A practitioner for more than 20 years, Tony Margaritelli is Chairman of the ICPA to promote recognition of small practice accountants who remain the top trusted advisors to millions of UK businesses.
A member of the AccountingWEB Live advisory board, Tony brings a unique perspective on what it means to be a practitioner and leads an organisation that serves and speaks on behalf of more than 1,140 fellow professionals.
Do take the time to checkout the Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Company offering.
I know the name is a "mouthfull" but the product does everything that is required to keep a practice compliant and at a price that remarkable value for money.
It is fully accredited by the ICPA and ICPA members receive a special discounted price.
We at the ICPA have taken a number of calls this morning and late yesterday from ACPA members concerning the contents of this email, some because they mixed up the initials of the organisation and some because they had received the email and were now looking to join us.
Obviously, we cannot comment on the validity or otherwise of the email or the allegations concerning the ACPA contained therein. If it is a "joke" then it is in very very poor taste at best and the originator ought to be ashamed and if it is not then it appears ACPA members have every right to be concerned.
All we have been able to do is point those who mistook us for the ACPA to the correct people and those others we have helped as best we can.
As far as I am aware if the original dormant accounts were lodged within the prescribed timescale and the amended accounts are lodged as "Amended" then no fines will be forthcoming from Companies House.
HMRC may not be as accomodating when you actually return the losses for the years concerned.
Lets be honest up front and say that frankly there is nothing wrong with the Iris software and all its parts function as expected all that is wrong with IRIS is the cost.
If your practice is such that only by total integration of Accounts, Tax and Correspondence can you function then Iris is the one for you and you better get used to paying a premium.
If on reflection and consideration you break down the sum to its componet parts and view each in isolation then obviously numerous significantly cheaper options become available.
For Accounts production checkout the ICPA/Diamond Discovery joint production "Comnprehensive Accounts" at www.comprehensivesoftware.co.uk where unlimited acounts could cost as little as £150.
For Personal and Business Tax there is a wealth of good software available from Taxcalc to Ptp to Forbes etc they all produce what is required for significantly less than Iris.
All are capable of accomodating multi users.
Integration is the key and it depends how much value you place on this one aspect. Undoubtedly the larger the practice the more important this aspect becomes but at a cut off of 150 clients I wonder. My own experiences are such that the mere act of integration can cause the staff and Principals to "Stop thinking" and trust the software with dire consequences.
For myself I don't view Integration as being the "holy grail" of practice development so I run various software which cost significantly less then Iris and I'll still say that the time "lost" in non integration is a) rather negligible and b) actually of more value to the practice as we spend more time thinking about both the client and what we are actually preparing.
I hope this posting helps but at least you can say you got a response.
As Chairman of the ICPA I have spent this morning reviewing the correspondence and helpine data before posting a response.
The ICPA have 670+ member practices at present and obviously the numbers fluctuate. The helpine takes approx 3,000 telephone calls from members per annum.
We do not set a maximum usage because tax problems do not arise in linear fashion so if we set a monthly level and a practice had a particluar vexing tax enquiry case then they would feel hamstrung if they were already at the monthly maximum. We allow members to make calls they feel important when they feel the need to make them. We also understand that at the annual SA deadline and P35 filing deadline calls to the helpine always peak understandably so.
Obviously, we have to pay for the helpine and we receive details of the calls made every week and they are reviewed usually on a monthly basis.
A letter is only sent when a specific practice has usage far in excess of all the other member practices in the month. This is pointed out to the member and they are asked to review their usage in the light of this information and to see if that by judicious use of other available means future calla need not be made.
We have numerous instances where the member was completely unaware of the number of calls as his staff were responsible. In every instance that we have sent such a letter and we do not have to send them on a regular basis the following months sees a fall in the calls made bar none.
At this point no imposition of a charge is made but the member is informed that if this level of usage is maintained a charge would have to be levied per call.
To date in all the years of the ICPA no charge has been made.
I have checked the letter in question and it is most certainly not rude.
We feel that if we impose a rigid maximum a member may not make a call to the helpine because of this which could result in an error with obvious consequenses.
We allow the practice to make the calls and only ask them to reflect upon future calls and we see no reason to change because this way we are certain that a member will always have access to help and support when they need it most.
My answers
Checkout AMLCC
Do take the time to checkout the Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Company offering.
I know the name is a "mouthfull" but the product does everything that is required to keep a practice compliant and at a price that remarkable value for money.
It is fully accredited by the ICPA and ICPA members receive a special discounted price.
Tony Margaritelli - Chair ICPA
Small Practice Software
"Taxcalc" or "PTP" for the Returns and "Comprehensive Accounts" for the Accounts production and IXBRL output is my personal recommendation.
"Taxcalc" and "Comprehensive Accounts" have also both been accredited by the ICPA.
Tony Margaritelli - Chair ICPA
ACPA Internal Issues
We at the ICPA have taken a number of calls this morning and late yesterday from ACPA members concerning the contents of this email, some because they mixed up the initials of the organisation and some because they had received the email and were now looking to join us.
Obviously, we cannot comment on the validity or otherwise of the email or the allegations concerning the ACPA contained therein. If it is a "joke" then it is in very very poor taste at best and the originator ought to be ashamed and if it is not then it appears ACPA members have every right to be concerned.
All we have been able to do is point those who mistook us for the ACPA to the correct people and those others we have helped as best we can.
Tony Margaritelii - Chair ICPA
Dormant Trading Accounts
As far as I am aware if the original dormant accounts were lodged within the prescribed timescale and the amended accounts are lodged as "Amended" then no fines will be forthcoming from Companies House.
HMRC may not be as accomodating when you actually return the losses for the years concerned.
Tony Margaritelli - Chair ICPA
Iris Alternative
Lets be honest up front and say that frankly there is nothing wrong with the Iris software and all its parts function as expected all that is wrong with IRIS is the cost.
If your practice is such that only by total integration of Accounts, Tax and Correspondence can you function then Iris is the one for you and you better get used to paying a premium.
If on reflection and consideration you break down the sum to its componet parts and view each in isolation then obviously numerous significantly cheaper options become available.
For Accounts production checkout the ICPA/Diamond Discovery joint production "Comnprehensive Accounts" at www.comprehensivesoftware.co.uk where unlimited acounts could cost as little as £150.
For Personal and Business Tax there is a wealth of good software available from Taxcalc to Ptp to Forbes etc they all produce what is required for significantly less than Iris.
All are capable of accomodating multi users.
Integration is the key and it depends how much value you place on this one aspect. Undoubtedly the larger the practice the more important this aspect becomes but at a cut off of 150 clients I wonder. My own experiences are such that the mere act of integration can cause the staff and Principals to "Stop thinking" and trust the software with dire consequences.
For myself I don't view Integration as being the "holy grail" of practice development so I run various software which cost significantly less then Iris and I'll still say that the time "lost" in non integration is a) rather negligible and b) actually of more value to the practice as we spend more time thinking about both the client and what we are actually preparing.
I hope this posting helps but at least you can say you got a response.
Tony Margaritelli Chair ICPA
IXBRL and Comprehensive Accounts
May I suggest that you checkout Comprehensive Accounts at
www.comprehensivesoftware.co.uk
This is the joint ICPA/ Diamond Discovery solution to the IXBRL conundrum which costs just
£100 for 50 Limited Company filings and only £150 for unlimited filings.
Driven by the ICPA members concerns on this issue we together have developed this package
which we feel represents tremendous value for money.
You can read about the software in "Taxation" magazine's IXBRL supplement issued this month.
If anyone wishes to contact me feel free to call on 0800-074-2896.
Tony Margaritelli - Chair ICPA
ICPA Helpine
As Chairman of the ICPA I have spent this morning reviewing the correspondence and helpine data before posting a response.
The ICPA have 670+ member practices at present and obviously the numbers fluctuate. The helpine takes approx 3,000 telephone calls from members per annum.
We do not set a maximum usage because tax problems do not arise in linear fashion so if we set a monthly level and a practice had a particluar vexing tax enquiry case then they would feel hamstrung if they were already at the monthly maximum. We allow members to make calls they feel important when they feel the need to make them. We also understand that at the annual SA deadline and P35 filing deadline calls to the helpine always peak understandably so.
Obviously, we have to pay for the helpine and we receive details of the calls made every week and they are reviewed usually on a monthly basis.
A letter is only sent when a specific practice has usage far in excess of all the other member practices in the month. This is pointed out to the member and they are asked to review their usage in the light of this information and to see if that by judicious use of other available means future calla need not be made.
We have numerous instances where the member was completely unaware of the number of calls as his staff were responsible. In every instance that we have sent such a letter and we do not have to send them on a regular basis the following months sees a fall in the calls made bar none.
At this point no imposition of a charge is made but the member is informed that if this level of usage is maintained a charge would have to be levied per call.
To date in all the years of the ICPA no charge has been made.
I have checked the letter in question and it is most certainly not rude.
We feel that if we impose a rigid maximum a member may not make a call to the helpine because of this which could result in an error with obvious consequenses.
We allow the practice to make the calls and only ask them to reflect upon future calls and we see no reason to change because this way we are certain that a member will always have access to help and support when they need it most.
Tony Margaritelli - Chair ICPA
LLP Disclosures
We get asked this a lot at the ICPA so check out
www.surebeck.co.uk
Tony Margaritelli - Chair ICPA
ICPA
Janet,
We applied for status but unfortunately "fell at the last hurdle" which was basically that we had not been
in existance long enough.
We can reapply late next year I believe.
Tony Margaritelli - Chair ICPA
ICPA
As the Chairman of the ICPA I am most undoubtedly the most obviously biased AWeb member.
The ICPA is an organisation which caters for all Accountants in
Practice today. Our membership is made up of members from all
the major Institutes and from those Accountants qualified by Experience.
Our ethos is to recognise the value of the local acountant in practice today and
in doing so to provide as much support and innovation to this sector as we can.
If you take the time to checkout our website at www.icpa.org.uk you will see that from our £300,000
PI initiative, the telephone helpline support, the free software, the new initiative with Peninsula
Taxwise on Fee Protection, our work on the IXBRL Issue resulting in "Comprehensive Accounts", our work
with HMRC on the Working Together Initiative and countless other benefits we believe we believe we are
"getting there". Indeed with in excess of 670+ practice members in such a short time so do a lot of other Accountants.
Tony Margaritelli - Chair ICPA