IRIS Software - reviews please, costs v benefits?

We are a small practice, 2 partners, 8 chargeable staff looking at moving across to IRIS.

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I have heard very differing views from personal contacts with regard to the benefits on using the full IRIS package weighed up against the significant costs, both for the initial set-up and training along with the annual costs. The only module we are not taking on board is payroll.

Your comments on financial costs, benefits, quality of support and strategic benefits would be most welcome.

I am getting the impression that IRIS is only really cost effective for larger practices where the economies of scale for more users kicks in but would be happy to be put right.

Thanks 

 

 

       

Replies (14)

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By Ian McTernan CTA
24th Oct 2018 12:25

I used to use various software that was then taken over by IRIS.

The cost is ramped up every year, 'justified' by add ons you won't need, will never use, and will probably make it more likely to fail.

Needless to say, I no longer use IRIS (although they seem to be following me around, as they just took over my current supplier...).

Take a good, long look at all the various offerings out there- there are quite a few packages out there now, especially cloud based, and see if you can get a 3 year fixed price (good luck!).

If not, expect an 8%+ increase per annum and factor that into your estimates of total cost.

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By marks
24th Oct 2018 20:41

IRIS is the most expensive option out there.

Really depends what you are taking but if you are going to use everything eg AP, BT, PT, T&F, FAR, PM, AM, O/S then it may be worth it given the size of your firm.

The benefits of using IRIS is that it is fully integrated so the modules talk to each other and any changes update across all the modules and you can quickly run year end accounts, CT return, personal tax return, cover letter (pulling in the relevant figures and dates if you have set up in automail) and then can be uploaded at the click of a button to openspace.

We used to use IRIS but after our 3 year fixed deal their 42% increase plus annual guaranteed increase of between 8-10% meant we started looking elsewhere. We now use Taxcalc to effectively do what we used in IRIS as AP, BT, PT, AM and use Whateglide to replace PM and T&F in IRIS. Only downside is that they arent integrated so things arent automatically updated as they can be in IRIS.

I wouldnt look at the overall £ cost of IRIS but look at it in terms of cost per client or % of GRF. If the cost is about £30-40 per client or less than 4-5% of GRF then the benefits would probably outweigh the costs.

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Me
By John Charman
24th Oct 2018 22:13

Hi Mark,

I work in a practice similar size to yours.

Iris really is a great product, it’s all I’ve ever known and I’d probably be biased towards it.

I can honestly say though, if I were in your position I would be looking elsewhere.

We use it for everything except payroll and time/fees. We’ve been with them around 12 years and we pay around 5k per quarter.

If it was a case of saving maybe half that I’d still consider Iris. It’s the fact that you can get alternative products to do the same thing which costs less than a quarter of the price.

It’s definitely the best product on the market, but in my opinion the cost of it far outweighs the benefit.

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Elliott Chandler Picture
By elliottchandler
24th Oct 2018 23:25

When you move to Iris you'll need to consider the technology. Whether you go hosted with Iris or whether you host it with another provider or install it on a server in your office. Each of the options need exploring.

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By carnmores
25th Oct 2018 14:11

what are you using now?

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Replying to carnmores:
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By Gary Pollard
26th Oct 2018 15:47

Sage for everything apart from Absolute for CT

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Red Leader
By Red Leader
25th Oct 2018 16:14

Costs v Benefits?

Costs: very high.

Benefits: quite good.

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By Fiona Heyes
26th Oct 2018 15:04

We are a small practice of 2 partners and 6 chargeable staff and whilst yes, IRIS is expensive, I think the benefits far outweigh the costs.

We use all the modules apart from Payroll, Time and Fees. I think that the integration between the modules saves us so much time, that it allows our small team to efficiently service a large number of clients.

The support is really good as well. It has had it's moments over the last few years but they have worked hard to improve this and now we find the waiting time is minimal and queries are answered quickly yet efficiently.

As a small practice, keeping compliant and up to date with all the changes over the recent years can be a full time job in itself. IRIS are absolutely on the ball with everything and have taken the hassle out of so many things for us, so much so that I have to give them 10 out of 10 for that. Having that support has allowed us to be ahead of the game with our clients which has been paramount in our success over the last few years.

I also have to disagree that IRIS is only for large firms as when we signed up we were an extremely small practice with only a handful of staff and a couple of hundred clients. IRIS has now enabled us to still work as efficiently as possible whilst flourishing into a practice with 10 staff and over 1,000 clients.

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Replying to Fiona Heyes:
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By Gary Pollard
26th Oct 2018 15:43

Thanks Fiona - can I be nosey and ask how much you are currently paying?

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By marks
26th Oct 2018 18:59

Fiona, what is your cost per client of IRIS or cost of IRIS as as % of GRF.

I wont be as direct as Gary in asking the actual cost you are paying.

Though expect you will be paying something between £30k - £40k a year.

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counting
By Counting numbers
31st Oct 2018 14:21

Whilst it maybe good software it's simply too expensive for most small practices.

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Coman And Co
By ComanCo
03rd Nov 2018 10:25

I would add to the chorus of responses for IRIS is overpriced.

The leaving terms under their license are also excessively costly. You are committed to up to five quarterly payments under their license. Calculate your installment; multiply by five and consider that a liability.

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By philomena
05th Dec 2018 17:59

Please look at my question re Iris posted 5 December- I have been a customer of Keytime for many years and they were taken over by Iris -up to now the support team at Oldham were very good. Guess what, 1 December support transferred and apparently Oldham offices shut down. I spent 2.5 hours on the phone today for support and they still could not resolve it. It is not the fault of the support team- Iris have bought in new staff (got rid of the good team at Oldham) who do not know what they are doing as they have not been trained. The people to blame are the ones who take these executive decisions and the staff are the ones that have to deal with the problems that arise.
I strongly advise you not to use Iris and I note the post from Ian McTernan re Iris following him around.
Best of luck

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By carnmores
05th Dec 2018 20:02

TUPE the dead hand of Iris strikes again....

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