It's somewhat horses for courses. I've tried over half a dozen and it's no surprise that the one I used the longest is my favourite, and that was by Drummohr. Taxcalc is slightly cheaper and I believe originated in the Consumers Association offering of the 1990s. It has more bells and whistles but I find it clunky, especially, (but not only) the reporting facilities. I don't regard their iXBRL application as fit for purpose.
I didn't get on well with Ftax and if you want the cheapest then I think this is Andica. For the latter, I couldn't find a trial program but this is not surprising at under £20.
If you tell us what other software you use and services you offer then we might be able to make some helpful suggestions. Otherwise a good place to start is on the HMRC approved list.
Forbes (0845 456 2338) - David Forbes is the founder
and Keytime (0161 4843516) - Nicola is really helpful
(disclosure: both systems link to Arithmo )
As Tax software: both are easy to use and have capabilities to handle iXBRL and really good packages for practices to do their clients SA and company tax returns. From memory, Forbes was first company tax iXBRL software accredited by HMRC.
If you contact either mention Dalbir .
-- Edited by Dalbir on Thursday 29th of December 2011 09:29:56 PM
It's a good idea to serve your present client's as far as possible before looking for new ones. Have you thought about offering payroll? See Moneysoft and 12Pay recommendations on the Search facility.
As for self assessment; it might be a bit late in the season to start tax returns this time but if you're aiming for the next deadline you'll have twelve months build-up. If you're doing payroll for them, then you'll have some of the necessary information on hand. Tim
regarding 12Pay - I have explored this software and am very happy and comfortable using it - I think this is the way forward for Payroll
Regarding Self-Assessment - It is a little late to start offering this for the 31.12.2012 deadline - however I want to be in a position where I can offer this in time for the next deadline
I use VT final accounts to prepare my statutory accounts and the iXBRL accounts for CT returns. I also use VT transaction+ doing the charity/voluntary body accounts (free ones). I use an online system from Clever Accounts for book-keeping (and its also used by the book-keepers of Your Local Book-keepers so we can help each other on very short notice as its a cloud system). Moneysoft Payroll Manager for payroll, CIS & P11d's etc. I now use Taxcalc for tax returns etc. Originally I used HMRC system, but switched to Keytime when I started doing more complicated tax returns. But eventually switched to Taxcalc as if I did not renew Keytime each year I automatically lost the right to access the past software and I got fed up of spending hours on the phone to support, which I rarely need to do anymore with the software I now use.
Generally I have no complaints and find all the software Inow use easy to use and generally trouble free. I don't use import/export facilities which all the software has as I like to enter things manually mostly as it allows me to check if anything looks wrong and make sure things aren't missed.
-- Edited by YLB-HO on Friday 30th of December 2011 02:08:01 PM
Alot of the people I have spoken to have mentioned that this is the software they use
12Pay's accountant uses it for final accounts, and loves it. It certainly looks like good value for money compared with many of the rivals.
If you're prepared to pay more for the benefits of automatic integration Iris and Digita do products that wrap up final accounts, corporation tax, personal tax, trust tax, office management, and client billing into a single product.
I'm a fan of BTC's tax software and would recommend you have a look at that. Andrew Ross is a pleasure to deal with and has been very helpful to me in the past. One of the advantages of BTC is that it's SA software links in with VT for Sole Traders.
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Tony
Responses are intended as outline only. Formal advice should be sort from your Institutes Technical Department or a suitably qualified Accountant.
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