When you look at the two companies Xero Accounting and GoDaddy hosting companies are very similar. They both provide cloud-based solutions, for a subscription fee and have small businesses as their major clients. They are both in a very good position to provide accounting software for their customers.
One of the Xero Directors sold an accounting software program to GoDaddy in 2012 and at the time TechCrunch reported that Accounting software is a logical service for them to provide to their small business clients. What does it mean for the future though?
I’ve written in the past about how the job description of office support staff and office administrators is changing and some of the job descriptions I’ve seen even involve managing some parts of the business website and digital marketing.
As we all get used to using online software for banking, social media, email marketing and accounting it is logical that office staff learn how to use lots of different software programs, particularly if they make small changes to the website each month.
WordPress enables office admin staff to edit website pages and write and publish blog posts (just like this one). In fact we’ve just launched a new service to create a low cost website for our students to help them get discovered online so they can find work close to home or by working remotely from home.
This means that our digital support team will help you setup your domain, hosting and setting up of a WordPress website, PLUS give you access to a training course about how to add and edit the pages yourself!
Website hosting companies providing accounting software is not new. We were asked to create training course materials for Reach Accounting by NetRegistry after they bought the accounting software program from the founders. Sadly, they closed Reach Accounting because they didn’t get the number of users that they were hoping for.
What is interesting is that GoDaddy, a massive US listed website hosting company, bought OutRight Accounting software from Steven Aldrich back in 2012.
We tried to find the software at their website and only found a page error.
TechCrunch wrote that accounting software seems like a logical fit for a website hosting company and maybe that is the case for a massive company that has huge resources but they are actually completely different market sectors.
Accounting software and marketing platforms are all online platforms for sure but I would challenge you to show me a person who is good at both! The client base would be small business owners but the level of support and how it is provided might be the big challenge for a company providing both services.
I came across this information when reading the recent ASX announcement from Xero about re-electing Steven Aldrich as a non-executive director.
When you see Steven’s credentials and past work experience, including time as a senior executive at global competitor Intuit (who own popular rival accounting software QuickBooks Online) you can get an idea of why they’d like him on their executive committee!
Xero is growing at a massive rate but nothing stands still for cloud software companies and particularly if they are publicly listed on a stock market.
These companies are constantly adding new features, fixing bugs and expanding their network of integrations so they need to make the right choices of what to work on next. In software developer words this is called CI/CD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment)
It’s one of the reasons we have an Updates and Additions Policy! We’re constantly updating and adding to our training resources as the software companies do.
It’s important for bookkeepers to be aware of these changes because they affect the future for their industry and for their jobs. We’ve heard many times how Artificial Intelligence and automation is going to replace many office admin and clerical jobs but when you know what the market leaders are working on it gives you an advantage in the job market – not to mention some confidence in your job application conversations.
I wrote about how digital marketing tasks are showing up in job descriptions for office administration staff and customer service is surely going to be (if not already) an important part of the work too.
When you look at one of the businesses that Steven Aldrich is associated with, Ruby Receptionists (a virtual customer
engagement solution provider) you can see what is important for companies like Xero who are always looking towards their needs to continue going into the future.
Enrol into an online Accounting course and learn how to use Xero, MYOB & QuickBooks as part of our Bookkeeping Academy training packages and we’ll help you find clients or improve your chances of getting work.
Jerry Lame is a serial entrepreneur and loves shiny new objects. He was a corporate…
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