Our Member of the Month feature celebrates our members and the work they do. This month we’re taking a look at Clearbooks and how collaborative working has changed their perspective on competition.
Clearbooks is a cloud accounting and payroll software vendor, based in the UK and entirely focused on the UK market. Their product features a wide range of functions such as invoicing, CIS, VAT and bank feeds. Clearbooks was founded by Tim Fouracre, who nurtured the business from its inception in 2008. Last year, Tim brought sales and marketing expert Phil Sayers on board to take the business to the next level. Phil said, “I enjoy working with smaller companies but I really like the entrepreneurial culture that you find at Clearbooks.”
Clearbooks has been a committed member of BASDA for a number of years and have recently taken on the commitment of being on the General Council. He continued to say that, “for me, there were a whole raft of reasons to re-engage [with BASDA] and do it properly, not least Making Tax Digital. As a single vendor, trying to interact with the likes of HMRC can be challenging. There’s a whole number of vendors with a common interest in making sure Making Tax Digital (MTD) can work and that they can comply with the regulations, so it makes more sense to work collectively through BASDA.”
Phil Sayers stated that the biggest threat to the accounting and payroll software industry was the lack of clarity from HMRC about their MTD requirements. Software vendors like Clearbooks need to know HMRC’s long-term plans and expectations for the software, in order to develop products which benefit both users and HMRC.
Clearbooks’ advice for members is to stay abreast of all developments in the industry in which you work. By joining one of BASDA’s Specialist Interest Groups, you can gain the latest industry insights in your area of software development. Phil advised, “Respect your competitors; don’t treat them as a permanent and constant threat. Be prepared to collaborate on matters where you have a shared interest, which is the BASDA way of thinking.” He suggested that, in all likelihood, one or more businesses within the sector are going to be facing the same issues, but that BASDA brings these companies together to develop strategic relationships.
Conversing with HMRC about the specifics of MTD remains Clearbooks’ priority; however, it hopes to network with other members and identify opportunities to work with other strategic partners.
More information can be found on Clearbooks’ website: https://www.clearbooks.co.uk/
If you would like to be featured as a member of the month, or if you are not already a member and are interested in joining BASDA, then please contact us at info@basda.org