Automatic Bank Feeds 2017 Part 4: Is Open Banking An Existential Threat To Accountants?

Automatic Bank Feeds 2017 Part 4: Is Open Banking An Existential Threat To Accountants?
Events have a habit of overtaking discussions. In my first article in this series, I discussed the pros and cons of automatic bank feeds. In the second, I examined how you can use your accounting software to reduce the need for automatic bank feeds, and the third discussed how automatic bank feeds can be used ...

November 20, 2017

Automatic Bank Feeds 2017 Part 3: The Best Of Both Worlds?

Automatic Bank Feeds 2017 Part 3: The Best Of Both Worlds?
  In my first article in this series, I discussed the pros and cons of using automatic bank feeds, and in the second, I examined how you can use your accounting software to reduce or even eliminate the need for automatic bank feeds. In this third article, I want to examine how automatic bank feeds ...

November 6, 2017

VT ceases development of Transaction+

Are you affected by the announcement that VT is ceasing development of their Transaction+ product? If you are, Prelude Accounts’ Accountant Bundle could be the answer to your problem! This is a FREE Accountant Bundle. Yes, completely free and exclusive to your practice for your clients’ accounts including the option to create up to three ...

October 9, 2017

Automatic Bank Feeds 2017 Part 2: Use Your Accounting Software

Automatic Bank Feeds 2017 Part 2: Use Your Accounting Software
In my last article I reviewed the pros and cons of using Automatic Bank Feeds software given changes in the market for these services and the inherent risks in the screen-scraping techniques used by some service providers. In this article I want to explore using features that should be available in good accounting software to ...

June 19, 2017

Automatic Bank Feeds 2017 Part 1: Opportunities & Pitfalls

Automatic reconciliation
A New Year, and it seems the world is getting more automated with each passing day. I’ve written extensively in the past about the opportunities and threats posed to accountancy by emergent technologies, but I would now like to focus on the current status of Automatic Bank Feeds in 2017. In previous articles I have ...

January 2, 2017

Bookkeeping – The Next Generation

Bookkeeping - The Next Generation
The other day, I was struck by an odd sight in my local Sainsbury’s. By the entrance, there was a rack of vinyl LPs for sale, something I thought I would never see again in supermarket chain. What was once regarded as archaic and obsolete has now come back into fashion, and I think this ...

November 7, 2016

Making Tax Digital: What does it really mean for accountants?

Making Tax Digital: What does it really mean for accountants?
Have accountants really considered the implications of HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative? From April 2018, you must comply with HMRC’s digital vision for tax collection, and you will have no choice about it.  Accountants must prepare for and adapt to this new regime or professionally they will perish. MTD is inevitable, regardless of what ...

October 3, 2016

Why am I receiving e-mails from myself?

Why am I receiving e-mails from myself?
A common complaint from people is that they receive dubious looking e-mails from seemingly themselves; how can this be possible, and why is it happening? The quick answer is that the sender of an e-mail can call themselves whatever they want to, and the name in your inbox does not necessarily correspond with the actual e-mail ...

September 5, 2016

CRM: more than just a marketing tool

CRM: more than just a marketing tool
There are many software tools in the modern accountants’ armoury that were not available to the previous generation, such as e-mail and Cloud accounting.  One that has proven essential for modern, successful businesses is an efficient Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. CRM is exactly what it says; a process or methodology to manage relationships with ...

August 8, 2016

Will Technology Make The Accountant Redundant?

Will Technology Make The Accountant Redundant?
With Cloud Computing, RTI, Auto-Enrolment and now HMRC’s Making Tax Digital initiative, the accounting profession is in the midst of a technology revolution.  To the proactive, dynamic and forward-thinking accountant this presents an exciting opportunity, but to others it could be a threat to their very existence. We have become so used to having our ...

April 7, 2016