Accountex 2018

Accountex 2018

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On Linkedin and Twitter I am seeing all the suppliers pushing Accountex.  Is it just me but I am not seeing the usual enthusiasm for the London Accountex.   My sister is going but she lives in St Albans so it is not that far to travel.   I have organised webinars for any of the new suppliers that I am interested in or that I think have potential.   I went a couple of years ago.  Unfortunately for me I struggle with my hearing and the cross sound is horrendous so effectively the talks are useless to me as I cannot hear them properly.   

Has Accountex had its day, there really is only so much you say about GDPR, MTD and technology, with all the road shows and other service providers attending alongside the roadshows which I have found very useful but I have seen them now.   

However, if you are going check out Capitalise, Accountancy Manager and Spotlight reporting if you are not using them already, they are my favourites this year.   For me, I enjoy the smaller roadshows as I can hear properly and I do get more out of a webinar. 

Replies (16)

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By marks
22nd May 2018 22:32

I come down every year as I always pick up some useful things whether it be an exhibitor or a talk.

This year I tagged on with some infusionsoft training so been in cheltenham the past couple of days, jumped on the train to london tonight, just arrived in London,then at accountex on tomorrow/thurs and fly back up to edinburgh on Thurs night.

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Replying to marks:
Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
23rd May 2018 06:41

I hope you have a good time and it is beneficial.

I would enjoy it if I could hear the talks but it is a real problem for me.

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By Maslins
23rd May 2018 12:01

I'm going to it tomorrow, together with a few of the troops from the office. Reasons we're going (in order of importance for me...so you can see it's not particularly for hard nosed business reasons):

- give some staff a day out. Not the most exciting, but a bit of variety from sitting in front of a screen day in day out.
- meeting a few existing suppliers, see what they're up to and just network/say hi.
- see a couple of seminars (though as you say in previous years I've found them hard to hear as so much other noise).
- small chance a stand from some firm I've never heard of may intrigue.

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By Sheepy306
23rd May 2018 20:16

Having been there today then i’d Definitely agree that the sound at the smaller seminars is awful.
There’s lots of visitors though, most of the big (and small) software companies. I go for a mixture of seminars, seeing demos and discussing software that I don’t currently use, and catching up with those software co’s I do use. For example I got to see and talk about the BTC solution to VT and MTD filing, as well as their new hub for SA, CT and VAT.
I find it helps motivate me and remind me to look into more options that I don’t otherwise find the time to look at because of workload.

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Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
23rd May 2018 23:16

I am glad to hear it was good. I agree it is good to get motivated.

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By Mr_awol
24th May 2018 12:55

I watched a couple of seminars and spoke to a couple of the salespersons.

I'm not sure how people manage to spend two days there though. One is certainly ample. I'm also surprised at the number of people who go to the accounting guru style 'build a cloud practice with high fees and no effort' seminars. Proof that you can sell any old rubbish idea if people think it will get them rich easy.

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Replying to Mr_awol:
Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
24th May 2018 16:10

I totally agree. Whilst I agree you need to value your services. Clients are not mugs. All these Gurus have become a bit painful and they are White Noise and are getting in the way of good technical talks and looking at the products in detail. There is not enough to get two days out of it.

As one person said on my twitter feed all this cloud accounting is what you do in 2018 is normal so drop the cloud tag. The simple fact is when MTD comes in it will be ready just like RTI was.

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Replying to sarah douglas:
Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
24th May 2018 19:53

If you get the chance see Amanda C Watts, she is much better than the AVN crowd and value pricing brigade.

She talks sense and understands how to market yourself without telling you how to run your practice like the above feel the need to.

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Replying to Mr_awol:
Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
25th May 2018 12:45

That must have been the build a £1m practice on 3 days a week rubbish.

Yes, lots of crap there but there are some decent stands and people to talk to if you can find them.

Agree with Sarah that Capitalise and Accountancy Manager are one's to watch and will do well. They actually listen to their users and adapt their offering accordingly.

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By Cantona1
25th May 2018 11:32

Sarah,
Whoever the "Loudest" wins! Unless you sit in front, It was sometimes difficult to tell if the speaker was the one who standing next to you, or next door.
On a positive note, I am still feeling guilt for taking free "Latte" from Sage.

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7om
By Tom 7000
25th May 2018 11:37

At Accountex I picked up for MTD :
1. There are only 4 software packages approved. What is not approved(yet) SAP Sage Xero QuickBooks....

2. Big companies collate their 600 subs VAT into a spreadsheet and send in the result of the consolidation. Its impossible to be done any other way. There will therefore be an API you can add to your spreadsheet to submit the vat return.

3. So if you have clients using spreadsheets it seems to me they dont need to buy software you pop an API on it rather than just manually entering it into HMRC.

4. Although they said there is only one API available and HMRC wont publish this alone as then it will become market leader and they need some competition... Because this one costs £10 per vat return to use. Now do the sums ... just impagine if you got £10 off everyone sending vat returns in forever.... Rodney this time next year we will be millionaires....
So all I need now is an API.... But when will this come out? What if it gets to December and January and there are none, what do I tell the clients. What if it gets to April and there are still none....There will be some FTSE companies without any paddles and HMRC with no vat returns sent in.

....and there were lots of software sellers.... and its £8 for a sandwich

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Replying to Tom 7000:
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By Mr_awol
25th May 2018 15:40

Tom 7000 wrote:
<

....and there were lots of software sellers.... and its £8 for a sandwich

More than that at Subway. I got a tenner out and had to swap it for something larger

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Replying to Mr_awol:
Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
25th May 2018 16:41

I my hotel it was £13 for a sandwich, and £12 for a tray charge to bring it to your room. So £25 for a sandwich.

I asked if he could just carry it without a tray but he didn't seem to understand what I meant.

In Newcastle if you attempted to charge such prices you would end up with your sandwich stuffed somewhere you maybe wouldn't want.

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Replying to Glennzy:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
25th May 2018 16:50

Should have brought your snap tin.

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Replying to Glennzy:
By mrme89
25th May 2018 16:50

For my 21st, it also happened to be my uncles 40th. We went to London on a lads trip and stopped at a swanky hotel. He was at the bar and picked up an apple out of the fruit bowl and started to eat it. The barman came over and handed him a bill for £12.50.

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Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
25th May 2018 12:49

Sound system - I thought it was a lot better than last year. Maybe that was just the talks I listened to.

2 days? I only went for one, same as last year but actually think now I should have gone for two. After attending 3 talksm getting demos of 2 products, talking to the guys from Sith Towers and a few suppliers I know - the day was finished.

I left not having spoken to at least two vendors I wish I had.

Agree that you do need to go with an agenda or it can feel like a waste of time and a lot of noise.

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