Many thanks to AWIA for a great event and inviting me over to speak and attend. My talk was about ecosystems, and if there is one ecosystem you must join if you use technology in your business then it’s AWIA.

Here’s my preso I did at the conference which I have posted on slideshare.NET

Saasu was one of the Top 10 Web 2.0 businesses mentioned in Smart Company magazine and website.

It’s always always nice to get a mention but when it’s along side some great companies we look up to like Atlassian and RedBubble it feels great.

The article points out Saasu’s strong growth in new business from offshore. Australia is where we began but as we internationalise to support more zones this is changing very quickly to be an global software as a service business in online accounting software systems.

ClickandBuy is a leading payment system used by thousands of merchants across 26 countries. They support 21 different currencies and 43 different payment methods.

ClickandBuy, is used by Apple iTunes, MSN, Electronic Arts, Yamaha, UNICEF and more.

The team over at WorkflowMax has built a fantastic Saasu Connector.

WorkflowMax is a web based, job management solution that will streamline your business, saving you time and money. It has been designed for small to medium sized, service based companies that charge time and costs.

It’s a live connector in that Saasu and WorkflowMax talk to each other without you having to do anything or be signed into either service. Just make the initial connection by adding your sign-in details to WorkflowMax for your Saasu business file. Before doing this have your Saasu API key handy. To get your Saasu API key goto My Saasu and click on Subscription: YourBusiness and then click on your user name in the list of users.

New Bank Connectors Released

• BancaSabadell
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Lloyds TSB
• Victorian Teachers Credit Union

Which bank statement formats are supported by Saasu?
How do I add my bank to the supported bank list?

Many customers such as retailers, ebay traders, ecommerce stores have been very keen to solve the problem of easily updating large numbers of Inventory Items in Saasu online accounting. We have released the ability to do this by allowing Spreadsheet files (CSV) to be imported into Saasu with the new or changed data you require.

Some of our customers receive pricing spreadsheets from multiple suppliers, others create and manage inventory or stock lists in a spreadsheets so we felt this was an appropriate first step for bulk update of inventory data in Saasu.

You still always have the option of using Connectors that we can build for you that use our API to update items. Ideal for those of you that are keen to fully automate workflow.

There are two ways you can approach the bulk updating of your inventory and the method you choose will depend on your business needs but feel free to get in touch and we may be able to suggest the easiest approach.

Method 1 - Export CSV, Edit CSV and then Import CSV

Export the items to spreadsheet where you can edit, merge or update your changes from suppliers and other records. Choose: Items > Export. Then import the list back into Saasu and our business logic will update records without impacting historical transaction activity. Choose: Items > Import.

Method 2 - Create CSV and then Import CSV

Another approach is to build a spreadsheet which lists Item Codes in the first column and then add additional columns for the data you wish to update. For a detailed explanation see our help item on Importing Items into Saasu online accounting.

Back in 2000 we drew up some plans to make an accounting system a bit like a Monopoly board. The idea being that as your business assets grew you would see an image of you factory grow. Your sales pipeline would expand into a bigger pipe as revenue grew. We wanted to bring some fun to accounting which can otherwise be a tad boring.

Due to the conservative nature of accountants (a good thing, they are just trying to protect their customers in many cases) we decided to hold off on that approach. Another reason was the difficulty in dealing with animation in web interfaces back then while meeting targets on load time for screens. We were also trying to avoid pagination. Pagination is where you show 1-50 of 7,000 transactions as an example and then provide buttons or links to show transactions 51-100 etc. Pagination can be really annoying for customers as we discovered during our user experience surveys.

In 2004 we started using AJAX (it didn’t actually have a name back then) which gave us the speed and flexibility to create a more designed interface and a better perceived speed experience for customers. We still use AJAX extensively in Payroll where editable data sets are smaller but you won’t see it as much in screens that have large editable data sets because it begins to become cost rather than a benefit in load times. The customer experience might be nice but if the screen load is slow the customer will just want to throw the computer out the window.

AJAX still has issues in this area but they are slowly being worked around. New browser like Google Chrome will allow AJAX to be used right across data heavy applications as it is a very efficient in dealing with JavaScript (the J in AJAX).

Being a fan of Wordpress for blogging I really like their spam removal experience. When you click delete it turns red (like slaying the spam dragon) and then slides away off the screen. The destroy feeling is quite good. Gamers amongst you would like it. We implemented this idea back in 2005 into our Payroll and Invoicing modules (without the blood effect).

We are started to work on some UI design changes to give customers a bit more fun in the screens but as always the accessibility will be the controlling factor given our mantra of ensuring the keyboarders aren’t compromised in anyway.

If any of you have suggestions or examples of animation for deletion, creation, edit etc. just let us know as we will be working up our changes to reports and transaction searching/listing over the next few weeks.

Photo credit: Cowbite

Released: 20:00 Wellington » 18:00 Sydney » 09:00 London » 08:00 UTC » 01:00 San Francisco » 04:00 New York

R14 Release Summary

1. Unlimited users for your business file.¹
2. Enter transactions excluding or including tax.
3. Default Tax Code for each Account in your Chart of Accounts.
4. Shipping contacts for Sales and Purchases.
5. Shipping slips.
6. International date and time formatting for different zones.
7. Display Contact telephone number in Sales/Purchases.
8. Ability to create and control your Tax Codes.
9. International Tax Code language used in the Tax Code drop downs.
10. Ability to hide any Tax Code not required.
11. Editable posting account for Tax Codes.
12. Usability improvements for Group Payroll.
13. Drill down to a Sale or Purchase from a Payment screen.
14. Sortable Payments List.
15. Pay Run screen improvements.
16. Aged Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable report improvements.
17. Drill down to Sales and Purchases from Make Payment and Receive Payment screens.
18. United Kingdom (UK) Default Tax Codes.²
19. New Zealand (NZ) Default Tax Codes.³
20. Time zone setting for your personal location.
21. PDF file name convention.
22. Automated Transaction speed limiter.
23. Activities Filter For Activity Type.
24. Bank Account Branch/Route Numbers.
25. Difference calculation and Contact field for Journal transactions.
26. Google Chrome browser has passed initial testing. Pending official support from 12 September 2008 interim release.⁴

Notes:
1. Subject to our Fair Play Policy as found in our Terms of Service.
2. United Kingdom (UK) default Tax Codes are in Beta Release (not commercial release).
3. New Zealand (NZ) default Tax Codes are in Beta Release (not commercial release).
4. We don’t officially support any new 3rd party application/browser until we believe the wider tech community has found all reasonably detectable security, technical and operating environment issues.

Create and Edit Tax Codes for Your Business Zone

United Kingdom (UK) Default Tax Codes

New Zealand (NZ) Default Tax Codes

Enter Transactions Including or Excluding Tax

Goto Settings > Sales > and check the box if you prefer to enter amounts including tax.

Time Zone Setting For Your Personal Location

We set a default Time Zone initially based on your Tax Zone. Change if not quite right by clicking on your name in the top menu after signing in. When you choose your time zone you have the benefit of having your transaction time stamped and dated for the location you are in.

PDF File Name Convention

In a future release we may allow customers to control the prefix for Invoice, Purchase and Quote numbers. In this release we have modified the convention to the most frequently requested as follows:

9999 is just an example number

Automated Sales Speed Limiter

Some mail servers we send automatic transactions to may not be able to handle the speed and volume for which we send at so we have speed limited the output rate to reduce the risk of the emails not getting through. Only a few customers have encountered this problem but we want 100% of customers to have a good experience using Saasu.

Activities Filter For Activity Type

This filter has been move out of the ‘More Filters’ area into the main Activities List for convenience as it is being heavily used.

Sales and Purchase List screens default to show Unpaid Transactions

Lots of customers have said they don’t need to see Paid transactions they just want to know what hasn’t been paid so we changed the default display for these screens.

Bank Account Branch/Route Numbers

Saasu was originally built in Australia and had a BSB code for Australian Bank Accounts. These have mostly been updated to be allow Routing Transit Numbers which also allows for more digits. Where you used to see BSB you will now start seeing Branch/Route

Thanks for all the feedback and ideas, keep them coming!

The international Beta development of Saasu online accounting continues and we have been busy in the last few weeks supporting international date and time formats for different international tax zones. We have also finished supporting currency formats so all those EU countries customers that have been screaming for familiarity will be happy (you will see 1.000,00 instead of 1,000.00 format across most screens). Our USA customers also get their much loved mm/dd format.

Group Payroll Design Improvements

We found in user interviews and training that Group Payroll was super easy for people once they new how to use it but those first few baby steps lost some customers so we have made Group Payroll a little more friendly to use.

Aged Creditor and Debtor Reports

Our reports for Aged Accounts Receivable (Money Owed To Me) and Accounts Payble (Money I owe) have had some layout improvements.

More drill downs to detailed transaction information

You can now also drill down to Sales from Make Payment and Receive Payment screens.

See the Release 14 Preview (R14)

You can see these changes live in our Preview area which allows you to see them with your own business data.

Expected Release Date: 8 September 2008. Any feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

R14 Release Summary

1. Enter transactions excluding or including tax.
2. Default Tax Code for each Account in your Chart of Accounts.
3. Shipping contacts for Sales and Purchases.
4. Shipping slips.
5. International date and time formatting for different zones.
6. Display Contact telephone number in Sales/Purchases.
7. Ability to create and control your Tax Codes.
8. International Tax Code language used in the Tax Code drop downs.
9. Ability to hide any Tax code not needed.
10. Editable posting account for Tax Codes.
11. Usability improvements for Group Payroll.
12. Jump to the invoice that relates to the Payment screen.
13. Sortable Payments List.
14. Pay Run screen improvements.
15. Aged Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable report improvements.
16. Drill down to Sales and Purchases from Make Payment and Receive Payment screens.

If you’re a business owner I recommend attending conferences. The trick is to pick the eyes out of them. I only go to about three a year as either a speaker or a sponsor. So ruthless choices are required. My picks are Barcamp, Edge of the Web and CeBIT.

Edge of the Web is coming up in November (Perth, Australia), brought to you by the Australian Web Industry Association (AWIA). It is designed for business stakeholders trying to create next generation business practices that utilise the web. The people behind Edge of the Web recognise that technology and the web are an integral part of the business model. So often I see business people who think their business is “what” they do rather than “how” they do it.

Nearly all businesses are hybrid technology businesses these days,
they are part technology company and part product or services. The “how” is all about technology.

I’ll be at the conference talking on SaaS (Software as a Service) as an Ecosystem for businesses to operate in. Having your business in the cloud is becoming an integral part of an effective “how” component in your business. Some smart cookies (and coincidently good friends and customers of Saasu) will be there also such as the Madpilot, Myles Eftos and Millstreams, Adrian and Rosemary Lynch. I also hear that Jordan Brock and his 5 Senses Coffee with be there. 5 Senses was at a recent Barcamp, and the coffee experience just made it ultra-pleasant between sessions.

If you are not sure if this applies to you then consider a sole trader services business as an example who has a large portion of what they do dependent on technology. Getting the books done, preparing marketing material, email, franchising, scheduling, managing inventory, procurement, network marketing etc. It’s all about technology.

If you want to get to Perth then Saasu wants to pitch in and help by subsidising the trip a little through a cheaper Saasu subscription. Just use voucher code AWIA-EDGE when you renew or signup to Saasu NetAccounts. We will add 3 months to your business file renewal date once we confirm you have registered for the conference*.

Edge of the Web is on 6th and 7th of November, Perth WA. AWIA members $395, non-members $450.

ASIDE: If you aren’t already an AWIA member then get on board. Saasu did and never looked back. We are now on their committee and can honestly say it has been a great expereience dealing with some amazing web savvy members and receiving so much businesses through our membership.

If you have multiple business files in your subscription it will be pro-rata calculated. Offer ends 6th November 2008. One voucher at a time sorry. This offer can’t be used in conjunction with any other offer.