ABSS partners with Microsoft to accelerate digital transformation journey for Malaysian SMEs

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. Designed for start-ups, small business owners and non-accountants, this unique platform will be the first freemium accounting application in Malaysia that has adopted Microsoft cloud services to provide end-to-end, scalable solutions for micro SMEs in the digital economy.

Financio gives companies access to a secure solution that tracks business finances effortlessly by leveraging Microsoft’s cloud solutions. Microenterprises will be able to migrate their accounting portfolio to a more secure, stable and agile cloud platform with an uptime of 99.5%. 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.

Celebrating the association, Paul Conway, CEO, ABSS said, “Through Financio, businesses are able to leverage accounting technology to boost productivity, drive collaboration and stay on top of their finances. This partnership comes from a shared interest to empower micro SMEs to operate business critical actions anytime, anywhere through a device and realising the benefits of accessing data on the go. Companies that are processing information offline should now be looking to do this online.

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

With Financio, users can track sales, purchases and miscellaneous transactions through a simplified dashboard, and automatically generate financial reports and tax records or forward transactions to recipients via email and inventory tracking. Through ‘Financio Connect’, businesses are also able to collaborate seamlessly and share documents on the platform. Start-ups and micro SMEs can expect to save at least 100-man hours and RM2,000 a year by moving from spreadsheets to accounting automation. Accounting automation takes away most of the bookkeeping process from the business such as double entries, generating reports and GST tax records, allowing business owners and accounting teams to focus on accelerating their business growth.

Commenting on the collaboration, K Raman, Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia said, “Since Microsoft established its presence in Malaysia over 25 years ago, our technology has helped transform the way people work, learn, play and communicate. A large proportion of new technology adoption and use in Malaysia will be driven by SMEs, as they account for over 97% of business establishments. We have been their trusted partners in this journey and our collaboration with Financio is a step further in this direction. We are confident that our trusted cloud solutions will propel Financio’s digital transformation journey and enable it in providing end-to-end, scalable solutions for businesses in a digital economy. We also laud the efforts of SME Corp in driving development of SMEs in the country and are glad to contribute to their efforts by way of this partnership.”

Underscoring the importance of cloud for SMEs, YBhg. Datuk (Dr.) Hafsah Hashim, Chief Executive Officer of SME Corporation Malaysia said, “Currently 98.5% of business establishments in Malaysia are SMEs, which contributed 36.6% to the country’s GDP, 65.3% to employment, and 18.6% to exports. For startups, managing cashflow and keeping a close eye on finances is a core part of running a business. In fact, accounting for startups is so important that many businesses with great products fail each year just because they don’t get a handle on their finances. We congratulate Financio and Microsoft on this partnership and believe that SMEs in Malaysia will now be able focus on growing their businesses intelligently.”

Financio is free for micro businesses, offering up to 10 invoices monthly, and business owners can upgrade to Financio’s premium features at RM32.95 a month. With Azure, micro SMEs will be able to gain access to trusted Microsoft products that deliver a seamless cloud experience while enjoying the robustness and stability that comes with Financio.

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 About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

 About ABSS

Established in 2009, ABSS is the leading business solution provider in Southeast Asia that offers a wide range of support and service products that enable SMEs to grow their businesses.

As the trusted solutions provider, developer and leading supplier of MYOB branded accounting software for the SME community in Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong. ABSS provides tools that simplify desktop and cloud accounting management, ePayments, eCommerce, accounts receivable and more.

About Financio

Financio, a product of ABSS, is a free cloud-based automated accounting software designed for micro/small business owners and non-accountants. Heralded as the next generation accounting software, Financio delivers real time analytics, automated bookkeeping, management of funds and tax tasks for business owners anytime, anywhere.