Accounting

Online filing drives strong IT investment

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Accounting
Written by Paul Williams   
Thursday, 29 April 2010

IT software and services consultancy offers significant growth area for AiPs.

 

The majority of UK accountancy practices have made large investments in their IT infrastructure in order to support the industry’s move towards online filing. Yet most accountants in practice (AiPs) need to know more if they are to take advantage of the efficiency benefits that iXBRL offers, according to the latest Pulse survey from business software and services provider Sage (UK) Limited.

Two thirds of AiPs (64%) have already made, or are planning on making, significant changes to their IT or business processes in order to meet the iXBRL requirement for online filing. Although accountants are familiarising themselves with iXBRL, 7 out of 10 (69%) remain uncertain of the benefits that it delivers, suggesting that more education is required in order for the standard to become widely adopted ahead of April 2011.

“Online filing is fast becoming an integral part of the job for today’s accountants but iXBRL is still relatively new,” commented Managing Director of Sage’s Accountants’ Division, Jayne Archbold. “Although there is currently a sense of uncertainty around the implementation of iXBRL, it is very much here to stay and I have no doubt that accountants will soon appreciate the benefits of this significant advance in filing technology.”

Commissioned to reveal the factors shaping the accounting industry, Sage’s Pulse research also found that there is a significant – and untapped - revenue opportunity around software and services. Only 8 per cent of decision makers at small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) currently buy IT services from their accountant, yet one third (32%) of SMEs would welcome more advice from their accountant on IT.

The research also revealed that nearly half of AiPs (48%) have seen a growing interest in using bookkeeping software rather than spreadsheets amongst their clients. This suggests that accountants may need to focus on the provision of value-add services in order to grow their business over the coming years.

 
 
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