Taking Back January – How New Tech is Set to Revolutionise The Accountancy Sector
NEW TECH which allows accountants to “take back their January” is set to help drive up efficiency levels for those working in the sector.
APARI Pro, is a HMRC-recognised, AI-powered platform that simplifies and automates Income Tax Self Assessment, is making its mark on the accountancy sector.
It uses automated data capture to remove spreadsheets, paperwork and email attachments from the process, which in turn helps accountants to save up to 70% of their workload for sole trader and landlord clients.
Commenting on the role Apari Pro can play in the industry, Sudesh Sud, co-founder and CEO of the business, said: “Last year, over 4 million Self Assessment tax returns were for sole traders or landlords with turnover below £50,000 per year. When you add in company directors and employees in Self Assessment, it’s clear that existing tax software isn’t suited to most clients. APARI Pro was developed as a future-proof, long-term solution to simplify the process, while still providing an advice-led service to your clients.”
“Accountants spend their January processing tax returns for high-volume, low-margin clients, often sifting through badly organised paperwork or battling with over-engineered software to do tasks that should be simple. We wanted to find a solution that has been purpose built to tackle these issues effectively,” he said.
With years of experience in accountancy, tax, banking, business relationships, digitalisation and more, the individuals behind APARI Pro say they combined expertise into the development of the platform can address these pain points, and also provide added value.
“As well as focusing on the functionality of the platform, we created avenues within APARI Pro that can be exploited to provide added value that goes beyond its main purpose.”
“Utilising APARI Pro’s platform results in less hours of staff time and a smoother workload throughout the year, which translates to increased efficiency. What’s more, the use of direct client data sources limits human input error, significantly increasing accuracy – we believe these factors are of vital importance to accountants in practice.”
Crucially, APARI Pro helps to future-proof accounting firms, as it has been approved for MTD for Income Tax since 2018 and increasingly harnesses the power of AI and automation in the service.
“The delayed rollout of Making Tax Digital shouldn’t influence the decisions that accountancy practices make regarding digitalisation. There are benefits for accountants and clients today, and it is a journey that should be embraced, not driven by HMRC policy.” added Anish Mehta, Chief Product Officer at APARI Pro and formerly of HMRC’s MTD Programme.
APARI Pro offers the power and control that comes from having access to real-time data, enabling easier and quicker access to information. Ultimately, APARI Pro is able to remove admin time currently required by accountants so that they can focus on the advice they can offer to their tax affairs.
Sudesh continued: “The difference between APARI Pro and our competitors is that we are a dedicated Self Assessment product that applies cutting-edge technology to the needs of the high volume, low-fee clients that are ignored by the traditional software market.”
“APARI Pro is a unique platform in the market. It has been proven to reduce costs and increase profitability for accountants, but also reduce the stress of meeting last-minute deadlines. It’s simply the most viable Self Assessment tax solution in the market.”
“As we start to play a more active role with our partners like the Institute of Financial Accountants, we are incredibly excited to share our expertise with the industry. APARI Pro has been widely embraced by the industry already and we look forward to helping more accountants to “Take back their January” whilst returning margin and advice to their Self Assessment service.
To learn more about APARI Pro and its benefits to accountants, please visit: www.apari.pro/accountants
