From idea to enterprise: The IRIS Elements Accounts Production story

Five years ago, for Senior Product Manager Nick Lloyd and his team, it was Day One. No code had yet been written for their latest project. The cursor blinked on a clear screen. 

Their challenge? To build an Accounts Production module for IRIS Elements – our newest work-from-anywhere tax, AML and practice management solution. That meant it needed to be created for the cloud (“cloud native”), with a modern feel and design that would meet the hopes and expectations users have of online tech.  

Since then, the team has been busy. The result is IRIS Elements Accounts Production. Designed in partnership with the industry, it has matured to include tools perfect for enterprise-sized firms and their complex clients. 

So, how did we achieve this? We spent some time talking to Nick to find out.  

Q: To begin, could you tell us a bit about yourself? 

Nick: I’m a Senior Product Manager, which means that I’m responsible for the roadmap of all accounts production products at IRIS. My job is to listen to customers and make sure we’re building the right things for them. That includes IRIS Elements Accounts Production Enterprise. Before joining IRIS, I worked in general practice.  

Q: What was the mission, day one, with IRIS Elements Accounts Production Enterprise? 
Nick: We needed to build a brand new module for our cloud platform, IRIS Elements. 

Its predecessor, our ‘desktop’ solution, is a powerful industry benchmark. It’s currently the go-to for the larger firms we work with. 

But because we were building something new, we thought it was important to have an Accounts Production solution that grows with practices. Customers could then pick the solution they needed at a price point that matched. 

IRIS Elements Accounts Production is that scalable offering, with three levels: Essentials, Professional and Enterprise. 

Q: What’s particularly challenging about building for enterprise-level firms? 
Nick: As the size of the practice grows, the types of accounts they produce become more varied and complex. So, the software needs to be able to cope with more; for example, with FRS 102, we need to offer audit reports, cash flow statements, and increase the amount of disclosure. 

Q: IRIS built its Elements cloud platform completely in-house from scratch. What was your approach to building its Accounts Production module? 
Nick: We had to decide what needed to be similar to our desktop software and what we wanted to do differently for the cloud. For example, we looked at workflows. These had changed with the introduction of more digital record-keeping.  We also recognised that the percentage fee recoveries our customers could make was less than, say, 10-15 years ago.  With our new software, we took the opportunity to reset the workflow, making it more efficient, but still arriving at the same outcome.  

We made sure the best features of the desktop software, like charts of accounts and rounding logic, were brought across.  

Q: What are you most proud of so far with IRIS Elements Accounts Production Enterprise? 
Nick: I’d say it’s launching something from scratch. We had nothing five years ago. Now, when you show customers the result, there’s an incredibly rewarding feeling.  

Q: What’s the benefit of software like IRIS Elements being built for the cloud? 
Nick: You can access it through any browser, from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection.  

The days of having to manually back things up are over. Meanwhile, cloud-native security stops hackers at every turn. 

And when it comes to staying compliant with new rules, software updates are immediate. 

Q: It’s been quite a journey. Who is able to make the most of IRIS Elements Accounts Production Enterprise right now? 
Nick: Practices with three to five partners will love this software. There are also Professional and Essential versions for any firm smaller than this. Our next milestone will be firms with ten partners. 

Q: What will new users really like about it? 
Nick: It’s incredibly easy to use. IRIS Elements Accounts Production takes very little time to understand. People expect the same usability as the apps on your phone. 

To make sure new accountants will like it, we tested IRIS Elements out on accounting and finance final year undergraduates, and the feedback was phenomenally positive. They picked it up very quickly. 

Q: How else do you gather customer feedback? 
Nick: We get feedback through emails, events, on-site visits, and an ideas portal where customers can request and vote on features. We also have early adopter feedback sessions, which means we can test new workflows the moment they reach users.  

Listening is essential. We have our own ambitions, but it’s always important to listen to our customers to make sure we can bring them the types of success they hope for, too. 

Produce accounts in minutes, right first time 

Discover IRIS Accounts Production Enterprise and how it can make life easy for you – wherever you want to work – and look after your clients’ needs. 

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