How does MYOB Exo compare to Xero?

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jimbob79

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#151070 13-Aug-2014 11:10

First of all I know nothing about accountancy software.

Our company is using MYOB Premier for both NZ & AU and the MYOB database files are located on a common file server. We would like to migrate to SaaS solution like Xero as I understand it, it can't handle multi-company organisations.

Currently we are paying about $1000 per year for annual maintenance for MYOB but the cost of migration to MYOB exo is about $3000 per year per user, $8000 - 1000K setup cost and software licence cost for MYOB exo is $6000. So all up for the first year its going to cost about $20,000. This sound absolutely ridiculous. Is fair to compare MYOB exo and Xero, are they the same thing?.

Dynamic

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#1107519 13-Aug-2014 11:11

MYOB Exo and Xero are Apples and Oranges.

Xero is basic accounting software to do debtors and creditors etc. It does this very nicely and we use Xero very successfully with no desire to change. There are many 3rd party add-ons to boost its functionality. We are having a module written by a developer to integrate a 3rd party piece of software that we use with Xero.

MYOB Exo is more of an ERP product with modules for multiple functions like Point of Sale, Costings, Stock Control, CRM, etc. It is an on-premises solution, using a SQL database. There is a brand new web access module by the looks of it, but this did not exist a few months ago when a client asked about using Exo on a tablet for sales purposes. You can have Exo hosted, but you would be accessing via Remote Desktop or similar as the web interface will not be 'fully featured' at least in its first few version releases.

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jimbob79

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#1107535 13-Aug-2014 11:34

Dynamic: MYOB Exo and Xero are Apples and Oranges.

Xero is basic accounting software to do debtors and creditors etc. It does this very nicely. There are many 3rd party add-ons to boost its functionality.

MYOB Exo is more of an ERP product with modules for multiple functions like Point of Sale, Costings, Stock Control, CRM, etc. It is an on-premises solution, using a SQL database. There is a brand new web access module by the looks of it, but this did not exist a few months ago when a client asked about using Exo on a tablet for sales purposes.

Thanks for the clarifying the difference. It's how the MYOB sales person presented the pitch for MYOB Exo was that it was a SaaS solution. Clearly that is not the case.

So my follow up question is does MYOB even have a SaaS product for both NZ & AU? It's just not clear on their MYOB website.

It's starting to sound like the MYOB is not the right solution for our accounting needs. For example we don't need POS, stock control or CRM. But we do need that ability to do forecasting, budgeting and custom reporting.

Dynamic

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#1107552 13-Aug-2014 12:14

jimbob79: It's starting to sound like the MYOB is not the right solution for our accounting needs. For example we don't need POS, stock control or CRM. But we do need that ability to do forecasting, budgeting and custom reporting.

Do you have a sales team and a 'sales pipeline' with lead times? In that case an ERP application like MYOB Exo should do that nicely. With MYOB Exo you buy the modules you need, and it is a very mature product. Custom reporting is baked in. You might have to think about whether the business turnover can justify the expense. We have several clients running Exo, and we look after their severs and SQL, but don't sell or maintain the application itself. We leave that to the specialists like Acclaim Group.

Whether Xero plus some add-ons might do this the way you want at a sharper price would take some discussion and evaluation. I'm a fan. We have clients using Xero with and without add-ons like WorkFlowMax for example. Others may argue that Xero + 3rd party add-ons is a 'cobbled-together solution not suitable for a decent sized enterprise'.

We have a client running a web-based ERP solution that promised to replace 3 separate in-house applications and save 0.5 to 1.0 of an admin person's salary to offset the solution's cost by reducing double-handling and multiple entries. What has happened in reality is that the solution is so flipping slow (moving from web page to web page during the order process) that the Sales people are fed up with it and will go out of their way to avoid using it. The company has paid tens of thousands in setup and licensing charges over the last 2 years and had to take on extra admin staff to do the Sales team's data entry into this solution. They now feel stuck with the solution and the person driving it has left the company.

I nudged them repeatedly to get us involved with the evaluation, but they didn't want to spend the money and get our professional advice.

Evaluate your solution carefully.

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Zeon

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#1107579 13-Aug-2014 12:51

They aren't really comparable. Xero is a basic accounting software package for debtors, creditors and handling your ledger.

Exo is an ERP system as mentioned. I know MYOB are coming out with a replacement to Exo which is a built up version of some software they have bought. Timing wise I'm not sure when that will happen.

SaaS is cool but may not be the best thing. There are a number of SaaS ERPs these days though. Sounds like you should not even be considering Xero and be looking at ERP software. A few come to mind in the mid to upper mid market:

Greentree
Attache
Accredo
Netsuite

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