TECHNOLOGY is moving at an incredible rate and this is certainly the case with accounting systems. All the major software companies are committed to cloud accounting systems and indications are that very soon support will cease for desktop systems.
Cloud accounting systems should ultimately make business owners’ lives much easier; a view also shared by HMRC and is one of the reasons behind their modernising Making Tax Digital agenda.
Making Tax Digital will mean HMRC collecting and processing tax related information from businesses on a quarterly basis instead of annually which is the case currently.
HMRC believe that mandating digital records and quarterly reporting will reduce errors and carelessness by small businesses, which will ultimately reduce the tax gap.
Being able to file quarterly tax statements is just one of many benefits of adopting cloud accounting software. Others include automated invoice production, live management accounts and, of course, the primary benefit of the cloud; that of instant secure access, 24/7 to your financial data via your laptop, smartphone or other device from anywhere in the world.
Most cloud accounting software has direct bank feeds, enabling users to drag in business bank information, preventing the need to have to re-enter data for bank reconciliation and thus reducing processing time and costs.
Stephen Watts, Partner at Haines Watts accountants, said: “With numerous cloud providers all currently vying for the attention of business owners the costs are very competitive at the moment when compared to desktop systems. There is also a lot of choice and the general strength of offerings is exceptional so each business owner can have an accounting solution most suited to their needs.
“For businesses to be prepared for Making Tax Digital they will be required to review their internal accounting systems anyway to ensure they are in a position to feed relevant, accurate and timely data directly into the HMRC system. This all makes it an ideal opportunity to review your current accounting set up now.
“Modern businesses need a state of the art accounting system, and this is cloud accounting.”
To arrange a consultation to better understand how cloud accounting could benefit your business then please contact Haines Watts on 01604 746760 or 01536 483513.
