It's Season 3 and we're all set for another season with our new editor in tow, thanks to Leigh at Nomad Video. In this episode we cover app news, the big pricing debate and an intro to Damon from Employment Hero.

In app news this week:

Xero and Dext price increases (also Sage) - Dext pricing change from today | AccountingWEB

Interested in joining us for an episode? Or joining our network? Get in touch.

Switching things up in this episode with the introduction of a rant of the week, top tips in the form of networks we think are worth joining. Also a mini intro to Conrad Ford, ex Founder of Funding Options and now CPO/CSO of Allica Bank who is looking to shake the accounting tech market back up.

As always leave us some feedback, a review or share this with someone you think may benefit.

App news this week covers:

1. Company insolvencies rise in Dec - https://www.accountancytoday.co.uk/2023/01/17/company-insolvencies-rise-32-in-december/

It's an hour of gold with markers in tow - or just scrub to the below times to get the juice you want.

First 4 minutes - Banter & Intro

App News:

04:25 Tax Sheets - 1st MTD ITSA casualty

07:30 Sage strong arm tactics & Sage Earth

13:44 IE11 to be disabled

16:29 Capium, UniPaaS and embedded payments

20:39 Excuse the bants - spread it like PB & J

24:42 QBO Updates

25:46 Jonathan Gaunt leaves Dext

27:01 Silverfin - who are they?

30:47 Three raises - Chat GPT, Intuit & Allica

36:16 Chat GPT spotlight & use cases - takeaways for use

46:01 Interview with Cameron Ford from Silverfin

59:29 Rant of the week & Close Out

For those of you easing back into the 9 to 5 - join us for this pod where we go back over the big news for 2022 and cover some predictions for accounting tech in 2023.

Excuse the banter - it's clearly been a while since we spoke. Leave us a review and tell us what episode took your fancy from our catalogue!

• MyWorkpapers improves Excel integration with Excel Connect 

OK so not quite the day after, in keeping with holidays, this episode is a pick 'n' mix for those who have managed to get through all the kids films in the cinema this summer.

This is our Back To School medley where John, Ryan and Indi interview Alex Von Schirmeister, EMEA MD of Xero, to talk about the release of XeroGo and Xero Instant Pay - as well as the plan for European expansion. 

Followed by a quick update from Johann Goree, our QuickBooks Expert, to get the inside view on QuickBooks Online Advanced. Is it the same as the US version? Seems like a cheaper price than the US - what's the catch?

And finally John and Ryan are joined by the charismatic and charming Amy Cotton to evaluate the feedback post Xerocon. Are the releases appealing enough? Was Xerocon worth the visit in the heatwave? Why are teacups not fixed to the saucers?!

Find out all in this episode.

• Accountants with largest LinkedIn followers, dominated by females. Jeri Williams 65K, Francesca Tricarico 56k, Laura Taylor 42K - courtesy of Dermot Hamblin (ACCT For Your Future)- (1) LinkedIn Follower Accounts in UK Accountancy | LinkedIn

In line with Xerocon 2022 - the first Xerocon in the UK for 3 years (!) - we sit down with Steve Vamos, CEO of Xero, to talk about what is really driving the Xero product. Is it software, people, culture or customer need? 

Combined with app news for a bumper update on industry happenings. Featuring: 

• The global talent shortage for accountants – Accounting firms must “discover, create and train” talent amid global shortage (accountancyage.com)

• Sage and ACCA - announce release of e-learning on accounting software and cloud accounting tools – hitting more than 30,000 students - Post | LinkedIn

• Accountants voted best kissers in Britain – poll of 2.000 Brits by Plenty of Fish – Accountants are voted the best kissers in Britain ahead of doctors and nurses | Daily Mail Online

• E-invoicing in France to become mandatory from July 2024 - https://www.avalara.com/eu/en/learn/events/webinars/e-invoicing-and-e-reporting-in-france.html?campaignid=7015a000001iyxoAAA&campaignname=EMEA%20MKT202201%20E-invoicing%20in%20France%20webinar%20-%20Internal%20Email

• MTD ITSA – Three line (technically two (income and expenses) submissions allowed for ITSA below VAT threshold - MTD ITSA legislation: HMRC green-lights three-line accounts | AccountingWEB

• MTD for VAT penalty systems – from 1st June 2022 - £400 for not filing through software - £5-£15 per day for not keeping digital records – comment on digital links. Up to £5,475 annual penalty for digital link breach – 100% for not using checking systems - The lowdown on HMRC’s penalty system for MTD for VAT - FreeAgent

• Changes in mid-tier ERPs. Dynamics biggest grower in mid to large at (5 to 7% market share), Oracle (2 to 4%), SAP up 1% and AccountsIQ up 1%. Sage gained 2% in small business space. Sage biggest growth in mid tier space at 6% - Finance system upgrades take off in the mid-market | AccountingWEB

• Xerocon partners – Major names, with focus on payment solutions. Comma as newcomer - Introducing our Xerocon London event partners | Xero Blog

• Xero release – bank statement extraction through Hubdoc US and Canada (no uk?) - Coming soon: Making it easy to import transaction data into Xero | Xero Blog Hubdoc auto add contacts, update planned payment dates in bulk in xero analytics - Latest product news — July 2022 | Xero Blog link of contacts between HQ and XPM The next step in our journey towards a unified client record | Xero Blog

• Sage – terminating accounts below v26.2 from Sep 22 

• Coconut supports CIS reporting on income – adjust per transaction (rather than rule) - Coconut now supports subcontractors on the Construction Industry Scheme | AccountingWEB

• Syft updates – excel connector, updates to dashboards with prior period data, audit tracking for anomalies, dormant accounts tidy, sales product tracking 

• Timworks release mobile app for chat style communication with clients, including document exchange - https://www.loom.com/share/7c466aad9efb479da34305f4fcdcf270

• Paycaptain integration with Pensionsync – payroll and financial wellness solution founded 2020 – budgeting tool for individuasl linked to the payroll portal - PayCaptain launches PensionSync integration | AccountingWEB

• Capsule – expands into project management functionality - FW: More project management features for you - [email protected] - Gmail (google.com)

• IRIS Elements releases 6 new connections - Proposals, AML, Accounts production, Tax, Practice management and financial performance review- Post | LinkedIn

• Quotien releases scheduled emails for quotes - Fwd: Introducing Schedule Email - [email protected] - Gmail (google.com)

• Hammock raises $5.5m - Hammock raise ratchets up MTD landlord competition | AccountingWEB

• Accounting Excellence finalists – well done to the line up of great people. Shout out to Emily Deakin, Rachel Martin, Samantha Mitcham, Pink Pig financials (Cheryl Sharp), Accounts and Legal (Stuart Hurst), de Jong Phillips (pamela phillips), Ad Valorem (Nigel Adams), Alex Falcon, and all the team at Capitalise, Clarity, Fathom, Join, Reducer, Airpa, Dext, Crezco, Iplicit, Sage, Konsolidator and Karbon. Interesting range of apps - 2022 Accounting Excellence finalists revealed | AccountingWEB

Missed our session at DAS or just missing DAS generally? Don't worry we have you covered with this short 20 minute recording from the show!

Do you have clients in the restaurant and hospitality sectors? Want to learn what apps and tech other accountants are using to serve them best?

In this live podcast taping, John Toon (Beethers & Struthers), Ryan Pearcy (Scrutton Bland), and Indi Tatla (AREX Markets) share the best apps and tech-stack for serving these clients. 

How many accountants does it take to build the perfect accounting software? In this case, just one.

In this episode we catch up with Lucy Cohen from Mazuma to cover all things MazApp, accounting tech and neobanks. If you're curious about MazApp and how it fits into the future of the accountant workflow theb give this a whizz.