The famous 1946 film titled ‘It’s a wonderful life’ set out to tell the tale of a despairingly frustrated businessman being shown how life would have been without him. As we increasingly use technology to run our lives and businesses I wonder what the impact would be if we suddenly turned it off, or worse, somebody else does. We would probably realise very quickly just how much an integrated part of our lives digital working has become.
It’s becoming an even more Wonderful Digital Life.
HMRC have decided that as we are all using smart phones and tablets to organise ourselves, so it should be possible to make tax more digital. By that they mean we can access a personal tax account online, check information sent directly by employers and pension providers to alter tax codes etc and pay our tax bill more easily.
For businesses, this means they can also file financial information on a quarterly basis so HMRC can see how they are doing. Fortunately they have just announced this is being delayed from 2018 to 2019. In order to submit accounting information digitally, it really requires a digital accounting system and one that is fully up and running in less than four years’ time.
It’s a Wonderful Olympic Life
How quickly the four years passed between London 2012 and Rio 2016. As the recent games concluded many of us will have been impressed by the overall result. But this didn’t just happen by chance, our athletes are not superhuman as was hinted at by rivals.
They did receive carefully targeted investment, but in return they offered up a level of sheer dedication which, over a number of years, achieved the level of excellence we subsequently witnessed.
It’s a Wonderful Brexit Life
The triumph of Rio, surpassing expectations, was nothing compared to the shock of the result in June. The drop in the stock market has mainly recovered as has business confidence. A new Prime Minister is going about her business with an apparently very steady hand.
Commentators have been remarking that the result, whilst catching most by surprise, has acted as a general stimulus in many business sectors. We are doing better than expected because it’s triggered more forward thinking.
What’s it all about?
For a business to achieve excellence in all it sets out to achieve it needs to be looking forward. If we spend too long looking in the rear view mirror we are very likely to crash. As we look forward through that windscreen we will see a much broader future. As the formal side of Brexit approaches, opportunities will happen. As business owners are we ready to take advantage?
The Olympians (those that are continuing) are already looking ahead to Japan 2020. They have a clear goal and clear aim. By 2020 HMRC will also be expecting businesses to be ready for the Digital Tax regime.
All of this points to being a lean, fit and forward thinking business. How good is your current accounting system to deliver the performance statistics you need, to show you not just how well you are doing but how much better you could be doing? Are you making best use of the current technologies to stay with the market leaders? Are you clear what your future target is? Does your future mean ‘the future’ or is it a warm and woolly ‘maybe’?
The objective of the next Accelerator Club workshop on the 14th September will be to challenge you to look through the windscreen and focus on the future. Join us if you can.