Smart Finance Leadership
Cloud Accounting Insights
After more than 30 years of experience within the I.T., accounting and change-management industries, I often speak to finance directors who are looking to smoothly transition from their existing legacy accounting software.
My experience of many financial directors is that while they understand the importance of cloud accounting, the number of options on the market can be confusing.
I have supported a number of recruitment companies to transition away from legacy software solutions such as Sage 50 and Advanced Exchequer, so in this article, I am going to highlight the top six points that financial directors should consider when reviewing any options for cloud accounting.
Read more: 6 points to consider when reviewing your accounting software
The current COVID-19 pandemic is undoubtedly putting a huge strain on businesses across the world.
I often speak to finance directors, and for many, the current lockdown will be causing additional disruption because of their legacy accounting software.
In this article, I’ve outlined six pieces of advice for surviving the lockdown with the accounting software you have.
Read more: How to survive the lockdown with your accounting software
In summary, the Reverse Charge applies if you buy a B2B service (except for exempt supplies) from outside of the UK even if they have a UK VAT registration number.
You calculate the amount of VAT (output tax) on the full value of the services supplied to you and then enter on your VAT Return the:
- amount of VAT you calculated in box 1 and, if you’re entitled to reclaim the VAT on your purchase of these supplies, also put the same figure in box 4 (this in effect cancels out the figure in box 1)
- full value of the supply in both box 6 and box 7
The example below shows a VAT Return completed where a VATable service for £100.00 has been purchased from a company outside of the UK:
Looking to reduce support and overhead costs on your legacy accounting software? Do you want a tried and trusted, robust, 100% cloud-based accounting solution designed for larger organisations?
It’s my goal to explain the differences between Windows systems and ‘true’ cloud-based accounting systems for medium sized organisations and the differences between cloud accounting for smaller businesses and how a medium sized business will benefit from a more appropriately designed online solution.
There are two key areas that organisations can save money and time. First off are the savings in Service Agreements and Licence and Upgrade Fees and then there are the time saving capabilities of a browser-based solution that, when set up in the right way, uses built-in technology to reduce re-keying and duplication of work.
Read more: Are you looking to reduce support and overhead costs?
I know from experience how important it is to be in control of the business finances. By being 'in control', I mean to know, right now, exactly how much money you're owed, how much money you owe and much money you have. Without this information, running a business is a bit like riding a motorcycle without glasses (if you need glasses) - you might get to your destination unscathed but it's gonna be a bit tricky!
Problem is that doing the books is rather tiresome, a job that needs to be done properly but it's not exactly exciting. However, it needs to be done and it needs to be done quite regularly, if not daily. So we need all the help we can get. We need to be confident that we're using software that is robust, well thought out and designed for a bookkeeper/accountant.