Asian Business Software Solutions
ABSS is dedicated to providing small business owners with the best possible technological platform on which to run a business as efficiently as possible. This includes the ability to interact with the latest operating systems (such as Windows XP) and applications, as well as providing access to the latest relevant legislative information, such as federal government tax tables. Support resources for software with all of these dependencies are not cheap, and ABSS has had to balance the total support needs of all of its customers with the ability to provide these resources on demand at an acceptable price. Demand on ABSS support resources is always consistently high, especially during the preparation of tax documentation and the end of financial year. Of course we don't know what a customer's needs are until we answer the phone, and a query from a customer who is using an older version of MYOB Payroll software and is trying to juggle the end of year payroll with tax tables that are several years out of date is going to take a lot longer to assist than a customer with the latest version who is simply trying to trace an account or an invoice. Therefore, in trying to best meet the needs of all customers, ABSS has decided to priorities resources for those who have paid for their support up front, for those who have bought or upgraded to the latest version of an MYOB product, and for those up to two versions previous to the current version. The introduction of this policy falls into line with software industry practice but provides customers with up to a year more of access to phone-based technical support in comparison to significant competitors. I'm not using an MYOB accounting product but one of the more specialised packages that I bought more than three years ago. Does the change in support policy apply to my product? The change in support policy applies to all MYOB products. I use more than one MYOB product - one for the accounting and bookkeeping and another specialised product which I link back to the accounting product. Does this mean I have to keep upgrading both MYOB products every few years? At the very least you should consider keeping the product which deals with the payroll up-to-date (through a subscription to MYOB Business Support Protection Plan) so that you're always calculating your pay runs according to the latest tax tables. As for the other MYOB product, if it provides a 'mission critical' role in your business, then you need to consider your future support needs and make a decision accordingly. It may be the case, for example, that you don't need to be on the latest version every year, and that you choose to upgrade every second year (or even every third year). However, you should always consider the implications of linking software that might not be completely compatible and pay close attention to the respective minimum system requirements and other technical specifications. What if MYOB doesn't develop a new version in three years - will support just drop off for that product too? Some MYOB products, such as MYOB FirstAccounts, have been discontinued for several years, while some of the more specialised MYOB products are far less frequently versioned than, say, the accounting and payroll products, which tend to change at least annually with federal government tax table changes. In terms of the products with longer development cycles, ABSS technical support staff will continue to work closely with ABSS product development staff to ensure that the optimum level of support is provided for customers who have paid up front for an MYOB Business Support Protection Plan. A table detailing the current support status of all MYOB products (including discontinued MYOB products) is provided on the ABSS website. If there is any change in the development status of an MYOB product, ABSS will endeavor to contact every potentially affected customer, so if you wish to be notified of any changes, ABSS recommends that you keep your contact details up-to-date.