We think congratulations are in order.

This tax year, there were over 11 million Self-Assessment tax returns filed to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

All that hard work, late nights, digging through paperwork and badgering customers really paid off.

However, many of you had a more miserable experience than is necessary.

Why? Because your personal tax process remains stubbornly anchored in the past.

Despite the digital age transforming almost every aspect of our lives, from how we shop to how we bank, the personal tax filing systems of numerous accountancy firms seem to lag woefully behind.

The reason your tax return season was worse than your competitors

When you use paper documents, things get lost in the post, signatures need constant chasing, and documents must be stored physically, taking up precious space in your office.

The digital systems that your competitors use, on the other hand, don’t suffer from any of these issues.

Similarly, the ‘human data management’ method that you are still using for your tax returns is dangerously prone to errors.

One misplaced decimal point or a missed entry can throw off an entire tax return, leading to hours of backtracking and, in some cases, unwelcome attention from HMRC.

Your checklists, your ability to chase clients and your document-management all suffer under a paper-based system.

The question then arises: Why have your personal tax processes not kept pace with technological advancements?

Make your life easier

The answer probably lies in a combination of resistance to change and a lack of awareness about the benefits that modern solutions can offer.

Cloud-based information-gathering software, for instance, can automate much of the grunt work involved in preparing a tax return.

They can give you visibility on where you and your team are in the process, allow you to communicate seamlessly with your clients and even automatically remind them to submit their documents.

Basically, they act as a safety net and a helping hand to make the tax return season much, much easier.

The investment in information-gathering and document-management solutions often pays for itself in terms of time saved and reductions in errors.

View our free demo of Glasscubes and see how information-gathering tools could streamline your personal tax processes.