Reasonable statutory accounts production software?

Can anyone recommend reasonably priced...

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I'm an FD in the construction industry and this years accounts have fallen under the audit threshold. I asked our national accountancy firm to quote for statutory accounts prep and corporation tax return prep and think their price is excessive as they won't prepare an accountancy report and won't include tax planning and advice. I'm now thinking I will purchase final accounts production software and will submit accounts and tax return myself. The accounts this year are straightforward nothing contentious or risky for tax which needs advice anyway. There's never been an audit adjustment to my accounts in the 6 years the firm have acted for us and I prepare the draft corporation tax calculation which is usually within £100 of theirs. Our bankers don't have any issues with me doing everything this year either. I've started looking on the net at various software providers but everything seems practice based. All I want is some straighforward reasonably priced software. We use sage 50. Any recommendations would be great. 

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By Tonykelly
27th Oct 2011 11:50

I would say PTP/ Iris is your best bet

The cost is £99 and you will be able to produce a set of statutory accounts, an iXBRL file and also file the abbreviated accounts at Companies House.

If you haven't used the software before, they do a half-day training course at Datchet (near Windsor, Berkshire) for £130.

(PS I am not connected to PTP/Iris in any way.)

Other than the above you could outsource the process to a local accountant. I would say you are looking at about £750 - £1000 per annum.

 

 

 

 

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By marks
27th Oct 2011 12:54

You could go for VTaccounts

Can remember the exact price but is less than £199+VAT for the first year and there is a renewal amount every year thereafter at £150+VAT.

If you can get a single company version of IRIS would go with that (only because i used this in practice for 15 years)

MarkS

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By Steve McQueen
27th Oct 2011 13:09

Another vote for VT

What's not to love about this program. It's cheap, easy to use (being excel based), and does everything that you could want.

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By gerawson
27th Oct 2011 13:11

We use Absolute

We use and are very happy with Absolute, worth having a look at

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By User deleted
27th Oct 2011 13:38

I would add ...

... using IRIS you should be able to set up a map and upload a csv file of the SAGE TB straight into IRIS, and once you have done that, you just have to tweak the map for additional N/L codes each year.

I did a crib sheet for this a while back - just scroll down a bit, it looks long winded but is really quite straight forward.

EDIT:

I am not sure how the filing works per se, The problem as a qualified firm, if it goes through my gateway to HMRC, although it is not a statutory audit, i would still have to do tests on the figures to establish they are correct as i could not associate myself with accounts I know to be misleading! If I can convert to iXBRL accounts in the CA format required I am sure we could talk, but unless i satisied myself they were Ok I could not file off my IRIS system.

 

 

 

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By Tonykelly
27th Oct 2011 13:34

not sure why people are recommending VT in this case

I think the Visual Transaction program is very good, but in this case I think the OP would be better off with Iris.

No disrespect to VT, but Iris is a proper accounts production package. VT is an add-in module to Microsoft Excel.

With Iris,

You can produce a full set of statutory accounts

File abbreviated accounts at Companies House

Produce an iXBRL file to go with your CT600.

I don't want to mention cost as I believe VT is good value, but for up to 10 companies Iris is half the price.

The disadvantage with Iris is that it might take you slightly longer to get up to speed. You will need a couple of hours to get used to the program, but after that it is plain sailing. Also you do have the option of a training course, but I don't think it is necessary as the program is fairly easy to use.

 

 

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By Marion Hayes
27th Oct 2011 14:13

Digita

I use Digita and have found it to be very user friendly and have managed iXBRL with no probems - and the detailed P&L  is already tagged for when we need to submit whole to HMRC. I found them to be more purse friendly to me as a sole user than Iris or  PTP for the same packages

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Replying to Lilac1:
By Tonykelly
27th Oct 2011 14:58

I don't believe it

Marion Hayes wrote:

I use Digita and I found them to be more purse friendly to me as a sole user than Iris or PTP for the same packages

Iris is £99 to produce up to 10 company accounts. What does Digita cost?

Please bear in mind I am considering what is suitable for the OP's requirements. I am not considering what might be suitable for a sole practitioner or a small firm etc, just what is relevant to the OP.

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By Marion Hayes
27th Oct 2011 15:22

@Tony

I can only tell you what I found.

I was looking for tax software mainly as that is my specialism, but needed a very small accounts programme as well so it was definitely only 10 sets of business accounts - whether corporated or unincorporated - and had to be simple enough for me to understand.

I had been using Iris for years in my employment, and PTP at home for personal tax, so expected to use one of those. When talking to them they operated a very strict pricing policy and Digita were far more flexible in providing what I needed at a better price. I have no reason to think that the OP would not be considered in the same way  as I was 2 years ago.

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By petersaxton
27th Oct 2011 16:49

Why use accounts production software?

If you are only dealing with one set of accounts a year it can't be an efficient use of your time to learn the software as well as pay for it.

How much were the accountants asking for?

If you provided an extended trial balance (with supporting records) I'm sure there will be plenty of accountants who would be willing to prepare the accounts and tax for Companies House and HMRC for a fee of £500 -  £600 plus VAT.

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