Australia: ACCC concerned about MYOB Group and Reckon merger

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is concerned about the MYOB Group’s acquisition plan of Reckon Limited’s Accountants Group.

Both MYOB and Reckon provide software for accounting practices to complete tax returns, perform client accounting and also for their own practice operations.

The ACCC outlined several issues about the likely impact of the consolidation. One of the ACCC’s Commissioners, Roger Featherston, said, “If MYOB acquired Reckon’s Accountants Group, it would likely be the only supplier of practice software suitable for medium to large accounting firms.”

“If MYOB has a monopoly on this software, it would substantially lessen competition. We think there’s a significant risk for customers that prices will increase and service levels will decrease.”

The ACCC said that the medium to large accounting firms require advanced features from software including flexibility in reporting and workflow, flexibility in matter and customer management, advanced security configurations and the ability to support many concurrent users.

Full Content: Financial Review

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.