Inputs attributed to Krishnakant Mane, Director & CTO, OnlineKhata
Q1.Tell us in detail about OnlineKhata.
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Answer: OnlineKhata (www.onlinekhata.co.in) is a flagship trademark product of Bookmatic PVT. LTD. that automates accounting entries and the generation of business reports. The software is specifically designed to meet the requirements of micro and small enterprises as these businesses are primarily concerned with the generation of bills, receipts, and payments. Unlike large businesses, small shopkeepers, startups, consultants, agents, micro traders, and practitioners, don’t require complex software programs that offer complex HR and Payroll modules. By using OnlineKhata, small businesses can do away with the requirement of visiting an accountant for bookkeeping as the solution generates ready-to-file reports including GSTR1, Balance sheets, P&L, Ledgers, and sales purchase registers among others. These reports can also be then shared with auditors through spreadsheets or auditors can be granted login access to see them directly. Further, OnlineKhata has added a module of inventory to take care of the needs of small shops.
Q2. How is OnlineKhata serving the underserved businesses in India
Answer: The online trading ecosystem in India is more supportive of large businesses and as a result, micro and small enterprises have long been excluded from the benefits of digital trade infrastructure. Most accounting and billing software solutions available in the market are expensive and come with complex features, not at all needed by small shopkeepers, consultants, micro traders, and the like. Consequently, these small businesses have to hire an accountant or use outdated offline programs that are simply not up to the mark. By offering all-in-one accounting and billing solutions, OnlineKhata is becoming instrumental in bringing small businesses into the ecosystem of Digital Trading. It offers specific and relevant features for micro-enterprises and helps these businesses to do away with the requirement of hiring an accountant for making data entries. The online aspect of the software makes it accessible all the time and by automating accounting entries, it frees up critical time for target users to focus on the core aspects of doing business.
Q3. What big things are you looking forward to?
Answer: Our vision at OnlineKhata is to make an internet-based trade ecosystem inclusive and encompassing for every business owner. Specifically for micro and small enterprises, we have set ourselves an ambitious mission of automating their accounting function and in the process emerging as the de-facto standard in the category of accounting automation. We also aim to become a part of commerce education in India and help students in universities and higher education institutions understand the discipline of commerce in great detail.
Q4. How much of the world is going to change by what you are doing?
Answer: There are approximately 65,00,000 micro and small businesses currently operating in India. By using OnlineKhata, these enterprises can significantly increase their productivity by automating accounting entries and the generation of reports. The solution also helps with online collaboration and can save up to 80% of the cost related to meeting compliance and allied business activities. Clearly, all these advantages can come together to help small enterprises focus on the core aspects of doing business and effectively meet their growth and expansion targets.
Q5. How do you explain your company to someone in the industry?
Answer: We are a financial technology company that offers OnlineKhata, a cloud-based solution for automating accounting entries for micro and small enterprises. We also help businesses to achieve the desired level of collaboration so these enterprises can flourish in their respective domains. The intuitive interface of the OnlineKhata is one of its distinctive advantages which makes it very easy to use right from the first time it’s applied.
Q6. What are the growth and expansion plans for OnlineKhata?
Answer: We have already raised three rounds of seed investment from a UK-based investor. Currently, we are in the acceleration round and by the mid of 2023, we expect to raise the investment from the Series A funding. The company also plans to further enrich OnlineKhata by equipping it with value-added services such as voice-driven invoicing, business loan application, and end-to-end services for compliance.
Q7. How did you and Prajkta come along?
Answer: Prajkta, my wife, is the co-founder of our company. We have known each other since 2013 when I visited her college to give a seminar on emerging tech trends. Subsequently, she joined my organisation in 2016 and we started work on free accounting software under a project that was supported by the Kerala government. The more time we spent together, the more we knew that our interests, passions, and hobbies were similar. Our relationship kept blooming and we finally tied the knot in 2020. In the same year, we co-founded our company which is now becoming an instrument of change by bringing micro and small businesses under the ambit of Digital Revolution.
Q8. What is the future of digital accounting? Share some insights into the industry
Answer: Blockchain-based distributed transactions will become the new normal in the digital accounting industry. The segment of digital accounting itself is going to expand by leaps and bounds with the majority of enterprises in the future will embrace cashless trade as a primary means of conducting their business. The rise of collaborative technology is also expected to dominate as the emergence of diversified microservices has already started making waves in the ocean of World Trade.
Q9. By what size/number are we looking to expand the business?
Answer: We are quite happy with the response that OnlineKhata is garnering from micro and small businesses as well as users from across the spectrum. We would like to continue this momentum and in the coming six months, we should have at least 2.5 lakh active users who will be using OnlineKhata for automating their accounting entries and striking collaborations across partners.
Q10. Any other information that you would like to share with us?
Answer: Bookmatic PVT. LTD. is the company behind our flagship product, the OnlineKhata. Our investor Mr Vikas Tara is a passionate tech entrepreneur and serial investor and in the near future, we are going to equip OnlineKhata with many value-added services and modules to make it even more useful for micro and small businesses.
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