Aussie technology company Reckon has joined forces with the Queensland government to launch an Indigenous-first accounting app for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business owners.
Reckon’s Deadly Digits cloud accounting solution was established as part of Advance Queensland’s Deadly Innovation Strategy, which aims to support Indigenous businesses to digitise their operations and gain better bookkeeping skills.
The app boasts real-time monitoring of cashflow, online invoicing, bank data feeds, payroll and single touch payroll and employee expense management functions.
But the program is just one part of a larger rollout strategy that also includes Indigenous-first training and a support hub.
Announcing the launch of the program, Sam Allert, chief executive of the non-Indigenous Australian company Reckon, said he is proud that the program will help support and grow Indigenous startups in Queensland.
“Part of what makes Deadly Digits unique is its Indigenous-first approach to providing customer service, training and events,” Allert said.
Cairns-based digital marketer Tiare Kelsall is one of Deadly Digits’ ‘sit-and-click’ trainers who guides Indigenous business owners through the Deadly Digits app via Zoom.
Kelsall, who will soon launch a drone firm for the mining industry with her Nhanda, Yamatji, Whadjek Noongar, Indjibarndi family, tells SmartCompany she got involved in the initiative to make sure Indigenous businesses know there is a program catered to them.
“It’s literally Indigenous training and teaching to empower Indigenous businesses… for me that’s really important,” Kelsall says.
“For the most part, they run their businesses part-time and hope to quit their job to go full-time. So, just building that confidence with them and then taking them through the whole app and program is what I do,” she says.
Deadly Digits subscriptions start from $8 a month and the quality of its packages match the likes of MYOB’s, Kelsall says.
Kelsall says participants in the training program can expect to improve their financial literacy and recordkeeping skills with support from Indigenous trainers who understand their “money story”.
“We know their money story. We’ve got similar money stories. We identify with their financial practices and can help them grow,” she says.
Deadly Digits, which is run by the state government’s Advance Queensland initiative, is giving 1,000 Indigenous businesses free access to the app and online training for three months.
Reckon is also offering ongoing discounted rates to Indigenous businesses that participate in the program for the next 12 months.
