Major international software vendor launches cloud accounting service to Australian market

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13 July 2009

Launch comes as survey reveals 63% of Australian business owners admit they need better control over cashflow

CODA, the UK headquartered award winning accounting software specialist, today launched CODA 2go, a cloud based accounting package to the Australian market.  Aimed at businesses from one user upwards, CODA 2go is the first accounting solution to be built entirely on Force.com, salesforce.com’s leading enterprise cloud computing platform, and to seamlessly integrate with the salesforce sales and service clouds.

The launch coincides with research unveiled by CODA today that shows Australian businesses lack control of their cashflow and only 10% have had any success in improving payments from debtors. In a survey of 100 CEOs and business owners, 63% of respondents said they have no idea of the state of their cashflow, have a vague idea or admit it should be better.  It also revealed that typical business owners are time poor with 40% saying that doing the books is something that gets done at the weekends or in the evenings.

When asked about using a cloud based accounting package, the survey revealed openness to the concept - less than a third (30%) said they had any reservations about using an online accounting package.

Jeremy Roche, CEO of CODA, said: “This research and conversations we’ve had with businesses shows that the Australian market is incredibly open to the concept of cloud accounting and managing their business accounts in an on-demand environment, so it makes perfect sense to us to bring CODA 2go to Australia. With our knowledge of financial management and accounting solutions and building on salesforce.com’s success in Australia, we are confident of the market opportunity open to us.”

“The fact that so many respondents are not prioritizing time to get on top of accounts suggests Australian business owners are time poor. The survey also showed that 40% lack any automated processes to help manage their business, instead relying on spreadsheets or paper and pen. An easy to use, cost effective and functionally rich accounting tool is just the tonic.”

CODA 2go available today

CODA 2go is available for all businesses in Australia. As an added benefit for those using, or contemplating Salesforce CRM, it provides seamless integration allowing users to make the most of customer relationships - from making initial contact to ensuring smooth accounting processes and accurate invoicing, right through to the ongoing customer relationship. It will help companies get insight into data from across customer services, sales and accounting, giving a complete view of the business position at a time when cash flow has never been more important.

CODA 2go offers an additional choice for organisations looking for best of class financial management without the time and resource costs associated with more traditional on-premise software implementations.

CODA 2go provides rich functionality for Australian businesses:

Early Australian customer success

One customer already benefiting from CODA 2go is technology consultancy firm, Quattro Innovation Group Pty Ltd, based in Sydney.

David Tan, Director of Operations, said: "We first came across CODA 2go on salesforce.com’s AppExchange and decided to take advantage of the free trial. I am a qualified accountant and was impressed with the rich functionality on offer within CODA 2go and, being based on the Force.com platform, allows us to seamlessly integrate with our Salesforce CRM, staying aligned with the aim to run all our business applications on the cloud.

“We were looking for a system that did not require any server hardware, with an intuitive interface and that we could implement ourselves. CODA 2go proved to be the stand-out product available, whilst saving us money and ensuring scalability as our business grows. All in all, CODA 2go is providing us with best in class financial management capabilities hosted and managed in the cloud – it provides a nice synergy with how we run our business and what we communicate to our customers."

A free 30 day trial of CODA 2go is available fromwww.coda2go.com.auand will be supported locally by Australian SaaS consultancy and salesforce.com partner Sqware Peg.

Shawn Stilwell, CEO, Sqware Peg said: “We’re seeing a lot of demand from customers and prospects to run more of their business in the cloud, especially as they look to upgrade from legacy business software.  CODA 2go is a really attractive offering for them, bringing proven, enterprise class functionality and reliability to businesses of all sizes.”

Steve Lucas, senior vice president of Force.com and Alliances, salesforce.com said: “The Force.com platform provides a great opportunity for ISVs to build applications and services and create a frictionless route into new markets.  The power of the platform to deliver real-time functionality without the need for additional infrastructure makes for a compelling offering and it’s really reduced the barriers for CODA to launch into Australia.”

About the survey

The survey was commissioned by CODA and carried out by Pure Profile.  It surveyed 100 small business owners and CEOs in businesses with less than 50 staff.

Pricing and availability

CODA 2go can be accessed fromwww.coda2go.com.auand is available today.  It costs businesses an introductory price of AU$160 per user, per month, with read only access available for AU$35 per user, per month.  The read only version allows sales teams and execs to get instant visibility into their customer account history and other information they may need to make more informed decisions.

A free 30 day trial is available fromwww.coda2go.com.au

ABOUT CODA

CODA creates, markets and implements a comprehensive range of software systems designed specifically to meet the needs of Financial Directors and Finance Departments. These include financial management systems, analysis applications, and business process management and control software to implement compliance solutions. Its service oriented architecture also makes CODA software easy for clients and other vendors to integrate with their business applications.

CODA was founded in 1979 and has around 500 employees working at 18 offices in 14 countries. CODA software is designed for multi-currency, multi-language, multi-country, multi-company and multi-site operations, and is used by around 2,600 medium and large organizations in over 100 countries in a variety of markets and within both public and commercial sectors.

CODA is a Unit 4 Agresso company. Unit 4 Agresso is a leading international producer of business software for service companies and organizations. With offices in 19 countries, including the United States and Canada, and sales activities in several other countries, annual revenue of €393.6 million was realized in 2008. Unit 4 Agresso is headquartered in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands and employs around 3,500 people.

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