MyVirtualAccountant

2002 Consensus Software Awards

Product description

MVA is a world first automated internet based business improvement solution for SME's including automated business health diagnosis and business development, an on line accounting system, chat rooms, and on line and telephone support, all in simple understandable English. These are not currently available to SME's anywhere else in the world, especially as an integrated system.

MVA will become an integral part of the day-to-day operations of an SME business. This statement is supported by organizations such as Solution 6, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Telstra, Westpac Bank and St George Bank.

Once MVA has identified areas of business weakness or lack of performance, it will take a business through a process to improve operations, increase customer satisfaction and make better business decisions. It will allow the business owner to identify opportunities for increased performance and give a business a competitive edge.

This analysis provides a window into ways in which an SME can improve its operations.

• Allows an SME to achieve performance balance across the enterprise.

• Serves as a business command and control centre;

• Integrates key data from all business functions into a single accurate view.

• Permits traditional financial measures to be combined with customer, operational and organizational learning measures to provide a holistic picture of the business.

Innovation

HOW IT WORKS

With MVA, the business enters their financial data such as receipts and payments and with the click of a button, MVA produces:

• Analysis of the status of the business

• Advises on the problem areas within the business

• Provides solutions on how to fix problems

• Financial reports

• Feedback on all areas of their business

• Business development options

This can be done daily, weekly or monthly, as the business operator requires and all at the click of a mouse.

HOW MVA IS UNIQUE

MVA is the first Internet based integrated business support solution available in the world that is suitable to SMEs. It is innovative because it automates advice previously provided by accountants and business advisers and then provides them in real time over the Internet with the click of a mouse.

Other innovations are as follows:

• Automated Business Health diagnosis in plain simple English with just a click of a mouse

• Automated identification of problem areas in plain understandable English

• Automated step by step solutions to problems found in each particular business

• Zero-Training required

• Click’n’Go from anywhere with Internet access

• Complemented by advice via internet chat or telephone support facilities

Performance

MVA has carried out extensive market testing as well as having a number of businesses actually using the system. Our development of MVA is closely aligned to carrying out customer satisfaction surveys and customer feedback surveys. These surveys have produced the following verifiable benefits our customers have available as a result of using MVA:

FINANCIAL GAINS FOR SME’S USING MVA

• Profit Improvements 5-23%

• Reduced Financial Training Requirements 100%

• Savings on financial training courses 100%

• Reduced Accounting Fees 28-37%

• Saving on bookkeeping per hour labour rate 54%  Average

• Saving on bookkeeping data input time 25-33%

• Saving on Postage & Mail-out Labour 86%  Average

• Saving on BAS Preparation time 31%  Average

• Reduced software costs per annum 23%  Average

• Reduced hardware costs per annum 22%  Average

NON-FINANCIAL GAINS FOR SME’S USING MVA

• Reduced risk of business failure

• Improved profitability

• Enables client to be proactive rather than reactive in their decision making with MVA’s problem alerting system

• Improved business and personal support

• Decisions based on up to date information hence better decision making

• Measures performance against objectives

• Assistance available for decision making

• Up-to-date business analysis

• Reduced isolation – someone to talk to at any time

• Better work-life balance – support available day & night

• Peace of mind

• Less Frustration associated with bookkeeping and accounts

• Improved cash-flow management using MVA’s BAS liability alerter

Potential

AWARDS WON TO DATE

1. Winner, Secrets of Australian IT Innovation Competition

2. Finalist, AIIA iAwards, Innovation – e-Commerce & the Internet ,October 2001

3. Finalist, AIIA iAwards, Implementation – Software ,October 2001

4. Winner Most Promising Entrepreneurial Organisation, ACT R&D Grants Awards,  September 2001

5. Winner Yellow Pages Business Ideas Grants Awards, August 2001

6. Winner Best Software Invention at Capital dot Com, November 2000

MARKET POTENTIAL

MVA has been development over 18 months. During this period each module of the system has been market tested with a number of SME businesses in order to validate its capabilities as well as develop refinements to make it a more effective business solution.

Our market testing has shown that 100% of people who have seen MVA or trialed it have said that MVA is exactly what SME business needs. This statement has been made by organisations such as Solution 6, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Telstra, Westpac Bank and St George Bank as well as accountants and businesses.

MVA is market ready and we will commence active marketing in January 2002. In broad terms our end users will be SME business of which there are over 1 million in Australia and many millions internationally. We have already carried out initial market surveys in China

There is no integrated or automated accounting, business analysis, business advice and business support system available to SME businesses in the world.

We anticate by the end 2004 sales will be in excess of $21 million per annum. Attached at Appendix 5 are summary financial projections for the next 3 years.

Our projections are based on:

• The validations of MVA as stated

• The number of Market Showcases that will be operated

• Our expected minimum Australian market share of 5 % by 2004 (All financials are based on very conservative estimates)

Other information the judges should know

MVA provides unique advancements to global knowledge as follows:

1. It assists in solving the following problems experienced by SME’s throughout the world :-

• High business failure rate of SME's

• A great need for business support but found the cost too high for them to afford the amount they needed.

• Paying for financial accounts which they never use and which are very often so historic by the time they are prepared that they have little value to the SME in operating their business.

• Not having any simple tools available which assist them to be pro-active in preventing business problems in a quick and understandable way.

• Great difficulty taking generalised business information and applying it to solve their business problems.

• Commonly feeling isolated and lacking someone to talk to about their business.

• No simple , quick or automated tools to assist in diagnosing and fixing problems in their business on a day to day basis.

• Accounting packages are too complex and require ongoing training.

• The need to consistently upgrade hardware is a cost they undertake grudgingly

2. Automation of the traditionally labour intensive business support process

3. Integration of  the business support process

4. Integration in one system, the accounting and business support processes

5. Provision of business consultants to assist businesses without leaving their office

6. No requirement for training and provides an accounting and business improvement system

which is simple and easy to use,

7. Provision of automated business support at a price affordable by SME’s

8. Provision of opportunities for SME’s to communicate with other SME’s from home and work

to overcome their isolation.

9. MVA allows small business to have the equivalent of an “in-house” financial adviser currently only affordable by large business.

MVA will become the "Guardian Angel" of small business as one of our clients put it "I don’t worry as much because MVA is like having my accountant looking over my shoulder at all times”.

Return to Index of Entries

Top of page