Month: February 2019

Making Tax Digital for VAT... made simple

Why is HMRC Making Tax Digital?

According to HMRC £9bn is lost every year as a result of tax calculation mistakes, something that can be mitigated in most cases with the implementation of MTD.

Seeing the necessity to make tax administration more effective, efficient and simple, HMRC are taking steps towards a fully digitalised service that revolutionises tax reporting as we know it today.

What is MTD for VAT?

MTD for VAT is currently at the forefront of the initiative, requiring MTD compliant software to keep digital records and prepare VAT returns. Businesses will no longer be able to upload their records to HMRC’s website manually.

  • Business owners will be required to keep digital records of their taxes, using MTD compatible software.
  • Rather than submitting digital records directly to HMRC’s website, the requirement will be to submit tax reports via their MTD compliant software.

What is MTD compliant software?

There are two options for choosing software that is compatible with MTD. You can either use one product that does everything, or several different products that are linked together:

  • Select from HMRC's list of software capable of both keeping and submitting tax records. Popular choices are Xero, Sage, FreeAgent, KashFlow and Reckon - all of which integrate with Tide.

OR

  • Use a spreadsheet to to keep your tax records alongside a bridging or linking software to upload them.                                                                                                                                     

Who does MTD for VAT apply to?

From April 2019, all registered businesses with a turnover above the VAT threshold (currently £85,000 excluding VAT) must use MTD.                   

 If your business is voluntarily VAT registered, you can choose whether or not to use MTD, if your business is not VAT registered at all you won’t be affected at this stage.

The complete timeline has yet to be set in stone, but it’s expected that from around April 2020 all remaining VAT registered businesses will also be obliged to comply with MTD.

Are there any exemptions?

According to the Chartered Institute of Taxation, you can apply for your business to be registered as officially exempt if it is incompatible with your religious beliefs, disability or remoteness of location. If you think you’re eligible you should contact HMRC as soon as possible.

How do I sign up for MTD?

You can sign up for MTD at GOV.UK. It’s important to note that once you’ve signed up to MTD, you cannot go back and use your old method. Once you’re signed up to MTD you must start using your MTD compliant software to send returns.

What if I don’t comply with MTD?

There will be penalties in place for those who don’t comply with MTD, but it’s likely these won’t be enforced in the initial stages, so don’t panic! HMRC recognise that MTD is a big change for business owners so they’re taking a lenient approach during this transition. If something out of a businesses control goes wrong, HMRC may refrain from inflicting penalties.

 

 

by Rob Deighton

QuickBooks ups the ante on MTD

Intuit QuickBooks has announced that its full Making Tax Digital (MTD) product suite is now live.

In a product demonstration on stage at QuickBooks Connect London, VP and UK country manager, Chris Evans, and head of product Europe, Shaun Shirazian, showed how both accounting professionals and small businesses can use QuickBooks, now, to file in compliance with the biggest tax compliance change in a generation - HMRC’s Making Tax Digital for VAT.

Included in the MTD product suite is QuickBooks’ Bridging Software. Bridging Software enables small businesses and accounting professionals to use spreadsheets to file their VAT through QuickBooks in compliance with MTD filing requirements. For small business customers using spreadsheets, the process remains easy and familiar, while adhering to HMRC’s MTD filing rules. Bridging Software is ready to use, now, for small businesses and accounting professionals.

Shaun Shirazian, Head of Product Europe, said: “Accounting professionals and small businesses are looking to the software industry to make MTD easy. After conducting numerous pilots, through listening to the feedback of our customers and by working closely with HMRC, we have optimized and iterated QuickBooks and built a best-in-class solution ready for the MTD generation that is available to QuickBooks users. As digital tax is embraced, our next challenge is to help small businesses and accounting professionals put digital at the heart of their business to help them supercharge productivity, run and grow their business.”

Both the MTD for VAT and Bridging features are included for free in all QuickBooks Online subscriptions*. QBOA users have access to reduced QBO subscription pricing as part of QuickBooks’ ProAdvisor loyalty programme.

In solving for MTD, QuickBooks developed tools to help accounting professionals and small businesses save time in the VAT work flow.

Firstly, unique to QuickBooks and launched as a pilot on Tuesday, SmartCheck helps accounting professionals and small businesses save time by identifying common mistakes as small businesses submit their VAT return. Secondly, Smart Notifications which launches soon, is a system that notifies accounting professionals when their clients need to file for VAT, pulling in due dates and automatically creating tasks in Practice Management. Both tools are included in the QuickBooks Online subscription.

QuickBooks research shows small businesses and accountants need support as they transition to MTD. As a result, QuickBooks has launched and MTD hotline, which can be reached at 0808 168 4238, 9-5 Monday to Friday.

Flat Rate Scheme is currently not live in the MTD product but will be available soon. Accountants currently can’t file for themselves, but this will also be available soon.

  • SmartLook: QuickBooks adds to its award-winning customer service with the addition of SmartLook, virtual customer service now available for accounting professionals. With the click of a button, accounting professionals can speak, live, to a customer service agent who can use video technology to help with troubleshooting, tech support and questions around getting data into QuickBooks. SmartLook will give accounting professionals additional confidence that they can get fast, accurate answers when facing technical problems managing a clients’ books.
  • QuickBooks Online Advanced Payroll: QuickBooks announces an advanced, feature rich payroll product, QuickBooks Online Advanced Payroll. QBO Advanced Payroll solves for accountants and payroll bureaus that manage multiple businesses with complex payroll needs. Available now in QuickBooks Labs, QBO Advanced Payroll provides a route to payroll automation, a streamlined pension experience and a self-service portal for employees, including a mobile app. QBO Advanced Payroll is a different product, but complements the existing QuickBooks Online Standard Payroll, a simpler payroll solution.
  • Client Overview: Now available in QBOA, Client Overview is designed to help accounting professionals win new client business. Accounting professionals often review a new prospect’s digital accounting records to understand how much work will be required to perform a one-time clean up and how much work there will be to maintain the books on an ongoing basis. This work can take hours, but using Client Overview within QuickBooks takes that down to minutes by showing accountants everything they need on one screen. From additional services that might be required, to the volume of transactions on a monthly basis, to how recently the books were reconciled, accountants can now use Client Overview to more confidently price their services and help their clients understand what is behind that pricing.
  • Statement Auto-Import: QuickBooks research shows 35 percent of an accounting professional’s time is spent chasing clients for the assets they need, such as bank statements, to get work done. Available now in beta, when a client connects a financial institution to QuickBooks to download transactions, QuickBooks automatically imports bank statements, too.
  • Client Benchmarking: Going live soon, this feature will help accounting professionals deliver more value to their clients by leveraging data on the QuickBooks platform to instantly provide deep insight into how a business is performing relative to peers¥. Client Benchmarking will recommend actions for accounting professionals and their clients to consider in order to make them more profitable and increase their cash flow.

QuickBooks Product Innovations for Small Businesses and Self-Employed:
Also announced today are a number of innovations that will be coming soon to help Small Businesses and the Self-Employed put digital at the heart of their finances.

  • Receipt Capture: QuickBooks announces Receipt Capture will launch soon across its entire line up. An accountant, small business or self-employed can use mobile to snap a photo of a receipt, and QuickBooks will automatically import and match it to a transaction. This helps users track receipts on the move, attach receipts to invoices, eliminate lost or damaged receipts, and store them for easy reference. By taking on the burden of managing receipts, QuickBooks gives users time back to focus on running and growing their business.
  • Mileage Tracker: Keeping a log and manually tracking mileage can be a major pain point for small businesses and the self-employed. QuickBooks first launched Mileage Tracker to Self Employed customers in QBSE as an easy and automatic way track their work miles. QuickBooks has since tracked over 1.4 Billion miles in business travel around the world, finding customers more than 560 Million Pounds in deduction savings. Today, QuickBooks announces Mileage Tracker will be available soon across its entire product line up.
  • Open Banking: Open Banking in QBO is coming. The opening of bank APIs enables QuickBooks to give customers unprecedented levels of control in the automation of their finances. It also opens up significant time savings, innovation and partnership opportunities that will revolutionise how technology shoulders the burden of financial management. QuickBooks today announces Open Banking connectivity will soon be live with the five top small business banking account providers – Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays, Santander and RBS / NatWest. Functionality is currently being tested with a group of QuickBooks customers and will be generally available soon.

 

 

 

by Rob Deighton

Taking time out for a working holiday in Morocco

I take a working holiday to warmer climates to escape the winter and to create focused time working on a project.  This year I wrote the first draft of my second book Scale Your Sales, but then another surprise project materialised.

I spent six weeks in Morocco.  I took my book outline, and within days of arriving I secured a local data SIM for internet access, drafted a work plan and started writing.  My target was to write 1,500 words a day, but I was soon beating this target. The writing and research were going well all through Christmas and New Year celebrations.

I would wake and jog along the beach at sunrise, after breakfast, I sit down for the day to write, with a break on the balcony I would continue to work until my brain was completely fried.  Dinner was at 7pm followed by a relaxing evening speaking to family and friends or watch movies.

Atlas mountains

The uninterrupted days were interspersed with massages, reading, visits to the Hammam, a tour of the Atlas mountains, a few socials with other tourists in local bars. You can see my many posts of this time on my Instagram channel.

I have enjoyed these working retreats for many years and would highly recommend it if you have the flexibility to make space in your life for an extended working holiday.

The benefit of a long retreat is the expanse of space for uninterrupted creative thinking.  Creative thinking is simply the ability to look at the thing in a new was, to make a new connection, to problem solve and to see things differently. It is said, that creative thinking encourages self-expression and allows you to distinguish yourself from the crowd. During this time, I am my most productive and I deliver my best work because I have the thinking space to do so. I do not see this as a luxury but as a necessity for my business.

“I wonder how much better your company would be if you were able to take stock every year?” 

Big projects

It is essential to have a compelling reason for any big projects; otherwise, you will get distracted and lose momentum. I know the book writing process is an endurance race that is not complete when the book is written or even published. The hardest bit for me is to get started on connecting coherent ideas into relevant strategies and models.

“What important project could benefit from you taking yourself away and dedicating focused time on starting and completing the project?”

Here is my process of planning for any successful business project that provides a solution relevant to an audience.

What’s Your Reason Why?

My reason for writing was to get my Scale Your Sales system in a format that was easily accessible and widely available to my audience. I had developed the model from my work developing sales teams in Key Account Management using strategic sales tools and social selling methods. The first task in any project is to understand your reason why and create clarity on the objective of the project. Your reason and intention may be lead generation, credibility building, passive income, or new business opportunities, but establish it up front.

Why You or Your Business?

What unique perspective, experience or skill do you or your business have that no one else has that an audience needs to help solve a problem? I had the experience and knowledge; however, there was always a niggling feeling around the impact this book would create, something I need creative time to explore. While writing the Scale Your Sales draft book, there were more significant ideas germinating on the bigger sales transformation, which did not easily fit into my Scale Your Sales model.

If like me you want your project to become one of the most powerful marketing assets in your business portfolio, potentially earning you multiple media appearances, speaking opportunities, more clients, consulting contracts and new product development, then there is a process that you need to ensure your project is successful.

  1. Begin with the end in mind and ask what do you want your project to do for you and your business?
  2. List your objectives in order of priority; here is mine:
  • Create thought leadership.
  • Secure paid global speaking opportunities.
  • Land opportunities for consulting and masterclasses.
  1. ‘If you build it and they will come’ does not work so list the audiences that your objective will have the highest impact on, this your project's community.
  2. Nurture and engage the community with survey and updates long before the project is ready to launch.
  3. Market and promote the creative process and the launch strategy long before the project launches, the sales strategy must all be well executed if the project is to be a success.

Regardless of your business objective, for

your project to have a significant business-building impact, it is crucial to have clarity when undertaking an energy-intensive project.

Writing a book can become a meaningful brand and business opportunity only if the book is relevant and compelling to your target community of potential buyers. The best way to ensure that they do come, get them involved and invested in discussing the content and adding value to the solution. Excellent sources of answers to your research questions include Quora, Ask the Public, Industry forums on social media and survey platforms.

The critical thing is not to go through the agony of writing a book or investing in a project unless you have evidence that there is an audience to buy it. I plan to continue interviewing industry experts, as I am aware that my perspective is not the only consideration.

I want the book to have a unique value proposition, and I have read the books my target audience would have read, to get the audience perspective and a clear idea of the gaps in the market. Some of the expert interviewees may add to the recommended reading, which will help create a blueprint.

Get a Mentor

You would not start a business or advise anyone to do so without first doing diligent research on the target audience, the product and seek professional advice from someone who has done something similar.

If you have never written a book before and would like to then I would recommend The Ultimate Guide to Writing and Marketing a Bestselling Book - on a Shoestring by Dee Blick, I have written one chapter on self-publishing, but this book gives you everything you need to know. There are many decisions to make, and it is best to have an overview of the options, the pros and cons. Whether you decide to self- publish, hybrid or go with a publisher, you must develop your community early in your book writing project.

There is no point writing a book or doing any project if it is not going to get found by the audience, it was created to help. The marketing and sales are as essential as the creation of the product unless you invest in the promotion then you will not generate the impact and the sales worthy of your energy investment.

The surprise project that materialised was that I had material for another book that take the perspective of the buyer rather than the seller – watch this space!

I have some exciting sales strategies to share with you at Accountex, make sure you book your seat for: 6 Ways to Scale Your Sales Building Brand. Janice will be speaking at Accountex on May 2 in the Sales and Marketing Theatre at 11am.

 

by Rob Deighton

ACCA offers members free IRIS OpenSpace storage

In a bid to remove GDPR pressures and improve client communication, the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) is announcing a partnership with IRIS to offer IRIS OpenSpace free of charge to members.

The move comes as the industry continues to grapple with GDPR processes while looking to improve collaboration and communication with clients.

Exchanging sensitive and confidential information with clients is an important part of the accountancy professional’s daily routine, but many are still facing issues with insecure email, expensive file sharing sites and compliance with UK data protection requirements.

Steve Cox, chief evangelist of IRIS Software Group explains: “Access for ACCA members helps streamline compliance, and with MTD for VAT coming into force very soon, every single efficiency gain is now crucial to a firm’s success.

IRIS OpenSpace allows accountants to securely share a draft set of accounts, a tax return or a financial statement with the client, and clients can send bank statements, payslips and electronically approve documents sent from their accountant.”

The agreement comes on the back of the memorandum of understanding signed between IRIS and ACCA last year. It allows ACCA members to create an IRIS OpenSpace account with 1GB of free storage, enabling them to securely upload, store and approve documents. The portal can be customised with a practice’s own branding and is accessible from any location and any device.

Claire Bennison, head of ACCA UK says: “We constantly look at ways we can add benefits for our members, such as providing useful tools which will help them thrive in the digital accountancy economy.

"With an average annual spend of £500 for secure document exchange, the partnership with IRIS provides a tangible benefit which allows practices to focus on what they do best.”

by Rob Deighton

Building a successful accounting practice requires digital at its heart

Excellent and well managed clients, as well as effective talent management, are the essence of a successful practice. But providing clients with a modern and high value service is more than just bringing in fresh blood to the practice. Transforming your practice requires a mindset change and a willingness to leverage technology.

Practices have traditionally been focused on partners and a limited range of services including compliance as well as, optionally, advisory services.

Client loyalty has been of paramount importance and the lifeblood of the business has been recurring fees.

Driving down prices

But compliance and accounts production, including straightforward tax, are becoming homogenous products, which is driving down prices. The overlay of advisory work is no longer optional.

And while MTD might seem daunting, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the accounting profession to change the way it operates.

It offers accountants a real opportunity to provide clients with an improved service, while also increasing the profitability of their practice. There’s no option to opt out, and firms that are not on the front foot with the changes, will suffer.

Process improvement

Moving the majority of your work onto the cloud, maximizing the benefits automation can bring you, as well as its scalability and the process improvement it brings too, will change how your practice works – for the better.

The process of change can affect all areas of practice, including how fees are billed. Again, the gulf is widening between those firms still billing on a traditional, annual basis and those adopting a regular subscription-based model (usually including the cost of the cloud software).

This second group are already seeing benefits in their cashflow and profitability figures. The value of a practice with a regular, monthly set of recurring fees will move ahead of those that stick with an annual billing model. There should be little sympathy for the practice that fails to embrace new technology.

Digital represents some real challenges, but its introduction can’t be ducked. It must be seen as an opportunity to change the way your practice works. If you do this successfully, your practice can become more attractive to clients, more agile, efficient and profitable, and consequently worth more at retirement or sale.

If practice transformation is an issue for you and your practice to resolve, then come and meet the Foulger Underwood team on stand 490 at Accountex on 1-2 May. If you’d like to speak beforehand, please email Julia Whistler at [email protected].

Foulger Underwood are M&A and strategy consultants focused on the accounting, legal, trust and corporate service and wealth management sectors.

 

 

 

 

by Rob Deighton

Sage automates salary and supplier payments with Modulr

Sage has partnered with high-growth UK payments fintech Modulr to simplify the task of managing accounts payable and payroll payments.

Sage Salary and Supplier Payments, will allow businesses and their accountants to securely manage and process payments from directly within the Sage Accounts and Payroll products.

A key part of the success of small businesses is their ability to access high-quality and responsive banking services. Initiatives such as Open Banking and the RBS Alternative Remedies Package are creating new opportunities for digital alternatives to increase the competitiveness of these services.

The Modulr and Sage partnership aims to improve the payments offerings available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and accountants; helping to bring much needed innovation and competition to the UK SME banking and payments market.

Sage Salary and Supplier Payments, powered by Modulr, will allow business owners, payroll managers, accounts payable administrators, payroll bureau and accountants to securely process payments directly from Sage Business Cloud Accounting and Sage Payroll products. The seamless and automated payment service will be delivered to Sage customers across the UK using Modulr’s award-winning payment accounts that provide access to payment services 24/7, 365 days of the year.

The solution will allow customers to eliminate manual payment processes, preventing costly errors and risk of sensitive payment data being compromised whilst benefiting from the time saved by automated reconciliation of payment data. Importantly, Sage’s Accountant and Payroll Bureau Partners will be able to benefit from delegated service access – allowing the accounting practice to seamlessly control and manage payments processing on behalf of their whole client base, while simultaneously reducing practice overheads.

Seamus Smith, executive vice president global payments and banking at Sage, says: “Being able to pay employees and suppliers on time is an essential part of modern business. By enabling our SME customers and accountant partners to automate vital financial processes directly from our products, we can exceed their expectations. This will help them to save time on administrative processes, take control of the flow of money through the software, improve data security and reduce costs.

“Modulr brings significant industry expertise that offers us the opportunity to expand the capabilities of our solution with new functionality and geographies, together with specific support for the development of our partner channels.

“Customers and accountants will further benefit from real-time visibility of payments, seamless reconciliation of payment data into Sage’s Accounting and Payroll products and role-based access controls, meaning that they can track and manage a full audit trail of activity pertaining to outgoing payments, which will give them full control of a crucial part of their business.”

Myles Stephenson, chief executive of Modulr, added: “Our Payments as a Service API platform enables our partners to quickly and easily integrate new payment services into their core products.  Our innovative partnership with Sage will enable SMEs to address the significant burden created by existing inefficient payment processes. Our fully integrated service provides a fast, easy and reliable alternative to processing payments via traditional business and corporate banking.”

The new Sage Salary and Supplier Payments, powered by Modulr, is now available to existing Sage Payments customers and new and existing Sage customers.

by Rob Deighton

MTD roadshows by Wolter Kluwer

There has never been a stronger push to embrace digitalisation in the tax and accounting industry, but MTD is just the beginning.

It will fundamentally change how your practice operates, how regularly you’ll need to collect data and how you’ll communicate with your clients.

The move to digital goes beyond just using digital data and software. It is a chance to future-proof your processes and create new services.

By using the right strategies and implementing the latest digital technology, your MTD preparations could catapult your practice ahead of the curve.

CCH OneClick is a complete solution to enable your practice and clients to truly embrace digitalisation and the transition to MTD.

Join one of Wolters Kluwers' half-day MTD Roadshows at SIX locations across the UK this March to find out more about how we can help you to make the most of this opportunity for growth and the end-to-end digitalisation of your practice.

Here’s a taste of what we’ll be covering:

  • The state of the nation: The 5 challenges facing our industry in 2019
  • Future-proofing your practice beyond MTD
  • How to achieve end-to-end practice digitalisation
  • Setting up your practice and clients for success with CCH OneClick

THE ROADSHOWS

Visit the Wolters Kluwer website to see all venues, find out more and book online.

by Rob Deighton

AI and machine learning for accounting: is it the future?

AI, or artificial intelligence to give it its full title, is huge. It’s everywhere. No matter what sector you are in or what you do within your business, you’ll be more than aware that AI is the future. Or so we’ve been told. In fact, we’ve been told it so many times that it can be difficult to really determine whether using AI is going to be helpful or not – and if we do choose to use it, there is always a chance that we could be expecting a lot more than it can deliver.

With a financial management system like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, however, the claims are not hype. It really does do what it is meant to do, taking away from the workload that the accounts department would otherwise be bearing. As well as simplifying routine tasks including coding accounting entries, the fact that it is cloud based means that it is totally secure. But it is the AI that really counts here. This technology can replicate the human element by offering tax planning suggestions, client goals, and even operational reports.

AI and Machine Learning For Accounting: It’s Here

Our initial query was whether this kind of AI and machine learning for accounting was the future. The answer is that it’s not, but only because it’s actually already here. Although most experts within the accountancy sector have stayed away from suggesting that AI capabilities are exactly what it needs, it is slowly coming round to the fact that it really can make things easier, quicker, and much more efficient.

An essential requirement for a modern system should incorporate built-in intelligence in the form of AI. This design will save the user time and energy by providing insights, for example cash flow forecasts and automating data entry. A modern system should also notify you about tasks, you might be interested in connecting to other tasks you are about to complete. If you create a purchase order to reorder a product from a supplier, a modern system should notify you of other items from the same supplier that are about to be sold out, so you can add them to the purchase order to ensure stock never falls below your designated thresholds.

AI also allows you to streamline your business processes and reduce time consuming manual data entry tasks. For example, when uploading a product image during product setup, a modern system will read the image and recognise the associated product and automate parts of the setup, complete fields and offers suggestions for improvements. Additionally, when receiving an order from a customer, your system should read the order details and autofill these into the system on your behalf.

Functionality

One of the major benefits of a modern system is its adaptability: it should be easily moulded to a company’s requirements and capable of being amended at any given point to meet the needs of the business. Your organisation will change as it grows, and having this adaptable software at a business owner’s fingertips is a huge bonus.

A modern system should also work directly with Outlook straight out of the box, with no integration required. Users should be able to access system data from within Office, Power BI and Outlook. From within your Outlook inbox, imagine being able to perform tasks such as raise and email invoices and quotes, view customer balances and send statements. The ability to create workflows to ensure you comply with necessary controls and business processes are a must and, as part of a modern package, audit trails are there as standard too.

AI and Machine Learning for Accounting Is Good For You

AI and machine learning for accounting won’t mean that you don’t have a job to do anymore. However, what it will do is to make you better at the job you are doing now – you will be more efficient, more engaged, and much more able to get the answers that you need and other people want. Using technology in the right way will increase and strengthen your role. And by embracing machine learning in your processes, predictive insights will deliver more value to your role too.

Times They Are A-Changing

Disruption seems to be everywhere at the moment, in both the good and the bad sense. When it comes to AI and machine learning for accounting, that disruption is definitely good. Nothing like this sort of all-round change has been seen for decades, and what Business central is able to do – and allow those working in the sector to do – is to become much more aware and powerful when it comes to real time accounting.

Automation is not something to be afraid of; it is something that needs to be embraced if you are going to succeed and rise to the top of your field either individually, or within your company in general.

For more information on how Business Central can help you achieve your goals, and how AI and machine learning for accounting can make all the difference, speak to one of our specialists.

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by Rob Deighton

Auto enrolment: employees telling tales on their employers

Auto enrolment compliance is still very much at the forefront of the pensions regulator’s (TPR) objectives. However, a small minority of employers are still not complying with their auto enrolment duties. Some employers tell their employees that they would face a pay cut if they joined a workplace pension scheme.

Others tell them that they have in fact been enrolled when a pension scheme has not even been set up. These employers are hoping that their auto enrolment duties will simply disappear or that their employees won’t even notice that they are being denied their rights.

Fortunately, employees are very aware of their rights and entitlements. TPR is relying on employees to inform them where their employer has failed to properly carry out their automatic enrolment duties.

According to TPR: "It was a whistleblower who alerted us to the situation at Birmingham-based Crest Healthcare, whose staff were told that pension contributions were being paid by the employer when, in fact, a scheme hadn’t even been set up."

Both the company and then managing director at Crest were prosecuted after pleading guilty to non-compliance.

For the most part, the role out of automatic enrolment has been hugely successful with over 1.2 million employers gone through the process. More than 9.6 million people have gained a workplace pension as a result which is some achievement. The majority of employers continue to comply with their AE duties and it’s now a regular part of their payroll process.

It’s likely that a small number of employers will continue to try to evade their duties. Whistle-blowers are a vital component to identifying these employers that have not acted on their legal employer duties. TPR receive over 80 reports every week from employees who suspect that their employers are breaking the law. These reported cases have directly led to around 600 employers being investigated for non-compliance.

Complying with auto enrolment is easy!!

It makes sense for every employer or payroll client to comply with their auto enrolment duties. It is a relatively easy process when users utilise payroll software that has automated functionality to process their employer auto enrolment duties. BrightPay is one such payroll software tool that takes the grunt work out of calculating and processing the ongoing duties required.

by Rob Deighton

How cloud platforms are automating payroll services for profit

Payroll servicing is evolving to a move towards cloud access and flexibility for you, your clients and their employees.

The day-to-day tasks of annual leave management, payslip distribution, uploading employee hours and backing up your payroll files can be process-driven and handled by cloud technology.

The payroll and HR landscape is fast evolving as business savvy payroll bureaus move towards new-world online technologies. Be ready to offer a new level of payroll and HR related services by embracing cloud innovation.

Download THIS GUIDE now to see how new cloud technologies are positively impacting the way bureaus and accountants offer payroll services.

by Rob Deighton