June 08 – Clear Books Concept

I was working at Arbuthnot Securities as a research analyst covering small cap stocks listed on AIM. I invited Brendan McLoughlin, an old friend from Farnborough Sixth Form college, to come in for a chat about his company Fubra and go over some of the implications of floating on the stock market.

Later that month I happened to be talking to Brendan’s business partner and also an old  friend from college, Paul Maunders, about accounting systems. I had developed a simple web based accounting system based on the accounting principle of double entry (debits and credits). Paul had developed an invoice driven system for his brothers’ construction business, Prospect Glazing. We discussed sharing each other’s code to combine the systems.

Paul and Brendan were in London later that month and invited me out for lunch. I half suspected it might happen but even when it did it surprised me. They suggested I resign from my job immediately, set up a joint venture with Fubra and develop an online accounting system. I knew straight away that I would agree and after ironing out the terms, I did.

The goals were two fold:

• To develop an acounting system which Fubra could use
• To sell the system to small businesses in need of an easy and simple to use web based accounting system

July 08 – Company Formation

Clear Books was incorporated on the 2 July 2008. I was required to work a month’s notice so Clear Books remained largely a mish mash of ideas thrown in with some development work in the evenings and at weekends.

August 08 – Development

Work began in earnest to integrate the two original systems and develop them further. 

We outlined ideas and concepts for the Clear Books website design. This was the start of a lot of toing and froing with web design company Do1. It eventually paid off with a clear design we were really pleased with.

September 08 – Test User

Prospect Glazing and Marble Construction became our first full time test users. They helped us ensure that the system worked and catered for the needs of a small business.

October 08 – Web Design

The web design work was finalised and could now be integrated into the system. The design overhaul brought the project on massively. Not only did we have a website that looked good, but the visual elements helped provide a framework for the usability of the site. 

November 08 – Charity

A month of intense coding.

Our first charity, passingiton, signed up. We decided to offer Clear Books free to small businesses and charities (subject to usage limits).

December 08 – Beta Launch

Fubra switched from their incumbent accounting system to Clear Books full time. As a result we launched Clear Books in beta to let other organisations sign up and trial the system for free.

The Clear Books blog was set up to provide a help resource for users.

Clear Books in 2009

The concept for Clear Books began taking shape 7 months ago. Amazingly, the development has been underway for just 5 months. A big thank you is owed to Andy, Steve, Matt W, Matt G, Alex, Mark, Joe, Brendan and Paul at Fubra and Ed and Matt at Do1.

In 2008 we achieved our first goal of developing a working accounting system and getting Fubra using it.

In 2009 we will focus on our second goal: the official launch of Clear Books.

Try the demo or register for free.

Clear Books for Companies

We are focused on small businesses. Such businesses are typically managed by monitoring bank statements and Clear Books replicates this. You can quickly import your bank statement saving you the time and effort of typing in all the data yourself. Producing your accounts then becomes a simple process of telling the system what each transaction on your bank statement is. Clear Books keeps things simple.

A differentiator from established accounting systems such as Sage and SAP is that our system is web based. Log in at the office, at home, or when you are away on a business trip. Log in when visiting a client to raise an invoice on site and email it to them immediately. Even better, get your accountant to log in to check on the progress of your business. Clear Books provides flexibilty in managing your business.

We provide all the features necessary to run a successful business including PDF invoices, financial reports and reports on outstanding customer debts, VAT returns and a feature we call projects.

Projects monitors the profitability of individual events, cost centres and divisions so you can establish where your business is prospering and focus on developing those key areas.

Clear Books for Accountants

Clear Books can be used by accountants to manage clients’ accounts. Journals and a general ledger audit trail are provided for more complex accounting entries.

A key benefit is that the client can log in to review a constantly updated set of accounts and get a true understanding of the financial performance and position of their business. For clients who do not want to deal with the financial numbers, Clear Books can still be used for important day to day business activities such as raising customer invoices.

We are excited about Clear Books and the benefits it offers small businesses. The system is currently in BETA with a formal launch expected in early 2009.

Tim

Tim Fouracre
Managing Director
Clear Books