looking up?



Oh and by the way, aside from helicopter gun smuggling guy, I got a new client today too.

 

[Symbiote]

Unless you know programming and can develop accounting software, you're going to need him to do the programming, and you do all the mathematical functions and logic that makes the accounting software work for businesses. Do you know what platform you like your software to be on? Do you want it on a mobile device/app? Enterprise environment? Personal/home use?

 

[BipolarGuy]

Unless you know programming and can develop accounting software, you're going to need him to do the programming, and you do all the mathematical functions and logic that makes the accounting software work for businesses. Do you know what platform you like your software to be on? Do you want it on a mobile device/app? Enterprise environment? Personal/home use?

The software already works on desktop and on mobile.
It's cloud based and can be accessed anywhere, on any device.

Some things will need changing though, but it's not a big deal.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

Hmm, I don't know what to do to fix your situation but I do have a question about the software itself. How convenient or easy-to-use would this software be? I only took like two accounting classes before and have forgotten most of it but how likely is it that your software might leave lots of people out of a job? Stuff like this and AI were stuff that the accounting teachers I had were really worried about.

 

[BipolarGuy]

Hmm, I don't know what to do to fix your situation but I do have a question about the software itself. How convenient or easy-to-use would this software be? I only took like two accounting classes before and have forgotten most of it but how likely is it that your software might leave lots of people out of a job? Stuff like this and AI were stuff that the accounting teachers I had were really worried about.

Actually the software is really easy to use. Almost too easy, from my perspective!

It doesn't use accounting jargon or language, and it's very intuitive.

As I say, a few things need changing it that's more to do with technical stuff.

Hopefully it will put plenty of people out of a job.
At least the people who make their living by doing simple tasks for other's ;)

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

Actually the software is really easy to use. Almost too easy, from my perspective!

It doesn't use accounting jargon or language, and it's very intuitive.

As I say, a few things need changing it that's more to do with technical stuff.

Hopefully it will put plenty of people out of a job.
At least the people who make their living by doing simple tasks for other's ;)

Sounds pretty hype then lol, I wish you luck in developing it!

 

[BipolarGuy]

Sounds pretty hype then lol, I wish you luck in developing it!

Thank you.
Let's see how it goes.

The basics are there but various things do need adding. Won't take much to do so though.

 

[Jumper Geo]

That's sounds good, see how serious he is ask him for a rather large up front fee, check out the legal stuff to sell shares and offer him a 10 percent share if he declines add another lump sum to your fee and say 20%. Then you can rent a private apartment and pay for your friend to visit and vice versa, even if the idea doesn't catch on you have your own apartment and a few visits from your friend to increase morale, win, win,

Your could check out other developers to price it up.

Cheers

Geo

 

[BipolarGuy]

That's sounds good, see how serious he is ask him for a rather large up front fee, check out the legal stuff to sell shares and offer him a 10 percent share if he declines add another lump sum to your fee and say 20%. Then you can rent a private apartment and pay for your friend to visit and vice versa, even if the idea doesn't catch on you have your own apartment and a few visits from your friend to increase morale, win, win,

Your could check out other developers to price it up.

Cheers

Geo

I'm sorry?!

 

[Jumper Geo]

I'm sorry?!

Oop's, I think I misinterpreted it wrong been staring at the screen for to long, he developed the software and your adding your idea but instead of selling it he want's to go into business that's sound an equal partnership sounds good you have nothing to lose.

Good luck..

Cheers

Geo

 

[Deleted member 22624]

I know this is an unusual thing to ask on a suicide forum, but I have mentioned in a thread before about how I'd like to make a accounting software to shake up the accounting industry:




Well I've got in touch with a guy who has created a piece of software.
It will need changes, but that's fine. He doesn't have specialist accounting knowledge whereas I do.

I've introduced myself and explained what I want to do, and he has said that he likes my idea so much that he has REFUSED to sell me the software....


....and said that he wants instead to form a business partnership with me and do this together!!



Hmmm....are things looking up?



Oh and by the way, aside from helicopter gun smuggling guy, I got a new client today too.

Be warned, when you combine software with any other technical area, complexity can become exponential as it moves past the team's experience. The programmer will probably be faced with novel problems that quickly begin to mount up, and the accountant may only be able to help with so many. But if you keep it small and simple, there's a much better chance. Good luck

 

[BipolarGuy]

Be warned, when you combine software with any other technical area, complexity can become exponential as it moves past the team's experience. The programmer will probably be faced with novel problems that quickly begin to mount up, and the accountant may only be able to help with so many. But if you keep it small and simple, there's a much better chance. Good luck

Yes I agree.

One of the issues (and it's a massive issue) is that each country has different accounting rules, and so we can't just build a product and release it. A slightly different product must be released in each jurisdiction.

 

[Deleted member 22624]

Yes I agree.

One of the issues (and it's a massive issue) is that each country has different accounting rules, and so we can't just build a product and release it. A slightly different product must be released in each jurisdiction.

Yeh that sounds about right! Different rules could get difficult to program along side each other. But it's a big market so you could cherry pick and still become a millionaire, even if selling might still be the even harder part. Are you good at marketing? I'd find someone who is!

 

[BipolarGuy]

Yeh that sounds about right! Different rules could get difficult to program along side each other. But it's a big market so you could cherry pick and still become a millionaire, even if selling might still be the even harder part. Are you good at marketing? I'd find someone who is!

To be honest I have no interest in selling the business. I'd just want to keep making things better and benefit from the revenue generated as a result of making things better.

 

[Deleted member 22624]

To see early progress, I'd target a specific class of company and build for them, get infrastructure in place for development and take it from there, really appeal to them and what they need, keep extra features to a minimum maybe. You might still run into complexity problems once you diversify or do custom additions per company but it makes good marketing sense, because you can tailor the user interface to appeal to their specific know-how, and the features to cater for their requirements. Makes it an easier sell

 

[BipolarGuy]

To see early progress, I'd target a specific class of company and build for them, get infrastructure in place for development and take it from there, really appeal to them and what they need, keep extra features to a minimum maybe. You might still run into complexity problems once you diversify or do custom additions per company but it makes good marketing sense, because you can tailor the user interface to appeal to their specific know-how, and the features to cater for their requirements. Makes it an easier sell

Yes, early progress is indeed key.

One of the key issues is the need for payroll software to integrate with HMRC, and VAT information to be submitted to HMRC electronically following the introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD).
Payroll and VAT is incredibly simple, but sadly it is one of those things that accountants convince people is very difficult and complex. It is even easier with the right software and can be run with the click of a button, without knowing all the rules and technicalities.

A coder would want to make an in-house solution from the start, however becoming a HMRC recognised software provider is incredibly expensive, bureaucratic and unnecessary.
Instead, we can simply work with a good 3rd party software for payroll and submission of VAT returns - QuickBooks Online and Xero did exactly this. In fact QuickBooks Online only recently finalised their own payroll software!

One of the differences I want is for the software to also be able to produce year-end accounts and company tax returns (as well as personal tax returns - SA100's).
QuickBooks Online and Xero do not have this capability, although I believe that Sage does.

At the core, every business is the same. That might sound like a bold statement, but it's more or less true.
The differences largely come on certain forms of tax relief, or mixed VAT rates.
The VAT rates can be accounted for easily by simple allowing users to set up a different VAT rate (I once had a client that had a special agreement with HMRC to use a VAT rate of 17.14% on certain transactions).

 

[Deleted member 22624]

I just worry that if it's that simple, why aren't others doing it?

 

[BipolarGuy]

I just worry that if it's that simple, why aren't others doing it?

Oh that's easy to answer: because accounting software is made by accountants for accountants.

You need specialist knowledge to make accounting software, but the temptation is to make software based on your knowledge, if that makes sense, rather than present the software in such a way that people without any specialist knowledge could still use it intuitively.
Plus people without the knowledge don't know everything required to actually make accounting software.

I'm probably not explaining this very well, so let me put it like this:

Steve Jobs once said
"You've got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology, you can't start with the technology and figure out where you're gonna sell it".

I'm not comparing myself to Steve Jobs.
What I'm trying to say is that you have to make a business tool for business people, not an accounting tool for accountants.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Sounds promising.

I've seen adverts on TV for muppet proof accounting software for small business though. Can't remember the names.

 

[BipolarGuy]

Sounds promising.

I've seen adverts on TV for muppet proof accounting software for small business though. Can't remember the names.

Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, Freshbooks.....

All crap!

 

[Deleted member 17949]

I'm too retarded for this