Two of the UK’s leading accountancy sector software providers have joined forces in anticipation of the digital tax changes sweeping the nation.

IRIS Software is today announcing a partnership with Xero to streamline the bookkeeping process for UK accountants in preparation for HMRC’s ‘Making Tax Digital’ (MTD) initiative.

As the software used by an accountant’s client base will vary from business to business, firms have previously struggled to take data from one system into another. However, this issue may soon be a thing of the past.

The collaboration, which enables accountants to pull client information directly from Xero’s bookkeeping solution into IRIS Accountancy Suite, will streamline the digital tax process for firms across the UK. This partnership, provides accountants with a fully integrated tax and accounting solution that automates manual processes, allowing them to modernise existing working practices to support their clients more efficiently.

Sion Lewis, CEO Accountancy Division at IRIS Software says, “The modern accountancy firm may have preferred software systems, however the software used by their clients will differ presenting a significant challenge for the practice. With the need to digitise tax and record keeping becoming increasingly important, the sheer amount of data will increase exponentially as businesses begin to comply, and it’s vital accountants are supported through this challenging time.

“Our mission at IRIS is to make the accountants working life more productive and this is another step on that journey. To ensure what could be a very complex process for UK accountants is made as simple as possible, IRIS is partnering with third party software vendors allowing connectivity and data sharing to extend efficiencies to the entire market. Time-consuming admin processes will be cut considerably and accountants will be able to focus on what is most important – adding true value to their client base in the post-Brexit digital economy.”

Gary Turner, UK co-founder and managing director of Xero, says, “Thousands of accounting professionals are looking to Xero and IRIS to help them manage the impact of the new HMRC tax rules next year and so it makes perfect sense for us to collaborate to offer them as much support as we can.”