I have been running my practice since April last year and have done everything on a shoestring without using software, i.e. Preparing accounts in excel, tax returns using HMRC software and filing stat accounts and corporation tax via the HMRC and Companies House filing service. My practice has grown such that if I double my business next year as planned that I need a solution to get stuff done a lot quicker. I have looked at various software options but wondered if anyone had any recommendations - my requirements are 1. I quite often work away from my office and the majority of my clients are not local so I think a cloud based solution with electronic document approvals would be the best option. 2. Practice management and the facility to bulk email reminders and marketing to clients directly from my client database. Billing is not crucial as I can do this from my bookkeeping software easily 3. The majority of my clients are personal tax / small sole traders with income and expenditure accounts but I do need to be able to do up to 5 sets of company accounts per year and a bit of company secretarial work 4. Ideally looking to pay monthly to spread the cost. 5. Needs to be easily expandable as my practice grows as I don't want the pain of changing over a couple of years down the line Looking to get something in place ready for the new tax year and would like real world recommendations rather than just sales pitches :) Thanks
Replies (24)
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In the past I've used iris, absolute and Capium.
On all of the above you can do as you have asked. Iris was the best but very expensive.
Absolute I found to be very clunky and a little too rigid to use.
Capium is a newer company, very cost effective and very helpful with queries. The software is continually being improved and also you can spread the cost.
I'd recommend Capium if cost is an issue as it will support you as you grow.
Pm me if you have any specific questions about either.
Hi,
I used Iris from day 1.
I think the best advice I ever had on here was to set out your systems from day 1 as you don't want to have to reload/recreate data when the business has grown and you simply don't have the time.
That being said, it depends on what size you want the business to become, and what type of clients you want to attract in the longer term too.
TaxCalc
We are in the midst of a changeover to TaxCalc. They tick your boxes with the exception of the cloud accessibility, however that is planned for later this year. Like you that is a key feature for me as I need to be able to access from wherever I happen to be. They have a Practice Management suite that can enable deadline monitoring, mailouts etc.
They allow monthly payment of fees too. Overall they came in considerably cheaper than Iris.
Iris Business Ethics
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/anyanswers/question/90-day-notice-period...
Software
I use VT Transactions for the bookkeeping and the accounts generation and also used the HMRC software for filing returns both personal and corporation tax.
VT can cope with sole traders, partnerships and Ltd companies and IXBRL files.
It feeds directly into excel to generate the actual accounts but you can also view the P&L and balance sheet in VT... good all round bit of software and very cheap, support is quite good as well.
I also use Tax Assistant for generating the tax returns which again feeds from VT in a copy and paste format.
Hope this helps
Martin
VT for accounts prep - cant be beaten for the price. can also be used for bookkeeping if needed
taxfiler for tax returns, again cant be beaten for the price
practice management - excel for work flows,
I believe in starting off with systems that can grow.
So I started off with DIgita and that easily grows with you without the need to change. It has all the bells and whistles Iris has without the price tag of extreme contracts that come with IRIS.
If you have a lot of tax clients look at Taxfiler as it looks great value for the price.
If you are wanting a cloud solutuion I think the Capium stuff looks ideal for the money at £600 for everything you need including their payroll and bookkeeping software.
Many people on here swear by VT but I dont like it and think it has a limited shelf life as feel cheaper cloud products with bank feeds attached will take over it.
I have tried it but just dont like it.
If I were you I would go to Accountex in May and go and see all the guys you are considering looking at and go with the one you feel most comfortable with.
that cannot be right
I've got demos booked in with Digita and Capium next week. Spoke to Capium earlier and it sounded great but massive BUT the e-approvals are in beta and when I enquired as to what the cost would be for that (which is one of the things I really want) he said it's probably going to be £5 per client per month. The majority of my fees are £150-£200 for my online business so that's a massive cut in my margin :(
That cannot be right on the price for e signing at £60 per client per year, when the whole software is £1200 for 300 client version of the software, that would be an additional £18k for e signing. You could send a taxi with the returns and it would be cheaper.
Hitting the trouble with cloud solutions
You'll not be able to see Taxfiler right now. It's down.
Otherwise we're another VT, Taxfiler, IrisOpenspace (document exchange & digital signing), spreadsheet and Wunderlist task/deadline management user.
Plan to look at Glide and OneNote following practitioner recommendations.
Taxfiler
Im also looking at Taxfiler and the fact that the system is down is worrying me.
Can anyone comment if this is a regular problem with them?
Iris Openspace
So you can have Iris Openspace without actually the rest of the Iris software? I use kashflow for my own bookkeeping and a few clients
Yes, you can have some space for free. It's revolutionised exchange of large files and swift digital signing for us. A few observations:
Have found that approving a letter of rep or tax return via via Iris Openspace tends to get done by clients more quickly than when attached to email.You can tailor the wording to fit your document for client approvalSince I discovered business partners and spouses replying to me from another partner's business email address, I also try and obtain private email addresses for personal returns (to reduce risk of partners and spouses signing off another's return). But, of course, that's a risk surrounding every method.Periodically clear out files unless you wish to pay for additional file spaceGive clients advance notice of using it and advise them to check spam folder if nothing obviously received (very occasionally the notifications from Iris have been incorrectly designated spam by mail providers)
Capium
Just spoken to Ben at Capium via their live chat. He confirmed that the e-approval facility is still in testing. He couldn't provide pricing as nothing is concrete yet until testing is complete.
Someone has got the wrong end of the stick somewhere.
Pricing
Hi Guys,
Disclaimer - A founding director @ Capium
I thought I should jump in and back out on this. We haven't 100% confirmed the pricing on our client - accountant collaboration features. They are currently in beta stage on the platform, of which there are a few other services along with e-signing that are available (receipt scanning app / docs sharing amongst others). This is part of our Shared Centralised Services offering which will be available soon.
We are thinking about pricing this as a wrapped up bundled service for complete ease for everyone. However we are also considering other pricing options and try to remain flexible and cost effective as always.
We will advertise this shortly once it is confirmed and hopefully it's beneficial for all.
Tush
Tushir Patel
Co-Founder
Capium
Taxfiler
Felt that Taxfiler was very slightly slower for us at peak self-assessment filing, but nothing that worried us. First time we've known it be down - it's back now. Yes, I found this afternoon unnerving as well as very inconvenient.
On the plus side, Taxfiler are quick and helpful responding to queries.
My setup:
VT Transaction+ for book-keeping stuff
VT Final Accounts
BTC Tax and Practice Management
Moneysoft Payroll
Toggl for when I need to time record
Adobe Acrobat DC for preparing reports and using their eSign service
Dropbox for backing everything up to the cloud and accessing elsewhere if needed
I've used the above pretty much from the outset, it's great for a 1 user sole practitioner. Costs well under £1,500pa.
Like you, I do a fair amount of work away from the office, I run everything on my laptop. Other essentials I've found are a ScanSnap scanner, multiple monitors, and a decent coffee pod machine!
I'd agree with Glenzy & murphy1 that you don't particularly want to be switching products too often, it's a big time-consuming hassle, if your intention is to grow considerably and employ staff then Iris or Digita integrated suites would probably be a decent consideration, you just have to grin and bear the costs (although potential time savings can help soften that).
Dont go with Iris.................
We went with Iris from day 1.
Once they have locked you in they treat you terribly. 6% rise this year with not a word. Every time they send us an invoice it is wrong. They charge you 9% extra to pay monthly!
The software is good but the cloud features are clunky.
I would try Digita who seem to be much more reasonable and integrated?
IRIS
We went with Iris from day 1.
Once they have locked you in they treat you terribly. 6% rise this year with not a word. Every time they send us an invoice it is wrong. They charge you 9% extra to pay monthly!
The software is good but the cloud features are clunky.
I would try Digita who seem to be much more reasonable and integrated?
I used to be a big supporter of IRIS, having used their software for a/cs prep and tax for over 10 years. Their integrated software is good and has saved me a lot of time.
However, their consistently large price rises, year after year, mean that if you sign up with them, you can expect your software costs to keep increasing significantly. I'm paying 50% more now than I did 6 years ago for the same package. For this reason, I would recommend that you don't go with IRIS.