1.

Introduction:
a) Background of chosen Company – Financio

Financio, the baby of Asian Business Software Solutions Sdn Bhd (ABSS), brings small
business accounting automation to Malaysia and other countries, redefining how small
business owners handle accounting and tax tasks, bringing accounting software to the
next level.

Financio is a cloud based accounting & invoicing software tailor-made for Malaysian
small businesses who is looking to streamline their accounting & GST, sale & purchase
process with the help of automation and a super easy-to-use accounting software.
According to Conway, there is plenty of accounting software out there that is not focused
on supporting the micro businesses in Asia, which are predominantly owned by non-
accountants.” Financio, on the other hand, was designed with non-accountants in mind.

For the first time ever, Financio allows you to do real time collaboration and exchange of
documents on one single platform.

Financio team cares about your cost efficiency, productivity and efficiency, allowing you
to focus on what really matters to your business, such as generating revenue and happy
customers.

The software is residing on the Internet, allowing you to access it with any connected
devices, anywhere on the planet. Your transactions are securely stored in our cloud
storage with real time backup facilities. You will never have to worry about losing your
data again

Financio is blazingly fast, hosted locally. The user interface that is so superb, super
simple to understand and use. Financio understands you better. It is built by Asian for
Asians. Backed by ABSS* who has been around over 7 years and has more than 300,000
customers across the region.

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 b) TWO (2) main competitors

Xero Accounting Software

The greatest preferred standpoint is that it needn't bother with any establishment or upkeep
can be utilized whenever or anywhere. It is quick and straightforward and can bolster more
customers in less time. Back up and coordinated effort of information should be possible in a
small number of seconds.

QuickBooks Accounting Software

With Quickbooks, people in business can get to and oversee books from PC, workstation,
tablet, or cell phone whenever, anyplace. Make get to benefit so partner or bookkeeper can
login and work with business information on the web. Moreover, the product empowers
account official to make and send custom online solicitations from any gadget.

Features Xero QuickBooks Online Financio

Pricing for the top tier US$40/month for US$31/month US$7.95/month
version Premuim Version for Online Plus for Premium
(Highest version)
Language English English English, Malay,
Chinese
Payroll function Supported through Supported through Coming Soon
HReasily Gpayroll
Inventory tracking Supported Supported Supported
Multi-Currency Supported Supported Supported
Go mobile Apps Stores and google Apps Stores and Web Browser
plays google plays

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Support Contact Form or Email Contact Contact
Form,Email or Form,Email or
Livechat Livechat
GST compliance Required third party add- Yes by default Yes by default
ons SmartTax with extra
fees
Rights or user More user roles are Is available in sales Is available in
available such as payroll, or purchase sales or purchase
bank transaction, sales, and transaction
purchase and etc.
Function  Bank reconciliation  Track sales,  Track Sales
 Contacts – Keep track expenses and  Track
of suppliers and profits Purchases
customers  Create & send  Track Income
 Dashboard unlimited & Expenses
 Expense claims invoices  Full Financial
 Files – Attach  Track and Reports (12)
documents to your manage your  Malaysia GST
financial data sales tax Support
 Financial reporting  Works on PC,  Multi
 Free, unlimited email Mac, and Currencies
support mobile Support
 Inventory  Manage and pay  Inventory
 Invoicing – Create bills Tracking
and send invoices  Transact in  Financio
automatically multiple Connect
 Log in from currencies  Tax Liability
anywhere  Generate sales Register
 Mobile apps quotes  Data Backup
(Android,  Track inventory and Restore

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 iPhone/iPad)  Create purchase
 Multi-currency orders
 Online accounting –  Track project or
Access Xero anytime, job profitability
anywhere
 Payroll
 Purchase orders
 Quick and easy 1099s
 Receive bills
electronically
 Smart lists – Segment
contacts based on
purchase history
 Fixed assets
 GST returns

 Pricing and Features

In terms of pricing, Financio is winner.

In terms of features, Xero is winner

 Language
In terms of language, Financio is winner. Xero and QuickBooks only offer one language
– English.

 Payroll intergration
In terms of payroll, Xero and QuickBook is winner even though it is supported by third
party because Financio does not support payroll interration.

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  GST Functions
Quickbooks is winner because it can generate GST reports required by the Custom.

Xero can produce a GST reports through SmartTax third party add on (extra fee apply).

 Rights or user
Xero is winner because it provide more user rights if compare to both QuickBooks and
Financio which provide limited user rights.

 Go mobile
Xero and Quickbooks are winner. Both of the software support apps stores and google
plays. Financio only support web browser.

In summary, Quickbooks Online is more cost effective in the long run as most functions are built
in. Quickbooks Online has less complicated functions and will suit your need for a simple cloud
accounting software. If you are looking for more functionality and more third party apps
integration such as CRM systems, Xero accounting will be the best choice since they have
hundreds of add-ons which can assist you to build a comprehensive system

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2. Describe the chosen accounting software in terms of:

a. Price of software

Forever Free Premium

(suitable for startups)
FREE Forever
Unlimited Users
Track Sales (10 invoices/mth)
Track Purchases (10 bills/mth)
Track Income & Expenses
Limited Financial Reports (3)
No Malaysia GST Support
Multi Currencies Support
No Inventory Tracking
Financio Connect
20MB File Storage
Standard Support (2 days)
Daily Backup
(suitable for growing businesses)
RM32.95/M
RM329.50/yr (17% off)
Unlimited Users
Track Sales (Unlimited)
Track Purchases (Unlimited)
Track Income & Expenses
Full Financial Reports (12)
Malaysia GST Support
Multi Currencies Support
Inventory Tracking
Financio Connect
20GB File Storage
Priority Support (2 hours)
Real-Time + Daily Backup (Up to 7 days)

b. Ease of implementation
Cloud based accounting software – Financio is hosted on the centralized servers. Users
can just open their web browsers and start using the application without installing
anything on their PCs.

Whether you are on your desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, you can access your
accounting data from anywhere with a web-browser. No downloads, nothing to install,
no conflicting versions or files.

After creating your account, everything's set up so you can get started right away.
Access it anywhere, any time. Your data is always available, and it’s backed up for
extra peace of mind.

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c. Ease of use
The user interface is designed to be simple and easy to use as it is targeted at non-
accountants such as business owners, manager. To enjoy full features, you will need to
subscribe to the premium version, to be billed monthly or annually. Payments are
accepted via debit or credit card on prepaid basis and it is automatically renewed until
cancelled. We frequently roll out updates to Financio, you can expect updates, bug
fixes, compliance updates and new features on monthly or weekly basis. Due to its
cloud or online nature, updates are delivered to you in almost real time.

 FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

You don’t have to be an accountant to use Financio. It is designed for business
owners and non-accountants. The interface and steps are all designed with you in
mind.

 ACCOUNTING AUTOMATION
Just do what you love doing and concentrate on growing your business, leave the
rest to us. Financio generates accounting entries and records automatically for you
when you record your transactions in Financio.

 EVERYTHING UNDER 1 ROOF

Financio know how frustrating it is to retrieve a small piece of information from
dozen of emails or trying to recall some promises you made on a phone calls 3
months ago. With Financio, you can bring your transactions, documents and
conversations online and stored digitally all under one roof.

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d. Ability to fit to business
Financio has announced the latest updates version 1.3.18 - is now fully equipped to
assist you with SST filling.

The Summary of Update:

• Added ability to add tariff codes and tag them with items when issuing
invoices/bills.
• Added option to choose between Sales or Service tax fillings to generate formatted
reports

Financio also provide the following reports which is suit to the SMEs :
• Balance Sheet
• Profit & Loss
• Trial Balance
• General Ledger Summary
• General Ledger Detail
• Account Transactions
• Aged Receivables
• Aged Payable
• Inventory Summary
• Inventory Detail
• For Singapore/Malaysia (GST/SST)
• GST/SST Summary
• GST/SST Detail

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e. Functionality

 Accounting Automation
Just issue invoices, record payments and expenses, Financio will do the tedious
ones such as generating accounting entries and records for you.
 E-Invoicing
Create professional looking invoices and have them delivered to your customers
electronically via email in just a few clicks.
 Multilingual Interface
Financio comes in three languages! To make your accounting even easier, you
can choose to use Financio in Chinese, Bahasa Melayu or English.
 Malaysia Tax Ready
You can issue all required Tax files as recommended by Royal Malaysian
Customs in just a few clicks and no 3rd party plug-in. Plus you'll be covered by
any future changes implemented!

 JomPAY Integration
Collect payments quickly, efficiently with lower cost and easy reconciliation
through any banks in Malaysia. Your customers will enjoy the convenience and
flexibility of paying you from any bank.

 Kakitangan Integration
Kakitangan.com an online platform for SMEs, simplifying HR by providing you
with one platform to manage your payroll, benefits, employee information and
much more.

 StoreHub Integration

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 StoreHub, helping business owners manage and grow their businesses with iPad
POS System, Inventory Management, Customer Relationship Management, Retail
Management, and Omnichannel.

 Recurring Invoice
If your business needs to send the same amount of invoice repetitively, why not
just automate it! You can now automatically send invoices to your customer every
week, every month, every 3-months, every 6-months or once every year.

 Bank Feeds
Bank feeds allow you to automatically import bank statements into your
Accounting bank or credit card accounts from banks and other financial
institutions.
 Collaborate
Send and receive messages as well as share files related to the transaction with
your customers or suppliers, regardless they are using Financio or not.
 Financio Connect
Connect your business with other businesses on Financio. Transactions, messages,
files and updates can be sent back and forth effortlessly.
 Unlimited Users
Invite your partners, accountants, bookkeepers, sales personnel and assign
appropriate permission for them to reduce your workload.
 Flexible Permissions
Highly customisable permission settings (read-only, create or approval) on each
modules enable you to grant precise permission to your employees.
 Charts & Reports
Live charts and reports at your fingertips whenever you need it. You are always
kept updated and have a better idea of how your business is doing.

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  Online / Cloud Based
Online / web-based accounting software. Access your data anywhere with any
connected mobile, tablet or computer. For PC, Mac, Android or iOS.
 Live Backup
All data stored on Financio comes with one copy of live backup and a second
copy of daily backup, never worry about losing your data again.
 Highly Secure
We deploy banking level security on our servers and for data transferred between
your machine and our servers. Your data is safe with us.
 Responsive Support
Our knowledge base provide instant answers to you. On top of that, our support
agents will be happy to answer your questions via live chat / email

f. Growth potential
Financio, a wholly owned entity within Asian Business Software Solutions Sdn Bhd
(ABSS) signed a strategic agreement with Microsoft to empower micro SMEs in
Malaysia and accelerate their digital transformation journey. As part of this partnership,
Microsoft will offer Office 365 as a complimentary service for Financio’s current
customers to enhance competitiveness and modernise their business operations.

Today, Financio is helping small businesses save over 384,000-man hours a year and
powering more than 4500 small businesses across Malaysia. Financio aiming to
increase this number to 125,000 by March 2018, and the partnership with Microsoft
will play a crucial role in achieving this target. Financio delighted that customers will
now experience Microsoft’s cloud solutions to accelerate their business growth.

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g. Level of support provided by vendor
Technical Support
Afraid not when facing any technical difficulties using Financio. Financio friendly and
award winning team at ABSS is always ready to help. Financio provide two tiers of
support depending on the package you are subscribed to.

i. Free: Send a support request using the form provided below, our team will get
back to you with a solution via Email within 1 working day.

ii. Premium: Get more responsive reply from our team members via Chat / Email
within 1 working hour using the in-app Intercom (The chat icon on bottom left)
after you logged into Financio.

Getting Instant Help

By download Financio complete user guide or browse through Financio knowledge
base articles for instant answers.

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h. Vendor’s track record of performance
Financio is a product of ABSS. ABSS, formerly known as MYOB, is an award winning
accounting and business management solution for Asian businesses. ABSS was formed
in 2009 following a management buy-out of the MYOB business in South Asia.

ABSS striving to be the leading SME business solutions provider across Asia, with
over 350,000 customers, 90+ staff, offices in Singapore and Malaysia and a wide
network of hundreds of qualified Certified Partners and Resellers throughout the region.
ABSS has a vision to be the trusted provider in Asia for the SME community and is
well on its way to getting 1 million customers using their solutions in the coming years.

ABSS has grown from accounting software to offering a wide range of support and
service products. They enable SMEs to grow their businesses by providing tools that
simplify accounting, customer payment gateways, E-Commerce solutions and more
recently has embarked on a cloud based micro SME accounting product that addresses
the start-up and entry level SME market. ABSS's product portfolio consists of:
 ABSS Accounting Software (formally known as MYOB South Asia) – the leading
desktop accounting software in SE Asia ABSS
 Click to Pay – direct invoice payment option for ABSS & MYOB users
 ABSS Webstore – ECommerce solution for ABSS & MYOB users
 ABSS BI4Cloud – intelligent business reports for ABSS & MYOB users
 Financio – micro and small business, jargon free cloud accounting

ABSS as the trusted solutions provider, developer and leading supplier of accounting
software for the SME community in Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Singapore,
Hong Kong.

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3. Identify and explain FOUR (4) benefits or advantages of the chosen accounting software in
business.

 Flexibility and Accessibility

On top of making many features more automated, Financio’s cloud-based solutions give
micro-SMEs greater flexibility to conduct businesses anytime, anywhere. Users will be
able to access critical information when they want, instead of waiting to go back to the
office

 Data storage
Data storage is also taken care of in Financio’s cloud-based software. Even in the case of
losing your device, your data is kept safe and easily retrievable. All your data is protected
in real time and a live backup is performed off server on a daily basis. Companies that
use cloud accounting software benefit from many upfront cost savings. Capital
investment is minimal since no servers are at your location. Infrastructure is one of the
largest costs associated with storing and managing data. With reduced capital spend
(CAPEX), you can move to an Operating Expense (OPEX) model for IT.

 Keep track of your finances

While small businesses and start-ups are busy solving real-world problems, it’s important
not to lose sight of more routine accounting tasks. There are a bunch of tools designed
specifically for the easy use of micro SMEs/SMEs and non-accountants. Financio, for
example, improves collaboration by allowing businesses to share files and exchange
messages with clients, whether they using Financio or not.

 Reduction in cost
Accounting as a service function adds to the overhead of running a business. The main
cost here is the cost of hiring someone with the right skillsets. When outsourced to
internet accounting vendor, this cost that would otherwise be spent on hiring and training
accountant will be saved. First and foremost, Financio was created by accountants for
those non-accountants heading up micro businesses and SMEs. This ensures that the

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 financial management tool has all of the functions an accountant would need if you were
a client, but simplified so that the platform is user-friendly and easy to use no matter your
abilities with numbers.
 Automated paperwork
If you’re constantly behind on your accounting paperwork, then Financio is going to be
your new best friend. It basically takes away most of the bookkeeping process from the
business, and all users need to do is put in the sales and purchase figures. The system will
do the rest such as double entries, generate reports and tax records. The account
automation feature takes care of all of the administrative financial matters that you never
seem to have time for – issuing invoices, tracking payments, recording expenses and even
preparing tax documents. With just a click of a button, what used to be hours of tedious
work is handled. Yes, really.

 Support via live chat and email

Though Financio was created to be intuitive and easy to use, it’s still possible that you’ll
have questions about certain features and tools. To help you out, Financio offers
customer service via live chat, email enquiries, an FAQ page, a community forum and
knowledge bank so that your question can be answered no matter what sort of working
hours you like to keep.

With Financio, you’ll be able to manage your business finances easily, giving you more
time to focus on your work, clients and all the reasons why you wanted to freelance in the
first place.

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4. Identify and explain FOUR (4) setbacks or disadvantages faced by the company on their
current accounting software.

 Security
Although cloud storage servers have best-in-class security, that doesn’t mean they are
invincible. In 2016, the popular file sharing service Dropbox was hacked, exposing 60
million logins. Although no data was breached in this hack, passwords became available
for sale on the dark web. This allowed purchasers to access data. Dropbox immediately
activated password reset protocol to protect users’ data. This is just one example of the
vulnerabilities inherent when third parties manage data.

Cloud accounting software contains personal data and sensitive information. Thus, it’s
imperative to keep it safe. If you have concerns about the security of cloud accounting
software, do your research on what information security practices they use.

 Cost
Cloud accounting software does come with a price. That price may be influenced by the
amount of data storage and users. Functionality may also impact costs. Compare pricing
and functions to determine what you need and the exact cost. Take into account the fact
that your company will grow, which can increase costs incrementally.

 Reliance on the internet

Cloud accounting software makes your small business dependent on the reliability of
your Internet connection.. If your internet service suffers from frequent outages or slow
speeds, cloud computing may not be suitable for your business. it will affect the smooth
running of operations if there happens to be an issue with getting the network to work.

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 Data Transfer Costs
If your business involves transferring large amounts of data, be aware that while
transferring data to the cloud (inbound) is free, outbound data transfers over the basic
monthly allowance are charged on a per GB basis.

If your business requirements will include regularly downloading large amounts of data
from your cloud applications or data storage, the additional costs can add up.

5. Conclusion:

Recommendation to improve each setback or disadvantage identified in

Item No. 4.

i. Security
Financio may use multi-level data encryption, numerous firewalls and are diligent
in staying current with legislation surrounding data security. They deploy bank-
level security for the connection between your machine and our servers;
everything in transit is encrypted over HTTPS protocol with our 256-bit SSL
certificate. Financio may also utilize offsite backups and redundant systems
ensuring maximum uptime and reliability.
ii. Reliance on internet
Financio may provide features of office software (also called office applications
or desktop applications) in which internet is optional.
iii. Cost
Cloud accounting system is a very competitive business and costs are the primary
concern of customers. Financio may give a special discount for fisrt-time user and
data transfer. Financio should provide more features so that the user will feel that
it is value for money.

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References :

ABSS (Asian Business Software Solutions) | LinkedIn. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2019, from
https://www.linkedin.com/company/asian-business-software-solutions-myob-south-asia-
Advantages and disadvantages of cloud accounting to a small business -. (n.d.). Retrieved May
26, 2019, from https://accountantnextdoor.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-cloud-
accounting-to-a-small-business/
Aman, A., & Mohamed, N. (2017). The Implementation of Cloud Accounting in Public Sector.
Asian Journal of Accounting and Governance, 8, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.17576/AJAG-
2017-08SI-01
EITN MALAYSIA. (2017). ABSS partners with Microsoft to accelerate digital transformation
journey for Malaysian SMEs | Enterprise IT News. Retrieved May 26, 2019, from
http://www.enterpriseitnews.com.my/abss-partners-with-microsoft-to-accelerate-digital-
transformation-journey-for-malaysian-smes/
Financio - Software Reviews, Pricing, Comparison 2019 | Alternatives. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26,
2019, from https://www.wesuggestsoftware.com/accounting-finance/financio/
Home - Financio. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2019, from https://financio.co/malaysia
QuickBooks Online vs. Xero Cloud Accounting Software in Malaysia. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26,
2019, from https://www.3ecpa.com.my/services/software-sale-and-
development/quickbooks-online-vs-xero-cloud-accounting-software/
Travis Tai. (n.d.). What is the best cloud-based accounting software in Malaysia and Singapore?
– Knowledge Base | Financio. Retrieved May 26, 2019, from
https://support.financio.co/hc/en-us/community/posts/360020915931-What-is-the-best-
cloud-based-accounting-software-in-Malaysia-and-Singapore-

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