BERKSHIRE, England, July 8 /PRNewswire/ --     IRIS Accountancy Practice Solutions has announced the appointment of
marketing veteran John Pattenden as Product Director. Pattenden will lead the
enhancement of the current product set which includes IRIS, PTP and Drummohr
solutions and develop a road map for the next generation needs of accountancy
practices.

Pattenden joining the APS management team will provide added depth and
experience and further strengthens the development of the range of IRIS
Accountancy Products (http://www.iris.co.uk/practice).

"Following on from the recent announcement that we are investing GBP20m
in research and development over the next 12 months, adding John to our team
is yet another signal that IRIS is investing in continued growth," said Phill
Robinson, Managing Director of Accountancy Practice Solutions.

Pattenden brings to IRIS a depth of product management and product
marketing experience gained over 25 years in positions with major software
vendors including IBM, Sun Microsystems and most recently Fortent, a supplier
of risk and compliance solutions to some of the world's largest and most
demanding financial institutions.

IRIS has a long standing reputation for innovation in the accountancy
practice sector and is still the only software house that can offer a fully
integrated product suite with all the efficiency and productivity gains
associated with sharing data.

The existing product set includes compliance software for tax and final
accounts, a full practice management suite as well as company administration,
accounting, HR, and payroll software, plus outsourcing and consultancy
services to tax professionals.

John commented: "IRIS has an outstanding reputation for developing
reliable products that enhance efficiency and profitability. My objective is
to ensure that the IRIS product road map provides the accountancy profession
with a range of quality solutions and enables practices of every type and
size to efficiently provide unrivalled service to their clients. I have
already met a number of our customers and I am looking forward to working
with them to shape the solutions that will satisfy their changing needs over
the next decade"

IRIS Accountancy Practice Solutions - The Accountants Specialist

With over 14,000 accountancy practices of all sizes and with 40% of the
top 50 firms as clients, IRIS is the market leading provider of fully
integrated software and services to UK accountancy firms.

Our aim is to help our customers improve partnership performance,
specifically cashflow and profitability by providing modern and easy to use
tools to improve efficiency through better workflow, to increase income
through better use of data and enhance client service through an integrated
approach to practice management.

With an emphasis on the move to the 'paperless practice' and the need for
greater electronic communication with clients and Government, our specialist
solutions for the accountancy practice sector comprise compliance software
for tax, final accounts, practice management, time and fees, company
secretarial, audit, customer relationship management, accounting, HR,
payroll, outsourcing and consultancy services to tax professionals.

With 30 years of experience and over 200 specialist staff in the UK
dedicated to servicing the needs of accountancy practices, we pride ourselves
on a tailored approach to customer service, with an emphasis on reliability
and personal touch, evidenced by 97% annual customer retention, amongst the
highest in our industry.

As an organisation, the IRIS values are: Customer focus, honesty &
integrity, innovation, passion and service excellence.