IRIS puts accountants in pole position for Making Tax Digital
IRIS Accountancy Solutions is today announcing its Autumn update, which includes several Making Tax Digital (MTD) enhancements designed to ensure accountancy businesses are ready for both MTD for VAT and Income Tax.
With just 25 weeks until the MTD deadline of 1st April 2019, accountancy businesses are beginning to complete quarterly filing submissions in the MTD programme but for many, progress has been precarious. To help ease the journey, the UK’s leading accountancy software provider has focused its attention on MTD improvements including the IRIS MTD solution for Income Tax and VAT filing.
IRIS’ new bridging software, IRIS VAT Filer, enables accountancy businesses to use IRIS for MTD VAT filings, allowing for the import of VAT values from either a CSV file or clipboard and then file them with HMRC via its new MTD APIs. VAT Filer is included in IRIS as part of the subscription.
The IRIS MTD solution for Income Tax allows accountants to take part in the HMRC Public Pilot beta for clients with trading and/or property income. IRIS has also included the ability for tax submissions to be finalised and the tax calculation confirmed, replacing the need for a Tax Return to be submitted for clients taking part in the HMRC beta service.
Sion Lewis, CEO of IRIS Accountancy Solutions explains, “We are approaching the dawn of a new digital era for accountants, and we are starting to see progress as we head towards the April 2019 deadline. Our mission over the next few months is to help smooth the transition to digital records as much as possible, while of course, remaining compliant.”
The Autumn release also sees further prominent innovations being announced, including IRIS Payments, a new service that allows IRIS customers to receive payments online. Additional GDPR functionality enables the seamless bundling of documents within IRIS OpenSpace, removing multiple approval notifications being sent to customers.
IRIS has also improved the user experience in Time & Fees; with IRIS Connector now allowing the export of invoices with VAT and Nominal Codes breakdown into a CSV format ready for use in the preferred accounting product.
Sion Lewis continues, “The MTD journey is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, but we also look to increase productivity for accountancy professionals as they evolve beyond compliance services to capitalise on growth opportunities in the new digital era. All areas of our accountancy suite are scrutinised to identify where efficiency gains can be made – even if they are marginal. This is imperative as we navigate through this once-in-a-generation revolution to ensure all processes are as streamlined as possible. Freeing up time for accountancy firms gives them the capacity to focus on building their client relationships and their businesses.”
Other enhancements include:
Tax Legislation and annual updates:
- Updated Dividend and CO2 Databases
- Updates to cater for the latest HMRC Specials & Exclusions
- Updated form 50FS
- Updates to CT600 and the latest taxonomy and schemas.
- Amendments to FRS 102; Triennial Review 2017. These changes have been applied to Limited Companies (including Groups) and LLPs:
- Allowing early adoption or applying to accounting periods starting on or after 1st January 2019
- Small entities – Statement of Compliance: aligning the wording more closely with company law on the balance sheet
- New taxonomies for iXBRL to cover the changes
- New analysis of Net Debt Note within the Cash Flow Statement
- IFRS 15; Revenue from Contracts with Customers:
- Allowing early adoption or applying to accounting periods starting on or after 1st January 2018
- New account codes for Contract Assets and Liabilities
- New data screens to generate required disclosures under International Standards
- IFRS 9; Financial Instruments
- Allowing early adoption or applying to accounting periods starting on or after 1st January 2018
- New data screens to generate required disclosures under International Standards
