MYOB buys stake in cloud POS startup Kounta; Unions seeking pay rise from Coles may hurt SMEs: Midday Roundup

Business software provider MYOB has bought a minority stake in cloud-based POS startup Kounta and is looking to develop more efficient services by combining both companies’ specialities.

MYOB general manager of connected services, Andrew Birch, said in a statement the investment was strategic and was intended to cement a place for MYOB within the retail POS, mobile payments and e-commerce world.

“The MYOB-Kounta partnership is integral to our vision of making cloud accounting easy for business,” said Birch. “The partnership also reinforces MYOB’s continued commitment to servicing the Australian and New Zealand SME market.”

Unions seeking pay rise from Coles may hurt SMEs

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) is seeking a 5% pay increase for Coles employees, in the wake of last week’s increase to the minimum wage.

Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the Australian Retailers Association, told the Australian Financial Review he is concerned wage increases at large companies such as Coles may negatively impact SMEs, which would not be able to match a 5% pay claim.

The union, which is in the process of bargaining with the Wesfarmers-owned supermarket giant, says the minimum wage changes have created a new bottom line for wage claims.

“We absolutely are looking at over 3% as a wages settlement. Our claim is 5%,” SDA national secretary Joe de Bruyn told the AFR.

Shares up on open

Aussie shares have opened higher this morning, as both the Dow and S&P 500 closed at fresh highs again.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was up 0.3% or 17.2 points to 5481.2 at 11.55am AEDT. Overnight the Dow Jones closed up 18.82 points, up 0.11% to 16,943.1.