We’ll show at Accountex how we’re ahead of the game on MTD

Accountex is just around the corner and it’s certain that Making Tax Digital will be among the hottest topics there, at the centre of discussions.

Taking place on Wednesday and Thursday (23 and 24 May), we’ll be telling delegates more about how and why we are ahead of the game when it comes to MTD and inviting accountants to get ahead of the game too. You may already know that IRIS became the only HMRC recognised vendor for the MTD pilot.

To illustrate further how we are leading the way on helping accountants with MTD, one of our customers, Rowleys Chartered Accountants, recently became the first UK accountancy practice to submit a fully digital compliant HMRC taxation submission. It was a huge industry milestone. So, we were extremely proud that the firm, an IRIS customer since 2001, completed its quarterly filing submission in the Making Tax Digital programme using IRIS Personal Tax.

Completed on 23 February, Rowleys took one typical UK business through the MTD gateway. Rowleys is now ready to submit a full one-year cycle of MTD trading, before MTD for VAT becomes compulsory in April 2019.

Rowleys was one of the first firms to join the MTD pilot in early last year, working with IRIS and HMRC to create an Agent Services Account - the gateway to HMRC’s infrastructure and all its online facilities.

Related: Check out the IRIS MTD Hub

We see our work with MTD as a critical part of achieving our mission to simplify accountants’ lives, so they can focus on attracting new clients and growing their businesses.

Steve Cox, our evangelist, and senior product manager Jenny Strudwick, our tax expert, will be delivering presentations on MTD at Accountex, revealing more about how our suite of products will get you, the accountants, over the compliance line, well in time.

To underline the value IRIS provides in already being prepared for MTD, we’ve found that accountants are set to provide VAT submission services for even more clients. This was demonstrated by our new research involving – over 550 accountancy practices. We found that 58% expect to provide bookkeeping services for clients from 2019. Some 73% will continue submissions for clients when HMRC’s online VAT service is no longer available for businesses with a turnover above the VAT threshold. Moreover, nearly 63% said they will make quarterly VAT submissions using bookkeeping software in April 2019.

Some might think it’s a long way off, but with holidays, training and busy season around the corner, time has a habit of vanishing and the April 2019 MTD deadline will arrive before you know it.

Arriving much sooner, in fact just 1 day after Accountex ends, is GDPR; May 25 is G-Day. Unquestionably, another key part of the conversation at the London Excel centre.

Our April release and May GDPR release introduced new functionality to ensure accountants will be ready. We have helped accountants to prepare and our recent survey showed many are prepared but if not, don’t worry. We have a range of online resources to help you. See HERE for more.

Accountex is set for another enormous crowd and we hope to see you there at our stand where you can meet our team.