Recently, Deloitte became the latest of the ‘big four’ accounting companies to move into the British small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) market. Verastar reports.
Tapping SME market
KPMG has launched a number of initiatives for SMEs. In 2014, they released a cloud-based accounting service to help small companies deal with tasks such as payroll and bookkeeping. In 2015, KPMG announced its intention to disrupt and dominate the UK’s small business sector, to compete with digital giants such as Google, who are increasingly offering comprehensive SME business services.
KPMG launched a joint initiative with Metro Bank in September 2015. This combined their banking and accounting operations to supple small business customers with expert services and financial advice. That same month, PwC and Sage, a large software company, announced their intention to move into the British SME market together. Their initiative combines PwC UK’s ‘My Financepartner’ – a cloud-based accounting service, with ‘Sage Live,’ to provide more effective SME financial services.
SME analytics service
Business portal SME Insider writes that Deloitte has now joined KPMG and PwC. The company recently unveiled its new analytics and cloud-based accounting service for SMEs, the £2.5m ‘Propel.’ Based on a monthly subscription model, it supplies small business heads with a dash-board that shows business performance, from web traffic to cash position, in real-time.
Funded by Deloitte’s Innovation Investments scheme, which is designed to incentivise entrepreneurs to start new businesses, Propel is a comprehensive metrics tool for UK SME owners. It allows them to track key issues such as company growth and gross profit. Propel also analyses non-financial data compiled via apps, to provide small businesses with a more accurate image of their performance.
Delivering key insights
Discussing the launch of Propel, Deloitte Innovation Partner for Audit Katie Houldsworth said: “We’ve built this service to help start-ups and SMEs grow. It is designed to deliver insight and address some of the longstanding headaches that entrepreneurs and their management teams can face.
“When developing Propel, we collaborated with our 20 pilot clients to understand what makes a difference to their businesses. As a result, we now offer additional business planning support to supplement the dashboard and core accounting service. For example, we can help with cash-flow forecasting, creating budgets and attracting investment.”
Utilising online tools
There are 5.4m SMEs in the UK and it is becoming increasingly clear that big accounting companies are desperate to tap into this lucrative market. This is benefiting small businesses across the UK, as it is creating the competitive environment required to ensure that big accounting companies strive to provide them with ever more effective online financial services, such as Propel.
With these programmes SMEs can gain key financial and marketing insights, allowing them to streamline operating strategies and increase revenue. In order to take advantage of online business tools, however, it is vital that SMEs can depend on first-rate internet infrastructure. kinex, a brand operate by Verastar, supplies the outstanding commercial broadband services SMEs require to turn digital tools such as Propel to their advantage, in order to expand their business’ operations.
Verastar
Verastar is a leading provider of essential business services to micro SMEs, operating under the following brands: kinex, Clear Business Water, Titan Telecom, Marble Telecom, Economy Gas and 118777 Limited. Our business model is focused on providing a spectrum of consolidated services that disrupt traditional markets and create great savings, efficiencies and value for our customers.
