An attendee tries an Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR headset during the French telecom Orange annual company's innovations show in Paris October 2, 2014.
An attendee tries an Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR headset during the French telecom Orange annual company's innovations show in Paris October 2, 2014. Reuters/Charles Platiau
An attendee tries an Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR headset during the French telecom Orange annual company's innovations show in Paris October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: BUSINESS TELECOMS)

An accounting software provider in Australia, ironically named Xero, became number 1 when it topped the country's list of most innovative companies. Xero headed the 2014 BRW Most Innovative Companies list which was compiled by Inventium, an innovation consultancy.

Xero produces payroll, invoicing and tax obligation solutions to make running a business easier for Aussie firms, bookkeepers and accountants. Proof that its products have yielded good results is that the clients of the cloud-based software maker has almost double in the past 12 months.

The second most innovative company in Australia is M & C Saatchi, an advertising firm, for its new project - the Clever Buoy - that detects sharks and alerts beachgoers through the Optus network.

Third is Planet Innovation, the creator of a new incubator that allows embryologists to grade embryos for IVF while assuring safety of the embryos.

The entries to the 2014 list logged an over 50 per cent increase. The organisers required the entrants to describe two innovations that the company implemented in the past 12 months, a problem that the innovation addressed and how the innovation helped the enterprise.

There were 27 New South Wales companies in the top 50 of the list. Victoria has 16 firms, and Western Australia and Queensland with three each.

Among the manufacturing firms on the list are E-Bisprint Hills, Coca-Cola Amatil, PernodRicard Winemakers, Keech Australia, Orora Group, Pact Group, Birch & Waite Foods.

"A recent study suggested that businesses in Australia and other rich countries are lagging their counterparts in the developing world embracing 'open innovation,' however through the compilation of this list with Inventium we have seen the best innovators in Australia and been inspired by the partnerships they have developed and the level of creative thinking displayed," said BRW editor Michael Bailey.

YouTube/Xero Accounting Software