Hi everyone
I am starting my own accountancy practice and looking for the cheapest and best software for accounts production, filing tax returns and payroll. I also have a part time job so I dont expect to have a huge number of clients to start with (less than 10 clients) and I also want to focus (but not exclusively) on non for profit organisations. I just want somethings which does the job with the best value for money.
Thank you
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Replies (15)
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Iris.
What do you want the cheapest or the best?
Do a search on aweb, this question has been asked and asked and asked and asked to the point it’s just boring.
Perhaps the OP did not check the user guide and search for previous answers first, but while you find the question boring, they may not - and anyway, what's fascinating is that the answers are constantly changing as product capabilities improve.
A year ago, Xero Tax wasn't ready, nor did we have the all-new Sage for Accountants package (though I would wait until February before getting too serious about that).
So have some patience, please, and if the question bores you then perhaps don't bother getting involved with it rather than sniping at the OP. Season's greetings and thanks.
You've got your practising certificate, PII, AML registration, etc all sorted? And a business plan?
I've not been in practice since qualifying, but it strikes me that 10 clients may barely generate enough to revenue to cover the mandatory costs. Especially if they're not-for-profits where the desire/ability may be low.
It's not the question asked, I know. Just saying.
Depends on the fees per client, 10 @£5,000 makes a decent start. I managed my PT practice with less than 20 clients but with a few (not 10) at £5k plus fees.
"I am starting my own accountancy practice and looking for the cheapest and best software for accounts production, filing tax returns and payroll."
There is no answer to this. The question is ingenuous.
No idea if best or cheapest but I used (still use ) Taxcalc re tax and accounts production and Brightpay re bureau payroll- however not sure this is a good choice re not for profit entity accounts.
cheapest is taxfiler or Xero Tax if you use Xero for your bookkeeping
Mid Range - Taxcalc and BTC
Top End - Iris and Digita
Start how you mean to go on, if you want to pack in work at some point and aim to get 100 clients then look at Taxcalc from the off.
Also I would be not be so keen to work with not for profits and charities the scope creep is horrendous and they have an expectation that you should work for nowt also.
Xero - your clients cover their own subscriptions and if you can learn Xero Tax then the whole package is included: bookkeeping to accounts & CT + filing VAT & payroll
Thanks for your question bpham. As well as the helpful answers you've received here, you would do well to search the Any Answers page for "start up software" or "start up practice". The results are patchy, for which I apologies, but as I hinted the possibilities change frequently. Here's one from last year as a sample:
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/any-answers/software-suggestion-for-star...
Some of our members have questioned whether choosing software should be your first point of query when there are so many other considerations (regulation, insurance, client acquisition etc).
AccountingWEB also has some content related to that on our start-up-in-practice page: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tags/start-up-in-practice
There's a marketing guide available from our sister company PracticeWeb: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/resources/how-to-market-your-startup-acc...
...and if you do a wider Google search, you can track down all sorts of other resources to help you plot your course. Good luck and let us know which direction you go!
Check on the above. Look at a longer term view as once you start on a system set-up, it would be hard to change or move away later on.
We use CCH/Wolters Kluwer. It is decent (not the best) but expensive and we are stuck with it as it involves a lot of effort moving away from same.
For accounts production: VT Final Accounts and VTTransaction+
https://www.vtsoftware.co.uk/
For filing tax returns: Taxcalc
https://www.taxcalc.com/tax
Payroll: Payroll Manager
https://moneysoft.co.uk/payroll-manager-overview/