Making Tax Digital: resourcing your practice to deal with the increasing workload

Making Tax Digital!

Hear that! It’s the collective shiver of the UK accounting industry. Yes, the 1 April 2019 deadline before Making Tax Digital (MTD) comes into effect is fast approaching. As we write this there are only 23 days to go.

MTD is heaping a lot of pressure on accountants and bookkeepers across the UK – and has the potential to wreak havoc because of the March end payroll deadlines.

Stress on the workforce

We all know the everyday life can be stressful, you may forget to meet a deadline while client demands only increase. Stress is everywhere. Though some stress can be beneficial, too much of it can wear your staff down making them sick mentally and physically.

If a member of your staff is under too much stress at work, your practice may experience these situations:

• Employee resignations – when the pressure gets too much
• Staff dissatisfaction from too much stress
• Sick leave from working at full capacity

Challenge of recruiting new staff

We have realised that within the accounting industry, it is becoming more and more challenging to find qualified and affordable new staff.  And the biggest impact of this is on the happiness and well-being of staff within your current practice.

Your practice staff are already burdened with keeping your clients happy, meeting deadlines, and they do not need the additional stress of coping with the work pressure that Making Tax Digital brings.

One of the easiest ways to deal with this stress is to take on more staff. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to find qualified and experienced staff.  Plus, it is expensive and creates too many cost overheads such as infrastructure, National Insurance contributions, sick pay, holiday pay, and the time spent in looking for the staff.

Is there another way?

There is a way out of this.

Outsourcing is a credible option for many accountants, especially the ones that don’t have the capacity to deal with the workload, or those whole lack the appropriate staff and skill set to help clients with the intricacies of Making Tax Digital and cloud software as well as the intricacies of tax regulations and moving your clients to the cloud.

Outsourcing has the advantage of being flexible, scalable and responsive to the needs of your practice.

How outsourcing can help  – benefits of using our resources

 If you compare the challenges of recruiting to outsourcing you will see that outsourcing not only removes the extra burden of MTD, it also takes care of most of your problems that come with recruiting:

•  Time spent to find resources: There is no time taken to find qualified accountants in India. You don’t need to spend any time sifting through resumes, sitting through interviews or training up that staff member. Outsourcing companies already have qualified, experienced individuals that you can trust will do the work on time and efficiently.

• No additional overhead costs with outsourcing: There are no additional or hidden costs when you outsource. You get to know what each job will cost prior to sending it to the outsourcing team. Moreover, there are no costs of looking for accountants, recruiting, training, office space, employee benefits, NICs, holiday pay, sick pay, and maternity/paternity leaves.

Looking ahead

We know MTD is overwhelming. Unnecessarily so, in fact. So why not outsource the tough bits. We can help you segment your clients, create an Agent Services Account, draft client letters and emails, move your clients to the cloud, file their quarterly VAT Returns and help with ongoing record keeping.

However, our MTD service for accountants and bookkeepers goes beyond mere data keeping and migration. We are offering free* MTD software to keep your costs firmly under control. If you are struggling to choose software, we can help!

* Some terms & conditions do apply. For more details book your free 1-2-1 consultation.