Accountex steps up call for women speakers
Diversity and gender equality are rarely out of the headlines in the accounting profession media, whether it's partners in practice or pay parity.
In 2018 Accountex made big steps towards increasing the number of women speakers on its agenda-setting theatre programme.
The line-up included: HMRC boss Theresa Middleton; accountant and author Della Hudson; marketing expert Amanda C Watts; AI authority Caroline Plumb; and of course, Elaine Clark of CheapAccounting with her popular round table sessions. To name just a few.
Women in Accountancy
Also, at Accountex Summit North, the Women in Accountancy group was set up.
For 2019, accountancy and finance's biggest event - at ExCeL London on 1-2 May - is taking even greater strides to boost the number of women on the speaker programme. With that in mind, it has launched the Woman in Accountancy “Speak Up” Campaign
Accountex portfolio event director Zoe Lacey-Cooper says: "One of the most interesting discussions that we had at Accountex was about the lack of women speakers on the programme, and how women are less likely to put themselves forward to speak and why woman are hesitant to speak up.
Submit speaker sessions
"So for next year’s Accountex programme we want more woman in accountancy to “Speak up” and encourage more woman to submit speaker sessions.
"There are many woman influencers and experienced accountancy professionals, and many have probably got some great case studies and experiences to share with their peers."
Zoe, who is spearheading the campaign alongside Elaine adds: "Standing up and speaking to an audience can be daunting, but we want to help and support those who would like to try it out and offer guidance from an experience presenter trainer who is also familiar with the accountancy profession.
Help and support
"Accountex has found a professional presenter trainer who not only runs her own accountancy and bookkeeping firm but is who is a drama teacher for Disney!"
That is Alexandra Bond-Burnett runs Bond Ambition and is keen to get involved in training accountants to be more confident with public speaking.
So please speak up! And talk to us on how we can help you speak on the Accountex programme in 2019.
Accountex launches the search for speakers
Whether you’re a new kid on the block or a seasoned campaigner, there could be a place for you in the limelight at Accountex 2019.
So, if you have something to say and you'd like to share your insights with accounting's key influencers at London's ExCeL on May 1-2 next year, get in touch with the Accountex team. Because they've just launched their call for 2019 speakers.
Accountex London is one of the biggest (CPD accredited) accountancy and finance events in the world. It attracts more than 8,000 visitors over two days and hosts 270 exhibiting companies.
The event team works closely with experts and thought leaders across the sector to offer 200 speaker sessions in 11 theatres.
Key influencers in accounting
"Last year we had speakers from all over the world on topics ranging from GDPR and MTD to Blockchain and bookkeeping, "Zoe Lacey Cooper, Accountex portfolio director, says.
They included HMRC chief Theresa Middleton, investment guru Justin Urquhart Stewart, Intuit QuickBooks' European chief Dominic Allon and tax expert Rebecca Benneyworth.
Adds Zoe: "We are looking for speakers who can creatively explain and contextualise the latest trends, challenges and issues that the accountancy and finance profession is facing now and in the future.
Long-term challenges
"If you can offer fresh angles on long-term challenges so much the better."
So, if you would like an opportunity to present at Accountex, please click on the link below to submit your speaker submission form.
Steering committee
Accountex has a steering committee that will verify all submissions and plan in the full programme in December.
You have until 5pm on Wednesday 28 November - so please get your entry in as soon as possible because we will not be able to extend the deadline!
Click HERE to see how to complete the form and get involved.
See (and hear) you next May!
BrandWatch: How to beat the compliance complexities of GDPR
A compliance tool that helps accountants navigate the complexities of GDPR and stay on top of their obligations is making waves in the software market.
Using its award-winning product design and practice know-how, TaxCalc has created GDPR Centre. It also provides the capability to respond effectively in critical situations relating to personal data. For example, if a data breach occurs or a data subject access request is received.
Using TaxCalc’s intuitive workflow SimpleStep, GDPR Centre not only makes it easy to demonstrate compliance, it covers off specific situations relating to GDPR and day-to-day practice tasks, such as creating sets of accounts, generating tax returns, bookkeeping and payroll functions.
TaxCalc’s "Check & Finish" validation tool comes into play to flag any potential errors or mismatches of data.
GDPR Centre enables accountants to:
Record data breaches – and help prevent them from happening again
- Fulfil, track and file data subject access requests
- Complete comprehensive checklists of GDPR-compliant policies and procedures
- Log the appointment, training and actions of the data protection officer (if applicable)
- Carry out annual reviews of data processes
- Record the kind of personal data being held and the lawful basis for holding that data
- Create risk scenarios to test how a practice might react to a variety of situations
- Record any data organisations a firm might work with
Every required action is easy to understand and carry out, with instructions and technical terms written in jargon-free language, and supported with reference to official guidelines and video tutorials.
GDPR-friendly features elsewhere in the TaxCalc suite
TaxCalc is committed to making the transition and adoption of GDPR as simple for practices as is possible. Earlier this year a number of GDPR-friendly features were also released:
- Consent management in TaxCalc’s practice management ‘engine’ Client Hub, for keeping track, managing and reporting on the consent to specific types of communications clients have agreed to
- Updated engagement letters for GDPR Compliance in the Mail Merge section of Client Hub
- Data secure, PDF Encryption add-on module for TaxCalc Tax Return and Accounts Production products
Over the coming months, TaxCalc will see the introduction of new tools and enhancements to create a robust, integrated, GDPR and MTD-enabled practice management suite aimed at firms large and small.
TaxCalc GDPR Centre is available to buy now for £125.
BrandWatch: Elaine Clark to advise Coconut
Award-winning accountant Elaine Clark is taking on an advisory role at Coconut, the online current account for freelancers and the self-employed.
Elaine created the Cheapaccounting.co.uk franchise to make small business accounting as efficient and cost effective as possible so this move makes perfect sense.
Sam O’Connor, Co-Founder and CEO says: “Coconut is bringing banking and accounting together to eliminate business admin for self-employed people and small business owners.
Real-time bookkeeping
"But we want the accountants our customers work with to also benefit from real-time bookkeeping and rich data because this saves everyone time and money.
“90% of businesses in the UK are owner managed and 90% of the growth in small companies since 2001 are non-employers. These businesses tend to have simpler requirements than bigger businesses but the products out there are complicated and dated, so haven’t kept up with the shift in the market.
"We think that these firms and the accountants that support them need access to the most advanced technologies and Coconut will provide this in a tailored product.”
Working with the coconut team
Elaine says: “I’m really excited to be working with the Coconut team as they build out the accountancy offering of their product. I think the convergence of banking and accounting will be more transformative than cloud accounting was 10 years ago.
"We want accountants to be able to harness the full potential of technologies like machine learning to enable them to better service their clients while also improving margins and allowing them to grow their practices. Coconut will soon allow them to do this in a single tailored product.”
Community of accountants
Coconut is building a community of accountants in a Facebook group called Coconut Partners. In the same way that customers have been a driving force in the development of features, they aim to do the same with the accounting community.
Coconut is an app-based smart current account combining banking, accounting and tax services designed specifically for the UK’s fast-growing freelance and self-employed workforce.
The company launched its iPhone app for sole traders on 31 January and has opened 2,500 current accounts with £10m payments processed. Last week, Coconut pre-approved the first Android customer and continues to build features to support sole traders and in the future limited company contractors.
Coconut was founded by Sam O’Connor and Adam Goodall who met 10 years ago when training as accountants at PwC. They started freelancing after selling their first business, a FinTech company called ProConfirm, to Confirmation.com in 2014. Coconut is backed by leading tech accelerator, Techstars, and was named one of the ten winners of the Nesta Open Up Challenge, a competition to award prizes to innovative businesses using new Open Banking APIs.
Accounting profession singles out Brexit as biggest headache
It's time for accountants to "step up to the plate" when it comes to Brexit, according to the ICAEW's head of tax.
Frank Haskew says: "Our profession is facing a generational, monumental change. This is massive for all of us."
He adds (perhaps with a hint of understatement) that clients across the country are "starting to get worried".
And he is urging the accountancy profession to work out ways of engaging meaningfully about what the future holds... especially for the 145,000 VAT-registered UK businesses that trade exclusively with Europe.
A lot of work to do
"There's a lot of work that we need to do," he told more than 100 delegates at the chartered accountant body's Deconstructing Tax conference in London last week.
"We do not know how to come into this [Brexit scenario] and engage."
But Haskew reckons that "we have to assume no deal" and that future trading conditions will be set through collaboration with the World Trade Organization.
Brexit headwinds
ICAEW member education will be at the heart of the profession's ability to negotiate the Brexit headwinds successfully.
Haskew's comments about monumental change refer also to HMRC and its prospects for coping with its own structural changes, making tax digital, plus the customs changes brought about by Brexit.
"HMRC are clearly struggling," he says. He points out that there has been an admission by HMRC chief Jon Thompson and Co that "we can't do all that they [the government] is asking".
Internal reorganisation
The HMRC could administer any one of MTD, Brexit or the internal reorganisation ... to do all three concurrently is impossible. Hence with Brexit, "everything else is put on hold".
Haskew says that the ICAEW tax faculty will be on hand to help accountants deal with the EU uncertainty, initially with the resources available on its website here.
The Deconstructing Tax conference proved to be an interesting and worthwhile day, with interesting sessions from the likes of Rebecca Benneyworth, John Cassidy, Peter Rayney, Lloyds Bank's Donna Dimmack and and SWAT's Sharon Cooke.
I'll be doing a short round-up of the conference on Friday.
Accounting firm offers a Brexit solution
As the debate over Brexit continues to rumble on, one of the south-west’s leading firms of accountants is helping businesses to continue trading with the EU regardless of whatever deal is struck.
Through its membership of an international accountancy network – MGI Worldwide – Milsted Langdon will be working with its colleagues in Dublin to help UK businesses set up Irish registered subsidiary companies that will allow them to continue enjoying the current trade arrangements with the EU.
A team of accountants from the firm, which has offices in Taunton, Yeovil, Bath, Bristol and London, recently met with their colleagues in Ireland to flesh out the arrangements ahead of the UK leaving the union in March 2019.
The Brexit effect
Simon Rowe, partner at Milsted Langdon, says: “Companies who trade with the EU are understandably worried about the effect that Brexit will have on their ability to trade.
“A simple solution for many could be to set up an entity within the EU through which they can continue to trade with their overseas customers in case no deal is achieved or the deal agreed restricts trade. This is why we have strengthened our bond with our fellow MGI members in Ireland to help businesses prepare.”
As part of the service Milsted Langdon will help to incorporate an Irish registered company with all the necessary tax registrations and banking arrangements.
Negligible cost
“If the UK does get a ‘good deal’ it is fairly straightforward for the company to be struck off at negligible cost,” adds Simon.
“However, if it is required then businesses will be ready to go and they won’t get caught in the inevitable delays which will occur as businesses who haven’t planned ahead rush to follow suit.”
Milsted Langdon believes a number of businesses could benefit from this service and hopes that those with a large customer base in the EU will consider utilising the firm’s expertise and connections through MGI Worldwide.
To find out more about Milsted Langdon’s Brexit services, please visit HERE
Tracker is miles better
MyFirmsApp, developer of custom apps for accountants and bookkeepers, is set to launch a powerful new 'Mileage Tracker'.
It will automatically and accurately log business trip mileage for tax purposes and reimbursements.
The Mileage Tracker is one of the most popular tools in the app and this new version has features that have been introduced as a result of feedback from over 1,200 accountancy firms with over 250,000 end users.
Improve user experience
MyFirmsApp works with customers, partners, and industry drivers like Apple, accounting institutes and legislative bodies, to develop solutions that improve user experience, deliver better performance and continually innovate.
The new tracker uses the most advanced GPS tracking to deliver best-in-class accuracy.
Based on feedback that users were forgetting to start the mileage tracker at the beginning of a journey and failing to capture all their trips, the new tracker auto-detects a trip using a state-of-the art algorithm so the App tracks in the background.
Number of journeys
It is expected that this will increase the number of journeys that the user records and will result in less chasing by the accountant for the client’s business mileage when completing the end of year tax return. If the user prefers to switch this off, they have the option to choose a manual start.
The company says: "Even in manual mode, the Mileage Tracker is simple to operate. The user simply taps 'start' to ensure the App tracks the journey (even when minimised) and presses 'stop' to end the tracking.
"The App automatically prompts the user to name the journey and gives the user a choice of selecting whether it is a business or personal trip. Details of the trip can be sent to the accountant at the click of a button or as an email attachment, wherever there is internet connectivity.
Important details
Mike Page, head of product management at MyFirmsApp says: “In addition to background tracking, we have streamlined both the list screen and the manual trip entry interfaces to remove unnecessary distraction and to focus the user on the important details, first and foremost.
"The way in which trips are stored and synchronised has been changed to improve the accuracy of the recording and syncing across multiple devices so that any trips recorded when the app is off-line will be sent to the cloud* and will appear the next time the user visits the mileage tracker. Any trips logged while the app is online are synchronised in real-time.”
"The Mileage Tracker is a valuable tool that has been developed for the latest OneApp platform and adds value to enhance the digital client experience. Every single App built is bespoke and is of the highest quality, fully endorsed and compliant with industry professional bodies and is constantly updated to include the latest technology so practices save time and money.
"Being the only company in the App space to have ICAEW accreditation helps to show the company’s commitment to putting accountants first."
Celebrating excellence in accounting!
Celebrating excellence in accounting and financial management, the British Accountancy Awards take place at the splendid Grosvenor House in London's Park Lane tomorrow.
The awards, hosted by Mock the Week's Josh Widdicombe, will welcome about 800 guests from practices all over the country. The awards are run by Accountancy Age and supported by groups including Accountex.
A panel of 25 judges has been sifting through scores of entries in the following categories:
- GEA Network International Firm of the Year;
- MPA Group National Firm of the Year;
- AJ Chambers Mid-Tier Firm of the Year £10m – £25m;
- Sage Mid-Tier Firm of the Year £3m – £10m;
- Independent Firm of the Year – South-West, England;
- Independent Firm of the Year – South-East, England; Independent Firm of the Year – East, England;
- Independent Firm of the Year – Wales & Midlands, England;
- Independent Firm of the Year – Scotland, N.Ireland & North, England;
- Independent Firm of the Year – Greater London, England;
- Tax Team of the Year;
- Inflo Audit Team of the Year;
- Xero Small Practice Innovation of the Year: Turnover below £3m;
- Mid-Tier Firm Innovation of the Year: Turnover between £3m – £25m;
- Large Firm Innovation of the Year: Turnover over £25m;
- Outstanding Advisory or Client Project of the Year;
- Graduate and Non-Graduate Programme of the Year;
- Innovation & Transformation of the Year – Accountants in Industry;
- Finance Team of the Year;
- ACCA Rising Star of the Year;
- Sage Partner of the Year;
- New Partner of the Year;
- CFO/ Finance Director of the Year.
TaxCalc makes electronic signing simple
Obtaining client approval for key documentation, such as sets of accounts or tax returns, has traditionally been an issue for accountancy practices.
Sending out hard copies in the post, then hoping for a prompt response from the client can be a waiting game and a sometimes even a lottery.
Now, with eSign Centre, TaxCalc has dramatically improved the approval process for its customers, saving time, paper and administration.
How it works
The accountant:
- Quickly prepare an envelope using TaxCalc’s trusted SimpleStep
- Stuff with electronic copies of tax returns and sets of accounts and send
- Client checks and signs, from anywhere on any device
- Receive immediate notification of their electronic approval
- Manage and send reminders from the eSign Control Centre
Now you just have to decide what to do with the time you’ve saved.
Status tracking
A full audit log of communications shows which documents have been signed and those that are outstanding. If any documents have been rejected, the signer can explain why. Complete visibility and full status tracking is not only good document management, it’s also good practice for staying GDPR-compliant.
Safe and secure
TaxCalc has teamed up with leading electronic document signing company, Signable, to provide a secure email platform. This gives the added reassurance of knowing that all correspondence is completely safe and confidential as it transitions between practice and client.
From as little as 90p per envelope
The service is charged for by envelope. The more envelopes bought, the more inexpensive it becomes. Envelopes can cost as little as 90p each.
eSign Centre is available now. For more information, visit here.
eSign Centre is just one of a number of significant product launches for TaxCalc. The coming months will see the introduction of new tools and enhancements to create a robust, integrated, GDPR and MTD-enabled practice management suite aimed at firms large and small.
BrightPay wins payroll software gong
Congratulations to BrightPay for winning ‘Payroll Software Product of the Year’ at this year’s AccountingWEB’s Software Excellence Awards.
The group was up against Moneysoft, Xero Payroll, Capium and The Payroll Site.
BrightPay has a 99 per cent customer satisfaction rate, and is used to process payroll for over 120,000 businesses across the UK and Ireland.
Fantastic for BrightPay
Marketing manager Karen Bennett says: “We’re delighted to win this award, especially after coming so close last year. It’s fantastic for BrightPay and our team to be recognised by our customers and the AccountingWEB members, and a massive thank you to everyone who voted for us. Go team BrightPay!!!”
Paul Byrne, MD, adds: “It’s a real pleasure and honour to receive this award. It’s great to see such recognition for all the hard work we have put in. We work hard each year to improve the BrightPay experience for all of our customers, both in terms of the payroll software itself and the customer support that we offer.”
This year, the primary focus has been on BrightPay Connect, our optional add-on product to the BrightPay payroll system. We have been working on one of the most anticipated features yet for BrightPay Connect, which involves the ability for payroll clients to enter employee payments, additions and deductions or upload employee timesheets through their BrightPay Connect bureau/client dashboard. Furthermore, payroll bureaus can seamlessly send a payroll summary to their client before the payroll is finalised for the client to approve the payroll run through their secure portal.
This client payroll entry and payroll approval features (coming soon) enable bureaus to reduce the time needed when processing payroll, while putting the onus on the client to ensure the payroll information is 100 per cent correct before the payroll is finalised.
Payroll demo
BrightPay will be returning again to both Accountex London and Accountex Summit North next year. Make sure to pop over to the BrightPay team to see the client entry features in action or book an online payroll demo today to see for yourself why BrightPay won ‘Payroll Software Product of the Year’.
BrightPay’s bureau licence includes unlimited employers, unlimited employees and costs just £229 + VAT per tax year. The bureau licence also includes full functionality for auto enrolment, CIS, payrolling of benefits, and includes payroll journal export/integration with various accounting packages.