Small business makes £19,000 of VAT errors – Don’t fall foul of basic cloud accounting errors

With the explosion of cloud accounting with the likes of Xero and Quickbooks on the scene, many businesses are seeing this as an opportunity to improve their accounting efficiencies, increase their access to business analysis and information and improve their cashflow though improved visibility and speed of invoicing.

These are all fantastic benefits that can be achieved through the introduction of Cloud Accounting but if you don’t get it right at the start, it could cost you dearly. As reported in Accounting Web, a small firm has recently fallen foul to the tune of £19,000 in VAT errors.

Your accounts are a fundamentally important area of your business. Would you install a new piece of machinery or new hardware into your business without training and implementation support?

The same goes for cloud accounting software. It may look straight forward on the face of it, but by the time you have figured out how the system works, set up bank accounts and nominal codes, entered products and services, set up invoices, credit notes and statement templates and imported your existing accounts information – you think you have it all mastered. But, are you really 100% sure that you are using the system in the most effective way for your business?

The introduction of Making Tax Digital has had many people turning to cloud accounting solutions to ensure their compliance with the new VAT return process. We have been working with clients to tailor their cloud based solutions to ensure that it is fit for purpose for them. If the system is set up properly in the first instance, and staff are trained how to use it for the tasks that they need to perform, the cost of the consultancy can far outweigh the inefficiencies of staff trying to find their way around a strange new software package and figuring out how to set it up yourself.

How many times has someone shown you something new in Microsoft Word or Excel that ‘you never knew it did that’ and it has just made your life so much easier? How much time have you wasted doing it the old way.

Get it right first time and get the help with your implementation and training to gain efficiencies of cloud accounting from day 1. Talk to our cloud accounting implementation and training expert, Paul Tofton today to see how we can help get you on the right foot straight away.