No, I don't offer evening meetings. Sometimes I may offer Saturday/Sunday mornings but they are not the norm. For me evening and weekend work is uninterrupted time when the phones are quiet and e-mails turned off. It is so valuable and I prefer not to sacrifice that.
This is our preferred software for bookkeeping and VAT return processing. It's easy to import from client's spreadsheets (we give them a proforma spreadsheet to use). Clients like it as it is easy to use and there are no hidden extras to pay for unlike the charge bases used by some of the other software houses.
I have used VT+ and BTC for about 10 years now and love them both. VT+ does come with it's own accounts prep facility and you can submit to Companies House through the VT Filer, but it does not provide the taxation facilities, which is where BTC comes in. Over the years I have started to input the trial balance from VT+ to BTC and draft the accounts in there for a more seamless transfer to the corporation tax, partnership tax or self assessment tax returns. The only fly in the ointment now is that BTC have joined the Bright Group, so what has until now been a fairly cost effective software solution on the BTC side may well turn out to become more expensive in the future.
We received notification from Sage yesterday their prices for the Sage Accountants platform are going up by 12%, not quite as bad as Xero but it is on top of a 9% increase last year. It is getting harder and harder to justify the cost of Sage these days and I personally wouldn't bother with Sage at all if it was not for the fact that we still have a few clients that have never used anything other than Sage for their bookkeeping and find the thought of changing software too challenging.
We are looking at coming off Brightpay and moving back to Moneysoft. Brightpay have just announced another huge hike in the cost for 2023/24 and having moved to Brightpay from Moneysoft during lockdown due to access issues for staff working from home, we don't find Brightpay particularly user friendly when compared to Moneysoft.
We use VT+ for bookkeeping and VAT returns and BTC for accounts, corporation tax, personal tax and company secretarial. No nonsense, easy to use and helpful support teams. The only fly in the ointment is that BTC have just joined the Bright Group so things may change but after 10 years or so of fantastic service from BTC I am not going to jump unless things change dramatically.
I have an office above shops that is only accessible by pressing a buzzer and no shop window. It works well for us as it is only manned a few days a week and is mainly a place for file storage and meetings.
We have used Brightpay for a few years now and they have usually based their licensing on the annual upgrades. We did get a concession on the first year as we joined in February and ran it alongside our existing payroll until the tax year end. Most payroll software run licensing around the tax year end, Moneysoft relicenses in March so that you have to upgrade before you can run the year ends. Looking at the price hike Brightpay have applied for the 2023/24 tax year, it is quite likely that we will be looking elsewhere next year.
My answers
No, I don't offer evening meetings. Sometimes I may offer Saturday/Sunday mornings but they are not the norm. For me evening and weekend work is uninterrupted time when the phones are quiet and e-mails turned off. It is so valuable and I prefer not to sacrifice that.
This is our preferred software for bookkeeping and VAT return processing. It's easy to import from client's spreadsheets (we give them a proforma spreadsheet to use). Clients like it as it is easy to use and there are no hidden extras to pay for unlike the charge bases used by some of the other software houses.
I have used VT+ and BTC for about 10 years now and love them both. VT+ does come with it's own accounts prep facility and you can submit to Companies House through the VT Filer, but it does not provide the taxation facilities, which is where BTC comes in. Over the years I have started to input the trial balance from VT+ to BTC and draft the accounts in there for a more seamless transfer to the corporation tax, partnership tax or self assessment tax returns. The only fly in the ointment now is that BTC have joined the Bright Group, so what has until now been a fairly cost effective software solution on the BTC side may well turn out to become more expensive in the future.
We received notification from Sage yesterday their prices for the Sage Accountants platform are going up by 12%, not quite as bad as Xero but it is on top of a 9% increase last year. It is getting harder and harder to justify the cost of Sage these days and I personally wouldn't bother with Sage at all if it was not for the fact that we still have a few clients that have never used anything other than Sage for their bookkeeping and find the thought of changing software too challenging.
We are looking at coming off Brightpay and moving back to Moneysoft. Brightpay have just announced another huge hike in the cost for 2023/24 and having moved to Brightpay from Moneysoft during lockdown due to access issues for staff working from home, we don't find Brightpay particularly user friendly when compared to Moneysoft.
Why pay additional subscriptions for Xero when you already have VT+ included in your VT accounts subscription?
We use VT+ for bookkeeping and VAT returns and BTC for accounts, corporation tax, personal tax and company secretarial. No nonsense, easy to use and helpful support teams. The only fly in the ointment is that BTC have just joined the Bright Group so things may change but after 10 years or so of fantastic service from BTC I am not going to jump unless things change dramatically.
I have an office above shops that is only accessible by pressing a buzzer and no shop window. It works well for us as it is only manned a few days a week and is mainly a place for file storage and meetings.
VTT+ for bookkeeping and VAT
BTC for accounts and tax returns
Moneysoft for payroll
We have used Brightpay for a few years now and they have usually based their licensing on the annual upgrades. We did get a concession on the first year as we joined in February and ran it alongside our existing payroll until the tax year end. Most payroll software run licensing around the tax year end, Moneysoft relicenses in March so that you have to upgrade before you can run the year ends. Looking at the price hike Brightpay have applied for the 2023/24 tax year, it is quite likely that we will be looking elsewhere next year.