Singapore Government Paying Xero Subscriptions For It’s Small Businesses!?

A Singapore based accounting firm shared this information with us and we almost couldn’t believe it! There is even a blog at the Xero website about how the Singapore Government have a grant that will pay up to 70% of the cost of getting setup and trained in Xero.

This is part of their “pre scoped” solutions for small businesses who fit a certain criteria and there are three solutions that are valued up to $2,000 odd.

It’s Official – Government Grants Galore

I recall watching a video last year about how Singapore was able to make MASSIVE changes to it’s economy by being smart with their population, education and technology. It doesn’t look like they’re now just sitting back and resting.

I found Workforce Singapore the most compelling because they have a grant available for larger companies that redefine their jobs to make them more efficient!

The smart thing about the Productivity Solutions Grants is that they appear to be “pre scoped”. This essentially means that there are a set number of services that are included in a fixed price solution. This makes it seem like the Singapore Government is working very closely with companies like Xero and their local accounting firms to provide a clearly defined solution.

Budget Accounts and WLP Group are just two of the pre approved vendors and even the costs for these services are clearly defined. They range from just the cost of the software over 12 months up to and included a complete training and support program for several staff members.

If you take a close look at what is included you’ll see some pretty impressive inclusions. The ones which stood out to me are:

• Fixed Asset register
• Multi-currency and foreign exchange (not used a lot in most Aussie small businesses)
• Setting up bank feeds
• Tracking categories
• Opening balance migration (for AR and AP)
• E-invoicing through PEPPOL (impressive commitment there)

The pricing here suggests that the accounting firms will actually perform the setup and migration tasks to get the businesses onto these platforms.

With the exception of foreign currency, PEPPOL and the actual work performed to migrate to Xero you can enrol into the Xero COMPLETE Training Course which covers most of these topics for a fraction of the price.

Featured image from Xero website blog