12 July 2010
New survey highlights concerns iXBRL preparations could cost in excess of £10,000
A survey conducted by leading software provider Digita, part of the Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting business, has found that accountants in practice are worried by the cost implications of making their firms iXBRL ready by the April 2011 deadline. The survey also highlighted that significant numbers estimate that the preparations could cost in excess of £10,000.
The survey was conducted at the recent HMRC event held at Stamford Bridge, London, which attracted over 500 attendees who were keen to learn more about iXBRL. Of those who took part, 88 per cent had cost concerns with 13 per cent stating that they are ‘very' concerned, 69 per cent described themselves as ‘concerned' and 6 per cent were ‘partially' concerned. Interestingly, the findings show that half of those surveyed estimate that those costs for preparing for iXBRL will be in excess of £10,000; a daunting figure for those firms already struggling to survive the economic slow-down.
Digita is committed to providing a range of cost effective iXBRL solutions and those 5,000 firms already using its software, will be provided with updated and compliant software as part of their annual licensing agreement, at no extra cost. Use of the familiar Digita interface will also benefit current users precluding them from having to undertake costly re-training.
Digita has always listened to the concerns of its customers, developing the solutions to meet their changing needs. iXBRL compliant software is no exception and Digita has created a range of solutions that will fit all sizes of a practices' needs: from the small practice using Word to produce client accounts, to the larger firm that needs a fully integrated iXBRL compliant suite of tax and accounts production software.
Jerry Rihll, managing director, Digita, is highly supportive of the HMRC strategy to tag data. He commented: "Tagging data will provide a phenomenal ability to analyse businesses. Obviously that will help HMRC to ensure compliance, but it will also help the Government understand how its decisions affect individual businesses. HMRC is at the leading the way with this regime and other governments are watching with interest. If they feel it's been a success here, they will follow very quickly."
The full results from the survey can be downloaded at: http://www.digita.com/pro/events/ixbrlsurvey/results.aspx.
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