Accountant mobile phone app

[skbas]

Hi,

I am a software developer who specializes in developing mobile phone apps.
I currently have an idea to develop a mobile phone app for accountants, the aim of the app is to allow accounts to communicate with their clients.

Clients will install the app onto their smart phones and accountants will be able to send them information, such as any relevant paper work.

I was wondering if you guys had any ideas of some useful features for the app, in particular any specific requirements which will enable simple and easy communication between accountant and client.

 

[mackwaa]

Hi,

I am a software developer who specializes in developing mobile phone apps.
I currently have an idea to develop a mobile phone app for accountants, the aim of the app is to allow accounts to communicate with their clients.

Clients will install the app onto their smart phones and accountants will be able to send them information, such as any relevant paper work.

I was wondering if you guys had any ideas of some useful features for the app, in particular any specific requirements which will enable simple and easy communication between accountant and client.

I think this is a very cool idea.

Each client usually requires specific accounting advice, but if the accountant could create a list of all the types of advice (which could be sent to the client) it would be very cool indeed.

This issue is each client is different, which means the advice is very specific, so if you create a generic table of all the advice it may not make sense to the client or at worst it may provide advice which contradicts or contravenes the tax or companies legislation. Also each country is different so you'd have to be prepared to make subtle changes for each jurisdiction.

As for features, I think an app which calculates a persons personal tax liability which can then be compared to what they actually paid each year (so they can see if they are owed any tax) would be quite simple and would get a lot of support.

 

[skbas]

Thank you for you reply, I am currently based in the U.K so i will be developing the app for U.K based accounts.

I do not come from an accounting background so I really appreciate the advice you have given me - thank you.

Are there any case examples that you could give me that may be generic with all clients,
e.g. a certain type of document or paper work that accounts send to each client - I could then use this as a starting point to make sure that accounts can send this document to all clients.

 

[mackwaa]

No worries, glad I can help.

Well as a start, accounting firms need all clients to sign a disclaimer to allow them to act for that client (this used to be written but I think that's not the case anymore). It was a real hassle trying to get clients to sign that disclaimer but if you had an app which wouldnt work without accepting the terms (like apple) I think that would be very useful.

The next thing I'd look at is providing clients with documents required to setup say a new company. You can find these documents on the companies house website in the forms section:

Forms - Introduction

Then I would start referencing data from the HMRC website (I think the HMRC are slightly biased on some of their legal intepretations but its definitely accurate enough for your purposes)

Find a form

To be honest I had previously been looking for someone in the IT world to produce this type of thing (I was originally thinking more along the accounting software packages with iphone access but its very similar).

Best of luck with your new venture.

 

[advancextra]

I can help you - please contact me

Hello,

I came accross your post by chance and I can help you in many ways both in design, layout, features, and access to a nationwide network of accountancy members in both the UK and Ireland with a very good branding behind the app.

Where in the uk are you based and do you have any contact details so we can discuss this in more detail. Do you have an email address, mobile/landline, website and I will send you further information on how I can help you and vice versa.

We are currently in the process of building and designing an accountancy app for our members, so it might be a good time for you to contact us if you are interested in doing something for us.

Regards
Colin

Hi,

I am a software developer who specializes in developing mobile phone apps.
I currently have an idea to develop a mobile phone app for accountants, the aim of the app is to allow accounts to communicate with their clients.

Clients will install the app onto their smart phones and accountants will be able to send them information, such as any relevant paper work.

I was wondering if you guys had any ideas of some useful features for the app, in particular any specific requirements which will enable simple and easy communication between accountant and client.