If you are thinking of a career in accountancy, then one golden rule is to expect change. Sometimes it is good change, but only sometimes. Often it is good-ish change poorly implemented, like the Revenue’s online efforts. Sometimes it is mindless change for the sake of change, of which non-corporate distribution tax is a prime example. Sometimes it is actually bad change, like the two different sets of rules on capital gains tax for individuals and for companies. Always, though, it is going to be change.
I am one of the culprits here. I think we should use a new and radically different range of technology to prepare accounts. The aim is to reduce the time and cost of accounts production and to make me super-competitive. Generally though, the bookkeeping burden faced by humanity can be ameliorated with new technology, and this is surely a bonus in the long run.
David Porthouse & Co are a firm of Carlisle accountants serving clients in Cumbria and the North West of England. We have a major interest in introducing new technology and we are developing an optical number recognition/datepoint system for scanning bank statements with the intention of ameliorating the cost of accounts production. We also have a spreadsheet system which can be sent by e-mail.