IRIS Software Group (IRIS) has extended its partnership with AccountsIQ and added its cloud-based accounting software to its Marketplace. AccountsIQ has partnered with IRIS Software for over six years and this announcement sees the availability of an integration for IRIS Cascade and Staffology with AccountsIQ. AccountsIQ and IRIS plan to extend the integration to other IRIS software solutions as well.
The combination of HR, Payroll and finance makes a compelling integrated suite for organisations looking to remove the manual interactions between functions. The combined solution will enable organisations to better surface insights with shared data.
Stephanie Coward, Managing Director of HCM at IRIS, commented, “We are thrilled to welcome AccountsIQ to IRIS’ HR Marketplace as a strategic partner. In today’s fast-paced workforce, HR and payroll professionals are seeking cloud technology that simplifies workflows and maintains compliance across multiple countries and regions. With the AccountsIQ offering, our customers will gain access to a fully integrated, cloud-based suite of payroll, HR and finance solutions to help them save time, improve cost control and profitability. We look forward to broadening this partnership in the coming months.”
Tony Connolly, Founder and CEO at AccountsIQ, added, “We are excited about this next stage of collaboration with the IRIS team. There’s no doubt that HR, finance, and payroll software must work together seamlessly. But far too often, this isn’t the case. When these systems are integrated, it not only streamlines tasks and saves valuable time but also helps users take their businesses to the next level. Cloud platforms are integral to this mission. And this extended partnership is a fantastic opportunity for both AccountsIQ and IRIS to provide a more unified service to our customers.”
The benefits of AccountsIQ
The integration, which the firms believe can be completed within six weeks, provides several benefits.
- An intuitive interface which enables rapid adoption.
- Intuitive dashboards delivering real time data analysis and performance insights. These enable business leaders to make better-informed decisions and adapt and plan in changing financial circumstances.
- Multi-currency and multi-entity management and faster consolidation. Governance is improved with support for MTD, including VAT returns. There is also support for corporate tax filings and Companies House submissions. The AccountsIQ solution enables firms to meet current and future regulatory requirements.
- Automation is enabled throughout the solution. These include payment authorisations and invoice approval workflows in a single system. Automation across the platform reduces manual work and ensures data accuracy between payroll and finance. Thus reducing the risk of import errors.
- Comprehensive budget management comprising full audit trails offering superior cost control and performance oversight.
Existing AccountsIQ customers have seen considerable benefits, especially when moving from Sage solutions. Steve Allen, Financial Director at IFX, said, “The year before last we experienced 110% growth. We could not have done that without AccountsIQ. If we were still on Sage 50, we would have collapsed or at the very least needed a much bigger finance team.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
AccountsIQ is built for mid-market organisations, and the platform aligns well with IRIS Software solutions. What is missing from this announcement is how the partnership will take this combination to market. Are they engaged in co-marketing activities? Is there any benefit for the sales teams cross selling the solutions from the other vendor? Is this just about extending the integrations between the two solutions?
There is also little information about the integration available on the marketplace listing. It does not reveal, for example, how data is shared, which application is the master database for different information and whether customers can determine which system holds the primary record.
For IRIS Software, this opens up a new option when looking for a new financial management solution. This is just the latest announcement about improvements to integrations in 2024. In February, it announced that its Staffology SuiteApp had achieved “Built for NetSuite” status. There is, however, no similar SuiteApp for Cascade as yet.
