Tech News: SAP aims to upskill 2M people in tech

November 18, 2022 10:42 AM

SAP embarks on initiative to upskill 2 million people in tech; Bill completes acquisition of Finmark; TaxFyle is named the 381st fastest growing company in North America in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500; and other news from the accounting technology world.

SAP aims to upskill 2 million people in tech

Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Business software developer SAP launched an initiative to enhance the digital skills of 2 million people worldwide by 2025. The Global Digital Skills Initiative aims to empower everyone to build new skills and ultimately start a career with SAP's technology. As part of the initiative, SAP will provide free role-based learning resources to women and other underrepresented groups in tech by offering relevant training and certification on marketable skills. The educational materials come from a partnership with online learning provider Coursera, which is also offering an online, seven-course SAP Technology Consultant Professional Certificate. The professional certificate has no prerequisites in an effort to minimize the barriers to entry and to prepare learners within just a few months for an entry-level digital job.

Bill completes acquisition of Finmark

Bill (formerly Bill.com), which provides financial automation solutions, has completed its acquisition of financial planning software provider Finmark, which offers business intelligence for small and midsized businesses, as well as automation capacities for routine processes, like cash flow management and analytics for business clients. News of the acquisition broke earlier this month (see previous story), with completion originally projected before the end of this year. The specific terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Taxfyle makes Deloitte's 'Fast 500'

Taxfyle, which styles itself as "Uber for taxes," said it ranked No. 381 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech and energy tech companies in North America. Taxfyle CEO Richard Lavina credits the company's 355% revenue growth with adding key personnel to further develop the Taxfyle platform, as well as its recruiting efforts to double the number of tax professionals within the company. Technology Fast 500 companies must be headquartered in North America and must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million to be considered for this list.

Partnerships and integrations

CloudCaptcha, the company behind time-tracking solution WorkCaptcha, announced a new integration with Wolters Kluwer's CCH. Users of CCH will be able to enhance their practice management system and take the timesheet to the cloud, within Microsoft Teams. Users will not need to change their current practice management system to take advantage of this integration. …Top 25 Firm Eide Bailly announced a partnership with security operations specialist Arctic Wolf. Eide Bailly clients will have access to the Arctic Wolf Security Operations Cloud solution, which offers automated cyber threat detection and response by leveraging machine learning, artificial intelligence and the company's Concierge Delivery Model. … Xero, the small business finance platform, announced a partnership with chip manufacturer Intel as the only accounting software provider included in the Intel Software Advantage Program. The Intel software bundle for business provides users with access to a wide range of software products. … AR and AP automation solutions firm Lockstep said its Lockstep Inbox product is now integrated with Gmail.

Awards and honors

Thomson Reuters announced the winners of its annual Luca awards, named in honor of Luca Pacioli, the "father of modern accounting" and creator of double-entry bookkeeping. Boulder Valley CPAs was named Rookie of the Year; Shana Robinson ERP Financial won the Trailblazer Award; Angel Hodges of Hodges Accounting & Tax Services won the Impact Award; Mark Oostra from Kroese & Kroese won the Peer Support Award; and Accountability Services won the Firm of the Year Award. … Wolters Kluwer has named Sterling Bank the winner of its 2022 Community Impact Award, honoring financial institutions for the breadth and innovative application of community development programs to benefit low- and middle-income communities in which they conduct business. … SAP said that five of its solutions were named to the inaugural TrustRadius Best Software List. SAP SuccessFactors, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP HANA Cloud, SAP Data Warehouse Cloud and SAP Analytics Cloud earned badges for landing on the Overall Best Software List as well as the For Midsized List. Additionally, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP HANA Cloud earned recognition on the For Enterprise List. … Vertex has been awarded IDC's 2022 SaaS Customer Satisfaction Award for Tax. In addition, in IDC's 2022 SaaSPath Survey, Vertex received the highest rating among SaaS Tax Vendors for overall customer satisfaction.

Other news

Business software provider Zoho announced that its Zoho Finance Platform has achieved 50% year-over-year revenue growth, supporting more than half a million businesses across more than 160 countries. A major part of this growth has been Zoho Books, which now supports 180 currencies and 17 languages. Following the recent launch of Zoho Books in Mexico, just a few weeks after launching in Kenya, the accounting application now supports 14 editions, including a global version. … Prophix Software, a provider of corporate performance management software, has achieved $100 million in annual recurring revenue. The company attributed its success to an investment from global software investor Hg, the introduction of several new senior executives and new product enhancements and offerings. … Lease accounting software provider LeaseCrunch announced the completion of its SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type II by Top 25 Firm Marcum. … Intuit launched its third annual Prosperity Accelerator program, which aims to encourage the growth of fintechs in the greater Toronto area whose mission is to improve the financial prosperity of Canadian consumers and small businesses. Selected startups will have access to a corporate and investor mentorship network, dedicated coaching and the opportunity for follow-on investment from Highline Beta.