I have had a few questions in regards to MYOB live accounts which came out around August last year, so I wanted to compare this with Xero (which is what we use). We are always analysing new systems that come onto the market so you don't have to.
MYOB live is virtually an online cashbook not dissimilar to BankLink. MYOB is a flat $25/mth so may appear cheap in comparison to Xero but the features on MYOB live are limited. Let's look at the comparison.
Features
- Leverages bank accounts through BankLink. As a note, Xero now have pretty much every single bank feed needed through an initiative with Yodlee, a centralised provider.
What both systems do well
- Both enable rules for similar transactions on your bank statements that allow the bookkeeping process to be easier and more accurate.
- GST reporting is great if the books are prepared correctly
- Historical spending habits are easy to see
Where MYOB live falls short:
- This is only a cashbook, no ledgers that help record payments or receipts outstanding (Accounts Payable and Receivable)
- No expense claim module
- No fixed asset module
- No systems that integrate directly, therefore there is a loss of efficiency. Xero has payroll, inventory, point of sale systems and more that integrate well with the system
- The reporting function is basic and doesn't provide enough meaningful information for your business to make good decisions
- No access to multi-currency transactions
- MYOB live video's have annoying music in the background!
Through the analysis above, it's fairly easy to see why we use Xero as our accounting system.
Comments
It’s always great for businesses to investigate new solutions. Thanks for checking out MYOB LiveAccounts.
I thought I’d touch base to update you on a few points you’ve mentioned in your blog post.
MYOB LiveAccounts is actually much more than a cashbook. It handles both cash and accrual accounting and manages both invoices (debtors) and expenses (creditors).
We’ve designed MYOB LiveAccounts for very small businesses, with simple business process needs, so we haven’t cluttered the solution with functionality that businesses of this size don’t need (based on our extensive research). If a business has more sophisticated requirements, our AccountRight range caters for the needs of larger, growing businesses.
If you’d like to discuss LiveAccounts in more detail, just let me know (julian.smith at myob.com).
Thank you,
Julian Smith
General Manager
MYOB
Carl - I agree with you, the online world and a nice UI just increases user satisfaction and changes the accounting game. People who actually look forward to logging onto their accounting system is a first for me!
Jono - I was comparing Xero as a whole, the cashbook doesn't have the functionality mentioned and my understanding is that it can only be obtained through accounting/bookkeeping firms. I might have a look at the cashbook in comparison and this may be a fairer playing field for both. In particular though the other competitor to Xero on the cashbook field is BankLink who integrate with MYOB LiveAccounts
Julian - Thanks for that, it's great to get an insider perspective and show where abouts the software is targeted. The accrual accounting I completely overlooked so will go back to your website and have a more detailed inspection of the product.
being able to track expenses not only by COA # and then by a job # (subcode. Can Xero do this? can it run multi company, etc? kind regards Sandy
reporting – as well as running reports based on where transactions are in your Chart of Accounts (e.g. rent, sales, travel) you can use tracking to create categories that match your business activities (cost centre, salesperson, region, department, activity
etc). Tracking is optional." If you are only looking for the JOB facility on your system you will find that MYOB has a much more developed product in this regard. There are ways around it in Xero as mentioned however MYOB I believe trumps them in this case.
Multi-company (I assume you mean consolidation?) will be coming out as an add on I believe in the not too distant future. However you will find at this stage you would have to run separate entities on separate books. Hope this helps.
in Xero is using tracking categories see http://help.xero.com/au/#Settings_Tracking. I haven't used the feature yet so am not sure exactly how they compare but it might give you a place to start.
is considering using Xero over MYOB Online and, from our point of view, integration is important.
dealing with both MYOB and Xero.
thats not online? Kind Regards Ryan
depends on what you want in an accounting system. Do you want a cloud solution (one that works over the internet and can access on any internet enabled device) or a desktop based version? The other major benefit is automatic bank feeds rather than uploading
the bank statements at the end of the month. At this stage I don't know of any non-cloud based accounting software that does this.
familiar with MYOB. Invoicing and receivables is tne next most important module.The vast majority of small business needs nothing more than a cashbook. Small business has to stop managing their account payables and just pay them and file the invoice away.
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