Farming in the clouds

18/07/2016

The options for cloud accounting available to farmers are increasing. Already QuickBooks Online have developed a nominal ledger format and reporting routines for their cloud-based system which facilitate the compilation of gross margin accounts and harvest year results .

Farmplan have improved the means of access to their system by allowing the software to be parked in the cloud for collection by a third-party. This, although short of a full cloud-hosted solution, is a great improvement.

Landmark Systems have just announced that their specialist agricultural software can now be provided as a cloud hosted application as an alternative to a traditional install. There is also an option to rent the software as opposed to purchasing it outright. Already benefiting from many features of specific relevance to farmers, these developments significantly improve the attraction of their product.

As the Government takes forward its tax digitalisation project the ability for tax advisers to be able to remotely access their clients’ data will facilitate compliance with the new rules which will undoubtedly be imposed. We may not have reached even the consultation stage yet but a 2018 target date for the introduction of quarterly tax reporting has been set and four consultations are expected imminently. It would be very dangerous to rely on a U-turn and early thought needs to be given to the logistics of how quarterly reporting will be accomodated. Remote access by tax advisers to accounts software appears essential and the early adoption of any new accounts systems will enable teething issues to be resolved before quarterly interaction with HM Revenue & Customs is imposed.