More technology, more complexity, more work

20 March 2020: Then UK chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has just unveiled a package of measures the government would take to support people at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Within minutes I had my first message from a client: “How do I claim this?”.

“I don’t know, I have just seen the same thing you have,” was my response.

This experience is symptomatic of the demands and expectations placed on us as small practitioners; in reality that experience was similar to others – in fact from my first day in work after leaving school.

The family-run practice had just bought their first computer and I spent my first day formatting a pile of 5 ¼ inch floppy disks. This was going to make everyone’s life easier and usher in the paperless office! The scrolls of extended trial balances were consigned to the basement.

But the reality was somewhat different.

Initially it was internal expectations to turn ‘work around faster’, so that the processes from the moment client records were received to the final accounts were sped up. Perhaps, to some degree, we have contributed to the pressures, by collecting records later after the year-end and then using tech to turn the work around quickly.

The internet – and a new wave of client angst

In the late 1990s self-assessment was introduced and the internet arrived in our homes. Today every client is an expert – all you have to do is ‘Google it’. “Am I eligible for this?”, “can I claim that?”; we are expected to know the answer immediately.

The pace of change has been so phenomenal that a good number of experienced tax professionals and practitioners have been driven to retirement as they struggle to keep up with the demands. I have not even mentioned Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (AMLR) or GDPR.

We can be certain of further changes to come, whether that be in the guise of Making Tax Digital (MTD), ‘emergency Budgets’ resulting in three changes to National Insurance (NI) rates in one tax year, or some other ‘scheme’ on which to advise.

The good news is that all of this means we will all have businesses for the foreseeable future, despite television advertising claims that software packages will ‘do everything for you and check for errors’. The truth is that business owners need support, and they need advice. They need you.

We all want to do what is best for our clients but that can only be done if we look after ourselves. So, what can we do? Be selective in the type of clients you take on. Be realistic about the number of clients you can look after. Take your CPD seriously so that it’s relevant and practical. Take a break.

I, of course, don’t do all those things – good intentions and all that.

Marcus Armand is an IFA member and CEO of Plan Practice. He is also the  ‘Flying Accountant’ on YouTube.