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A year ago, a new software product appeared on the market of accounting solutions in Ukraine – MASTER:Accounting.

For 12 months, the MASTER team has managed to achieve significant results and has become a prominent player in the conservative market of accounting solutions, where another software product has dominated for decades.

We have talked with Maria Galeluka, the head of the MASTER project, about the obstacles, challenges, achievements and plans of an ambitious IT project.

Maria Yaroslavovna, how did the idea of creating MASTER: Accounting appear, and why did you decide to act at that very moment?

– A year ago, the market for accounting solutions was in a critical state: in May 2017, by presidential decree, sanctions were imposed on software developers, which were used by an absolute majority of accountants in Ukraine.

Government agencies were required to switch to new solutions before the beginning of 2018. However, there was no holistic software product on the market that would cover all areas of accounting and tax accounting.

How did the program develop?

– The developer of the solution is IT-Enterprise, a Ukrainian company that has been optimizing the work of large industrial enterprises and holding structures with the help of proprietary IT solutions for 30 years.

The owners of the company decided to enter a completely new market segment of small and medium-sized businesses with a product, the need for which appeared on the market very spontaneously. They supported our idea of ??creating such a product.

In record time, IT-Enterprise specialists adapted the financial module of the ERP system to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses.

During development, we gathered a team of experienced accountants and financiers, who worked directly with the developers and explained what functions the new product should perform.

In less than 3 months, we presented to the market a unique, full-fledged accounting program that could automate all areas of bookkeeping work.

How did people perceive your product? What results do you have today?

– The first months of work were difficult: the conservative market of accounting services was not ready to immediately accept a new, previously unknown product.

We had to hold a huge number of meetings, negotiations, presentations, demonstrations of product and its advantages to offer to test the program.

Today we can safely say that we managed to do something that no one had previously done. We have brought out a new software solution to the market, where the only software solution has dominated for decades. And we have achieved success.

First, and most importantly, we created the basis for further development – a strong team that included programmers, accountants, methodologists, implementers, technical support specialists and a call center.

Secondly, we did not only launch a product, but also could boast successful implementation cases. As a team leader, I see that we have built an effective business model. We have more than 1,200 clients throughout Ukraine, and the demand for the solution continues to grow. The partner network is also expanding – 38 partner companies from all over Ukraine have joined us, and progress is only increasing.

Thirdly, we have passed certification – the MASTER platform has received the certificate of the multilevel information protection system G-2, which is necessary for the implementation of projects in the public sector.

It is important that we continue to work, develop and become better for the sake of our end user: we release new configurations and services, work on updates, and improve customer support tools.

You have mentioned the new configurations – how are they built and what are they intended for?

– MASTER is a platform program that allows building a unitary structure of an enterprise or institution, provides comprehensive solutions, and adapts itself to the needs of the customer.

Based on the MASTER platform, we configured the basic software products: this is MASTER:Accounting, MASTER:Salary and Personnel as well as industry solutions – MASTER:Agro and MASTER:Budget institutions.

What other features does MASTER have in comparison with other similar products?

– The main features are laid at the design stage.

First, the MASTER software products are created on a single information platform built on modern development principles.

When expanding the number of used MASTER solutions, the program allows operating with a single information base and automatically combining business processes. The software architecture is built on the principle of customization by information technology support specialists with minimal involvement of programmers.

Secondly, there are step-by-step instructions that are written in the software product itself.

In the main menu panel, there is a whole directory built into the program, and each of the possible operations is written as an instruction. Based on the user experience we analyzed, it was noticed that this service was demanded by accountants during the work in the evening, and also as an alternative to contacting the technical support service.

Of course, the advantage of our proposed software solution is the ability to keep records for many objects – customers appreciate it. Now many outsourcing companies maintain accounting documentation for various enterprises. It is better for such companies to buy a license for one accountant and keep records of several enterprises at once in one program – this is cheap and convenient.

MASTER integrates with all reporting programs. Accordingly, the generation and uploading of reports are performed automatically, which saves time and prevents reporting from human error.

In addition, we support updates that occur under the law – the development department enters all changes that have occurred in the legislation into the program and sends them to users in the form of service packs.

Instead of constantly monitoring changes in the reporting rules, users simply receive updates and confidently continue their work.
We also developed methods for transferring the existing customer base to our software products – converting data from other accounting systems.

This is not an easy task. When migrating large customer databases, a team of programmers rebuild the parameters of the transferred databases.

However, if this is not possible, MASTER also supports manual migration.

As a rule, such procedures take some time, but we have instructions and real cases when clients, using the instructions, independently transferred their small bases.

What are your plans for the further development of the MASTER platform in 2018?

– First, we plan to release a configuration for public utilities – MASTER:Housing Office.

The first presentation of the finished product is scheduled for October. This industry has features that, unfortunately, are ignored by existing IT solutions. There is a demand for a highly specialized product. This configuration is not so much our achievement, as the merit of our partners, who have taken this direction of development and are already showing excellent results.

Secondly, we have a configuration for restaurants and hotels, MASTER:HoReCa. We have already launched and tested this configuration on two objects, and soon it will be ready to enter the market.

Thirdly, a configuration for accounting under international financial reporting standards (IFRS) is being developed. Due to the fact that starting next year, the transition to IFRS for a number of enterprises is enshrined in law, there is a need of users for a solution that would support these standards.

Now the configuration is launched at two separate objects. We are testing and modifying it. We plan to launch it in December of this year.

These are the main plans until the end of 2018. However, the development of the MASTER platform will definitely not stop there.

Thanks to the well-coordinated work of our team, we have reached such peaks in just one year. Nevertheless, I am sure that this is only the beginning, and the list of achievements of the MASTER team is just beginning.

Source: Экономическая правда web portal, September 12, 2018