Technology for solo practitioners 1: Computers

I have a computer at home, and I have a computer at work. I don’t carry a computer between the two, nor a USB stick, nor do I email documents between home and the office. That’s the great advantage of today’s internet today: it lets me work on a document at home and then carry on seamlessly working on the same document in the office, or on a laptop away from both home and office, for example at the beach. (Since sand and laptop innards don’t really mix that well, that particular stunt requires care and attention.

Clients expect the same level of service from a sole practitioner as they would receive from a larger practice – and perhaps a bit more.  Being out of the office - if you even have an office as such - is no reason not to deal with email, telephone calls, or to work on documents.  This introductory guide covers hardware, and will be followed in the next couple of weeks by articles covering the services and software I use to manage my practice. For the avoidance of doubt, I get no commission or any other benefit for mentioning any of the products I use in this article.  I just find them useful and pass on the details in the hope that others will also find them useful. Other services, software and computers offer similar functions and may suit your particular needs better: use a search engine like Google to explore exploring these other options.  

At home, in the office, on the road: computers and internet access

Further reading
Technology for solo practitioners 2: Going paperless
Technology for solo practitioners 3: Keeping track
Practice technology - expert guides, tips and Any Answers

Taxation magazine
This article includes extracts from a longer piece originally published by Taxation, the market-leading weekly magazine providing news and features on UK tax law, practice and administration. A subscription costs £319 a year and includes full access to the online Taxation archive.  Next week: Going from paper to electronic documents.

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