Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is nearly here and accountants throughout the country are poised and ready to help their clients with new obligations.

As MTD-compliant software is being adopted, some accountants may find that the promised streamlining of tax is actually leading to more work for them.

For accountants who are starting to dread the new obligations, it is time to review software solutions and decide whether they have the right technology for the task at hand.

Why might software be making more work for accountants?

It is no secret by now that MTD is enforcing the need for digital accounting solutions.

This has led to those impacted by MTD to adopt software and accountants seeking bridging solutions to help ease the process.

While many of these intend to manage the workload created by MTD effectively, some accountants may find themselves doing additional work.

Many software solutions, such as those from CCH or IRIS, are agent-only, resulting in clients having an easier time of the transition at the expense of the accountants who have to pick up the slack.

While it might seem like something to boast about, accountants who submit on behalf of their clients are finding that they are doing all of the work without the client having oversight of it.

What should be a step towards empowering sole traders, self-employed individuals and landlords to become more financially literate risks excluding them from the accounting process entirely.

This means they have no awareness of the deadlines, as the responsibility shifts onto the accounting teams, who are left to chase information every quarter.

The arduous task of gathering information that was once an annual ritual in exasperation may become a quarterly occurrence as accountants have to request records and process submissions.

This time-consuming work will be met with hostility from clients when they face higher bills as a result of their accounting team doing more work.

All of this risks creating a system where accountants burn out and clients are left with less visibility over their own finances.

MTD was hailed as a solution to drive digital engagement and create shared responsibility, but it may have the opposite effect for many.

Are accounting teams doomed to do more work under MTD?

It depends on what accountants are willing to tolerate.

If accountants want to work themselves to the bone by chasing clients who will become increasingly detached from their own finances, then it may be worth pressing ahead with current software solutions.

For accountants who truly want to feel the benefit of MTD, a better solution must be sought.

With MTD Assist, Glasscubes can ensure that your clients meet their obligations without your workload getting out of hand.

MTD Assist is an entirely self-serve option wherein clients are guided through the process of keeping up with their filing obligations, so you do not have to spend time chasing them.

Instead, you have the option of giving everything a review to ensure compliance is met.

If you have been dreading quarterly information chasing and gathering, then put those concerns to rest with technology built to make MTD work for accountants as well as for clients.

Book a demo to find out how you can step into a brighter MTD future with your clients.