Setting up new practice and Software

Davidbyworth

Hi

I am looking at starting mu own practice and I am finding it difficult to decide on the best software. My queries are;

1. I am looking at cloud based systems as there seems to be a movement towards this, is this advisable?

2. Is it advisable to have various systems based on what clients are using? There is an obvious benefit to this but as I will likely have only a few clients I do not want to be buying lots of systems for cost reasons.

Thanks

David

Davidbyworth

I would be looking at bookkeeping, tax returns, statements initially. I would also be looking to move towards payroll too

MarieNoelle

Cloud based bookkeeping is great if your clients are entering the transactions and you do the review. You will need to spend a bit of time educating the clients on how to use the software and some are more intuitive than others. Some bookkeeping software include payroll.
Otherwise if you do the bookkeeping yourself, as @mrme89 suggested VT is good.
You will need a different software for filing tax returns.

burg

We are currently going through a complete change and heading more cloud based. Our aim is by April 2018 all clients will be on Xero. We are pushing this to be as many as possible by April 2017.

We are also exploring Payroll and Accounts & Tax software in the cloud.

This method of working is not for everyone but you need to keep MTD in mind.

Davidbyworth

Thanks, all comments very helpful.

In terms of getting clients on to a specific package do you provide a financial incentive to them, such as reduced fees as I assume their willingness to transfer decreases admin time?

Does Taxfiler upload straight into HMRC?

burg

I have offered a discount on our new fee packages to clients signing up before a particular date. After that point it will just be these are our new packages.

Yes tax filer does and CH too

Davidbyworth

Thanks.

Having looked a bit further into this I am still leaning towards the cloud software due to the positives regarding data security. Has anyone got any views on this?

Gem7321

I also use TaxFiler but I dislike the accounts module so I will continue using VT until it improves.

For bookkeeping I dislike Xero as I find it 'clunky' to enter transactions and their partner program is not as rewarding as other providers, but I think it's great for clients doing their own bookkeeping. But keep a close eye on their prices as they seem to be going up and up!

I personally prefer ClearBooks for cloud bookkeeping because it has a batch processing feature and is very similar to Xero for clients processing their own. But for any clients who don't specifically need their bookkeeping in the cloud I also use VT.

It is not yet clear what format MTD will be taking and there has been talk of even spreadsheets being accepted so I'm not too worried yet about getting all my clients in the cloud, but I am encouraging them to get on to some sort of program if they still keep manual records.

burg

We have now gone down the route of cloud based software. As per @Gem7321 we are not happy with the quality of Taxfiler's Accounts Production software. We were assured in May that the necessary updates / improvements would be done by late summer. I now consider summer over and I still saw no sign of the updates.

We have had continuing problems with Keytime. There were yet more issues on Friday so we ultimately decided to go ahead with cloud software now. We have elected for www.capium.co.uk

We are currently just using Accounts production, corporation tax and self-assessment. I have no need for Practice Management as we use www.whatsglide.co.uk and we will potentially move payroll over at a later date.

The system is pretty intuitive and works very well. Clients were uploaded over the weekend and it is now our normal software for everything accounts and tax related. Same N/C list as Keytime so one less thing for us to learn too!