MTD VAT......again!

[neilo]

I finally had to sign up to MTD a couple of months ago, and transferred my Quickbooks Desktop accounts over to the Quickbooks Online offering at the same time. I've had 6 weeks of using it now and I really can't see that it's as fast or easy to use as my original Desktop software.
The online version is on a monthly subscription of £12/month, whereas the desktop software was a £85 one off payment in 2016. I really can't see any extra benefit for the extra cost, and the 'easy' features like scanning/emailing in invoices really doesn't speed anything up ime, as they still need to be checked and usually altered.

As a result, I am looking at going back to using my desktop program, before I need to enter too much data to catch up again. If I do so, I will need to use MTD bridging software of some sort.

Does anyone have any views on any of them? I've looked at Absolute Excel VAT Filer (discounted to £20/yr as an NFU member) and VitalTax (£12/yr). Any others I should look at?

 

[stroller]

About the Money Manager Business Edition Software

Money Manager Business Edition - HMRC Accredited Software for Small Businesses. Calculate VAT and file online with a FREE TRIAL.

moneysoft.co.uk

Cheap, easy to use, one off payment, always someone at the end of the phone to help, MTD ready, been using it for years. They didn't even charge extra for the modern update.

 

[neilo]

About the Money Manager Business Edition Software

Money Manager Business Edition - HMRC Accredited Software for Small Businesses. Calculate VAT and file online with a FREE TRIAL.

moneysoft.co.uk

Cheap, easy to use, one off payment, always someone at the end of the phone to help, MTD ready, been using it for years. They didn't even charge extra for the modern update.

Thanks, but I'm very happy with Quickbooks and have no intention of changing system. Just need bridging software to upload VAT returns from a csv file.

 

[Kevtherev]

Just get a secretary

 

[robs1]

I finally had to sign up to MTD a couple of months ago, and transferred my Quickbooks Desktop accounts over to the Quickbooks Online offering at the same time. I've had 6 weeks of using it now and I really can't see that it's as fast or easy to use as my original Desktop software.
The online version is on a monthly subscription of £12/month, whereas the desktop software was a £85 one off payment in 2016. I really can't see any extra benefit for the extra cost, and the 'easy' features like scanning/emailing in invoices really doesn't speed anything up ime, as they still need to be checked and usually altered.

As a result, I am looking at going back to using my desktop program, before I need to enter too much data to catch up again. If I do so, I will need to use MTD bridging software of some sort.

Does anyone have any views on any of them? I've looked at Absolute Excel VAT Filer (discounted to £20/yr as an NFU member) and VitalTax (£12/yr). Any others I should look at?

I use cirrostratus extra. Currently its free It took me a few goes to learn it but there are tutorials, its works best with chrome

 

[Great In Grass]

I have been using Quickbooks online now for almost 12 months & have found it a lot easier to use than the old desktop version.

Being able to check accounts on any platform makes life very easy.

Did you know that you can download a standalone Quickbooks app to use on Windows machines?

 

[yellowbelly]

Just get a secretary

Mmmm, 'forward projections' - a massive asset to any business

 

[robs1]

Just get a secretary

Didnt realise VAT stood for very ample tits.

 

[quavers]

dont know if its any use to you , but we are using 123 sheets as bridging soft ware for our vat returns , the book keeping is done on a simple spread sheet . costs about £40 for the year , there was some free software but accountant could not get it to work for us.

 

[neilo]

I have been using Quickbooks online now for almost 12 months & have found it a lot easier to use than the old desktop version.

Being able to check accounts on any platform makes life very easy.

Did you know that you can download a standalone Quickbooks app to use on Windows machines?

No, I didn’t know about that app. I’ll look into it, thanks.

I don’t need to check accounts from different platforms, and find the receipt thing creates more work than it saves. I’ll still keep paper copies, filed in chronological order anyway, but can see it would be safer to have digital copies stored elsewhere too. I just don’t see £144/yr of added benefit to my business in it. I also admit that it concerns me that they have my data stored on their system too, which means they could effectively hold me to ransom with future subscription price rises.

 

[neilo]

Just get a secretary

Thanks Kev. She certainly looks to have ample storage and a user friendly interface. I doubt I could afford the annual charge on my own though, so maybe we could sort out a time share agreement?

Bagsy not seconds though.

 

[Kevtherev]

Thanks Kev. She certainly looks to have ample storage and a user friendly interface. I doubt I could afford the annual charge on my own though, so maybe we could sort out a time share agreement?

Bagsy not seconds though.

She’s free on Thursdays

 

[glasshouse]

She’s free on Thursdays

Whats she charge on other days?

 

[neilo]

She’s free on Thursdays

Will I need to check for grey primer on her chassis?

 

[wanton dwarf]

Does anyone have any views on any of them? I've looked at Absolute Excel VAT Filer (discounted to £20/yr as an NFU member) and VitalTax (£12/yr). Any others I should look at?

I use Avalara which uses a Spreadsheet to transmit the figures.

It's free but got issues such that there is a specific sequence of events you need to follow .. it's not for the faint hearted.

But I think it's the case that you will be required to use an all in one package soon ? Or have I missed something recently ?

 

[glasshouse]

Will I need to check for grey primer on her chassis?

She might have rsi

 

[robs1]

I use Avalara which uses a Spreadsheet to transmit the figures.

It's free but got issues such that there is a specific sequence of events you need to follow .. it's not for the faint hearted.

But I think it's the case that you will be required to use an all in one package soon ? Or have I missed something recently ?

I think they all have a sequence to follow, mine does, the worse part is having to save it in a comma csv file to pick the figures from,
I think they have postponed the next step for a while, to be fair I dont think it will be much more work for me, I have now got my accounts in one workbook with linked sheets for each month, to a year end page which shows me profit or loss in each sector of my business, this then links to a profit and loss page which has the same headings as a tax return.
I know my profit day to day everytime I update one figure, which is very handy at this time of year as I can do some tax planning, can even put in cash flow projections at the start and up date them with real.figures month by month.
I was surprised that a simple 60 year old yokel could do all this, if I could embed all this in some fancy pages with colours I could sell it as an accounts package and retire.

 

[wanton dwarf]

I think they all have a sequence to follow, mine does, the worse part is having to save it in a comma csv file to pick the figures from,
I think they have postponed the next step for a while, to be fair I dont think it will be much more work for me, I have now got my accounts in one workbook with linked sheets for each month, to a year end page which shows me profit or loss in each sector of my business, this then links to a profit and loss page which has the same headings as a tax return.
I know my profit day to day everytime I update one figure, which is very handy at this time of year as I can do some tax planning, can even put in cash flow projections at the start and up date them with real.figures month by month.
I was surprised that a simple 60 year old yokel could do all this, if I could embed all this in some fancy pages with colours I could sell it as an accounts package and retire.

Hey good on you.

 

[robs1]

Hey good on you.

My wife is relieved, there may have been a few swear words on the way

 

[Goweresque]

I use cirrostratus extra. Currently its free It took me a few goes to learn it but there are tutorials, its works best with chrome

I use the same. As you say, its a bit user unfriendly but it does work with any spreadsheet system (I use Open Office) and it does the job. And its free!