Cloud accounting software for financial services companies

Apera Asset Management Gets “Turbo-Charged” Accounting from AccountsIQ

Solving the accounting needs of a multi-entity, international business, Rob Shaw, CFO of Apera Asset Management chose to move from Xero to AccountsIQ when consolidation became too cumbersome and international jurisdiction requirements became too complex.  Rob explains, “I was looking for a Xero equivalent but more turbo-charged in its ability to do consolidation, meet the requirements of multiple jurisdictions, and handle foreign exchange.  AccountsIQ seems to tick more boxes than other systems designed for businesses like ours.”

Meeting multi-jurisdictional needs

The fast-growing financial services firm has seven legal entities located across Europe including businesses in London, Paris, Munich and Luxembourg.  Although the accounting processes are simple – the firm has a considerably low volume of accounting entries – the accounting processes have a greater level of complexity due to the structure of the business and its international locations.  Transactions accounted for in Munich must comply with German regulations, likewise for France, the UK and Luxembourg. Rob adds,

Xero worked really well for us for two years when we needed simple, single entity accounting, but it made international accounting difficult.  We didn’t have a need for an Oracle-like system but we had to address the multi-jurisdictional needs.”

Making consolidation simple

“Even though we are a small business, consolidating accounts across quite a few businesses was difficult and time-consuming and I could only see the problem getting worse,” says Rob.

Previously, Apera’s group consolidation was done in spreadsheets: data was exported from various systems and in different currencies, then brought together in Excel. Rob explains, “AccountsIQ’s consolidation software means there is no fiddling around in spreadsheets trying to get things to tie.  Working in Excel was not sustainable; before AccountsIQ, we had instances where we were struggling to get these reports right, sometimes until 2 a.m.”

Expense processing is automated with Expensify

AccountsIQ has been integrated with automated expense capture software Expensify which reduces paper, saves time, improves accuracy and ensures the VAT allocations are correct.  Also integrating with American Express, Expensify allows expenses to be digitally reallocated, and it automates VAT calculations.

Rob explains, “Everyone can photograph, upload and record their own expenses which feeds directly into the accounting system, everything is electronic and it is zero paper.  It is much easier for me to review from anywhere and, although I still want to manually review line-by-line, the admin-heavy part of the process is automated, making it easier for everyone.” Rob concludes,

Although it costs a bit more than Xero, it makes sense in the amount of time it saves us and I have a much more powerful system than Xero.  AccountsIQ meets all our expectations so far and there is still much more in the system for us to use.”

Apera also uses AccountsIQ’s Workflow Approval which automates and speeds up the approval process, also removing the need for paper filing as all documents are stored electronically in the system.  The firm also plans to explore the dashboard reporting and customisable reports further as the system continues to evolve and add further value to the team.

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Salamanca Group Chooses AccountsIQ over NetSuite for Consolidation and Reporting

Privately held merchant banking business Salamanca Group comprises approximately 80 companies. Formerly using Sage Line 50, the group’s finance director, Lee Camp, and his team would spend weeks each month producing consolidated accounts and management reporting packs through a complex process based on spreadsheets.

Today, using AccountsIQ, Lee spends no more than five minutes a month creating reports.
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“Our decision to move away from Sage Line 50 was driven by inefficiencies which Sage couldn’t address. It took two people in my team a week each to update various schedules in Excel, and then I would spend many hours compiling a reporting pack. AccountsIQ allows me to produce a custom reporting pack in just minutes,” says Lee Camp, Finance Director, Salamanca Group.

The selection process: AccountsIQ vs. NetSuite

Knowing they had outgrown Sage, Lee began searching for a replacement cloud-based application. With quite complex accounting requirements, he initially looked at NetSuite, Oracle’s enterprise cloud solution. At first, it seemed promising - but the reality did not quite measure up.
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“While NetSuite looked like it could meet some of our needs, we really couldn’t justify the cost. It still couldn’t provide the kind of customisable reporting pack we required. Our two main priorities, consolidation and custom reporting, were both weak in NetSuite,” Lee explains.

After being advised to consider AccountsIQ by a friend, Lee realised that complex accounting did not have to come with a high price tag.
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“Not only did AccountsIQ streamline our day-to-day processes through automation, but it also handled our reporting and consolidation needs better than NetSuite - and at a fraction of the cost,” he adds.

Consolidating over 80 sets of accounts in one click

Salamanca manages over 80 sets of accounts. The group’s consolidation needs are complex, and management reports must be precise and timely. AccountsIQ developed a custom reporting pack for the finance team that links to live data, providing continuous consolidation.

“AccountsIQ produces a consolidated balance sheet as well as departmental profit and loss statements at the touch of a button. We have a bespoke management reporting pack that works in real time within the system. As far as we could see, NetSuite couldn’t offer this level of functionality,” Lee comments.

Making complex reporting simple

Salamanca’s finance team knew exactly how their monthly management reports should look and what data needed to be included for analysis. This meant Lee and his team were well prepared to implement a new system quickly, with much of the configuration already documented. All they needed was a system capable of extracting the required data.

“Many of the products we reviewed had sophisticated charts and graphs, and almost all offered some form of customisable dashboards. However, AccountsIQ was the only cloud accounting application we saw that could actually extract the data we wanted and present it meaningfully. It really is reporting made simple,” says Lee.

Future plans to find more efficiencies

Already benefiting from automated purchase order approvals, consolidation and reporting, Salamanca plans to explore further opportunities to improve working processes using AccountsIQ. Upcoming projects include implementing an expense module to automate expense management and reporting, as well as integrating payroll.

“AccountsIQ’s greatest success for us has been the efficiency it has brought to the business. The product suits our fairly complex accounting requirements and delivers real value for money. We look forward to discovering even more ways to use the system to improve how we work,” Lee concludes.

“I’ve spent 20 years in finance and AccountsIQ is by far the best solution I’ve come across. It hands down beats the major players and offers more functionality at a cost-effective price. I only wish I had found it years ago.”

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Integra, switched to AccountsIQ to consolidate their 10 entities on one user-friendly Cloud accounting platform

Integra Technical Services is an insurance loss adjuster, resolving complex claims in sectors as diverse as mining, marine, energy and cyber security. They’re global players with local offices across the UK, US, Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

Before switching to AccountsIQ, Integra’s UK business was using two different accounting systems in EMEA and North America.   Finding one platform that would work well across the whole group was a big driver for change. 

“We have 10 active entities on our AccountsIQ platform,” explains Integra’s CFO, Mark Hunter. “That includes our risk management business, which we’ve added recently. We’ll be adding another entity soon.”

Integra also had other key criteria they felt could only be met by AccountsIQ, as Mark explains:

“The new finance system had to be Cloud-based. We also felt we needed more functionality than our existing systems were offering.”

“With AccountsIQ, we have the ability to consolidate on one platform. We’d been using Excel for consolidation, and we wanted something quicker and more reliable.”

As one of the main finance system users, Financial Controller, Sue Evans, was keen to ensure useability was included in the software evaluation process.  In fact, the whole team was impressed by AccountsIQ’s easy, logical layout.

The inter-company accounting and FX features are major time-savers

Sue finds that the inter-company accounting features in AccountsIQ make her life much easier.

“We have a lot of inter-company trading and resource transfer,” she says. “The process of re-charging costs and invoices across different entities is really smooth with AccountsIQ.  It’s a big improvement from what we were using previously because I no longer have to log in and out to look at different entities.” Sue Evans, Financial Controller, Integra.

Another important time-saver for Sue is AccountsIQ’s foreign exchange functionality.

“It’s easy to map through and check you’re using the right FX,” she says. “Previously, it was complicated, and we spent a lot of time working out variances.

“With AccountsIQ, you just know it aligns. In fact, we only need to do our FX updates monthly rather than daily. It’s so much better.”

What’s next for Integra and AccountsIQ?

One year on from implementing AccountsIQ, Mark and Sue have big plans for making the system work even harder for them.

“We’re a relatively small finance team,” says Mark. “The plan with this project was always to get the system bedded down and make sure everyone is comfortable with it and using it efficiently. Now, we’re looking at what more it can do.”

One of Integra’s projects for the year ahead, is to look at how they can work with AccountsIQ, and our software integration partners, to improve their budgeting, reporting and forecasting capabilities.

“The reporting available in the system is good,” says Mark. “Our consolidated management reports now take around 25% less time than they did in Excel, for example.”

These time savings are so encouraging, Integra is now thinking how they can further refine their reports and make best use of the multi-dimensional financial Business Intelligence coding structure to really delve into the data.

“There’s a lot more we can do with the system,” concludes Mark. “What I really like about AccountsIQ is they have a good understanding of the needs of SMEs. We get great technical support from AccountsIQ. This collaborative approach is very different to some of the larger providers.”