IRIS drives increased time and cost savings for accountancy practices with latest version of flagship accountancy suite
IRIS World 2013, the annual conference series for the UK’s accountancy sector, has swung into action with a presentation from tax expert, Mike Warburton of chartered accountants Grant Thornton. Free to attend, the event, at London’s Twickenham Stadium, was specifically designed to inform and update accountancy practices across the UK on the latest developments in the market.
Keynote speaker, Warburton gave an illuminating summary of some of the main tax changes and tax cases over the past twelve months in the UK including the General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR); Statutory Residence and key changes in the Finance Act. He also outlined some planning ideas on Entrepreneur’s Relief.
Following the Twickenham event, the IRIS World conference series will visit the Ricoh Arena, Coventry (9 October); Salford City Stadium, Manchester (15 October) and Macdonald Inchyra Hotel, Falkirk, Scotland (23 October). This year’s conference series is expected to attract over 1,000 accountancy professionals, looking for the latest updates on technology, innovation and compliance.
New IRIS software solutions
Phill Robinson, CEO of IRIS Software Group, the UK market leader in accountancy and payroll software, also gave a morning keynote highlighting new products and new software functionality introduced by IRIS over the past 12 months. He focused on the growing portfolio of cloud-based accountancy solutions and growing base of over 40,000 end-users choosing to work in the cloud.
Highlights included the introduction of:
• IRIS Practice Dashboards – Instant graphical snapshots of key performance indicators (KPIs) direct from the IRIS integrated database;
• IRIS OpenWebsite – Takes the effort out of developing and managing an effective website for an accountancy practice;
• IRIS OpenTax – the UKs first professional personal, partnership and corporation tax return application for accountancy firms delivered as a service over the web;
• IRIS OpenAudit – Cloud-based financial audit solution, applying the market leading Mercia methodology for a wide range of business entities.
Robinson also explored key new capabilities that IRIS has added to other applications including: IRIS OpenSpace e-Approval; IRIS OpenSpace/IRIS Docs integration and IRIS Client Dashboards. In addition, he focused on integration, the foundation of IRIS accountancy software and explained how this approach is applied to every product the company’s designs and releases.
Robinson’s presentation updated delegates on the functionality of the company’s upcoming IRIS release v11.3, including details of new accountancy-specific, taxation and practice development functionality including accounts production for academies. This was followed by an ‘IRIS in Practice’ session, detailing the added value that accountancy practices can access directly by working with IRIS.
In-depth consultancy
The afternoon featured breakout sessions on topics including the IRIS future compliance roadmap and tips on making the most of the IRIS accountancy software, alongside detailed expert advice on areas such as how to “Transform auditing with the cloud”; “How to increase practice efficiency for the tax season and beyond”, “Maximising data and reporting in your practice”; and “How to market your practice online and win new clients.” The day concluded with a section, entitled Cloud computing and accountancy, with sessions devoted to: “leveraging the benefits of cloud alongside desktop applications” and “revolutionising the client accountant relationship with cloud bookkeeping.
According to Robinson, “In line with our own strategic focus on enabling practices to successfully navigate the changing accountancy landscape, IRIS World is packed full of useful ideas and information to help take advantage of the latest technological breakthroughs and drive enhanced profitability and competitive edge. It’s a must attend event for any forward-thinking practice.”
To register for forthcoming events or for more details about IRIS World 2013 visit www.iris.co.uk/irisworld
New release includes support for academies and extends seamless desktop-to-cloud integration.
IRIS Software Group, the UK market leader in accountancy and payroll software, has announced the latest version of its award-winning integrated solution for accountancy practices. Available from today, IRIS Accountancy Suite v11.3 introduces a range of new capabilities designed to enhance efficiency. These include further integration with its leading range of cloud based IRIS OpenApps solutions, such as IRIS OpenSpace, its leading document exchange and e-Approval system and IRIS OpenAudit for financial auditing from the cloud. The new release also supports the preparation of final accounts for academies, ensures full compliance with the latest legislation for UK GAAP and IFRS, and includes improvements to the business tax client accounts area. Following a successful trial of the new functionality Richard Graham, IT Manager at A C Mole & Sons, said:“The latest release looks really exciting with improved search functionality within the client browser. I’m particularly excited by the development in IRIS OpenSpace; it’s really bringing the cloud and desktop together. The ability to request approval of tax returns or sets of accounts directly from the IRIS Accountancy Suite as part of our day-to-day working will boost productivity considerably.”Phill Robinson, CEO of IRIS, said:
“IRIS solutions for accountants are founded on the principle of capturing information once and making that information available to every module in the suite and every member of the practice, In releasing this latest version, we have continued with this approach and further developed integrations with the growing range of cloud-based IRIS OpenApps, concentrating on updates that provide time savings for users while enabling them to drive efficiencies and deliver better service to their clients.”
