Today’s economic environment has only increased the ways in which businesses, both big and small, rely on accountants. From bookkeeper to business strategy, accounting professionals are taking on much larger roles than the traditional number crunching stereotypes portray and increasingly find themselves in business advisory roles, partnering with stakeholders to not just keep the records, but interpret financial information to help improve decision making and drive business outcomes.  

Accounting is transforming and, moreover, accountants need the right tools and technology to deliver the best possible results. To help accountants on this quest, NetSuite is introducing a new programme called SuiteAccountants. This programme expands company's commitment to the NetSuite community and makes it easier for accountants to take advantage of the cloud to service their clients with real-time financials.

With SuiteAccountants, company aims to provide accounting professionals with free access to NetSuite licensing and training courses to better serve businesses in a changing world. Here’s what’s available to NetSuite's accounting community starting today: 

• Free licensing: Provides NetSuite customers with one free license for any member of SuiteAccountants, making it easy and cost effective for firms to support clients moving to cloud ERP.
• New training: A free series of instructor-led training sessions through NetSuite Online Learning, providing new members with the foundational knowledge needed to optimise NetSuite for your client’s business needs. 
• Referral programmes: Members of the SuiteAccountants programme are eligible to enjoy the rewards of the NetSuite Referral Partner Programme, including a 10 percent commission on the first year’s license for referrals that become new NetSuite customers.

Members of the SuiteAccountants programme can leverage NetSuite to easily monitor key financial information and automate processes like accounts payable, fixed assets management, and revenue recognition. 

As businesses continue to rely on financial-first decision-making, the SuiteAccountants programme will provide a pathway to not only help accountants meet the needs of our growing customer base, but also make it easy for accountants to adopt modern accounting practices that are powering accounting both now and in the future.

To learn more about SuiteAccountants visit: https://www.netsuite.com/portal/partners/accountant-program.shtml.

Additional Resources

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• Retained Earnings Guide: Formula & Examples
• Accounts Payable Turnover Ratio Defined: Formula & Examples
• 6 Common Invoicing Problems and How to Solve Them
• 6 Expense Management Best Practices: The Complete Guide for CFOs and Experts

By Ranga Bodla, VP of Industry Marketing, Oracle NetSuite

Lightico, leader of next-generation digital customer interactions, announced today a $12.6 million investment led by Oxx, with participation from Capital One Ventures and Harmony Partners, to accelerate adoption of its digital customer interaction platform and bringing its total amount raised to $27 million.

The financing follows unprecedented, urgent demand for and adoption of end-to-end digital transformation. According to a McKinsey study, Companies are accelerating their digitization plans by an average of seven years as a result of the pandemic. The new capital will fuel the company’s scale, growing its customer base of mid to large enterprises, and enable the company to deliver an even more robust platform for digitizing customer journeys. Joining the round are previous Lightico investors, lool Ventures, Crescendo Venture Partners, Mangrove Capital Partners, and Spinach Angels.

Traditional eSignature solutions are limited to B2B document management processes, operating as a disconnected point solution. Lightico equips B2C businesses with an easily customizable, modern and mobile-first platform that integrates seamlessly into existing workflows, and can complete entire customer journeys from end-to-end, simply and in real-time.

For example, bank loans and insurance claims can be processed quickly and securely using Lightico’s customer interaction platform. Lightico creates a virtual collaboration window between the business and their client. The client can then access the collaboration window easily and securely on their mobile device, where they can share and receive documents, and process eSignatures, payments, identification and verification (ID&V) and more.

“The hardships of the past several months have challenged us all but they have also been an incredible catalyst for digital transformation across industries,” said Zviki Ben Ishay, co-founder and CEO of Lightico. “This investment isn’t just fuel for continued growth, but a strong vote of confidence in Lightico’s mobile-first platform and model that thrived during a challenging first half of 2020. We’re proud to have such incredible partners joining our mission of making business interactions simple and digital in a complex world.”

Lightico helps its clients improve customer experience and efficiency, through faster turnaround times, higher completion rates, and higher NPS––significantly impacting bottom-line results. Clients include leading financial institutions, insurance providers, including companies like Capital One and GlaxoSmithKline. The solution integrates into businesses via an open API or through integrations into business systems like Salesforce and Nice InContact.

"In today’s world, best-in-class remote customer service has never been more important––and Lightico is essential for providing it,” said Richard Anton, General Partner at Oxx. “Lightico is much more than a ‘contract management’ solution. It solves the entire ‘last mile’ problem, allowing all the processes involved in customer transactions to be fulfilled completely digitally, in a frictionless and very user-friendly way. The Lightico team has created a strong platform for further growth and we're thrilled to join Zviki and his superb team at this next stage of the journey."

"Be it through our award-winning mobile app or cutting edge virtual assistant, Eno, Capital One is at the forefront of meeting customers where they are,” said Adam Boutin, Partner at Capital One Ventures. “COVID-19 has heightened the need for digitization in financial services and Lightico has helped us meet these challenges by providing an agile and seamless platform to quickly digitize servicing workflows. By investing in Lightico we are recognizing the value of this partnership and continuing to support innovation in customer experience.”

QUODD Financial Information Services (“QUODD”), a business unit of Financeware, a NewSpring Holdings platform company, and IHS Markit have formed a strategic partnership to provide a unique market data offering for the Trust and Wealth Management sector. The offering combines QUODD’s 20 years of expertise in listed market data and delivery with IHS Markit’s industry leading fixed income pricing and reference data in an integrated, flexible delivery platform. 

“Customers were repeatedly asking for alternatives as vendors consolidated, service levels decreased and costs increased,” said Bob Ward, CEO of QUODD. “Our partnership with IHS Markit enables us to deliver our clients data from a single source via flexible formats at a significantly lower total cost of ownership.  By enabling great transparency and finger-tip access to market data through modern technology our clients are better positioned to compete and differentiate themselves.” 

The offering combines global listed market pricing, dividends and corporate actions along with IHS Markit’s comprehensive global fixed income pricing and reference data. IHS Markit is QUODD’s exclusive provider of fixed income pricing and reference data for the Trust and Wealth Management space. 

“Our partnership with QUODD aligns with our vision of providing the most innovative, robust and scalable solutions for financial institutions,” said Ed Chidsey, SVP and Global Head of Financial Information Services at IHS Markit. “We are proud to be QUODD’s exclusive fixed income data provider, as our best-in-class pricing and reference data delivers actionable intelligence that can enable a competitive advantage for Trust and Wealth Management firms.”

According to Subir Chatterjee, CEO of Fi-Tek LLC, provider of the market-leading Global Wealth Enterprise Solution (Global WealthES®), a front to back technology platform for the Investment Management, Trust, and Wealth Management markets, “Working with QUODD and IHS Markit has empowered our firm with a more flexible commercial securities pricing framework to manage overall cost, as well as provide a higher degree of predictability and transparency for our clients. Our clients simultaneously benefit from reliable, quality market data and modern digital tools for their back, middle, and front offices. 

The partnership with IHS Markit has been instrumental for QUODD’s bank trust, RIAs, and brokerage customers. QUODD is committed to providing clients a high-quality, low latency alternative in an industry where costs have sky-rocketed and service levels have deteriorated. For more information please visit QUODD.com. 

Technological innovation is the core element of structural growth. Solactive and Goldman Sachs both aimed to develop an index, the Solactive Innovative Global Equity Index, which takes into account five key disruptive themes that are redefining the business world, the global economy and society, and, therefore, the investment landscape. The Solactive Innovative Global Equity Index will serve as the underlying for Goldman Sachs’ new Goldman Sachs Innovate Equity ETF.

The Goldman Sachs Innovate Equity ETF combines five established Goldman Sachs ETFs that previously tackled technological innovations separately. From the 9^th of November, the legacy ETFs will be reorganized and merged in the Goldman Sachs Innovate Equity ETF. The five topics ‘Data-Driven World’, ‘Finance Reimagined’, ‘Human Evolution’, ‘Manufacturing Revolution’, and ‘New Age Consumer’ encompass 23 subthemes, including, for example, E-Commerce, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Genomics, and Robotics.

The selection of the Solactive Innovative Global Equity Index’s constituents is based on Solactive’s proprietary Natural Language Processing Engine ARTIS®. ARTIS® is utilizing advanced algorithms to parse high volumes of public documents evaluating companies’ exposure to various themes or topics. The sophisticated procedure not only detects potential index constituents considering a firm’s exposure to a theme but also ranks its importance to the very subject or industry. The Solactive Innovative Global Equity Index itself is comprised of five equally-weighted indices that include companies from the aforementioned respective topics ‘Data-Driven World’, ‘Finance Reimagined’, ‘Human Evolution’, ‘Manufacturing Revolution’, and ‘New Age Consumer’.

“Technological progress is inevitable, and what seemed unimaginable years ago is, today, something we cannot live without. Therefore, we think it is crucial to create an index that reflects societal and technological changes from early on,” comments Timo Pfeiffer, Chief Markets Officer at Solactive. “We are very fortunate that Goldman Sachs Asset Management regards in us a trusted provider that enables them to reach the goal of making future investment trends investible with their new ETF. We are looking forward to continuing our fruitful relationship with Goldman Sachs Asset Management.”

Profile Software, an international financial solutions provider, announced today the partnership agreement with Surecomp the leading provider of global trade finance solutions for banks and corporates. The agreement is bilateral aiming at mutually benefiting companies since both parties will be able to represent each other’s solutions in various regions that they have a presence in supporting digital transformation in the operations of financial organisations and corporates.

With a presence in 80 countries, Surecomp is an established provider οf mission-critical trade finance solutions for both banks and corporates, delivering a new approach to trade finance digitisation. Its solutions have been recognised in reducing cost, saving time and driving growth.

The current pandemic and the quest for an enhanced digital infrastructure are driving banks to improve trade finance processing solutions for optimised customer service, and to reduce costs whilst minimising the risk in these complex trade processes.In response to a higher volume of finance requests, they must facilitate trade more efficiently and with greater connectivity to the broader trade finance ecosystem.

Surecomp will also represent Profile’s solutions for banking, risk and investment management further enriching the offering to its customers. Profile’s solutions have been awarded and included in leading industry reports as a result of continuous investment in innovation and automation. The solutions have been designed to automate and free managers time whilst complying to the regulatory framework and industry standards, making them ready to deploy in the cloud or on-premises.

“Profile is committed to meeting the needs of its customers and enabling their success. By mutually promoting our solutions Surecomp & Profile are able to address regional market needs for flexible, future-proof, cloud and on-premises platforms complementing each other’s portfolio,” says Babis Stasinopoulos, CEO at Profile.

“Profile’s strong track record, reputation and established network, position it as the partner of choice for Surecomp,” explains Guy Perry, Surecomp’s President. “We are excited to embark on this collaboration to deliver trade finance digitalisation, not just in Greece but also across other markets in central and eastern Europe, while also promoting Profile’s award-winning solutions.”

Profile is creating a complete offering for Banks, financial institutions and corporates, with solutions covering the full range of banking such as Core Banking, Treasury and Risk Management, Trade Finance and more ensuring seamless integration and holistic support of these business needs. 

Tymit, the mobile-enabled instalment credit card, has today announced it has partnered with the FinTech Modulr, the payments-as-a-service API platform, to bring real-time payments to Tymit cardholders, enabling them to take control of their finances and plan the way they pay.

Many people’s personal finances have been put under pressure by the Covid-19 crisis. And while the Job Support Scheme has taken over from furlough, many will still find it difficult to stay on top of their finances and pay bills in the coming months. The common experience of clunky, slow and unreliable repayments to credit card bills only adds to financial and emotional stress.

Tymit is on a mission to reinvent the credit card by making it more flexible, safer and fairer. Without the burden of a revolving balance, Tymit users avoid unnecessary interest and charges, while purchase simulation and upfront fee breakdowns enable smarter spending. This is made possible through Modulr’s fast and reliable payments infrastructure, and underpinned by the FinTech’s direct access to the Bank of England.

For most credit cardholders, making repayments to their account is a major and unfair pain point. Legacy systems - upon which traditional credit card providers typically run - introduce significant delays to the process, meaning payments can take days to clear on their balance. Modulr’s API-first platform enables Tymit to roll out real-time payments (via the Faster Payments scheme) to all its customers quickly and efficiently. This provides them with the transparency and control they need during these challenging times. 

Martin Magnone, CEO at Tymit, said: “Our partnership with Modulr gives our customer experience a serious boost by allowing us to apply payments in real time. Tymit users can now make Faster Payments and access an always up-to-date account balance, helping them manage their finances better through improved visibility. With this partnership, we’re bringing together the best in payments and credit innovation to offer a real alternative to the traditional credit card experience.”

Myles Stephenson, CEO at Modulr, commented: “We live in a time where instant payments and balance updates are no longer ‘nice to have’, but a necessity that can make a real difference to people’s financial lives and wellbeing. Tymit’s mission to reinvent the credit card, using real-time account information is something that’s desperately needed right now. And powered by Modulr, our payments infrastructure will drive efficiency, creating faster and more efficient credit card experiences for Tymit customers.”

Modulr, the payments platform, became one of few non-banks to gain direct access to the Bank of England, including Bacs and Faster Payments, last year. Through this access, the FinTech has been able to innovate and create new ways for its partners to access payments through automation, in a quicker, simpler and more efficient way than via traditional banking partners. Modulr has also led the market in being the first non-bank or building society to implement Confirmation of Payee in 2020, a groundbreaking anti-fraud service.

Tradition, one of the world’s largest interdealer brokers in over-the-counter commodity and financial products, has facilitated the first, brokered CAD/USD cross-currency swap trade using LCH SwapAgent.

The CAD/USD trade was executed between two parties on 22 October 2020. As an established broker with a strong global presence and connectivity, Tradition was the ideal partner to facilitate this trade.

SwapAgent is a service designed to simplify the processing, margining and settlement of non-cleared derivatives. It benefits from LCH’s expertise in serving and managing risk for the cleared Rates and FX derivatives market.

Michael Foulon, Senior Vice President of Canadian Derivatives at Tradition, commented: “As a credit to Tradition’s strong capabilities within the derivatives markets, we are delighted to facilitate the first, brokered bilateral CAD/USD swap trade. SwapAgent is a crucial service and with their efficient and simplified solutions, they are leading the way in the evolution of the uncleared derivatives market. We are constantly striving to lead the way for traders, and with this news, we continue to deliver on that promise.”

Nathan Ondyak, Global Head of LCH SwapAgent, commented: “We are pleased to have processed the first brokered CAD/USD cross-currency swap through SwapAgent. This is an important step for the non-cleared derivatives market, paving the way for greater standardisation and efficiencies for the Canadian cross-currency basis swap market.”

Leading open banking payments platform, Token, and Contis, leading European payments provider, today announce a strategic partnership that will create new value for payment service providers (PSPs), banks and merchants across Europe.

To complement Token’s value-added stack of open banking payment services, the firm’s partnership with Contis will enable Token’s merchant, digital wallet and PSP customers to perform account pay-outs and refunds via the Token platform using established payment rails, such as Faster Payments in the UK, SEPA and SEPA Instant across the EEA.

In parallel, Contis’ partnership with Token will enable its corporate customers to realise the many benefits of open banking, including driving down the cost of payment initiation with Token’s account-to-account payments and data services, which offer unrivalled API connectivity to over 3,000 banks across Europe.

“Partnering with Contis enables Token to extend the payments functionality we deliver to our merchant, digital wallet and PSP customers,” comments Todd Clyde, CEO, Token. “Token’s vision is to drive the shift from traditional payment methods to bank payments by enabling the companies that make payments happen. Currently, it isn’t possible to perform wallet pay-outs or issue refunds using open banking APIs. Contis allows us to deliver this functionality efficiently and inexpensively across a host of different rails. It also gives us access to payments processing, merchant accounts and FX services all inhouse. This breadth of capability provides terrific scope for us to develop new points of value for payment providers in the future.”

“Putting Token’s open banking services together with Contis’ digital payment solutions provides huge opportunities for innovation,” comments Peter Cox, Executive Chairman, Contis. “Contis’ end-to-end platform and alternative account technology enables every company to build their own bespoke payments solution. Now that these solutions can leverage Token’s pan-European bank connectivity, they can help corporates to drive down costs by using account-to-account payments. By procuring each other’s services in this rare two-way partnership, both our organisations have strengthened our propositions and will continue to drive growth.”

Platform integration work is starting immediately. When complete, Contis’ 250+ clients will be able to utilise Token’s AISP and PISP functionality to deliver open banking services to their end-customers through the Contis platform.

Global payments service provider SumUp (www.sumup.ie) today confirms it has received a new e-money licence from the Central Bank of Ireland, the country's financial services regulator.

Alongside existing licences in Lithuania and the UK, SumUp will now process payments and issue e-money wallets via the Irish licence, for its ongoing activities in 26 countries across Europe.

SumUp’s Irish office, based in Dublin - and which the company plans to grow further and continue investing in - will become a key regulated hub through which significant aspects of its business across the EU can be conducted.

SumUp has been active in Ireland since 2012, having already helped hundreds of thousands of independent businesses in the country take electronic payments in that time, from food trucks to taxi drivers, while the increasing demand for the company’s easy-to-use payments technology has seen the number of merchants using SumUp’s solutions rise to over three million globally.

The new licence enables Ireland’s small businesses to benefit from SumUp’s full range of products, including a host of new solutions and innovations which were launched earlier this year to help businesses navigate the operating restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Efforts by SumUp to future-proof the prospects of its three million global merchants included the introduction of payment links & invoicing options, a new ecommerce suite ‘SumUp Online Store’, and gift card collaborations with Google, Facebook and Instagram -- solutions all designed to help business owners receive payments safely and continue trading in the face of uncertain economic circumstances.

Gareth Walsh, CEO Ireland at SumUp, comments: “Small businesses are the cornerstone of a healthy economy. Securing our licence during this critical time means that we can continue to empower those small businesses and help them succeed despite the challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic. Our core products allow our users to take remote and contactless card payments during lockdown situations, and so in a very real way, this licence will ensure Ireland’s entrepreneurs can keep trading and keep recovering.”