Seeking Feedback from UK Accounting Professionals

[BookWorks]

Hi everyone,
I'm a CPA and former EY professional currently researching bookkeeping workflows in the U.K. to better understand where accountants feel the biggest day-to-day inefficiencies lie.
For those offering bookkeeping services to limited companies — I'd love to hear from you:

• What parts of bookkeeping take up the most time?
• Are there tasks you feel should be automated but aren’t?
• What tools or systems do you currently use?
• If you could remove one recurring headache in your workflow, what would it be?

I’m genuinely trying to learn from the real practice experience of U.K. accountants and bookkeepers, so any insight or stories would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

(If anyone prefers a private chat or quick call instead, happy to do that too — but no pressure at all.)

 

[MikeJ]

I am neither, but...

I often wondered why there wasn't a standard electronic invoice that could be sent between companies that included all the information in a set format, so any accounts package could import it. Maybe there is these days, it's a few years since I was involved in that kind of thing.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

...

• If you could remove one recurring headache in your workflow, what would it be?

...

HMRC

 

[DWS]

HMRC

Agreed, I am spending increasingly more time time dealing with their ineptness.

 

[fisicx]

Not an accountant but standardisation across all tools would be great. That way all files and reports would be compatible no matter what users and bookeepers use for recording transactions.

 

[Kerwin]

Not an accountant but standardisation across all tools would be great. That way all files and reports would be compatible no matter what users and bookeepers use for recording transactions.

There are some options on that front:

• QIF
• OFX
• HBCI

 

[fisicx]

There are some options on that front:

• QIF
• OFX
• HBCI

Then why don’t they all use them?

 

[Kerwin]

Then why don’t they all use them?

No idea. But there are open standards. I imagine if more customers asked for support then they might implement it.

 

[BookWorks]

I am neither, but...

I often wondered why there wasn't a standard electronic invoice that could be sent between companies that included all the information in a set format, so any accounts package could import it. Maybe there is these days, it's a few years since I was involved in that kind of thing.

There actually is a standard now — it’s called Peppol, and it’s already widely used across Europe and by the NHS in the U.K. for structured e-invoicing. The long-term plan in many countries is to mandate this format so invoices move directly between systems as data rather than PDFs, eliminating manual entry and OCR. It essentially provides the universal ‘import-ready’ invoice format you described.

 

[BookWorks]

HMRC

Totally hear you — HMRC comes up a lot as a frustration. Out of curiosity, is the headache mostly about their systems/communication, or do issues usually start when something in the books doesn’t match what HMRC expects? Just trying to understand where the friction actually begins.

 

[BookWorks]

Not an accountant but standardisation across all tools would be great. That way all files and reports would be compatible no matter what users and bookeepers use for recording transactions.

When you mention standardisation, is that mainly about invoices/receipts, or about bank data? And which tools are you or your accountant using today (e.g., invoice capture apps, bookkeeping software, spreadsheets) where you feel this mismatch?

 

[BookWorks]

There are some options on that front:

• QIF
• OFX
• HBCI

True — those formats were widely used for bank feeds. Do you still provide bank data to your accountant that way? And with open banking available today, I’m wondering what keeps people on file-based downloads instead of a direct feed.

 

[fisicx]

When you mention standardisation, is that mainly about invoices/receipts, or about bank data? And which tools are you or your accountant using today (e.g., invoice capture apps, bookkeeping software, spreadsheets) where you feel this mismatch?

All my bank offers is csv or pdf downloads.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Totally hear you — HMRC comes up a lot as a frustration. Out of curiosity, is the headache mostly about their systems/communication...

Yes

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I often wondered why there wasn't a standard electronic invoice

There is an EU standard and the UK is looking at something...!

Government sets out plans for ‘e-invoicing’ overhaul to cut paperwork

Government consultation on electronic invoicing launched

www.gov.uk

 

[numbersrule]

Lack of standardisation is a result of the Free Market.

Most online accounting software companies want to do things slightly different to their competitors.

Each new Company Formation introduces a new mutation.

Now if we had a truly Socialist State, things may be different.

Then you might have half a chance of a semblance of consistency.

 

[BookWorks]

Lack of standardisation is a result of the Free Market.

Most online accounting software companies want to do things slightly different to their competitors.

Each new Company Formation introduces a new mutation.

Now if we had a truly Socialist State, things may be different.

Then you might have half a chance of a semblance of consistency.

Thanks for the insight — the standardization point definitely comes up a lot.
From your experience, what day-to-day problems does this inconsistency actually create?
For example:
• Each software platform structures data differently
• Needing to collect outputs from multiple apps/systems (e-commerce, billing, etc.)
• New company formations using different chart-of-accounts setups
• Automation rules breaking because workflows aren’t uniform

Would really appreciate hearing where you feel the biggest friction lies in practice.

 

[GLAbusiness]

I am not an accountant. It seems to me that the way that different software providers design their offering is based on trying to create a USP.

To force them into a standard approach with standard outputs cancels their USP and results in them being commodity providers.

This could result in a drive to cut costs and stifle innovation

 

[Allen_Bernier]

Interesting discussion. A lot of firms I know streamline bookkeeping by moving to cloud-hosted setups. It helps standardize workflows, keeps all apps in one secure place, and makes collaboration between accountants and clients much smoother.

 

[numbersrule]

Interesting discussion. A lot of firms I know streamline bookkeeping by moving to cloud-hosted setups. It helps standardize workflows, keeps all apps in one secure place, and makes collaboration between accountants and clients much smoother.

Many accountants and bookkeepers have now taken the cloud based systems to a new level of integration with transmission of bookkeeping data from digital sources and via automatic capture of data uploaded to the cloud based systems.

My bookkeeping role now for many Clients is more of an oversight role where I just check in once a week for a short spell to check and see that the digital data uploads / transmissions have been working correctly. It's more of a 'checking the data' role as opposed to an 'enter the data' role.

Naturally, some Clients are still getting up to speed and in those cases I am implementing the introduction of data capture and data transmission integrations.

I can see the day being not too far away, when for some well organised forward thinking companies may be able to click a cursor on the 1st January and then come back on 31st December and click another cursor and hey presto the Accounts are filed.

 

[Allen_Bernier]

Many accountants and bookkeepers have now taken the cloud based systems to a new level of integration with transmission of bookkeeping data from digital sources and via automatic capture of data uploaded to the cloud based systems.

My bookkeeping role now for many Clients is more of an oversight role where I just check in once a week for a short spell to check and see that the digital data uploads / transmissions have been working correctly. It's more of a 'checking the data' role as opposed to an 'enter the data' role.

Naturally, some Clients are still getting up to speed and in those cases I am implementing the introduction of data capture and data transmission integrations.

I can see the day being not too far away, when for some well organised forward thinking companies may be able to click a cursor on the 1st January and then come back on 31st December and click another cursor and hey presto the Accounts are filed.

That’s a great outlook. It’s amazing how automation is reshaping bookkeeping into more of a review-focused role.

 

[DWS]

.

I can see the day being not too far away, when for some well organised forward thinking companies may be able to click a cursor on the 1st January and then come back on 31st December and click another cursor and hey presto the Accounts are fil

That’s a great outlook. It’s amazing how automation is reshaping bookkeeping into more of a review-focused role.

But who checks the information is accurate?
I have said in previous threads that I charge more for clients using software and doing their own bookkeeping as it takes me longer to correct, software is not a magic wand despite all the ads on TV, rubbish in rubbish out!
How many people are claiming expenses that are not allowable or missing out on things that are because they believe the myth that just pressing a few buttons is the answer.

 

[BookWorks]

Many accountants and bookkeepers have now taken the cloud based systems to a new level of integration with transmission of bookkeeping data from digital sources and via automatic capture of data uploaded to the cloud based systems.

My bookkeeping role now for many Clients is more of an oversight role where I just check in once a week for a short spell to check and see that the digital data uploads / transmissions have been working correctly. It's more of a 'checking the data' role as opposed to an 'enter the data' role.

Naturally, some Clients are still getting up to speed and in those cases I am implementing the introduction of data capture and data transmission integrations.

I can see the day being not too far away, when for some well organised forward thinking companies may be able to click a cursor on the 1st January and then come back on 31st December and click another cursor and hey presto the Accounts are filed.

Thank you for sharing your perspective,
You’ve described very clearly how automation has transformed invoice capture and data transmission, allowing bookkeepers to move from “data entry” to more of a “data review” role. That resonates with what we’re seeing as well.
I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts on how this evolution extends to bank and credit card reconciliation, in particular, how effective current automation tools are at reducing manual work when it comes to ledger-to-statement reconciliation (cashbook journals) and transaction-to-source invoice matching.
Also, if you don’t mind sharing which invoice capture app are you currently using? And based on your experience, how accurate is it in practice? For example, what proportion typically requires manual review or adjustment.

 

[BookWorks]

But who checks the information is accurate?
I have said in previous threads that I charge more for clients using software and doing their own bookkeeping as it takes me longer to correct, software is not a magic wand despite all the ads on TV, rubbish in rubbish out!
How many people are claiming expenses that are not allowable or missing out on things that are because they believe the myth that just pressing a few buttons is the answer.

Thank you for your comment — you’ve raised a really important point.
When you say, “software is not a magic wand” and mention issues like ineligible expenses or missing deductions, are you referring mainly to the software’s current limitations in exercising professional judgment? for example, determining whether an invoice is valid for VAT purposes or whether an expense qualifies as allowable for tax deduction?

 

[numbersrule]

Thank you for sharing your perspective,
You’ve described very clearly how automation has transformed invoice capture and data transmission, allowing bookkeepers to move from “data entry” to more of a “data review” role. That resonates with what we’re seeing as well.
I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts on how this evolution extends to bank and credit card reconciliation, in particular, how effective current automation tools are at reducing manual work when it comes to ledger-to-statement reconciliation (cashbook journals) and transaction-to-source invoice matching.
Also, if you don’t mind sharing which invoice capture app are you currently using? And based on your experience, how accurate is it in practice? For example, what proportion typically requires manual review or adjustment.

Hi Bookworks

Regarding ledger to statement reconciliation I have experience with sales transactions from Square POS feeding into Xero and automatically allocating the Square fees to an Expense Nominal alongside the Sale going to Sales. It is still necessary for me to click 'OK' on the Reconciiation, but the matching is always there without fail.

Then with a different Client I have Tabology feeding Cash Sales to the Cash Till Account in QuickBooks whilst the same day's Card Sales go to a Holding Account for matching with the Credit corresponding to the Incoming Payment in the Bank Feed which is processed via a Rule in the Review Window. But one week's transactions can be done with one click to select them all and one more click to 'add'.

Then another Client has Hubdoc pushing Bills through for matching in Xero.

These systems are learning as they go and I think Hubdoc has improved significantly in last 12 months.

It can be beneficial to leave some tasks for avwhile so that the automation has more to work on. For example I left one suppliers Bills for a couple of months and then when I had about 20No to enter, it was easier to train Hubdoc for that supplier and now Hubdoc knows what to do with the Bill when the email arrives with the Bill attached.

 

[numbersrule]

But who checks the information is accurate?
I have said in previous threads that I charge more for clients using software and doing their own bookkeeping as it takes me longer to correct, software is not a magic wand despite all the ads on TV, rubbish in rubbish out!
How many people are claiming expenses that are not allowable or missing out on things that are because they believe the myth that just pressing a few buttons is the answer.

Hi DWS
I must admit I was being deliberately provocative with that last paragraph, and you are quite right that the bookkeeping will always need checking.
When I said you go back at year end and click and hey presto, I mean the bookkeeping would be accountant-ready.
There are some Accountancy aspects which will probably never be automated such as the interpretation needed to process Accruals and Prepayments. I can't see how a computer would ever be able to predict an Accrual for Accountancy Fees, or a Prepayment for Annual Insurance paid one month before YE. Well, maybe the latter, well yes, that could be programmed. And thinking about it, supposing Accountancy Fees were set as a % of Annual Turnover? Ah, yes, that could be programmed as well. Yes, on further reflection, I may have been not far off with the one click Annual Filing.