xchang Th accountancy businss talks back Th accountancy businss talks back support issu Our Viw» Sag Popl Srvic Managr Paula Jons outlins th importanc of ffctiv HR support Exprt Opinion» HMRC Assistant Dirctor Roy Wardn taks a look at what s nxt for ixbrl AccountingWEB.co.uk» Editor John Stokdyk offrs his vrdict on Slf Assssmnt support If you d lik this information in anothr format, call Customr Car on 0845 111 66 66 or mail accss@sag.com so w can considr your rqust. Contact Sag on 0845 111 1111 or mail xchang@sag.com Wb sag.co.uk/accountants Twittr twittr.com/saguk Exchang uss papr from wll managd forsts. Issu 10» Jan-Mar 2012 Mobil Paymnts Th m-commrc rvolution starts hr! (p10) Cas Study CS Accounting on supporting growth (p16) Sag (UK) Limitd 2012 rgistrd in Engl No.1045967 GDA20955 Alistair Campbll Our gust writr for this issu
2 sag xchang 10» support issu» ditor s not gust writr «support issu «sag xchang 10 3 contnts Editor s not Stv Portr Rwarding succss Alastair Campbll, Gust Writr 3» Gust Writr» Formr Nw Labour guru political writr, Alastair Campbll, offrs his tak on support xplains what happns whn big-nam brs lt thir stards slid 4&5» Our Viw» Paula Jons, Sag Popl Srvic Managr, shars hr thoughts on HR provids tips to support your practic 6&7» Exprt Opinion» What nxt for ixbrl? From HMRC s Assistant Dirctor, Roy Wardn 8&9» Sag 50 HR» Why small businsss hav a nd for HR softwar 10&11» Mobil Paymnts» Th m-commrc rvolution starts hr! And it s transforming th way w buy sll 12&13» John Stokdyk» Th AccountingWEB.co.uk ditor talks about th importanc of support 14&15» Sag Tax Support» Advic on Slf Assssmnt Corporation Tax, plus nws on our nw Sag Company Scrtarial softwar 16&17» Cas Study» Cyd Smith, from Gatshad-basd firm, CS Accounting, xplains how fficint softwar support hlpd hr businss grow 18&19» Svn Billion Counting» As th world s population tops svn billion what ar th implications of this historic vnt for 2012 byond? 20&21» Tchnical Top Tips» Troubl-shooting tips, advic shortcuts from our xprt tam p22&23» insight@sag» All th latst nws including a rcap of our rcnt Sag World 2011 vnt Firstly, Happy Nw Yar! W hop you v had a grat 2011, w wish you all th bst for 2012. It s going to b quit a yar, with som intrsting challngs; but with th currnt acclration in tchnology that w r sing, th innovativ nw ways in which w can intract with our customrs clints, thr s no rason why it can t b a succssful on. Support will b absolutly critical to this succss of cours; not just th quality of th customr srvic w all offr although srvic lvls will always b paramount but th way in which w dlivr it. Gt it wrong, th consquncs could b disastrous (as gust writr Alastair Campbll tlls us ovrlaf). Exprts say 2012 will b th yar of mobil paymnts, so w nd to mak sur w gt this right our articl on pags 10 11 taks a closr look. And last yar s burning topic, ixbrl, is going to mrg again this yar. Th 31 March 2011 switchovr was just th start rally, as w r still insid HMRC s transitional priod. But in 2013, full tagging will bcom matory w all want to b as prpard as w can. I know w ll prsonally b working hard with all our accounts production corporation tax usrs to nsur that w offr all th ncssary support for this significant lgislativ chang. On pags 6 7, w har dirctly from HMRC on thir vision for ixbrl moving forward. As w mntiond in th last dition, 2012 will b th yar that w provid you your own Sag xchang wbsit an onlin portal that will support you your practic, whr w hop to link th whol accountancy industry togthr. Watch this spac And finally, w ar proud to say that xchang magazin rcntly won Gold Accolad at th Chartrd Institut Public Rlations Prid Awards (CIPR) for Bst Extrnal Nwspapr or Magazin. W hop you njoy th issu, hr s to a succssful 2012. As a journalist, I was always at th back of th quu whn it cam to covring th big awards vnts. All that backslapping; thanking agnts, grannis, dogs vryon who mad it all possibl, not to mntion prtnding not to car whn you didn t win, nvr appald to m. But whn I jumpd from th mdia sid to th political sid of th fnc, saw how corrosiv mdia cynicism can b, I bcam somthing of an awards convrt, spcially whn it cam to thos sctors of industry which go unrcognisd. I v bgun to s first-h how ths crmonis offr a rar chanc for customrs to voic thir opinions good bad. For xampl, I rcntly hostd th Softwar Satisfaction Awards, in thir opning rmarks, Bn Hald, CEO of Sift Mdia Charls Ward, CTO for Intllct, mad th point that dspit th UK softwar industry bing an important on, it dos not gt sufficint rcognition from th public or policymakrs alik. This mattrs whn a sctor is trying to influnc dcision-makrs. What struck m was that this was th first crmony I d bn part of whr th judgs wr customrs dlivring thir judgmnt on actual srvics providd. And it was possibl to har, from th hollring in th Alastair Campbll Is a lading political writr commntator. A formr Daily Mirror columnist ditor, h bcam world famous as on of th chif architcts of th Nw Labour projct. Employd as Tony Blair s Prss Scrtary, thn th party s Dirctor of Stratgy Communications, h spnt six yars working at th picntr of British political lif. Now a diarist, spch writr commntator, h also njoys running oftn to rais funds for th Lukamia Rsarch Fund charity playing th bagpips watching his blovd Burnly FC. room, just how much victory mant to th chosn fw (wll 18 actually). I couldn t hlp wondring aloud whthr thr should also hav bn a Hardwar Dissatisfaction Award which I would hav bn dlightd to h ovr to th company whos dvic I us for accssing uploading mail, twittr photos. This businss-driving, consumrxprinc-transforming company is a global houshold nam. Yt dspit thir undoubtd brillianc, whn thy had a spot of bothr last autumn, thy didn t xactly covr thmslvs in glory. Two days into th outrag I twtd thm som advic from my ipad: xplain whil fixing, apologis whn fixd, thn think of rcompns. Whn thy didn t sm to b doing any of ths, I twtd again to say thir crisis managmnt was woful. Wll, I thought I did but my thumb slippd instad of hitting th lttr l, I hit k. This unintndd swar word took off on twittr, was subsquntly usd to dscrib vrything from Gorg Osborn s hling of th conomy to Burnly s dfnding against Barnsly. And this xplains why my mobil srvics providr, dspit my rag, has m cornrd. I lov th kypad, a fw days outrag won t gt m to switch. I actually wrot larg sctions of my two novls on th dvic I am on of th fastst twothumb typists I know. But as my swarword accidnt showd, whn it coms to i-kypads I m constantly making typos. So if somon can com up with th softwar to mak i-kypads lss slippry, thy ll dfinitly gt my vot I ll vn com back nxt yar to prsnt th award. I v bgun to s first-h how ths crmonis offr a rar chanc for customrs to voic thir opinions good bad.
4 sag xchang 10» support issu» our viw our viw «support issu «sag xchang 10 5 our viw You should b abl to lav work fling, I mad a diffrnc today. Paula Jons Sag Popl Srvic Managr A businss is nothing without its popl. I fl that offring th right kind of support, nsuring staff fl nurturd valud on a daily basis, is a vital stp on th road to achiving commrcial succss. At Sag, w r all too awar how important th contributions ar that our popl mak to our growth. And th long-trm invstmnt w mak in thm mans w can offr th vry bst lvls of srvic to your practic. As Sag Popl Srvic Managr, I s this playd out vry day. Whthr ovr-sing formal procsss or working with managmnt, it undrpins our ntir approach. I v bn in this rol sinc July 2010, but I v actually bn with Sag sinc January 2006, so I v sn first-h th dividnds this way of invsting in popl pays. Our vision hr is all about th long-trm rcntly w hav bn talking in businss mtings about idas for 2015 w ar passionat about including popl in that planning to mak sur thy undrst thir rol within it. So if you r in Sals it s important that you can s th promotion you r aiming for, if you r in th HR offic you should b abl to lav work fling, I mad a diffrnc today. Our 5-3-1 plan is part of that dmonstrats our commitmnt. W hav a 1-yar plan, a 3-yar stratgy a 5-yar vision which hlps us stay focusd lts our popl know whr th businss is hading. From th minut popl join Sag w aim to offr support through thir induction training thn thy hav accss to a rang of tools including coaching, guidanc, mntoring objctiv stting. And ths ar principls that ar usful for any businss or practic; our popl can hlp support you as you look to grow dvlop. It s a stratgy that sts out for all th right rasons it maks ral businss sns. Our staff rtntion rats ar th bst thy v vr bn, hav bn for th last two yars, bcaus popl gnuinly njoy working hr which mans any training invstmnt is mony wll spnt. Having th right popl in th right rol, hlping popl do th bst thy can, mans w hit our targts for our stakholdrs. Sadly, all too oftn companis s thir staff as just anothr commodity. Prior to joining Sag, I workd as an HR consultant for othr larg, corporat organisations. I v bn in svral placs whr it was mor about quick mony bums on sats than invstmnt futur planning; surpris, surpris non of ths businsss xist anymor. Thy faild bcaus thy didn t know how to support thir popl. That is a lsson I will nvr forgt. This articl on About.com offrs som furthr advic http://bit.ly/aboutcom_hr Six tips for HR succss in your practic Focus on strngths whn you r motivating popl Don t b afraid to hav thos opn honst convrsations you ll b amazd th diffrnc thy can mak B clar about xpctations stablish outcoms Don t wait until mtings to provid data rich fdback, in-th-momnt fdback is mor productiv Ensur your popl undrst how thir objctivs goals link to your businss stratgy Hav a 1-yar plan but also a 3 or 5-yar vision, mak sur all staff ar on board
6 sag xchang 10» support issu» xprt opinion xprt opinion «support issu «sag xchang 10 7 xprt opinion Roy Wardn, Assistant Dirctor (HMRC Corporation Tax, Intrnational Anti-Avoidanc) What s nxt for ixbrl? Roy xplains how HMRC ar supporting accountants, clints softwar providrs through th onlin switchovr. Sinc 1 April 2011, most companis hav bn rquird to fil thir Company Tax Rturns onlin with accounts computations in ixbrl format. This was a big ask for all concrnd. Th good nws is that th softwar industry, our customrs, thir agnts, our staff hav all risn to th challng. Th softwar markt has maturd wll with many softwar providrs bing rcognisd on our wbsit a wid rang of products now availabl. By th nd of Octobr 2011, mor than 650,000 onlin rturns had bn submittd. Prformanc is improving, as both agnts HMRC gain in xprinc, 95 pr cnt of customrs ar now filing succssfully first tim. Most accounts computations ar corrctly taggd to th minimum stard. Indd, many filrs hav gon furthr taggd th full st of itms. HMRC s priority is to support customrs through this first cycl, not find rasons to rjct rturns or impos pnaltis for minor dficincis. W xpct popl to tak rasonabl car to tag proprly but w ar bing ralistic. This is nw trritory w must all larn from xprinc. HMRC nd XBRL data to analys information without r-kying. Poor tagging may triggr our risk ruls, so th bttr it is, th fwr unncssary complianc chcks w will mak. W will not opn nquiris just to chck th tagging. Instad our approach is to look at quality through sampling, to idntify possibl dficincis in softwar or practic work with dvloprs agnts to hlp thm to improv, as wll as improving our own practic guidanc. W talkd to agnts, customrs softwar dvloprs to undrst thir xprinc prioritis. W think thos who hav chosn to us fully intgratd accounts production softwar hav had fw problms. Most issus hav involvd convrsion softwar, which taks word procssor or spradsht-basd accounts lts th usr apply th XBRL tags. Whil a cost-ffctiv solution for som, it rquirs tim xprtis. Som hav found it mor cost-ffctiv to outsourc us managd tagging srvics. HMRC s fr filing product is prforming wll, but has bn dsignd to catr only for th simplst cass. Som small companis which could us it hav chosn to invst in commrcial products which mt thir nds bttr. So what of HMRC s plans to mov to full tagging? Th minimum tagging lists wr a practical transitional masur, to rduc th amount of dtaild coding work facing softwar dvloprs in producing th first gnration of XBRL-basd onlin filing products. Thy struck a balanc btwn HMRC s nd to nsur tax complianc th costs of dvloping nw products. Som softwar products alrady tag a substantial amount of accounts information, othrs ar moving rapidly in that dirction. W will work closly with dvloprs rprsntativ bodis to dcid how whn to mov to full tagging. Th minimum tagging list for computations alrady covrs most of th rlvant itms. It is unlikly to rquir significant altration, subjct to lgal tchnical changs. W will kp this undr rviw with intrstd partis will not chang it without adquat prior consultation. W sought viws on this issu as part of th rcnt Digital by Dfault consultation. W ar not working to a fixd timtabl but intnd to rfin th XBRL data rquirmnt, particularly to improv risk assssmnt, without imposing unncssary burdns. Roy Wardn Profil Roy Wardn has 35 yars xprinc of tax administration, mainly in th taxation of businss profits, Inl Rvnu, HM Trasury HMRC. This includs xprinc of intrnational issus on which h has rprsntd th UK at th EU th Organisation for Economic Co-opration & Dvlopmnt. His currnt rsponsibilitis involv Corporation Tax procsss, including onlin filing XBRL. This has bn a collaborativ challng. It is a tribut to th hard work co-opration of softwar dvloprs, rprsntativ bodis many individuals organisations that implmntation rmains on track. W ar gratful apprciativ of th support rcivd. W ar dtrmind to maintain build on that collaborativ approach in th futur.
8 sag xchang 10» support issu» sag 50 HR sag 50 HR «support issu «sag xchang 10 9 sag 50 HR Why small businsss hav a nd for HR softwar Ask your clints, w r sur thy ll say that kping track of mploys nsuring thir prsonal mploymnt information is up-to-dat scur is not as asy as it sounds. Small businsss oftn kp thir mploys information sprad across various typs of mdia from papr through to Word Excl documnts which ar oftn stord in a numbr of diffrnt locations not lockd away safly. Undrsting th mploymnt law complianc prspctiv. Did you know? Evry businss must b abl to prov that thir mploys hav th right to work in th UK Any kind of job that involvs working with childrn young popl nds to hav CRB (Criminal Rcords Burau) chcks compltd b ISA (Indpndnt Safguard Authority) rgistrd All mploys, rgardlss of th numbr of hours thy work pr wk, ar ntitld to rciv a writtn statmnt from thir mployr within two months of starting work Th Agncy Workrs Rgulations, which cam into ffct on 1 Octobr 2011, provid tmporary workrs with qual tratmnt in trms of basic working mploymnt conditions as if thy had bn mployd dirctly to do th sam job Why Sag 50 HR? Sag 50 HR lts usrs stor, rcord maintain ky mploy information such as holiday absnc, appraisals, disciplinary, mploy training dvlopmnt. It also complis with complx lgislation by rcording CRB ISA chcks, attaching vidnc such as scans of passports stting ky vnts rmindrs for your clints to stay on stp ahad of th law. No spcial HR knowldg or training is rquird to us it; Sag 50 HR simply puts mploys prsonal mploymnt information at your fingrtips into on simpl asy to us HR solution. It also coms with th addd rassuranc of on yar s fr SagCovr, which provids unlimitd accss to our tchnical xprts, as wll as accss to our 24/7 onlin HR advic srvic. This includs tmplats for policis, forms chcklists that can b adaptd usd in any businss; such as mploymnt contracts, disciplin procdurs absnc managmnt. It s idal for businss ownrs, offic managrs or HR managrs alik. Contact your Account Managr for furthr information. Human Rsourcs complianc dosn t hav to b xpnsiv For lss than 2 pr month pr mploy, Sag 50 HR maks managing Human Rsourcs cost ffctiv simpl for small to mdium sizd businsss.* *Basd on a vrsion for tn mploys which costs 200 (xc. VAT)
10 sag xchang 10» support issu» th ris of mobil paymnts th ris of mobil paymnts «support issu «sag xchang 10 11 Th ris of mobil paymnts If 2011 was th yar th world wok up to cloud computing thn 2012 is st to b th yar that mobil shopping bcoms th norm. It s th quit rvolution that s changing th way w shop transforming th way businsss mak rciv paymnts. A powrful combination of nw tchnology, bttr wi-fi covrag incrasingly powrful hhld dvics is now making it asir than vr to accss, viw, buy sll goods onlin whrvr you ar. And with mobil broadb srvics improving xtnding thir covrag, xprts ar prdicting that conncting to th intrnt via a smartphon rathr than by using a laptop or PC will bcom th main way of accssing wb rsourcs for th first tim in 2012. Rsarch commissiond by magazin Rtail Wk found that UK customrs ar alrady spnding a staggring 1.3 billion a yar via mobil srvics with that figur xpctd to ris to a massiv 19.3 billion by 2021. Worldwid mobil phon transactions now account for 148 billion of -commrc xprts say that figur will trbl in th nxt fiv yars. Food, grocris lctrical itms ar currntly th most popular purchass bing mad by this nw brd of connctd customrs analysts at Barclays Bank say mobil or m-commrc spnding is growing at th fastst rat of any rtail channl. A sparat Googl survy found that 79 pr cnt of UK shopprs now us smartphons for shopping, whil 70 pr cnt us thm to chck dtails including comparing prics whil in stor. In Sptmbr th company launchd thir Googl Wallt in Amrica, nabling usrs in ky citis to download a scur application allowing thm to mak asy paymnts. And thr ar plans to mak it availabl hr in mainl Europ latr this yar too. What s in it for you? So what mor do you nd to know about this way of working what ar th potntial bnfits for you your clints? Using hhlds as th primary channl for viwing consuming goods has hug implications for th way all businsss, accountants, mak collct paymnts. As Angus McCary, UK Rtail Dirctor for Bay in th UK says: Mobil shopping rprsnts a massiv opportunity not just for rtailrs, but for th conomy as a whol. Subscribing to an onlin paymnts srvic lik Sag Pay can offr a low cost, fficint way to sll goods srvics. Rcommnding th solution to clints can cut thir running costs allow thm to rach out to a nw brd of customrs who will soon xpct mobil paymnt systms as stard. In addition to quickr mor stramlind procssing, you can also hlp clints intgrat paymnt solutions with Sag 50 Accounts. M-markting As wll as slling procssing, mobil rtailing brings hug potntial for m-markting snding markting matrials to clints via thir mobil dvics. As wll as xtnding th onlin rach profil of both your clints your own practic, this can b a grat way to show you ar ahad of th gam. It s worth rmmbring that popl accss viw information diffrntly via mobils than thy do whn using a laptop or PC. Contxt is vrything. Popl ar oftn conncting to th wb with a smartphon whn thy r on th mov so your offring nds to b mor immdiat quick to us navigat. Agncis lik th Mobil Markting Association mmaglobal.com can offr mor advic tips on how to gt startd th typ of solutions that will work bst for you.
12 sag xchang 10» support issu» th importanc of support th importanc of support «support issu «sag xchang 10 13 Th importanc of support John Stokdyk Profil John is th ditor of By John Stokdyk AccountingWEB.co.uk has workd for th sit sinc 1999. Bfor that h was tchnology ditor for Accountancy Ag has covrd accountancy softwar sinc 1997, th yar Slf Assssmnt was first introducd. In advanc of th big day, Sag askd m to With th products thmslvs writ about th rol support tams play in th hardr to diffrntiat, support bcoms Ovr th last fw wks accountants from all ovr th country hav bn withdrawing from th fstiv clbrations as thy hunkr down with clints prsonal tax rturns in prparation for Slf Assssmnt sason. It s on of th sasonal burdns that coms with bing a practising accountant, is just as much of a slog for HMRC th softwar dvloprs who work with thm. Just as half-tim on Cup Final day usd to b th pak load for th lctricity board as millions of homs switchd on thir kttls for a cuppa, th 31 January Slf Assssmnt dadlin is th ultimat strss tst. It s th annual traffic pak for HMRC s srvrs also th busist tim of yar for thos filding support calls from frustratd taxpayrs agnts. tax accounting softwar world. During my 12 yars on AccountingWEB, I hav bn monitoring fdback from usr survys th Softwar Satisfaction Awards. As usrs of Sag softwar, you ll no doubt b intrstd in how your tax accounts programs hav prformd in ths rankings (4=Excllnt). 2007 2010 2011 Sag Taxation 2.62 2.88 3.23 (NB: Sag Taxation was not ntrd into th SSAs for 2008-9) Th Softwar Satisfaction Awards for tax practic softwar in th past fiv yars hav gon to small, bst of brd spcialists. With smallr groups of usrs running mor spcific tool sts than full suit supplirs, thy hav a mor managabl task. Th othr point I would mak is that in a matur markt lik accountancy tax, softwar applications ar incrasingly alik. Evn with th invntion of ixbrl, thr ar only so many ways to complt a tax rturn or st of final accounts. If any dvlopr coms up with a particularly slick way to do it, it won t b long bfor its rivals build similar faturs into thir products. a much mor important part of th product satisfaction quation. On this scor Sag has prformd vry wll ovr th yars. Whr othr dvloprs hav had problmatic pisods mainly down to not communicating quickly clarly with usrs Sag has mt most of ths challngs had on. With th introduction of ixbrl, for xampl, Sag did struggl to hav th full ixbrl-compatibl accounts production suit in plac, but it actually playd down xpctations. Whil som commntators mistaknly claimd Sag orchstratd a call from accountancy bodis to dlay ixbrl, th Accountants Division kpt its had down cam through with th rlvant updat on 31 March. Whr issus lik this rally mattr for m, among th AccountingWEB mmbrs on our Any Answrs pag, thr was hardly a pp. Fdback from AccountingWEB mmbrs confirms that industry call answring mtrics don t ncssarily apply whn th answr may rlat to an intrprtation of complicatd tax law, or an xcption listing lurking in an obscur HMRC rport. It s not how fast your call is answrd, but how quickly th problm is rsolvd. On svral visits to th Sag Accountants Division in Salford Quays, I hav always bn imprssd by th numbr of popl taking support calls, th tchnical knowldg of th popl backing thm up, including Product Managr Andy Lavr on of my rgular contacts on taxation issus. Our Softwar Satisfaction Awards figurs suggst that thy hav contributd to th improving customr satisfaction among Sag Taxation usrs in rcnt yars. I ll b intrstd to s if th support tam maintains th sam consistncy this Slf Assssmnt sason. And if thy don t, I m sur many of you rading this will lt m othr AccountingWEB mmbrs know about it.
14 sag xchang 10» support issu» bst practic support in 2012 bst practic support in 2012 «support issu «sag xchang 10 15 Bst practic support in 2012 Slf Assssmnt support from Sag Sag Product to Markt tam mmbr, Imran Majid, outlins our customr srvic commitmnt. Customr srvic has always bn basd on supporting you your clints, spcially during thos pak tims whn you nd us most. And as th 31 January Slf Assssmnt filing dadlin approachs w hav bn invsting both tim rsourcs into nsuring w can hlp you mak th whol procss as simpl as possibl. January is always on of th busist tims of th yar; a priod of intns activity whr w nd to provid hlp support that maks sns to accountants. Obviously January happns vry yar, so w know that w nd to b rady. Yar on yar it is important to improv our support this yar, w will opn longr, hav mor popl to tak your calls provid mor out-of-hours information. With You All Th Way Sag Tax Pack Includs hints tips to hlp accountants prpar for th dadlin plus answrs to frquntly askd qustions Extndd opning Hours Extra traind staff working through wknds until midnight on 31 January Our staff will b working through wknds until midnight on 31 January Extra, cross-skilld staff Support tams traind to dal with Prsonal Corporation Tax quris Nw phon options Includs an installation option to nsur vryon s products ar up running, with xtra staff availabl for our customrs Onlin Tax Advic Onc again w will b running our Onlin Tax Surgry on AccountingWEB.co.uk, with xprt Rbcca Bnnyworth. This will start on 18 January run up until 31 January. W will also provid onlin product dmonstrations, Ask Sag articls, wbinars furthr information on sagtax.co.uk Sag Company Scrtarial Nw Accounts Division Product Managr, Sharon Buckthorp, xplains th bnfits of our Company Scrtarial softwar. It rprsnts a virtual vrsion of th traditional papr-basd Combind Rgistr of company statutory rcords. Low maintnanc but highly profitabl, it offrs a cost-ffctiv, accurat way for accountants to manag dtails on thir clints bhalf to nsur thy rmain compliant. Th latst vrsion has bn dsignd to tak account of forthcoming changs to Companis Hous rgulations concrning th most up to dat SIC cods. As of 1 Octobr 2011, nw cods hav bn introducd th softwar lts usrs accss fil accounts using all of ths. Company Scrtarial faturs includ: Th option to crat E-formations You can st up incorporat nw companis at th touch of a button crating a nw sourc of rvnu. Th ability to produc complt statutory forms Paprlss working mans lss production storag costs, whil as of us mans lss tim spnt on staff training. Corporation tax advic from Sag Tim Hrvy, Tax Spcialist for Sag Accountants Division, talks through changs to CT rturns for Charitis/ Community Amatur Sports Clubs (CASCs). A numbr of customrs hav bn filing rturns using th Lit Modul of Sag Corporation Tax (powrd by ONESOURCE). Th Lit Modul dosn t support th CT600E (Charitis CASCs) so som customrs hav bn attaching a PDF CT600E which has bn compltd manually or using a suitabl ditor. Additionally, th CT600E nclosd X box on pag 1 of th CT600 / CT600 (Short) cannot b compltd as it rsults in an rror which thn prvnts onlin filing. Such rturns ar tchnically incorrct bcaus: 1) th CT600E is not shown as bing nclosd 2) th CT600E is not in XML format or part of th XML submission. Th CT600 / CT600 (Short) any Supplmntary Pags (CT600A to CT600J) rquird must b submittd in XML format (with th tax computation bing in ixbrl format, th accounts in ixbrl format unlss th charity is small in which cas HMRC will currntly accpt th accounts in PDF format any othr attachmnt must b in PDF format). Following discussions with HMRC, from 4 Novmbr 2011 any rturn which includs a CT600E as a PDF fil rathr than as part of th XML submission will b rjctd in th post submission procss. Rturns fild bfor thn which hav a CT600E PDF fil attachd ar unlikly to b rjctd for this rason alon. W thrfor advis you to fil all charity/casc rturns in accordanc with th abov guidanc. Easy accss to all company information rcords Th softwar allows accountants to stor information in on plac, undr organisd tabs, which can b accssd asily quickly. Easy complianc Fr lgislativ updats man cost tim savings for accountants clints. Ky dats ar flaggd on scrn nsuring dadlins won t b missd. Intgration with othr Sag products Import xport data to from othr Sag softwar, maning you don t hav to r-ky information. Mor information on moving data fils with Sag Company Scrtarial can b found hr http://bit.ly/coscdata
16 sag xchang 10» support issu» cas study Practic Profil Cas Study CS Accounting ar a thriving small pra ctic offring a rang of accounts, taxation bookkping srvics acr oss th north ast of Engl by ond. CS Accounting, a lsson in support oducts backd Hard-working, cost-ffctiv pr practic growth up by xprt support ar ky to I can honstly say that Sag customr support is xcptional. Exprt phon support is litrally a phon call away. of th most Th int gration asp ct is on Tax atio n Sag imp orta nt factors for m. Acc oun ts can b linkd from Sag 50, Sag Acc oun ts Pro duc tion sup por t ld wou than that r tion rath solu rd a sfr td I wan so data can b tran ing runn kr, y quic ryda g v m in my r- ntrd. As wll as bin atio n fiv m Sinc sign ing up to Sag Tax ual rro r. s for th pra ctic allo w ition amb this lss ns th cha nc of man has b n t por sup of l lv ya rs ago th sma ll pra ctic d anc rnc y to provid th nh It has hlp d incras tran spa sing Bc aus abl to str amlin thi r pro cs du ls sch th I was kno wn for to my cli nts. all too I can prin t out to pas s r I kn w train ing; na blin g thm s can I was alr ady a Sag custom thy to pr sn t to cli nts, so t to thi r wor kd war soft ts on nh anc d lv ls of sup por duc pro from. th s that cla rly wh r thi r tax bill com no ugh to. Sag us to y as wr gro win g cli nt list xp m wll for tting a staf f. this as It also off rs th option of inpu tak on nw pr mis s xtr Tax atio n was abl to off r all ch I whi os nc via alt rnativ taxation sc nari wll as taki ng car of com plia lain s th rol Hr, own r Cyd Sm ith, xp na blin g can thn pr sn t to cli nts, auto matic upd ats. ing hr hlp in ing play n b hav Sag bus ins s m to sup por t thm in thi r llr why it is It s m d pr fc t for a sma bus ins s gro w outlins adv isor. rt xp an cho ics act as you don t r. pra ctic lik our s wh r int gra l to hr plan s for th futu, now So I can say, if you buy this ists, th rfo r hav cial sp hav of t a par t, th tax you will pay x; but if you wai Sh says: Sag hav bn all trad s bc aus it of k Jac a b to ng allo ws us to imp lication s will b y this th practic sinc th bginni k for us. cou ld do so mu ch of th wor I v d. ws m to iv allo ach v r plan ah ad tog th a big par t of what w, sing cs pro 20 on ut nt n it com s abo sp wh for It cuts tim act as a bus ins s adv isor bn using Sag sof twa r ays alw r w ur ns. urs isio ns. n for fiv auto matd fat to mak ing thos kind of dc ya rs now Sag Taxatio so logi cal, for thr am I up to dat, plus bc aus it s that w kno Cli nts thn I Wh n I first star td th pra ctic r thi train ing tim is min ima l. rst thm that I und taki ng was wor king par t-tim, mai nly an mad bus ins s. Sin c I bg an usin g it, it has mn t on boo kk pin g man ag, ctic pra my to rnc abo ut no rmo us diff s gr w Ultimatly, that s what it s all acc oun ts. But as th bus ins allo win g m to tak tim up ing ic that fr srv of mor l do providi ng a sup rb lv I star td bin g askd to muc h so w r so nts cli mor on w. ld that cou to con tinu to gro taxation, I n dd a pro duc t br of staf f na bls us abo ut to tak on anothr mm d as incr th hlp m cop with hav just movd offic s. wor kloa d str amlin my CS Th Gatsh ad -ba sd firm, first-ha nd Acc oun ting, hav witn ss d gratd th diff rnc that sma rt, int. mak soft war solu tion s can cas study «support issu «sag xchang 10 g Inla nd pro cs sing. I had b n usin was n t just it but Rvnu soft war ffic int no ugh. Foundd in 1992, in Washington, Tyn War, thy now srv mor than 70 limitd companis, small md ium-sizd businsss, ranging from sol tradrs to clints with a 5 million ann ual turnovr. Fiv Ways To Offr Grat Clint Suppor t Kp in touch Goo d clin t cont act is abou t mor than waiti ng for busi nss s to gt in touc h with a prob lm. It s abou t mak ing chc k calls, raisin g issu s bfo r thy r flagg d up starting convrsations that can cm nt work ing rlations hips lad to nw oppo rtuni tis. Know your clints aras of xprtis It s important that you undrst th nds conc rns of th businsss industris you work with th spcific issus that affct thm. Kping up to dat with rlvant lgislation rgulations ar th kind of littl thing s that can mak a big diffrnc to th quality of srv ic you offr. Promot your srvics Mak sur your clin ts ar awar of vr ythin g that you offr. This givs thm mor conf idn c to com to you for supp ort in any ara of thir busi nss. W lik to think w ar our clin ts rm ot finan cial dirc tor thr to hlp thm with anyt hing from day- to-day dci sion s to all of th statu tory rqu irm nts. Look for nw rvnu strams To kp your practic mov ing forward, nw businss all th tim. Ntworkin C yd Smith you nd to b looking for g, social mdia markting can all b grat ways to connct with nw popl idntify additional aras of rvnu that can b offrd to xisting customrs. And nw clints in turn bring nw ara s of xprtis to th practic. A bit of PMA Start th day with a smil look on th challngs as a chanc to larn. W try not to say no to a clin t but to find thm an altrnativ solu tion. Try to b as acc ssibl as poss ibl thr for a cup of coff a chat; som tim s it s all th supp ort thy nd. To watch th full CS Accounting cas study scan th QR cod or visit bit.ly/csaccounting 17
18 sag xchang 10» support issu» population svn billion counting population svn billion counting «support issu «sag xchang 10 19 Population svn billion counting Wighing just 5.5 pounds sporting a mop of distinctiv, unruly black hair, Danica Camacho looks just lik any othr nwborn baby. But whn sh mad hr way into th world last Octobr, th world s prss wr waiting to mt hr campd out at hr bdsid to documnt vry dtail of hr historic arrival. Hr birth, in a stat-run matrnity hospital in Manila, Philippins, markd th momnt th arth s population rachd an astonishing svn billion. Th now thr-month-old girl is on of svral childrn from around th world, chosn by th Unitd Nations to rprsnt this global milston. But as photographrs rportrs coo-d ovr Danica, conomists politicians wr lft wondring what hr birth mans for th widr world. For many commntators, hitting th lmark numbr was a tim to rflct on how far humanity has com a chanc to analys th ffct a rapidly incrasing population is going to hav on all our livs. by 240,000 a day with 80 million mor babis born vry 12 months. Last yar th Unitd Nations rlasd svral projctions rlating to vn longrtrm growth, including stimats that th world s population will top tn billion by th nd of this cntury. In th UK alon, numbrs ar xpctd to ris from 62 to 67 million by 2035. That s a lot of nw mouths to fd, cloth watr, lt alon to hlp find work protct against th dangrs of povrty climat chang. As Simon Ross, Chif Excutiv of prssur group Population Mattrs, puts it, W hav rachd th stag whr growing numbrs simply maks things wors, both for our quality of lif for th nvironmnt. W would urg govrnmnt civil socity to addrss dm as wll as supply to accpt that prptual growth in our population is nithr dsirabl nor, in th long run, fasibl. As climat chang incrasingly shows, continual growth in th human impact on th nvironmnt nds in vry ral consquncs. As Simon commnts, a growing population billion popl will b living in countris or rgions with absolut scarcity. Fding billions forcs anothr lvl of dm to alrady dpltd stocks of fish othr food, as wll as supplis of frtilisr (spcially phosphorus-basd ons). So is thr a solution? Dspit th doom gloom, xprts say outsid India som aras of sub-saharan Africa, thr is som good nws as populations stabilis or start to rduc. Japan, Russia Grmany all say thy xpct to s birth rats fall ovr th nxt fw yars in th Wstrn world a combination of improvd halth car, womn s ducation ffctiv contracption hav sn family sizs shrink or rmain rlativly low. Hr in th UK, th avrag parnts hav just on child compard to two 20 yars ago. So dspit all th fuss prdictions, as littl Danica continus to xplor th world around hr, mayb lif on our crowdd plant will b sustainabl for a littl whil longr aftr all. Population by numbrs Th global population is incrasing by 10,000 an hour, 240,000 a day, 80 million a yar UN xprts prdict w ll rach 9.3 billion by 2050 10 billion by 2100 China is currntly th world s most populatd country, with 1.3 billion inhabitants, but is xpctd to b ovrtakn by India which is st to top 1.6 billion by 2050 And thir thoughts don t always mak comfortabl rading. As th xprts ar quick to point out, svn billion is just th start as w ntr 2012, th global family continus to xp at an alarming rat. In 1927, thr wr just two billion of us on th plant. Now w r adding to th population consuming mor of vrything ach day puts prssur on dwindling natural rsourcs, with citizns scrambling for bttr accss to watr, oil, coal gas. Th dm for watr alon could soon xcd supply, with th UN s Food Agricultur Organisation prdicting that by 2025, 1.8 Whr do you fit in? Chck out bbc.in/rpwbzq to find out whr you ar in this nw world ordr.
20 sag xchang 10» support issu» tchnical top tips tchnical top tips «support issu «sag xchang 10 21 To maintain bst practic, backups should b takn frquntly, copid hld on othr storag dvics in cas thy ar ndd for disastr rcovry. tchnical top tips Tom Gambl Tom has bn with Sag for fiv a half yars. His currnt rol is Accountants Club Priority Link (ACPL) Support Tchnician. Data Corruption Guid W know how important it is to maintain th intgrity of your Sag 50 Accounts data. Corruption is a srious risk to any businss systm th rsulting data loss or damag can b vry costly in trms of tim mony. With this in mind, w hav cratd a comprhnsiv guid to data corruption. Th guid includs information to hlp you nsur data is protctd against possibl damag, tips on how to minimis corruption risk warning signs to look out for. In Sag 50 Accounts, corruption is normally idntifid whn th Chck Data routin idntifis rrors in your data. Th guid includs an A to Z chcklist of ths rrors, with advic about stps to tak if corruption has occurrd. You can accss th guid from: sag.co.uk > My Sag Account > Login > My support > My data. Sajal Dva Sajal has bn part of th Sag tam for two yars. Hr currnt rol is Tchnical Support for Sag Taxation softwar. Daling with CT600 onlin filing rrors If you rciv an rror mssag whn filing a CT600 onlin, you can us th mssag itslf to tll you how to procd hlp you choos th rlvant product option whn you r calling support tams. For xampl, an rror mssag may rad: Th rqust has not bn accptd. Error typ: businss Error numbr: 3001 Th submission of this documnt has faild du to dpartmntal spcific businss logic in th Body tag. Typ: businss Numbr: XXXX Location: accounts If th rror stats, Location: Accounts you will nd to contact Sag s accounts support tam in th first instanc. If th rror stats, Location: Computations you should contact Sag s corporation tax tam. Both can b contactd on 0845 111 1111. Garth How Garth is Product Dvlopmnt Managr in R&D for th tax products. H has bn part of th R&D tam for 15 yars. Backup in Sag Taxation In th past w hav suggstd that customrs tak backups in cas somthing gos wrong. A numbr of customrs ithr us third party backup utilitis don t rad about ours or bliv thr will nvr b a problm. W rcommnd that all clints run th backup utility in Sag Taxation rgularly for th following rasons: - It prforms additional chcks on your data which may dtct data issus bfor thy ar ncountrd in Sag Taxation. - With rgular us it can kp th databas that stors th data smallr. A smallr databas can hlp with th prformanc of Sag Taxation your PC Srvr. How to backup Sag Taxation manually: https://support.sag.co.uk/dfault. aspx?pag=3712 How to automat th Sag Taxation backup procss: For Windows 7, Vista & Srvr 2008 oprating systms https://support.sag.co.uk/dfault. aspx?pag=3710 For all othr oprating systms https://support.sag.co.uk/ dfault.aspx?pag=3711 Tim Hrvy Tim is a Businss Analyst Tax Spcialist who has bn with Sag for ovr 15 yars working in th R&D dpartmnt. Nw Corporation Tax advic from HMRC HMRC hav discovrd that th bank dtails givn in onlin amndd rturns (thr s no problm with th original rturn) arn t bing capturd. This only causs a problm if th nomin or bank /building socity accounts dtails on th amndd rturn hav bn changd from thos givn in th original rturn AND thr is a rpaymnt du. Whr this is th cas, HMRC s systm will snd th rpaymnt using dtails capturd from th original rturn or a payabl ordr to th company, in th cas of non-xistnt dtails. HMRC ar addrssing th issu but hav advisd it won t b fixd until Octobr 2012 so in th mantim thy rcommnd taking th following stps: If a company fils an onlin amndd rturn that gnrats a rpaymnt, ithr th nomin or bank/building socity accounts dtails ar changd, thn th nw rturn will nd to includ a PDF attachmnt outlining th changs mad. Altrnativly, th company/agnt can contact th local CT offic ask for a rpaymnt inhibit to b mad in ordr for th rpaymnt to b procssd proprly. If this isn t don, th rpaymnt will b snt using th dtails on th original rturn. Lt us know if want to s tips troublshooting on any spcific issus at xchang@sag.com
22 sag xchang 10» support issu» insight at sag insight at sag «support issu «sag xchang 10 23 insight at sag Information, nws, updats support Exchang wbsit tstrs wantd Early in 2012 w ll b launching th br nw xchang wbsit, w r asking for tstrs. If you ar intrstd in trying our nw sit in January, plas drop us an mail at xchang@sag.com Supporting Local Causs Snior Softwar Tstr at Sag Accountants Division, Nigl Holms, was kn to giv somthing back to his local community. Inspird by collagus h dcidd to gt involvd with th company s Corporat Social Rsponsibility (CSR) programm last yar is now CSR Champion for th Manchstr ara. As h says: I had hard about lots of projcts at Sag Nwcastl thought it would b grat to do somthing hr in Manchstr too. W v tamd up with a social ntrpris group to hlp crat a community lardr gardn clan up anothr growing spac. Our nxt projct is a guidd rading programm in local schools w v got a dozn popl rady to start. W r opn to suggstions so if you hav any idas for us, plas don t hsitat to gt in touch at xchang@sag.com I hav consistntly bn allowd som tim in my working wk to look for nw projcts gnrat support for thm. Th xchang tam sign up gust writr, Alastair Campbll, at th Softwar Satisfaction Awards 2011. Forward Focus Rcntly w hld a full day of focus groups, to listn to what you hav to say about Sag. Ths sssions covrd our softwar, our markting communications, also th magazin you r rading right now! 40 customrs attndd th Manchstr mtings, sharing thir viws ovr fiv livly sssions, it was a fantastic opportunity to larn mor about what you want xpct from us, also som vry particular pain points. Now w r using what you told us to rviw our work across ky aras; including how w dmonstrat nw products functionality, communicat nw industry idas find ways w can hlp you us softwar mor ffctivly. You also told us you wantd an onlin vrsion of xchang magazin whr you could hav constant accss to softwar top tips shortcuts which is xactly what w ll b dlivring for you arly in 2012. W d lik to thank vryon who took part. If you would lik to know what wnt on bhind th scns visit our blog Through th Looking Glass at bit.ly/throughthlookingglass Sag World 2011 Mor than 1,000 small businss ownrs, dirctors ntrprnurs signd up for th fr, two-day Sag World vnt back in Octobr. Gusts njoyd an intractiv programm at Manchstr s Evnt City, including product dmonstrations talks from kynot spakrs including lading ntrprnur Jo Malon LovFilm CEO, Simon Calvr plus a VIP loung for SagCovr customrs. As Jo Johnston, on of th organisrs from Sag s Small Businss Division Markting tam, xplains: It s about making popl awar of what w do highlighting ways to work smartr with our softwar. Now w r looking at making it an annual occurrnc. You can viw Sag World prsntations vido footag at sagworld2011.co.uk Crbra Fund-Raising Whn accountant Elain Clark (of chapaccounting.co.uk) Martin Bown (from My Managmnt Accountants) approachd Sag Accountants Division for hlp to rais funds for Crbra w wr happy to hlp, collcting 221.84 with a drss-down day. Crbra is a charity which hlps look aftr brain-injurd childrn young popl. Fl fr to mak a donation of your own at crbra.org.uk or mail xchang@sag.com to nominat a good caus w ll do our bst to hlp. Blog Inspiring Your Offic Scan th QR cod to rad th blog... bit.ly/inspiring innovation Practic Excllnc Awards 2011 Sag Accountants Division wr th proud sponsors of AccountingWEB Practic Excllnc Awards 2011 for Mid-Tir Practic. Nick Good, Had of Commrcial Markting for Sag Accountants Division, was on th judging panl prsntd th award on th night to winnrs Bnntt Brooks.