After a detailed tendering and evaluation process over the past few months the contract was officially signed today in Melbourne, Australia. The online accounting service will be offered through its Deloitte Digital division as an own-branded solution.

Deloitte Digital is pioneering the delivery of online professional services in Australia, which to date have included benchmarking tools, online education and collaboration products, compliance and HR solutions. It expects accountsIQ to play a central role in expanding the services it offers helping it to change the paradigm for delivery of professional accounting services.

"Businesses are becoming increasingly impatient with the inflexibility and cost of traditional financial systems. AccountsIQ provides customers with the ability to securely record transactions, monitor performance and prepare financial reports. We see this as a fundamental change in the way accountants work and in the type of the work they can do. It changes the nature of the client-accountant relationship from a 'once a year' contact to an ongoing conversation; from accountant to business advisor. It includes collaboration capability such as a clever bulletin board feature which allows our accountants and clients to post messages for one another in a secure online forum," confirmed Peter Williams, CEO of Deloitte Digital.

The features made available to Deloitte's clients through AccountsIQ include:

• Customised dashboards highlighting key financial information
• Single data entry for tax reporting and financial management purposes
• Integration with internet banking
• Outsourced IT infrastructure, data back-up and security
• Multiple entity consolidation for reporting purposes
• Paperless office functionality including document management
• Webservices integration with client's front end systems

William Parker, UK Country Manager at accat accountsIQ said: "We are delighted that Deloitte has chosen accountsIQ to spearhead its online services. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is set to revolutionise the delivery of IT solutions and we believe SaaS accounting plays a key role in transforming the way accountants service and collaborate with their clients. This new approach results in significant productivity improvements for the accountant and cost savings for both the practice and their clients. It also contributes considerably to the Green Agenda through increased emailing of documents, electronic payments and reduced travel. The Deloitte deal recognises the considerable investment we have made over the past 4 years in R&D and facilitates accountancy firms being at the forefront of the Software-as-a-Service revolution."

"The accounting profession is under exceptional amounts of pressure to deliver more value to its clients. On-demand solutions provide professionals with a mechanism for improving services while helping to manage queries in real-time. This combination is simply not possible with on-premise solutions, meaning AccountsIQ is well placed to generate more deals like this one with Deloitte in the future," comments Dennis Howlett author of accountancy software blog accmanpro.com

According to a report published in November 2008 entitled 'Online Accounting Software' by the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (ICAEW): "Online accounting now seems less like a 'big risk' and more like an idea whose time has come bringing some significant business benefits along with it."