In seeking the right accounting software, what do small and medium businesses use? What do they want? What do they need? This is why Software Advice, a leading authority on the review and selection of software, conducts a yearly report on the trends in the small business accounting software market, titled BuyerView. What does the 2014 edition have to say about the selections of these businesses? Read on to learn more.
About the SMB Accounting Software BuyerView
Thanks to commentary provided by Accounting Software, we would like to share a deeper look and opinion on the study:
“We have first-hand insight at Software Advice into what small business accounting software buyers are investigating in new software and why they’re looking for new solutions. In order to write our 2014 Accounting Software BuyerView, we analyzed data collected from nearly 400 interactions to understand buyer pain points, evaluation criteria, and demographics for insight into buyer behavior and trends.”
“We talked to accounting software buyers, mostly small businesses, who were researching software solutions to support accounting processes, such as financial reporting, or billing and invoicing. Businesses are looking to automate these accounting processes in order to eliminate errors, and therefore be more efficient. Accounting software buyers are looking to improve the functionality and efficiency of their current systems to make it easier to execute the everyday tasks they have to perform in order to be successful.
“Out of those with a deployment preference, more than half wanted a cloud-based solution for their accounting software. We interviewed experts who said that traditional on-premise customers were looking for newer solutions that have been updated for today’s accounting needs. In addition, they saw cloud-based deployment as the future of accounting software.”
The Numbers
Three of the top trends in the small and medium business market that should be considered in marketing to these businesses:
- 63 percent were currently using some form of accounting software
- 15 percent of buyers were still using manual methods, such as spreadsheets or pen and paper.
- 25 percent were still using Quickbooks by Intuit—either on its own, or in combination with other tools.
- 52 Percent of Small Businesses preferred Cloud Deployment
- 64 Percent of Software Buyers seek an integrated suite in accounting.
- 32 Percent of Buyers seek efficiency and accuracy in accounting software.
Buyer Wants and Needs
What are buyers looking for in their next system? What would they like to see?
Most Buyers Are Replacing an Existing System: Clients using older solutions (Quickbooks, Peachtree, GP, Epicor) will increasingly shop around for newer, Web-based products, especially as on-premise options are retired and no longer supported by vendors.
Buyers Want Greater Functionality and Efficiency: Of the buyers surveyed, 41 percent said they were seeking greater functionality in a new accounting system. Many said their current systems “couldn’t handle” the scope of their accounting work, and that they needed to be able to generate reports more easily.
Core Accounting Is the Most-Requested Application: Core accounting was the most commonly-requested application among the buyers we spoke to, with 67 percent of buyers seeking this functionality. (Core accounting includes basic bookkeeping and general ledger functions, such as accounts payable and accounts receivable, fixed assets, and bank reconciliation.)
Over Half of Buyers Want an Integrated Suite: The vast majority of software buyers in our sample (64 percent) were interested in purchasing an integrated suite of two or more applications, such as core accounting, financial reporting and billing and invoicing. Only 36 percent of buyers were looking for a best-of-breed application. Less than 1 percent of buyers had no preference either way.
Web Deployment Preference Less Common Than Average: A majority of the buyers we talked to (76 percent) had no deployment preference. Of those with a preference, they were almost evenly split: 52 percent preferred cloud deployment, while 48 percent requested on-premise. Accounting’s 52:48 spread is much different than in other software industries, where cloud-based software is often favored by most buyers.
Get the Full Report
InCloud360, a proud vendor of cloud accounting solutions through Intacct, is pleased to share the full report with those small businesses looking for a deeper insight into the accounting market. Please check out the Slideshare featuring the report below.
Are you looking for first-hand insight into the effectiveness of cloud accounting? As providers of Intacct, we invite you to contact us to see how valuable Intacct can be for your business.
Again, we would like to thank Software Advice for providing BuyerView 2014 for Small Businesses seeking Accounting Software.
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