Background
Exchequer Software Ltd has been developing business and accounting software for the past 15 years. Founded by Eduardo Loigorri and Rob Steele when they were both 18 years old, the business had its origins in the garage of Eduardo's parents. Today Exchequer Software products have 9000 users [5,500 customers] worldwide and include customers such as Marks & Spencer, GMTV and HJ Heinz. The company, which employs 75 people worldwide, received the accounting software industry's highest award for its range of modular accounting software for the past three years.

The Business Opportunity
Exchequer Software identified the need for a new world standard for exchanging business transactions which could reflect the principles enshrined by the Internet - accessibility and affordability. Previously, all e-commerce transactions had to be manually re-keyed as the electronic exchange of orders between disparate accounting systems was not possible other than by using the EDI standard.

The Solution
The company realised that for the Internet to establish itself as an effective business medium there had to be a common and affordable standard for the electronic exchange of orders and invoices.
Microsoft came to the same conclusion and approached the Business Application Software Developers Association (BASDA) to develop a world standard by using an emerging Internet technology called XML (Extensible Markup Language). BASDA called on Exchequer Software to help and the end result was the free electronic Business Interchange Standard (eBIS-XML). This standard allows orders and invoices to be exchanged between different software packages via the web or email, without the need for the expensive proprietary EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) standard.

Success
This new standard has been recognised by 85% of the accounting industry, the World Wide Web Consortium and the United Nations. In addition, over 120 national and international accounting software vendors have confirmed that they are developing eBIS-XML interfaces. Exchequer Software Ltd is the first company to embed this new technology in its products which means it receives orders via email directly into its accounting system. This has resulted in a reduction of 30% in processing costs and a sales increase of 40%.

Year Overview

• 5,000 prize money as winner of the South West heat of the ISI*/InterForum E-Commerce Awards 2000 has been put back into sales activities, and marketing the company and its accounting software products.
• Winning the award gave Exchequer the courage to enter a European e-commerce award competition, where the company won the category for Best XML application. This was for a standard that the company developed which allows orders and invoices to be exchanged between different software packages via the web or e-mail.
• Exchequer continues in its aim to develop personalised service and invest in continued research and development to deliver a functional and comprehensive product to help lead the software industry forward.

The Future
The biggest challenge for Exchequer Software is the continuous education of software developers that the standard exists. It is heavily investing in promoting its Paperless Module and encouraging all its customers to adopt it.

Advice for Other Companies
Eduardo Loigorri said:
"The biggest and most-satisfying lesson from this experience is that there are times when competitive differences should be put aside for the greater good of the market - the development of the world standard was such a time. By co-operating fully with our competitors we have created a business opportunity for all of us worth millions."