JANUARY 2019 | 19
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
WARNING SIGNS
AS CONSTRUCTION
OUTPUT FLAT-LINES
attendant inefficiency and
expense.
Implementation
Making your choice
At the moment, a mere
8% of VAT registered
businesses use accounting
software under their own
control for their VAT calcu-
lations. I suspect that the
figure is even lower among
installers and implementing
accounting software isn’t a
top priority.
However, it may be pos-
sible to kill two birds with
one stone as businesses
that do not use a com-
puter system to manage
their business will find
big benefits if they start to
do so. MTD could be the
reason for adopting such
a system but the benefits
might be the reason for
being pleased about the
initiative. Benefits realised
should be:
• Much less time spent
on paperwork.
• More control: a better
view of finances, what’s
owing etc.
• Replacing bits of paper
everywhere with a
single system where
everything can be easi-
ly found.
• Providing clients with
a more professional
impression.
However, like everything
in life, software introduces
costs, problems and issues,
most of which can be ad-
dressed or reduced:
• The new software might
not fit the business –
that’s why it’s important
to spend time checking
out the software includ-
ing trying it for yourself,
seeing demos and talk-
ing to other customers.
• You may need a lot of
hand holding while
getting to know the
software so it’s vital
your supplier is both
available and willing.
The important point to
consider is that a system
can be implemented to
make it easier to submit
data to the accountant
as an alternative to post-
ing paperwork with the
Every VAT registered
installer should be consid-
ering their plans for MTD.
If they do things them-
selves, they could turn to
a specialist trade-based
software company like my
own, Powered Now, or one
of our competitors. If they
already have an external
accountant to submit their
VAT returns, they should
be talking to them as soon
as possible. My strongest
advice would simply be this
– don’t delay.
Benjamin Dyer is the
CEO of Powered Now.
Powered Now aims to
take the pain out of
admin and paperwork
for installers and other
trade businesses like
electricians, builders and
many more. MTD will be
supported directly.
www.powerednow.com
Rising costs and continued
uncertainty over Brexit are
to blame for the slight drop
in construction output,
according to the Federation
of Master Builders (FMB).
Commenting on the
construction output figures
for October 2018, published
by the Office for National
Statistics, Sarah McMonagle,
Director of External Affairs
at the FMB, said: “The
UK construction sector
is more or less flat-lining
with a small decline of
0.2% in October compared
with the previous month.
Rising costs for large and
small construction firms
are contributing to the
slight drop in construction
output. Recent Government
statistics show that in the
past year, there were nearly
3,000 insolvencies in the
construction industry.
“While wages are con-
tinuing to rise because of
the ever-worsening skills
crisis in our sector, firms
are also feeling the pinch
because of the rising cost of
materials. The depreciation
of sterling following the
EU referendum has meant
key materials have become
more expensive. We are
expecting material prices
to continue to squeeze the
margins of construction
firms with recent research
from the Federation of
Master Builders showing
that almost 90 per cent of
builders believe that prices
will continue to rise in the
next six months.”
McMonagle concluded:
“The future is still look-
ing uncertain for the UK
construction sector because
the Government has set
out plans for a post-Brexit
immigration system that
would severely worsen the
skills shortage.”
www.fmb.org.uk