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- Yes, accountants can build great software. But should they build to sell?
Yes, accountants can build great software. But should they build to sell?
Let down by vendors, some accountants step up to the challenge of product innovation. Having been there, done that myself, I spoke with several other accountants-turned-product-owners about the risks and rewards of building accountancy software - and building it to sell.
Alastair Barlow
October 18, 2025
Successful products are inspired by true user pain.
In the accounting space, this inspiration comes from one of two sources.
Some product innovators, like Freshpay who I met while hosting an Accountex panel this year, create a new product based on a current frustration of their own. There’s nothing in the market that’s quite right for their needs, so they pull a little bit of this from one platform and a little bit of that from another.
Others, like Xenon Connect from the same Accountex panel, act on a limitation within their firm. They spot a workflow or process they know could be done better, but a better solution doesn’t (yet) exist.
Regardless of where the inspiration comes from, accountants-turned-product-innovators are in a strong place. They, or we, have real empathy with the end user because they, or we, are the end user!