Five reasons to use IRIS Elements

What’s the sector’s most flexible cloud-first accountancy platform? IRIS Elements, which is our biggest and most ambitious project to date.

IRIS Elements takes a unique hybrid-by-design approach.

If you wish, you can link its extensive range of cloud apps to longstanding desktop favourites, enabling you to move to the cloud at a pace that suits you.

As a platform, IRIS Elements is growing fast. Its cloud-dedicated applications for small businesses launched in 2021. Then, this Spring, a Professional tier of online apps became available, and cloud functionality for the biggest accountancy practices is fast approaching.

So, the software is already making waves in accountancy practices, but the question remains: should you and your business use it?

Here are five reasons IRIS and its customers believe you should.

Reason one: IRIS Elements drives efficiency

A typical scenario for many accountants: you start your day as you always do, logging into your tax software, then your accounts production software, then your practice management software and the process continues.

Information gets lost in the gaps because every sign-in signifies a potential brick wall, stopping data flowing from one piece of software to another.

You’re tasked with manually retyping or sending information in a bid to try keep all your systems updated.

An accountant's time is precious – it’s chargeable.

Nobody should waste time logging into three or four systems or re-inputting the same data, but we know this happens all the time; because of the nature of the job, professionals can end up relying on many pieces of software to help them through their day.

A single source of truth

Instead, what accountants need is one login, one platform and one source of truth, bringing all their data together.

IRIS Elements does just that.

With IRIS Elements, errors are minimised because there’s no need to re-input data + security is watertight since you’re not updating sensitive information using spreadsheets or email.

Adam Owens FCCA, Founder of Power Accountants, Business and Tax Advisors Limited, wanted to streamline his team's software and eliminate the inherent hazards that come with manual duplication, stating: “For me, keeping our tech stack to a minimum and having just one system to update was really important.

“Even if you’re using multiple systems that integrate, there’s still a risk, which we’ve removed completely by using IRIS Elements.

“We want to offer our clients the best service, and we use IRIS Elements to do so.”

Reason two: IRIS Elements brings you growth

One of the big topics accountants frequently discussed at this year's Accountex was getting onboarding right.

The longer it takes to send proposals to prospective clients, the slower your business grows.

However, nothing drags a business down like fines for flawed anti-money laundering (AML) checks – so you need to be both fast and careful when onboarding.

It’s a difficult combination.

A seamless onboarding process

Thankfully, IRIS Elements has a joined-up system that helps you to win over and process new clients quickly and compliantly.

First, there’s a dedicated template system for quotes, meaning you can suggest rates and service levels at the push of a button rather than waste time editing and repurposing old Word documents.

The template system also helps standardise your firm’s approach, keeping client expectations realistic and preventing overly-enthusiastic colleagues from over-promising.

Second, and as crucial, IRIS Elements’ AML solution – the side-by-side combination creating a slick workflow.

IRIS Elements AML’s customisable know-your-customer checklist means you won’t make a mistake even on the busiest days.

The dashboard lets you see what information you think is most important, as well as spot any suspicious activity associated with a client – bulk ID checks, meanwhile, make things run even smoother.

The AML application takes the sting out of onboarding for Fiona Heyes, Tax Director, and the team at Carter Collins & Myer.

Fiona told us: “IRIS Elements Anti Money Laundering (AML) is a vital tool when it comes to helping us comply with all the latest AML regulations, onboarding new clients and improving productivity. It allows us to onboard new clients with confidence and looks the part too!”

Reason three: IRIS Elements brings cost-effectiveness

When was the last time you bought a server for your business, or frustratingly, carried out an update that brought the whole office to a halt? Servers cost an accountancy practice too much time and money.

Servers are more than buying an overpowered computer – it’s about employing IT to look after it, losing space in your offices and the constant grind of updates/maintenance.

Miss any of these components, and it can spell disaster – with hackers looking for any gap in your infrastructure.

Easy remote functionality

Our cloud-native platform, IRIS Elements, can save you from buying a server.

IRIS Elements is a simple, cost-effective way to let your practice work flexibly, enabling access to the platform from anywhere, at any time – something people now expect.

In one global survey, 87% of accountancy professionals said they wanted at least one day working remotely.

Paul Younger, Director at PY Accountants Ltd, says remote functionality has come at the perfect time: “Since Covid, everything has become more digital, and I rarely see any of my clients face to face now.

“Having software I can access anywhere is great because it means I can speak to my clients when I’m on the go.”

Reason four: IRIS Elements brings you flexibility

A major annoyance – whether you’re a startup or expanding – is when you have to invest in software you don’t need because it’s packaged with the apps you do.

That doesn’t have to be a problem anymore; with IRIS Elements, you only pay for what you require, and you can always add more as and when you need it.

Because it’s a platform, you can choose the Tax Essentials or Tax Professional tier to get started and then log in to IRIS Marketplace and subscribe to any other products you need + you can also add new users to your existing products if your team gets bigger.

Elements grows with you

For example, you could start as a small practice using Tax Essentials, and when more complex and varied work appears, you upgrade to Tax Professional.

It's not just you that’s evolving – IRIS works with its customers and finds new ways to help.

Adam from Power Accountants, Business and Tax Advisors Limited, describes the difference this makes: “One of the best things about IRIS Elements is that it’s constantly evolving. I’ve fed back to the product team about things that would improve the software for our practice, and things have already been implemented as a result.”

Reason five: IRIS Elements ensures accuracy

Streamlining isn’t only about working faster, it’s also about being more accurate.

Important when you consider figures issued recently saw a tax gap for HMRC of £32 billion – more than £9 billion happened as a result of not taking reasonable care or errors.

With IRIS Elements, you’re able to get a view of everything on one intelligent dashboard, so nothing is missed.

In the dashboard, you’ll see the status of jobs, tasks, AML checks, proposals, tax filing and accounts preparation – all united by the single source of truth that seamlessly passes information from one app straight to another.

This level of oversight shouldn't be a surprise.

IRIS Elements is made by a company whose software has a 98% acceptance rate for tax submissions with HMRC and is used by more than 24,000 practices.

One Platform, One Experience, One Shared Client Record

IRIS Elements proves you can have a comprehensive and efficient cloud solution that grows with you, saves you money, is flexible and keeps you accurate.

But five points can only begin to scratch the surface of its innovative development or what it can do for you.

It’s time to find out more.