SITTING in a Softworld seminar about tax technology, iXBRL, it struck me that iXBRL could be the modern version of Y2K. Everyone believed the switch would cause a big technology problem but in reality it was business as usual.

Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language is a technology used to highlight or tag financial information in company tax returns and accounts. HM Revenue & Customs set the deadline that all corporation tax must be filed in iXBRL format from 1 April 2011.

That date appeared to cause concern for accountants that software wasn't ready, filing returns would take substantially longer, would incur greater costs etc.

I headed over to the iXBRL seminar at Softworld, run by ICAEW tax faculty head Paul Booth, thinking it would be jam packed with accountants trying to understand how to get to grips with the software, moan about its expense and other gripes.

I was shocked to find just 7 other people in attendance. The majority of them represented companies that were small enough to not have complex filing requirements and were able to use HMRC's free software and were just brushing up as to what exactly iXBRL was.

Booth later told me that according to an ICAEW report of IT in accounting practices just 13% of the 800 or so accountants surveyed currently found iXBRL either difficult or very difficult.

It got me thinking, have we made a Y2K out of iXBRL? The switch to filing in this format seems to be a bit like the concerns that computers would all cease functioning at midnight 2000, when really it was all smoke and no fire.

Or are accountants waiting for the two year soft landing (HMRC will take a lenient approach to penalties) to end before taking the situation more seriously?

RESEARCH SUGGESTS the digital age is making people rude.

Apparently 31% of UK workers would answer a mobile call during a face-to-face meeting, according to a survey conducted by Harmon.ie.

A staggering 41% remain "glued" to their mobile during a meeting through sending texts, tweeting etc.

I'm not the greatest tweeter, my followers will know, but I am constantly glued to Tweetdeck.

However, it is slightly worrying that one in three 20-39 year olds would take a call during a meeting.

Although I love technology (sometimes), I believe it should add to the communication toolbox used by organisations, not detract overall.

One should not be placed in priority of another just for the sake of it. Both avenues of conveying your profile or obtaining business is important; face-to-face and technology.

The more worrying statistic shows 36% of companies now block websites they deem inappropriate to work related activities. I'm sure Facebook features high on that hitlist.

But that suggests a lack of understanding of the potential plusses of social networking to 'doing business'.

A quarter of businesses have the right idea and are providing better training on managing information.

I however, can't keep my eyes off my smartphone and email and have resorted to turning the phone off when meeting someone. There's having lines of communication, and just ignoring someone.

Maybe we'd talk to each other more if our faces resembled screens.

THE FIGURES showing how successful iXBRL corporation tax filings have inadvertently led to a dispute over the numbers.

From 1 April all corporation tax had to be filed online using iXBRL which highlights information to make financial data easier to compare.

Figures published today on Accountancy Age, sourced from Iris, Sage and HMRC, show the success rate and the number of filers using their software.

There is a dispute over HMRC's success rate, which a certain accountancy software house claims is 76%%. However the taxman is saying 94%

A debate is also brewing that 'not all tax filing software is created equally', skewing the figures' comparability.

Some suppliers can provide full tagging requirements of more than 5,000 tags - while others meet the minimum of around 3,000, which technically means those filed at the lower end are 'easier' to submit.

Today's debate has illustrated the stregth of feeling around wanting to show that their software can do the business.

However, this is just a reflection of the first month. Almost a third of corporation tax is filed towards the end of the year. I believe the proof could be in eating a Christmas pudding.

I RECENTLY ATTENDED the CCH annual conference where I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of work that had gone into the event.

But...

There was a burning issue I felt was missed off the agenda.

Social media.

Everyone talks about how great it is, and at the event speakers were claiming young entrepreneurs are more comfortable picking up a mouse than a phone - so accountants should utilise it.

But no-one explained how.

Should an accountant tweet? If so what about and how often? Should accountants or a firm have a facebook page? If so, marketing what? How much should a firm invest in social media? Should the firm start LinkedIn debates? How do you utilise social media effectively?

Someone out there must be able to show accountants the nuts and bolts. At the moment it feels like accountants are throwing darts at a dartboard wearing a blindfold. Some will hit the target but it's pot luck if they do!

The majority of firms are sticking to traditional methods of finding and attracting clients. About 80% of clients and accountants seek each other out through face-to-face meetings and networking, according to a CCH and YouGov poll.

Someone needs to describe exactly how to use social media effectively while also keeping traditional routes of finding clients alive.

HM REVENUE & CUSTOMS claims it has listened to the concerns and revised the implementation timetable of new PAYE technology. But in my opinion, it's not much of a revision and more half-a-job.

The taxman wants to create technology for businesses to submit real-time PAYE information on all employees. Eventually there will be no need for printed p60s or p45s - which to me is only a good thing.

However, software and banking representatives were crying out for an extension to a very tight deadline set by HMRC, which didn't allow a full tax year to pilot the new system.

The taxman claims it has now revised the timetable so existing technology can be updated rather than phased out immediately as previously stated.

A computer-to-computer transmission service known as EDI (used by lots of UK companies) was due to be put down in October 2013. BACS, and the internet, were going to be the only methods of sending PAYE data to the taxman.

Now HMRC has extended EDI's lifetime until at least 2014, if it is updated. But companies will have to move to BACS or the internet at a later date.

So to get this straight...

That's sort of like saying to people you can either spend money giving your current car a spray job, and buy a new one in a year or so; or you can buy a new car now, which hasn't been properly road-tested. Either way you'll probably be out of pocket, and hoping you've made the right choice.

AT A RECENT DISCUSSION FORUM, getting more Women into the Boardroom, I started to wonder if people really understand the benefits of remote working.

The attendees gave two main reasons why women were not progressing. Firstly, women they didn't acquire the experience and confidence to work on the board. Secondly, that having children and then part-time working could play a part in slowing down the career.

When I asked what could change this, one group of women told me a good nanny would help!

Surely remote working, not flagged up by anyone, could help push women through the ceiling.

Women could work part-time office hours and the rest of the week at home.

Men could also be given the opportunity to work part-time office hours, putting both genders on more equal footing - in this instance anyway.

In the not too distant future all tax returns such as self-assessment, corporation tax etc will be filed online as well as all PAYE information. According to IT research company TechMarketView the UK's online (or cloud market) will be worth £6.1bn in by 2014 compared to its current £2.4bn.

Women and companies should be more proactive in pushing the remote working agenda, to ensure the business moves with the times, and women are given every opportunity to achieve their goals.

If the technology is there, why not use it?

SO THE GOVERNMENT has decided in its effort to reduce red tape for businesses it is going to change Pay As You Earn (PAYE) technology.

Apparently printed P45s and P60s will cease to exist in the future. Employees will instead have individual online technology profiles, which can be updated by both employers and the taxman, in theory delivering real-time information.

However, it seems the timescale of this implementation is already going askew.

Similar to the introduction of new online tax technology, iXBRL, the institutes are rallying for a delay to implementation - although no delay was granted for iXBRL.

The government's schedule will see HM Revenue & Customs supplying software suppliers such as Capgemini with data information to build the systems by the end of the month. In just a year's time volunteer employers will test the system. Then eight months later in January 2013 the system will be mandated and all companies will have to use them.

Eight months?

If, in this short timeframe, there are teething problems with the software they will have to be reworked and retested before the deadline. As this is an introduction to a new and unfamiliar way of filing PAYE, not to mention unchartered technology, eight months seems too little time to me, and several other bodies including BASDA, CIoT and ICAS.

With iXBRL's introduction this year, HMRC is offering to go easy on companies for the first two years. During this time if there are incorrect tax submissions, or mistakes, because of software, HMRC will refrain from issuing penalties.

What will they do for PAYE which also has brand new technology and an even tighter schedule?

So exchequer secretary to the Treasury David Gauke has declared 1 April D-day for paper filing of corporation tax.

Six of the largest accountancy firms grouped together and wrote a letter to Gauke requesting a six month delay on the 1 April deadline. HMRC mandated all corporation tax must be filed online using a new technology called iXBRL by this date.

But despite almost the entire accountancy profession calling on the government to push back the deadline, the powers that be have rejected their appeal.

By all accounts, delaying iXBRL would have been a relatively easy task for the government and would have garnered a huge amount of goodwill from the accountancy profession by doing so. However, as astounding as it may be, Gauke has made it clear he is sticking by the previously set deadline at all costs.

The institutes are concerned tax advisers will have difficulty understanding, implementing, and purchasing new software needed for this deadline. Concerns have also been raised that the taxman will be under resourced for the flood of advisers with iXBRL questions post 1 April.

Although the government set the deadline date about five years ago, I don't see its fascination with sticking to it - regardless of the consequences.

It seems the government is simply hoping iXBRL and filing will come together at the last minute, and although there could be hiccups, there's nothing too drastic to worry about - therefore the deadline should go as planned.

Personally I think the institutes should start working on their "I told you so" routine, so at least that's ready by 1 April.