It was unconfined to see accountants and bookkeepers when together in London to share all things written for Accountex 2022.

As you might expect at the event, Making Tax Digital (MTD) was a big focus, as we're only two years yonder from a massive transpiration when it comes to MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment.

Sure, MTD may be a challenge, but Accountex 2022 showed that digital transformation could herald enormous opportunities for transforming accountancy and bookkeeping practices for the better.

Here are five big takeaways from the event for accountants and bookkeepers.

Here’s what we cover:

• 1. The relationship between purser and vendee has room for improvement
• 2. Making Tax Digital is an opportunity
• 3. Make use of MTD advice
• 4. Embrace using a digital network
• 5. Use the power of automation
• Final thoughts: The human touch is key

1. The relationship between purser and vendee has room for improvement

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) still trust you as the purser to requite them merchantry advice.

And Accountex 2022 showed you're in an spanking-new position to goody from the right services powered by tech.

Sage research says 84% of SMEs consider accountants to be hair-trigger for them, while 49% go to accountants for translating (53% of SMEs said they were plane increasingly reliant on accountants due to the pandemic).

Are you working well unbearable with your clients?

Well, 99% of accountants use some form of digital accounting, so clients certainly winnow digitalisation as part and parcel of working with you.

However, there's still much you can do to modernize your digital connection with your clients, as 60% of accountancy firms say they're not confident in using their written software.

Why should clients trust you if you're not confident in the software you'll need to use to manage their tax returns?

Having an written product is all well and good.

But without deep trust, it may well be that unfluctuating and frictionless relationships between purser and vendee where you finger well-appointed as partners is a long way off.

2. Making Tax Digital is an opportunity

A human connection between purser and vendee may moreover be missing.

One problem is that 64% of accountants finger SMEs under-appreciate their work, expressly in compliance, tax efficiency, and merchantry planning.

One opportunity to build a largest relationship with clients, whether through technology or as humans, is MTD.

We're off and yonder with MTD for VAT, and a big focus of Accountex was MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA), which we're very likely to see in April 2024.

MTD for ITSA is the most significant transpiration to your industry since Self Assessment hit the UK in the 1990s. It will impact 4.2 million businesses and demands a new tideway for your accountancy or bookkeeping practice.

Accountex made it well-spoken that you should see MTD as a once in a lifetime event that can make your practice particularly valuable to small businesses.

By owning the MTD process, you can make your team increasingly efficient, make increasingly money by supporting clients at a higher level, and unhook a consumer wits that clients will highly value.

3. Make use of MTD advice

In the big scheme of things, 2024 is not far away, and a lot of messaging from Accountex 2022 was virtually making the proper preparations for MTD for ITSA and ensuring the transition goes as smoothly as possible.

As an purser or bookkeeper, you should:

Choose to act now

As you may have once experienced MTD for VAT, there is a lot to work to do if you want to meet the MTD for ITSA requirements, whether you're working with sole traders or landlords.

Commit to seeing MTD through

MTD is here, and it's certainly not going away. What you want to do is unhook your MTD for ITSA plan (Not got one yet? See point three unelevated - Sage can support you with this), as your future success might depend on it.

Remember, don't think it's all on you

You're not on your own-there's help with MTD for ITSA available.

For example, with Sage for Accountants, you'll automatically receive an sectional 4-Step Practice Success Plan, a masterclass programme presented by industry experts.

It'll requite you the skills and conviction to build and unhook a clear, confident, and profitable plan for the practice and your clients, helping you get ready for MTD for ITSA.

Sage's MTD for ITSA 4-Step Practice Success Plan consists of:

• Plan and Prepare-create an whoopee plan
• Practice Readiness-examine processes and workflow
• Client Readiness-create vendee behaviours for success
• Deliver and Succeed-maximise the positive impact and reach your goals

Learn increasingly well-nigh the 4-Step Practice Success Plan and how to sign up on the Sage for Accountants website page.

4. Embrace using a digital network

Of course, Accountex 2022 wasn't just well-nigh MTD.

There was moreover a lot of future gazing and conversation well-nigh where the accountancy profession will go next.

One technological transpiration that you may want to think well-nigh as an purser is the idea of using a 'digital network'.

Digital networks are a new enabling tracery in Software as a Service (SaaS). The idea is that while digital usually 'records' the business, in a network digital 'conducts' the business.

While SaaS is designed for everyone in the business, digital networks are designed for everyone in a merchantry ecosystem.

In SaaS, people share computing resources, while in digital networks, people share data and activity.

An example of a digital network in the consumer world is the one built by supplies wordage app Deliveroo, which doesn't just cater for restaurant employees but everybody in its merchantry ecosystem-such as restaurants, drivers, and customers.

Evolving from simply using SaaS software to using a digital network matters to accountants considering digital networks indulge customers, software vendors, banks, and governments to create a merchantry ecosystem with each other.

Like unshut financial has revolutionised finance for consumers, the same can be washed-up with businesses, as you can establish trust between all the parties involved.

5. Use the power of automation

Accountex 2022 showed that automation will protract to modernize the way accountants work.

With financial management software, it's untellable to program a computer to recognise every conceivable invoice format.

If you wield machine learning to recognising invoices, the weightier you can hope is to unzip 80-90% accuracy.

The real power is its scale.

A human may unzip much greater verism but can't hope to match a computer's productivity when automation is in action.

As an accountant, you can have conviction in software automation that can review hundreds of thousands of transactions a month, which humans can't do manually.

Final thoughts: The human touch is key

Much discussion at Accountex 2022 was virtually how the accountancy profession evolves as technology develops.

In the short term, it's MTD that has the potential to transform your relationships with clients for the better.

However, be enlightened that strained intelligence (AI) and automation hold the potential for accountants to hoist the human work they do for SME clients and wilt trusted partners inside to their success.

The technology you use needs that human touch for you to reach your full potential.

The post Accountancy with the human touch: 5 highlights from Accountex 2022 appeared first on Sage Translating United Kingdom.