Making Tax Digital (MTD) is set to be one of the biggest ever changes in tax reporting to affect businesses of all sizes. The consultation process finished in November and we’re expecting HMRC’s response sometime in the New Year.
Whilst many are against the concept of quarterly tax reporting, it is unlikely that HMRC will totally drop their plans.
At the moment news of MTD hasn’t reached the main-stream media in any depth and as such many business owners are unaware of this major change that is on the horizon. However, once HMRC does announce its plans and the start dates for these to take place, it is likely to be big news and your clients will no doubt have lots of questions they need answering.
So what’s your plan for communicating the MTD changes? How will you make sure that your practice is ahead of the game when it comes to knowing all about MTD, how it will affect businesses and what you can do to help?
There should be 3 key audiences in your MTD communications plan:
- Staff – make sure they are fully up to speed with the changes, deadlines, software requirements etc. Will they need additional training in order to use different accounts packages they are not currently familiar with?
- Clients – they will have lots of questions, particularly those who currently don’t use accounting software to produce their financial information. Are you going to send clients a letter and set in place meetings or phone calls with each of them to discuss the changes? What reference material and guides will you be giving them? What information will there be on your website, on your social media, in your newsletters? Will you be organising seminars, events, producing video guides etc? If you’re likely to be taking on additional bookkeeping work for clients, have you got the in-house resource to do this? Will you need to outsource to local bookkeepers to cope with demand? How much will you charge?
- Prospective Clients – MTD presents a massive opportunity for accountancy firms. By establishing yourself as the local specialist in MTD, you will be able to raise your profile to prospective clients whose existing accountants aren’t giving them the information they need. You’ll also be well-placed to provide advice to new business owners who want to make sure they start their new businesses on the right track. So, can you write articles for local press and magazines on MTD? Would local radio stations be interested in you doing a ‘phone-in’ to answer people’s questions? Should you invite non-clients to attend events seminars you are organising? Is this the right time to start running a series of adverts in local/regional or perhaps trade press to promote your MTD support services?
Whilst some accountants are fearful of the changes MTD will bring, others are seeing this as a significant opportunity to further support their clients, helping them to produce better quality, regular financial information which will help their businesses to develop.
Momentum is already working with several accountancy firms to help them put in place MTD marketing and communication plans and to draft appropriate documents for them to send to clients and use in their marketing activities. If you would like some assistance with your MTD communications, call us today on 01822 833300 or email vicki@momentumforprofessionals.co.uk.
