As of April 2019, businesses with a turnover above £85,000 will have to submit VAT returns through the HMRC gateway using commercial accounting software. I will explain how these changes affect your business and ensure that you are prepared and compliant.

Only VAT registered businesses and those with an income greater than £85K will need to make changes by 2019. VAT registered Charities with a turnover of 85k or more will also need to make these changes. You will need to purchase/update your commercial accounting software to an MTD-ready version before April 2019. Finding the perfect digital solution can be difficult initially but it doesn’t need to be, that’s where we come to help you.

Last year the government lost roughly £8 billion from errors made by businesses when inputting their tax, so plans are being put in place to try and combat the number of errors being made. They have a knock-on effect not only on HMRC but the businesses too as the errors then need to be rectified. Businesses may find they have lump sums to pay at times they have not forecasted for due to the errors in accounting. Digitalising the invoices and receipts should marginally decrease the number of errors.

In addition, implementing accounting software can provide multiple advantages for your business. On average, an SME can save 27 days a year by using accounting software in comparison to using manual methods. SME's that use digital software can make a saving of £17,000 annually by decreasing the time they spend on administrative tasks. 

To help you pick the right software, here are some of the main features your software must do in order to ensure you are completely compliant:

  • Must be able to keep records in a digital form
  • Should receive information from HMRC via the API platform
  • Should create a VAT return from the digital records
  • Must be able to preserve digital records in a digital form
  • Should provide HMRC with VAT data on a voluntary basis

Consider all these features before deciding which solution is right for your business. The use of spreadsheets will still be permitted, however, you will need to make sure your spreadsheets can digitally submit any necessary data to HMRC. 

We offer a range of accounting solutions with installation aid should you require it. We can also provide training to help you learn all about the software so you are can fully utilise it. In addition to this, we offer support to help you along the way should you get stuck. Contact us for MTD promotional bundles so you can be fully prepared, compliant and covered.

If you have any questions, we are offering business systems health check to help identify what you currently use and what is the best-recommended software solution for your business.

Posted at 10.17am on 03 October 2018 by Smita Jalaf in category Company
Tags: Accounts, Marketing, Website