Tuesday, November 28, 2006

IAB Awards Accreditation to Leading Indian Accounting Software Company

Leading UK awarding body, International Association of Book-keepers (IAB) Qualifications for Business has successfully negotiated a joint venture agreement with Tally India Private Limited (Tally India). This agreement offers the opportunity for the IAB to accredit the training offered by Tally through its channel partners in India and in its overseas markets

This is excellent news for the IAB, as Tally Accounting Software is the market leader in India and the Middle East, just as Sage currently is in the UK’, says Malcolm Trotter, Chief Executive of the IAB. ‘It is the intention of both the IAB and Tally, that this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship and that this will be the first of several successful collaborative activities’, he adds.

Both organisations share the desire to combine their strengths to provide a coherent and progressive framework for a student skills and career development.

Mr. Anil Jogani, President, Corporate Services and Global Marketing & Communications, Tally Solutions Group, India states:

‘Tally India’s initiative in education takes a new dimension in bringing international quality standards for vocational Education & Training in India and other emerging economies. Tally India’s Online Certification of proficiency in accounting on computers is designed to make learners instantly equipped for the job market. This initiative is now endorsed by IAB and will create a distinct pool of accounting professionals in Asia with a UK NVQ (National Vocational Qualification-Level 3) that should give them a competitive advantage. It would also help provide better quality of service to international clients.”

Tally India’s accredited learning program consists of “Accounting on Computers” using “Tally”, accounting software package. The program is currently sub-divided into four levels, each consisting of 15 Hrs of ‘Instructor Led’ learning and 30 Hrs of ‘Problem Solving’.

Successful students become Tally Certified Professionals (TCP) and are now to be able to gain added value through the award of an IAB certificate. They could then apply for Associate membership of the IAB which allows the use of the designatory letters ‘AIAB’ after their name.

After gaining a minimum of 12 months’ experience in employment or self employment in a book keeping or accounting role, Tally Certified Professionals will be entitled to apply for full membership of the IAB.

‘The Member may then use the designatory letters ‘MIAB’ after their name and enjoy the full benefits and status of being a member of the IAB’ adds Malcolm Trotter.

Becoming a Tally Certified Professional is an extremely rigorous process, where once students have completed four levels of learning they must succeed in the Tally internal assessments, comprising a series of tests. The final certification examination is for duration of one and half hour and tests the ability of the student in demonstrating application skills in computerised accounting. Anyone who scores 55 % and above is currently certified as TCP and those who score less have to take the test again.

All tests are designed in accordance with Tally specifications and standards and fit for the purpose of making a fair and accurate assessment of the ability of candidates tested at the relevant Tally level.

Tests are conducted online by Tally India.

‘The IAB will be making regular visits to Tally to quality assure the internal assessment process in order to ensure the continuance of external accreditation’, said Malcolm Trotter.

IAB
The International Association of Bookkeepers was established in 1973 and now has more than 14,000 students and members worldwide. It is the leading professional body for bookkeepers in the UK and overseas. IAB qualifications are accredited in England by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and the regulatory authorities in Wales and Northern Ireland and are eligible for government funding in these countries.

IAB qualifications are designed by employers and professionals and are particularly focussed on the skills needs of small businesses. The current range covers book-keeping, accounting, payroll ( UK) and small business financial management. 

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Indian SMEs prefer Tally solutions

TALLY Solutions is a multi-product company which delivers flexible business solutions for diverse and complex business needs. The company is divided into three lines of business: Software and Solutions Group, Education Services Group and Enterprise Management Solutions Group. Following are excerpts of an interaction between Swarnava Adhikary and Ms Rokiah Ahamed, president, Global Products Business, Tally Solutions:

What are Tally’s current products? Are you planning any new launches in the immediate future?
Tally has made large investments in acquiring new companies and new products. There will be a flurry of new product launches in the coming months in different segments of the market.There is also renewed focus on value-added services by our partners at Tally. Tally’s Education Business wing provides accounting business relevant and related vocational training to thousands of students and job seekers in India.
What are the accounting needs that Tally is addressing at present?
Tally Solutions develops the simplest, yet most powerful business management software solutions. These solutions are designed to handle the extended enterprise as well as fundamental functions such as financial management, inventory management, sales and purchase management, invoicing, reporting and management information systems. For quite some time, Tally has addressed almost all the accounting-related requirements of the small enterprise and their need to addresses the range of statutory requirements like VAT, service tax, FBT, excise, etc.
The business accounting software package provides an enterprise with a system that enables quick and easy analysis of information, thus aiding decision-making. It provides better business visibility, and ensures compliance to statutory requirements. It also helps save time normally spent in data collection and analysis.

Tell us about Tally’s multi-lingual product.
The concurrent multilingual capacity with instant multilingual transcription in Tally accounting and inventory management software will offer you tremendous freedom in communication. You will be able to maintain your business accounts in one language; view it in another language and print it in yet another language, at the same time.
It allows the user to interact with the software using menu options that have already been translated into regional languages. Users can also enter data through phonetic keyboards. A typical way to use the phonetic keyboard will be to spell the term in English and the software will display it, after transliteration, in the language selected.

What initiatives are you taking to address VAT compliance?
Tally’s international products were already VAT compliant even in the late ’90s. In India, Tally has worked with regulators and trade bodies to disseminate knowledge of VAT. Tally, incidentally, is one of the earliest software available in the market to provide support for VAT for all states that have implemented VAT. Several states have implemented VAT from April 1, 2005 and once again, Tally Solutions has moved early to provide VAT return capability for these states as well.
Tally handles VAT transactions with ease and generates VAT returns at the press of the button. Users can simply download the software update, follow the simple instructions for installing the same and carry on with minimal disruption in their work.

What are your plans for new and emerging geographies and markets? Are there any India-specific plans?
Tally is the most preferred business accounting product for small- and mediumsize businesses in India. According to International Data Corporation, Tally’s market share is larger than all other accounting software brands in India combined. Two million users in over 90 markets have experienced Tally’s ‘Power of Simplicity’. Tally Solutions continues expanding globally with offices in all major cities in India, London, Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai. Our focus for this year is primarily West Asia, Africa and the Asia Pacific region.

Publication : Economic Times
Edition : Bangalore