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A recent survey has shown that many SME’s believe speed is one of the most essential requirements of their accountants, along with them being tech savvy. The survey was carried out by business software provider Exact in which they spoke to 2,500 SME’s and accountants.
Because their clients are looking for them to be able to work rapidly and accurately accountants are gaining more IT and software knowledge so they can keep up with the demands placed upon them. Talking about this Gavin Fell, who is the general manager of Exact, commented: “Rising demand for information ‘now’ combined with advances in new technology mean that accounting is increasingly seen as a commodity. Accountants that can keep the pace providing real-time and in-depth business insight for clients, have the best chance.”

The report on the survey in the Accountancy Age also said that:

‘The survey revealed that 67% of accountants highlighted better integration of admin software as a crucial focus area, as well as replacing paper forms with online forms (62%), and improving home/mobile access (43%). There has been a drop in ‘spreadsheet accounting’ from 25% in 2015 to 20% this year, and the number of UK SME customers that are entering their data online, are slowly on the rise from 10% last year to 16% this year.

Less than half, 40%, think that ‘robotisation’ is over-hyped, and yet 23% believe that highly-automated competitors pose a very real threat. When it comes to their SME customers, only 10% would trust a robot to do their accounting.’

In fact accountants in the UK are a lot more tech savvy than most of their European counterparts, with 45% of them using some sort of online solutions to aid their administration, which is only beaten into 2nd place by the Netherlands where 60% of accountants use digital help.

For more on this story you can visit the Accountancy Age website at the following link: Accountancy Speed Essential To SME`s

And if you require any help with your own accounts, tax advice or advice on growing or funding your business then please contact our offices here at WHR Accountants by ringing us on 028 3752 2909.

There have been calls for the Chancellor to make tax changes in the Autumn statement and give a break to the five million employed people here in the UK, as critics of the Governments tax policy feel that they have been targeted unfairly and punished enough.
Speciality accountancy firm Danbro feel that there are too many restrictions on the self employed and they should be treated more flexibly by the government so that they will be able to contribute more fully to the UK economy. 

Speaking on this issue, the chairman of Danbro Damian Broughton said: “The UK has proved to be resilient and we consistently recover from dips in the economy faster than most of our partner nations. This is because we have been able to utilise our powerful temporary workforce.

“Everyone recognises the importance and value of this rich pool of freelance expertise and our Chancellor must use this Autumn Statement to support that workforce and avoid the mistakes of his predecessors who have restricted its potential.

“This sector has been hit with a multitude of detrimental levies, rules and regulations in the past and this has placed a drag on one of our most critical tools for economic success.

“Prime Minister Theresa May has launched a major Employment Review as she recognises employment laws must be overhauled to meet the needs of the modern workplace. I’m asking the Chancellor to follow suit and recognise that businesses have evolved. He must not impose any further rules and regulations and make it easier for this sector to operate.”

Broughton feels that the Chancellor needs to make some radical changes in order to support the UK economy in the wake of Brexit. You can read more on this story by visiting the Online Recruitment Resource website at the following link: Self Employed Need A Tax Break Says Accountancy Firm

That is all from us for today, but if you need any accountancy advice all you need to do is either drop us an email or give us a call on 028 3752 2909 and we will be glad to be of assistance to you.

There was welcome news for the self employed last week after Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond did a u-turn and decided not to raise National Insurance Contributions (NIC) for them. This was after the Chancellor came under enormous pressure from his own party to change his budget announcement on NIC for the self employed. This is certainly a humiliating climb-down for both Hammond and the Prime Minister Theresa May. The rise would have broken a key Conservative manifesto pledge claimed many Tory MP`s and after a great deal of negative publicity the Chancellor announced that the proposed rise was going to be scrapped.

National Insurance Contributions For Self Employed

The rise in NIC for the self employed would have affected approximately 2.5 million people across the UK. This would have led to them paying an extra £240 per year. When the rise was announced it was stated that a move to abolish the Class 2 category would reduce the number of people losing out financially to around 1.6 million. They also said that nobody earning less than £16,200 would be worse off after the changes.

But the rise has now been shelved and Mr Hammond said in a letter to his MP`s that: “It is very important both to me and to the Prime Minister that we are compliant not just with the letter, but also the spirit of the commitments that were made. In the light of what has emerged as a clear view among colleagues and a significant section of the public, I have decided not to proceed with the Class 4 NIC measure set out in the Budget.”

Speaking on the about turn Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Seems to me like the Government are in a bit of chaos here. A budget that unravels in seven days, a Conservative manifesto with a very pensive Prime Minister on the front page saying there would be no increase – a week ago an increase was announced.”

The quotes have been taken from an article on the Independent website and you can read the full article at the following link: No Rise In National Insurance For Self Employed

If you are self employed and you want help with your tax returns and/or bookkeeping please give us a call for an informal chat and some expert advice on 028 3752 2909.

Hello and welcome to our blog here at WHR Accountants, the premier accountancy service across Armagh and the surrounding areas. Today we are looking at the possible demise of the Making Tax Digital initiative which has seemingly been put on hold, at least until after the General Election.
The Conservative government had made a great fanfare of their Making Tax Digital plans but in a move which has surprised few experienced commentators the plans, along with large swathes of the proposed Finance Bill, have been shelved as other more populous topics take priority as the General Election looms. 

The Finance Bill 2017 Watered Down

The Finance Bill 2017 had been a whopping 762 pages long but now this has been reduced to approximately 140 pages with many legislative plans dropped including all of the Making Tax Digital clauses.

So is this the end for Making Tax Digital? Most financial experts certainly think not, many believing that the extra time this postponement has given the HMRC will mean that they produce a more structured and flexible model for businesses which will phase in companies at different junctures depending on their turnover, with smaller businesses joining later down the line. 

Indeed the general view is that the UK is still on course to become one of the most digitally advanced and sophisticated tax administrations in the world. It`s just this digital move is not going to happen as quickly as we once thought, but then again Rome wasn’t built in a day—-

Facebook Competition Winner

Finally we ran a competition on Facebook last week where we were giving 2 tickets away for the Balmoral Show. The Balmoral Show is Northern Ireland`s largest agricultural event and features all day entertainment with some incredible arena attractions, over 700 trade stands and a food pavillion featuring delicious local foods.

The winner of the draw was Jackie Johnston from Belfast who was delighted with her win saying: “Oh brilliant! Thanks so much, I love the show and going for free makes it even better.” Thanks for everyone who joined in and entered the competition and we hope that Jackie has a great time at the show, which I am sure she will.