Deloitte Launches £2.5m Cloud Startup Service

Multinational auditor Deloitte has spent £2.5 million on launching a cloud service to target startups and small businesses with its bookkeeping and accounting services.

Propel, as the service is called, claims to give customers a dashboard that shows a real-time view of business performance, from cash position to web traffic.

The SaaS platform is a monthly subscription, and comes in at around £350 per month for startups with three or less employees, up to £1,500 per month for small businesses with up to 25 employees.

Growth

Deloitte’s Katie Houldsworth said that the service was built to help startups and SMEs grow.

“It is designed to deliver insight and address some of the longstanding headaches entrepreneurs and their management teams can face,” she said.

“When developing Propel, we collaborated with our 20 pilot clients to understand what makes a difference to their businesses. As a result, we now offer additional business planning support to supplement the dashboard and core accounting service. For example, we can help with cashflow forecasting, creating budgets and attracting investment.”

Banneya London, a 3D-printed jewellery company, has been using Propel for nine months already as a pilot customers. Co-founder Nimesh Thakrar said that Propel helps the company keep on top of its finances.

“Like any busy entrepreneur, I used to spend a lot of my spare time desperately trying to keep on top of the company’s finances. As well as getting my accounts into shape, the bookkeeping service provided by Propel has given me my Sundays back,” he said.

The service, which is available now, comes as Deloitte dips its fingers into other new business opportunities in an attempt to compete with rivals.

In May, Deloitte announced it would be opening a centre for Blockchain technology.

Based in Dublin, the EMEA Financial Services Blockchain Lab will form part of Deloitte’s fintech initiative ‘The Grid’, with the company looking to bring around 50 staff on board.

The launch and backing of a large entity like Deloitte should help push blockchain, which is the backhaul technology behind online transactions using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, further into the public consciousness.

Take our cloud quiz here!