Gamification Cloud Accounting

This morning I was informed by @whatifrobert about this interview on Dutch national television. This lady, Femke Herregraven, just won the Young Designer Award 2013. A contest for young artists to show of what we would like to call Dutch design in various categories. What Femke developed from a design perspective is pretty interesting. What if you as a small company doing international business have a tool available that lets you determine in a very easy way how to pay as less tax as possible? She was able to create an application to do so.

And the #DDA13 @MINI Young Designer finalists are: Sander Wassink, @lexpott, Yuri Veerman, and Femke Herregraven @bitcaves. Congratulations!

— Dutch Design Awards (@designawards) August 21, 2013

Gamification

The execution of the idea looks pretty amazing and simple to use. The online application is available for everyone and can be played at www.taxodus.net. The videoclip below shows a short impression how it works.

This idea shows the power of the cloud, the power of transparency and shows an example how sharing of expertise is rewarded. This is completely different than how it works today. Large companies like Twitter and Google can afford to hire top notch corporate lawyers to implement constructions like Double Irish and Dutch Sandwich. Legal ways how to avoid paying taxes or go for the lowest rate possible.

Cloud accounting redefined

Having such a service available for free does really mean something in my opinion. For a certain group of lawyers this could have a massive impact. Their business model becomes completely obsolete when this kind of expertise and advise is available for free. Smaller companies are able to compete with the bigger ones. Its not a matter of money anymore, its about being smarter and find your way to the right resources. Their business model becomes completely obsolete when this kind of expertise and advise is available for free.Those who understand the #weconomy and share instead of own. What if we are able to integrate or connect this service in the cloud with accounting applications. Wouldn’t it be great if your accounting application automatically finds the best tax route?

Dutch design

It is encouraging to see that a non-IT professional is able to create something that has the potential to change an entire industry. More and more its about the customer experience. Interaction designers and user interface designers are trained to solve problems from a completely different direction. Dutch design in many cases is associated with furniture and buildings. But about youngsters that changes traditional industries, no. At least I wasn’t looking at those professionals in that way. For me personally it looks like we are getting close to the essence of the cloud. I already wrote a blog about it earlier. The cloud as an enabler for small companies to defeat the big ones. This initiative for me is a clear confirmation of this. Very inspiring, I can not emphasize enough: be prepared!