Ken Mueller is the  chief executive and president of FiNetrics.

Among the most recent are a deal for the firm's first private-label version of its online accounting application, and another to move forward its plans for an online marketplace slated to launch in the fourth quarter.

The Illinois-based Internet firm this week struck a deal with eReliable Commerce Inc., a Naperville, Ill.-based provider of business-to-business e-commerce services, for the launch of the first private-label version of its online accounting application, OutNumber, which is powered by high-end accounting software vendor SAP.

Under the agreement, FiNetrics will integrate OutNumber with eReliable's Internet marketplace technology to enable eReliable clients to automatically record online transactions as they occur.

"Through this alliance, FiNetrics and eReliable provide customers with an integrated e-commerce and back-office solution," said Ken Mueller, chief executive and president of FiNetrics. "EReliable customers will have access to financial information reflecting the most current transaction and financial data, in a solution that they can afford now and that will support them as they grow."

Ereliable's Secured Dynamic Trading Network platform provides a single system to manage authentication, negotiation, electronic contract generation and payment processing, escrow and shipping for B2B transactions.

"This agreement allows us to take the richness of eReliable's SDTN platform to FiNetrics' fast-growing customer base, while we offer FiNetrics' OutNumber and financial consulting services to our clients," said George Nagy, eReliable chief executive. "With this arrangement, eReliable extends its reach and answers the e-business needs of many organizations transitioning their traditional business processes to the Web."

Hoping to cash in on the anticipated explosion in online spending by small businesses, FiNetrics last week teamed up with Ariba, a global B2B e-commerce platform provider, to develop an online marketplace.

FiNetrics plans to launch PurchaseSource, a network of buyers and suppliers where companies can access discounted and leased office equipment and supplies that will allow customers to aggregate purchases from multiple vendors into one requisition order, during the fourth quarter.

FiNetrics cited research from Internet consulting firm Access Markets International Partners Inc. predicting that small business online purchasing will emerge as a key driver of B2B e-commerce. AMI research projects that U.S. small-business online purchasing, which rose to about $25 billion in 1999, up from $2 billion in 1998, will skyrocket to reach $118 billion by 2001.

The firm will use Ariba's Marketplace Network Edition to develop the offering, aimed at serving as a single-source procurement center for emerging and medium-sized businesses.

"FiNetrics will provide us with an excellent venue to expand our business into the small- and mid-size companies space," said Dan Fishback, vice president, Global Channels for Ariba.

"Working with Ariba will allow us to enable emerging and mid-sized companies to efficiently and cost-effectively manage procurement, a critical component for a high-growth business," said Mueller.

PurchaseSource will also include: technology to manage and monitor employee purchasing, including the ability to establish spending limits, control who may make purchases, and automatically manage the internal approval process; the ability to download transaction data into internal enterprise resource planning systems, so purchasing and office managers can access automatically updated inventory and budget reports; the ability to track purchases with individual suppliers; and access to online supplier catalogs, according to FiNetrics.

Last month FiNetrics formed a marketing alliance with accounting and consulting giant Arthur Andersen, under which the Big Five firm will provide small to mid-size enterprise end users with outsourcing services built off the FiNetrics platform.

-- SmartPros News Staff

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