I’m on a mission to depict the current landscape of software available to accountants to help improve their practice through better visibility, efficiency and/or automation.
My goal is to break down and understand just how many pieces of software are out there to help paint a picture on what firms can do in 2019 to build their tech stack successfully in the UK.
Here’s Part 2 of my personal guide:
Workflow, Job management
- AccountancyManager
- Senta
- Karbon
- BTC
- Capium
- Glide
- CCH
- IRIS
- Xero Practice Manager
- QuickBooks Online Accountant
- Thomson Reuters Onvio
- Sage Accountant Cloud
When you see a list like this where do you start? If anything it was a little overwhelming to see just how many product there are available to accountants in the UK. In Australia this number is nearly halved and even when you consider what firms are using in the cloud, that number becomes a lot smaller.
Personally my biggest recommendation for picking a workflow tool, is try to find something that is going to integrate into your cloud accounting ledger. If you’re running QuickBooks or Xero, then you need to be sure that your workflow tools have an integration. If there’s no integration, then again you need to be mindful of what are you actually trying to solve, as you’ll end up double handling your data manually which is the opposite of what you want to achieve.
If you’re looking for an easy no cost entry to the market and you’ve got a small team. QuickBooks Accountant or Xero Practice Manager could be a great option for you to consider. Both products integrate back to their cloud ledger and have their own perks and benefits as a result. Also with Xero’s acquisition of Instafile it’s only a matter of time before this is incorporated into their practice management strategy in which case you’ll hopefully have a books to tax workflow, all-in-one.
For something with more depth and complexity, then it’s hard to go past tools like Senta, Karbon and Accountancy Manager. Yes you got options with CCH, Sage, etc but I would say this is not where the momentum is. BTC and Capium have notably been award winners in the past – but having little no to exposure to them or firms using them I can’t comment too much on how effective they are.
You’ll also find that some of these tools mentioned may also have Tax filing included which we’re about to talk about next.
Once you find a workflow tool that suits your needs, helps your firm stay organised and you’re really on top of your client work! Congratulations you’re 50% of the way there!
Tax
- Digita
- TaxCalc
- InstaFile (Xero)
- TaxFiler
- Nomisma
- ABC Self Assessment
- Simple Tax
Again, I found a lot of different tools that you could be using in the firm, with a variety of desktop, cloud and everything in-between. Coming back to my first point, I need something that integrates directly into my cloud ledger, and even better if that’s connected to my workflow solution.
As previously mentioned, Instafile was an interesting acquisition for Xero. I’m watching intently to see how this new product add’s to the UK Strategy.
In this mix the two I’ve come across the most are TaxCalc and TaxFiler, with both having integrates to QuickBooks and Xero, this is potentially a smart platform for you to be using if you carry both or one of those options in your firm.
The conclusion…
Navigating your way through the UK software market is no easy feat. I thought this would be a cake walk but honestly I can tell you, it wasn’t. I was left with a lot of questions. But when I focused back to the key pieces that were most important it was integration and streamline of process. I don’t want to have to learn how to use multiple pieces of software, I don’t have the time to trial 4 different practice management systems and I want to create a seamless experience for my clients, so that even they can see the benefits of running a fully cloud and automated stack.
Now this guide won’t work or for fit everyone. Why? Because we’re all different. You’ve got different firm with different needs and maybe you’re already using a combination of the products mentioned. It can be hard to shift, switch and change, especially if you’re systems are heavily integrated or completely disconnected. There’s no point bringing in another disconnected system unless it’s helping you to improve your client or staff experience, and help improve your profitability. Anything that doesn’t meet these two bits of criteria and you really need to ask yourself why you’re using it in the first place.
Good luck, happy hunting and remember. It’s best to plan out what you’re trying to achieve first, before you start buying tools and trying to get them to fit your existing processes. You may need to reinvent yourself and/or your firm as part of this process.
Trent will be speaking at Accountex on 1-2 May 2019. Check out the line-up here.