Software successfully developed in Switzerland

Abacus can probably be called the number one in the field of standard business solutions for SMEs in Switzerland. And for several years now, the company has also been active in Germany. A conversation with the CEO, co-founder and chief strategist of Abacus Research, Claudio Hintermann, about the background to the success story, which is unique in the Swiss software scene and is based on friendship, teamwork, the will to achieve the best performance and the shared enjoyment of work.

It is not a matter of course that a company in the IT sector has existed for 30 years. How do you see that?

Claudio Hintermann: Our aim has always been to offer our employees the opportunity to develop optimally in their area of responsibility and thus to get the best out of themselves, so that they can ultimately be proud of their own work. Our software has only become what it is today with the help of many developers, product managers and supporters. With each new version, they have not only functionally expanded the individual programs, but always substantially improved and perfected them at the same time.

As history teaches, a company needs vision to not disappear from the scene after a few years. How's that for Abacus?

We employ several people to identify and anticipate trends at an early stage. They put together the pieces of the puzzle from the industry and the legal requirements and also gather the wishes of our partners and users. For example, a sales partner gave us the idea of supplementing our ERP with functions for the complete digitalization of all business documents - from supplier invoices to balance sheets with integrated original PDF documents - and thus supporting more productive work. The version was very successful under the name "Digital ERP".

What are you and your developers currently working on?

We are currently programming apps for smartphones running iOS and Android. These can be useful not only in connection with our business software, but can be used free of charge by all owners of a smart mobile phone. For example, with the app AbaClik, expense receipts can be photographed and then sorted. An additional benefit can be derived from this if a company using Abacus software wants to do without paper when recording expenses in the accounting department. In this case, such receipts can be automatically sent to the accounting department via smartphone for further processing.

Whether the software is installed locally or obtained from the cloud via the Internet is irrelevant.

When you look to the future, how do you want Abacus to continue?

Last year, we expanded our company's shareholder base to include long-term employees. This represents a first step towards sharing responsibility for the company with other, i.e. experienced, employees. We owe it to our users and sales partners, some of whom have relied on our software for many years, to do everything we can to ensure that the Abacus success story continues.

So you should not be lacking in challenges?

The next one is already just around the corner, so to speak: the start of construction of our second company building is planned for next spring. We hope that this will finally enable us to create the jobs we urgently need. Due to a lack of space, we have been forced to temporarily accommodate over 40 employees in the neighbourhood. At the same time, we want to create space for an additional 100 jobs.

It speaks for Abacus and its products that the partners and users of the first hour still rely on their programs after 30 years.

I am particularly proud of this. Of the first fifty customers who bought an accounting license thirty years ago, a third continue to use Abacus software - naturally in the latest program versions. These users have been with us from the very first version of Fibu, which was available under

Our software has only become what it is today with the help of many developers, product managers and supporters.

The same applies to most of our current sales partners, who not only recommend our software to their customers, but have also followed all of our development steps over the years and have thus always remained up-to-date. The same applies to most of our current sales partners, who not only recommend our software to their customers and implement it for them, but have also participated in all of our development steps over all of these years and have thus always remained up-to-date.

How important is the previous sales channel with the partner companies for your company now that you can purchase the software directly via the Internet and work with it online?

Whether the software is installed locally or obtained from the cloud via the Internet is irrelevant. Because accounting remains accounting. Business processes must be optimally supported with suitable instruments, whether in production, in the HR department with applicant management or employee self-service, in project planning and monitoring with time reporting or in the area of the increasingly important digital document exchange via e-business platforms. To map and implement all of this correctly requires comprehensive industry and process know-how that only our sales and implementation partners are able to offer. We would like to express our thanks to them here and now, because the many successful implementations with our software are primarily due to their many years of experience with ERP projects.

For some time now, Abacus software has also been offered in Germany. How is this business going?

We are now in our sixth year of operation in Germany and are pleased to say today that we have already managed to create a good name for ourselves in the industry of planners, engineers and architects. The prerequisite for this was, as in Switzerland, having the right people in the right place. In the future, the German business should not only

The German business is likely to become important in terms of sales and earnings in the future.

important for the entire Abacus Group in terms of sales and earnings. It will also influence the further development of our software as we offer it in Switzerland and enrich it in several respects. We have already made several adjustments for the German market, from which Swiss users will also benefit in the longer term. I am thinking, for example, of electronic payment transactions, which are currently undergoing major changes throughout Europe and in which Germany is playing a pioneering role.