Digitisation will save your business time and money

The first stage of the government initiative Making Tax Digital (MTD) came into effect on 1st April 2019, affecting the way all taxpayers will deal with their tax affairs.

MTD makes it compulsory for most VAT-registered UK businesses to keep records digitally and to use software for submitting VAT returns.

This provides a perfect opportunity for businesses to take further advantage of digital transformation replacing traditional ways of doing business and embracing the new digital world.

Digitising aims to save time and money by improved efficiency and creating a more productive workforce.

So, what might a basic digital business platform comprise of?

• Cloud accounting software e.g. Sage Business Cloud, Xero or Quickbooks Online
• Connect a cash flow app eg Fluidly, Fluidly delivers intelligent cashflow management software helping forecast and optimise finance. A clear picture of your future cash position is paramount, helping you make informed business decisions. There is also the ability to chase outstanding debt within the software.

• Invest in optical character recognition software (OCR) eg ReceiptBank. This is a platform used to manage your receipts, invoices and other documents that businesses depend on to keep accurate, useful financial records.
• Statistics show that the more payment options you have, the more likely you are to get paid early. Most software providers have partnered with major payment providers eg PayPal and Stripe. There is also the ability to take payments using Sage Pay be that online, over the phone or in person.
• Bank feeds let you securely integrate your program with your live bank account so that transactions are automatically downloaded into your accounting software. This reduces time spent on entering transactions, simplifies your bank reconciliation and ensures your accounts are up to date and accurate.

Once you have the basics right and are using them successfully, there are various other applications you can build on, such as; Electronic Point Of Sale (EPOS), Inventory, Employment and Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM).

Baldwins are working with leading digital software providers to ensure clients have all their digital needs covered to allow them to save time and money by improved efficiency. This is all provided via the Baldwins platform CoZone. This portal is a massive time saver, providing secure documentation exchange, client communications, MTD bridging software and allowing clients to connect to their cloud software all in the one workspace.

At Baldwins we have a team of digital transformation managers who are on hand to offer advice on all aspects of ‘going digital’, so please get in touch if you would like to understand more about how digitalisation can save your business time and money.

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