I received a flyer this week from Gbooks. This is software for Accountancy Practices which is in the cloud. They offer unlimited use for personal tax, partnership tax, company tax and company accounts among others for £1,950 + VAT per annum. This is much cheaper than Iris used by me. Does anyone use it, can anyone say if it works, know who is behind it and a thousand other questions. There does not appear to be software for unincorporated buinesses accounts.
More details can be found at www.gbooks.co.uk
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i really like the look of this
am going to give it a l good look after the SA season is over
I've tried it and it works
I've taken the plunge.
I signed up for gbooks and used the system for some of my 2011/12 compliance - personal tax returns, partnership returns, company accounts and CT600s.
My comments are as follows:
- it works. It's web-based, it's fast and the webpages look neat and professional
- it's always going to take a little bit of time to work out a new system, but everything is set out in a logical way and I was able to get going pretty quickly
- I had to contact technical support to sort out some minor issues (relating to the initial set up of the system). I got through quickly and they were helpful
- I was able to create PDFs of the accounts and tax returns which I could download and send to the client. They all looked good.
- once I'd put in the right user IDs in the right places (oops!) I was able to submit accounts to Companies House and send tax returns to HMRC electronically without a hitch
I came across one or two minor issues I'd like to see improved, for example the descriptions in the settings page. I spoke with gbooks about this and they seemed keen for my feedback.
So, overall, it was a positive experience. The fact it is web-based is definitely a plus - I was able to log-on from home as the SA workload increased, and there were none of the system crashes (usually at exactly the wrong time) I've experienced with other software.
Looks good
I have been looking for a cloud based solution for ages, was passed this today. It does seem to tick all of the boxes for an integrated system, most notably automatic selection of appropriate notes etc.
Am going to trial it this week. Will feedback here on how it goes.
First thoughts
Had a quick look at the software and really like the look and feel of it. Its reporting looks very good and ease of use through the system.
However, there are some issues.
Main disappointment is the trial format. I want to use some 'live' data to input information in but it doesn't allow you to do that. Whenever I have tried new software in the past it has allowed you full access for a limited time so that you can really 'play' with it.
It also does not appear to be Trial Balance based. With most of my clients I either take the cashbook summaries or Kashflow/ quickbooks CSV files and import the data, then add journals. This does not seem to do that or produce a TB/ nominal ledger report. May be just trial mode issue.
Mabzden - about to send a PM regarding it.
gbooks
I used gbooks software to submit Partnership Returns to HMRC and found it straightforward and easy to use. Any assistance required was rendered promptly and fully via phone or e-mail.
gbooks
I just wondered if anyone had any updates as I'm exploring all options at the moment!
I have had a look as well and the fact it is not trial balance based does worry me that it will not be easy to see which figures from clients have gone into which part of the accounts.
TB coming
They have promised me trial balance entry will be here by August.
It does add extra time to compile accounts though. I produce a TB on excel or do adjustments direct to software if online. It can be a pain just trying to reconcile profit.
Unincorporated accounts now supported
I received a message from gbooks last week to say you can now create sole trader and partnership accounts. I did my first set of sole trader accounts using the system on Friday and it seemed to work well. You can choose the various parts of the accounts you want to include in the PDF, and import accounts into the relevant tax return when you're done.
I haven't as yet found anything to moan about, but will update you when I do!
Licencing model flawed
Has anyone else been stung by the licencing model within GBooks?
I just had a bit of shock in that I wanted to do a set of May 2013 accounts and cannot because I now need a 2013/14 licence in order to do this.
I purchase the software in February with 2012/13 licence not realising that this does not cover me. The majority of companies were processed using my old software so I have effectively double paid accounting software.
Just something to be aware of.
Historically with IRIS and Absolute my licence covered the tax year for self assessments but Companies (regardless of year end) were also part of the licence for the year that I had the software.
I wanted to activate this post to ask members of their latest experience with gbooks.
Many thanks
Bought a licence for 10 accounts production from them - solely for submission of LLP accounts online as they seem to be the only ones who do that at the moment.
Overall satisfied with them, but will not use gbooks for anything else as TaxFiler is still cheaper and does the job as fine.