Welcome to the post-launch edition of the Mclowd Newsletter, our monthly communication to Trustee Users, Contractors and Partners.
Introduction
After a successful 6-month trial Mclowd was officially launched at an event in Sydney last Wednesday. A video of the event will be uploaded to the website in the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime you can click here to see a few pics.
Many thanks to all those involved, and particularly Advisory Board Members Mike McKay, Doug Campbell and Graeme McGuire.
Mclowd Version 1.0
The release of version 1.0 represents a step-change in the level of functionality available to the Trustee Community, and Mclowd is now a credible alternative to existing SMSF accounting software providers (but without those pesky licence fees).
Key highlights:
- Support for Funds with segregated assets
- Upgraded logic regarding Dividend income
- The addition of Derivatives as an Asset Class (Listed Equity Options to begin with, others to follow in the near future)
- Various other improvements to usability, based on feedback from Beta Users
Trustees can now confidently plan a migration to a free SMSF accounting package between now and 30 June 2013.
However work has already begun on version 1.1, which will be released at the end of April, including:
- Extending editability from assets to individual transactions (income and expenses)
- Support for year-to-date and year-end Member Benefit Statements
- Improved field validation based on Fund and Member Profiles
The Advisory Board
Over the next few months governance of the Accounting Platform will be progressively transferred to the Mclowd Advisory Board, who will oversee:
- Ongoing development of the Platform
- Liaison with Mclowd Pty Ltd and the Contractor Community in the Marketplace
- Contributions from the Mclowd Trustee Community, including the SMSF Wiki
- Organisation of User Seminars across all capital cities
Current Members of the Board are:
Mike McKay (Chair)
Mike is a veteran of Industry superannuation and has run his own Fund for nearly 20 years.
Doug Campbell
Doug is Chair of IAPA (the Institute of Analytics Professional in Australia). His career is focused on assisting clients (particularly within financial services, including superannuation) to gain insight through the effective modelling and analysis of data. As the Mclowd Community grows Doug will be assisting the Advisory Board to develop peer-to-peer analytics that assist SMSF Trustees to learn from each other.
Graeme McGuire (Mclowd Representative)
Graeme is a qualified accountant and is the Product Manager of Mclowd. He has played an integral role in the development of both the Platform and Marketplace
We are looking for an additional 2-3 Trustee representatives, so if you would like to contribute to the success of the Mclowd Community please contact Mike McKay.
Marketplace
With the Advisory Board taking a greater role in the management of the Accounting Platform, resources will now be freed up to focus on growth of the Mclowd Marketplace, which provides an even greater opportunity to drive down costs across the SMSF industry.
As previously advised version 1.0 of the Marketplace is scheduled for launch in May.
Thanks again for your continued support of our efforts to improve net returns for SMSF investors.
Kind Regards
Ashley Porter
Managing Director
Mclowd Pty Ltd