Launching WeKeep – bookkeeping for digital entrepreneurs

Officially launching WeKeep today out of private. WeKeep is a bookkeeping service built for digital entrepreneurs and startups in the GCC.

Here’s the backstory.

How I got into accounting

In 2009 while in my first semester of business school, I had my first accounting class. I found the double-entry bookkeeping system pretty neat, and the ability to read financial statements empowering. I ended up enjoying accounting quite a bit and investing more time in it. In my second year, I tutored first-year students, and mastered the subject. Although I ended up majoring in finance, I wasn’t even remotely considering making accounting a career. I liked technology instead, and I carried on in that field.

UAE VAT

Fast forward a whole 8 years, late 2017, and I found myself having to set up the accounting system for my first startup to prepare for the upcoming VAT in the UAE. I contacted a few bookkeeping firms, but was left unimpressed with their service or their technology-literacy. The services they provide seemed antiquated, labor-intensive and tedious. I decided to learn to use bookkeeping software myself, ended up building a small piece of software that would automate our accounting. I thought that was the end of it.

How WeKeep finally came about

It was only in December 2018 that I thought there may be an opportunity to build a bookkeeping solution that understands what the new generation of digital entrepreneurs want. The introduction of VAT meant that for the first time businesses have to pay taxes, and so even the smallest businesses need to keep proper records to calculate how much VAT they owe the Federal Tax Authority.

Initially, the idea was to build a new bookkeeping software that is friendlier to small businesses. When I was learning to use the bookkeeping software we chose, I found it difficult to migrate from our Excel-based accounting and thought there must be a better way. Also, nearly everyone I’ve spoken to said they hated bookkeeping software, so I thought there may be an opportunity.

But soon I realized that entrepreneurs just don’t want to do bookkeeping at all – it’s not about the software, it’s about getting it done for them with the least amount of disturbance. Typically, the bookkeeper and the entrepreneur collaborate mostly offline, in a monthly or weekly meeting using mostly Excel spreadsheets. WeKeep will replace that.

And so with this conclusion I decided that WeKeep should be a complete bookkeeping service built on top of a collaboration platform: it will provide a dedicated, human bookkeeper and a workspace whose goal is to reduce the time spent on bookkeeping tasks.

If you’re a digital entrepreneur or a startup, WeKeep can take over your existing Zoho Books, Xero or Quickbooks account or set one up for you from scratch. Feel free to schedule a short chat with me.