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We are officially in the era of digital transformation where technology has greatly impacted audit processes. This has ushered changes that were hard to imagine as possible about a decade back. While the accounting profession has by and large embraced technology in various processes, it was restricted to the documentation, calculation, stor age and retrieval process. However, this is all set to change as cutting-edge technology dons a greater role in auditing. The clamour for different reporting and financial statements has been growing, and technology has all the right answersv. Taking a leaf out of fintech companies for development of intelligent software Bookkeeping outsourcing company in uk. Processes that will be touched by technology will include those areas where it may be necessary for a machine to understand and use that knowledge to identify complex information. Fintech companies have been able to deploy automated solutions by leveraging the power of AI and machine learning. Auditing will similarly find a greater role for technology, beyond the present functions. For instance, technology has developed to a level where it is possible for AI powered systems to look at all the data of a company that is being audited and identify anything that is amiss. This will help auditors to turn their focus to flagged areas that need more of their attention. Evolving reporting requirements Bookkeeping outsourcing company Present audit reporting helps investors and shareholders understand the financial health of businesses. However, in the context of a data driven world with more and more information available, there is an increasing chorus for auditors to share additional information. Stakeholders are of the opinion that auditors possess more information, than what is actually reflected in the reports. And the demand is for more contextual information from auditors about how a specific conclusion was made or arrive at. Readers want to know how the auditors arrived at a conclusion. This open the floodgates of confusion. Auditors crunch numbers and make conclusions, expecting a reader to do the same is an invitation to chaos. However, technology has the ability to present relevant information in the right form for dissemination, that is in alignment with the overall findings/conclusion. Impact of revisions and penalties corporate secretarial services in ukThe Financial Reporting Council released revisions to International Standards on Auditing (UK)[1], which had more to do with the Code of Ethics. This has great significance for auditors and by extension the companies that are being audited. The changed standards, despite being limited in scope can have implications for stakeholders. This needs to be read in the context of the fines levied by the FRC, on some of the top global auditing firms for misconduct. Even as the dust began to settle over the fines and the circumstances surrounding it, most of the iconic and respected auditing firms commenced an overhaul of their systems and processes, bringing in more technology driven processes to strengthen existing processes. This will be the order of the future, as auditors look towards technology for greater compliance. Moving from sample testing to testing of all transactions In the future, auditors will harness technology to carry out checks of all transactions, and not just rely on a sampling or random check of transactions. While the certainly humungous volumes of transactions may have come in the way of checking out all the transactions in the past or the present, this is all set to change. With the use of the right technology, not only will all transactions be checked, they will be completed at high speed, which means that the process of checking will not add to the time element. And this aspect of checking all the transactions will help auditors to gain more insights about the financial health and other inputs about the organization and the domain it operates. This will be invaluable to investors and shareholders who will now be able to understand reports on the basis of checking all transactions and not just a sample. Sampling has a probability of error, which will be corrected in the future. The need for speed The new techno-social order has turned time on its head. Processes that once took a specific period of time has now been shortened drastically. As a consequence, all other allied processes and procedures are also expected to commence/conclude at proportionate speed. Effectively, this has led to a cascading effect. Audit, resultantly, requires to be concluded faster than ever before. Manual processes do not stand a chance of delivering results at speed or with the accuracy and precision required. While it is impossible for technology, as it stands now, to replace the power of human intuition in tasks as complicated as auditing, many of the tasks that are repetitive or rote in nature need to be entrusted to technology and automated processes to be able to meet the deadlines. Leveraging the power of blockchain for cost effective audit processes Blockchain is the buzzword that will continue to hold sway over businesses well into the near future. And by virtue of being a distributed ledger, blockchain is the natural bedfellow for auditing processes. Auditors need not seek information or wait for clients or third parties to furnish statements, or any documents for verification and cross-verification. Auditors can simply carry out the verifications from blockchain ledgers. With the power of offering verifiable and immutable transactional information, these ledgers will save a lot of time and money, in addition to the assurance of offering information that is accurate and free from errors. This is basically, because the transactions themselves would have been carried out only after fulfilling the criteria or conditions of all –parties involved in the transaction. Analytics only as good as the data that is fed Analytics can be only as good as the data that is fed, which means that standards also need to improve so as to offer data that is of the right standard. While systems will be powered to detect anomalies over entire transaction history, the advantage of perception that is available to the human mind and the logic of perspective will be unavailable to technology driven systems. This will make it mandatory for records to conform to certain standards. The quality of the data and the processes or technology that is available to bring in the data from many sources needs to be advanced so as to prevent gaps in data capture and its use. The need for more regulations and standards Past processes had stakeholders trying to catch up with the regulations and standards. For instance, auditors and organisations had to fulfill or meet the standards and regulations as laid down and the need of the hour used to be a scramble to meet the standards. However, with changes in the way business is conducted, there are multiple issues which cannot be met or fulfilled by existing standards. This turns the whole equation of regulations and standards on its head. Regulations and standards are now expected to keep pace with the developments and evolving changes in the world of business. Till the regulations and changes are in place, auditors and businesses will have to work within the contours of existing regulations which may not be very easy considering the inherent differences among domains. Conclusion: Auditing is a proven facilitator for growth, in addition to meeting the requirements of accounting and financial reporting. While nations have their own set of policies about the size of businesses that need to be audited or not audited, it is a proven fact that auditing is one of the pillars of growth of a business. Technological innovations will assist the acumen of humans to bring about greater accuracy, improved reporting and faster conclusion. Auditing will not be limited to random checks but will encompass the whole history of transactions for specific periods. Contrary to popular belief, technology will not take the place of humans, but will help humans in their deliverables.

When is the Self-Assessment tax deadline for 2018?

The deadline for filing the online Self- Assessment tax return for the tax year ending 5 April 2018 is midnight on 31st January 2019. There are other deadlines as well which tax-payers have to keep in mind so that unnecessary penalties won’t be incurred. A self-employed person or a person earning income from personal property will have to file their online tax return by 31st January of every year. Those who miss these deadlines will have to deal with fines and the worst part is, they keep piling up with delay.People have to be vigilant of this fact and pay off their taxes well before the deadline. Or they can take help of an accountancy outsourcing services provider to outsourced bookkeeping services and to take care of tax returns outsourcing.

 

 

The previous tax year ended on 5 April 2018. For any untaxed income earned during the 2017-18 accounting year, the deadline for filing Self-Assessment tax return is midnight of 31 January 2019. The next online deadline will creep around before anyone realizes, so it is important to be prepared with the dates.  Here are some of the important dates: 

  1. 31st July 2018: This is the deadline for payers to make the second ‘payment on account’ installment to HMRC. This will only be applicable if a person is self-employed during the 2016-17 tax year and a tax amount of over 1000 pounds is owed when the tax return was submitted.  
  1. 5 October 2018: This is the deadline for self-employed persons to inform HMRC that they are self-employed, so they are aware of when they have to file the tax return the following year. The process does not have to be repeated if one is already registered as self-employed. 
  1. 31 October 2018: This is the Self-Assessment deadline for the tax year 2017-18 if one wants to file a paper return rather than filing it online. However, most businesses find it easier to file their returns online. Under the government’s new Making Tax Digital plans, filing paper returns may not be an option anymore. 
  1. 30th December: It is the deadline for filing the tax return when one wants the tax owed to be collected through PAYE via the tax code. This is only an option is one has already has income that has already been taxed through PAYE. It is applicable if one is employed or self-employed and if the Self-Assessment tax bill for 2017-18 is 3000 pounds and the bill has not been settled yet. 

If one continues earning untaxed income from 6th April 2018, it will fall into the category of the tax year 2018-19 which ends on 5th April 2018-19. The deadline for filing the 2018-19 Self-Assessment tax return will be midnight on 21 January 2020. Taxpayers should keep an eye on Making Tax Digital announcements in the case there are any developments. 

 

Taxpayers should start thinking about their tax return as soon as they start earning money. It is a good idea to open a business bank account to keep personal and business accounts separate and to maintain receipts for all deductible expenses. Nowadays it has become much easier to use an app or an online spreadsheet to keep track of income earned. This will help with organization and make everything more streamlined when the time comes to file the tax return. 

 

Website: outbooks.co.uk