Business in a Difficult Climate

What do you think the next 12 months will bring for your business?

It's clear that we are in a difficult economic environment, and that those difficulties are set to continue for some time.  As the year turns in spring, traditionally people have looked forward with a positive attitude.  The days are getting warmer, the evenings lighter, and nature is 'waking up' with blossoms appearing.  However as we enter the spring of 2009, few people are looking at the economy with a positive attitude.  For months we seem to have had nothing but bad news.  The newspapers and press are full of worrying stories, and we have even seen politicians being reprimanded for suggesting that there may be some hope of a recovery.

At Online50 we provide our hosted solutions to a wide range of small businesses in all sectors of the economy.  We are continuing to see new businesses and accountants join the Online50 service, although we have also seen the failure of the others.  From our perspective (we have more than 2,800 companies that have entrusted their accounts to the Online50 hosting platform) it is difficult to see any common thread about which sectors of the economy have done well, and which have not.  However, one clear thread is visible.

• Where an accountant works closely with their clients, providing added value accountancy services with a hands on approach, less of those clients are failing.

It is clear that there are still business opportunities in the current climate.  The difference between surviving the current recession and failing may be as simple as ensuring that you have accurate and meaningful information about your business.  We hope that as 2009 unfolds you will see your business thrive.

In This Issue:

Payroll Year End

As the end of the Payroll Year approaches, users of Sage Payroll on the Online50 service are fully prepared for the year end.  The Government Gateway used by HMRC for electronic submissions is often updated prior to year end, requiring software vendors to update their software that sends the submissions.  This year has seen changes in the gateway, and in the Sage electronic submissions software that sends your payroll information to it. Online50 users have access to the latest version of Sage Payroll with all updates applied, including the latest electronic submissions software.

Users can process their payroll in the 2008/9 payroll year and then, when they are ready, switch to using the payroll 2009/10 payroll year.  This is particularly important for users at a payroll bureau where they run multiple payrolls which many Online50 customers are.  For a payroll bureau different payrolls will be switching to the new payroll year at different times.

Online50 has an arrangement with Sage to allow users to license Sage software, including Sage 50 Payroll on a monthly basis.  This means that all users of Sage Payroll on the Online50 platform can use the latest version of the software without having to purchase upgrades and install new software.

If you would like to know more about running Payroll on he Online50 platform please contact us.  Existing users can speak to their account manager or the service desk, and if you are not an existing user please contact the sales desk on 0800 195 0835.

The Importance of Accountancy Services

At Online50 we work with a large number of small businesses and their accountants.  Our experience shows us that most small businesses do not have the level of financial management information they need.  Using the Online50 service means that a small business and their accountant can access the same accounting system, and the same data, from different locations at the same time.  This allows a broad range of accountancy services to be provided in a flexible way.

Unfortunately for many small businesses, their accountants are not providing them with the type of information that they want.  This can be summed up in our experience of a recent visit by members of the Online50 team to meet with representatives of a large firm of accountants from a number of offices in the North East.  As we were discussing with the firm's staff the importance of value added information and services it was clear that they were becoming uncomfortable.  Probing to find out what the issues were we were told things like "Our clients only buy from us because they have to" (referring to the provision of compliance services) and "we don't provide management accounts."  At this point one of their partners made a very valuable observation:

"We have to recognise that in the current climate there are many more stakeholders in businesses than there used to be.  They need proper information that they can understand - pie charts in colour and Excel spreadsheets.  Without that they will not be able to secure the funding they need.  If we don't provide this kind of service for our clients we may well find we don't have any clients left in 12 months time."

At Online50 we work closely with our partner accountants to help them deliver the value added accountancy services that small business desperately need.  Our Service Proposition Workshop, for example, helps our accountancy partners understand how to target and present their value added service offerings successfully.  To find out more about offering value added services on the Online50 platform, please speak to your account manager or call the Online50 sales desk on 0800 195 0835.

Private and Protected

Using an online service, such as Online50, can raise issues over the security and privacy of your information.  We have noticed that we are asked about security less these days, perhaps indicating that people assume that our service is secure, or perhaps indicating that they have looked at the information on our site about security and are satisfied!

In this issue we'd like to bring to your attention one of the options we can provide which most people don't expect - our PDSL service.  The PDSL service (for Prioritised Digital Subscriber Line) can provide you with a completely private connection to the Online50 service - allowing you to connect to the service without having to connect to the Internet.  Normally we provide the PDSL service with an onward connection to the Internet, but we can keep the connection completely private.  When this private connection is coupled with our hosted WotWeb browser you can provide your staff with a hosted business environment, including access to authorised web sites (and of course email!) without having to have an Internet connection.

For more information please contact your account manager or the sales desk on 0800 195 0835, or see the attached PDF document.