iXBRL adds up to eight hours of work per client
A third of accountants believe filing in new tax technology will add between two and eight hours extra work to each corporate tax return
EACH SET of corporate tax returns filed to HM Revenue & Customs in new technology format could add up to eight hours per client.
A webseminar held by ICAEW’s IT Faculty in association with software suppliers Thomson Reuters found a third of accountants estimate each set of accountants filed in iXBRL format will take between two and eight hours extra.
In April this year HMRC required all corporate tax returns to be filed in new tax technology iXBRL.
Nearly half claimed filings would now take between 10mins and two hours longer.
Despite the additional workload 95% said they had not employed additional staff to prepare and review future tax filings.
“This research explores how iXBRL is impacting the profession and provides the first, in-depth look at the amount of additional time accountants believe will be needed to produce compliant accounts,” said Tom Walsh, (pictured) senior vice president and managing director, EMEA, the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters.
“The effect on existing workloads is significant at a time when businesses are not looking to hire new staff.”
Accountants in both business and practice are also waiting until the eleventh hour to decide on what software to use to file their corporate tax returns.
Although more than half of all filings are made between December and March, a third of respondents said they have yet to decide which software to use.
Of those that have filed in iXBRL 67% said they found the “transition difficult”.
About 200 accountants were surveyed with 54% working in business and the rest in practice.