You asked. We listened. Liberty Accounts will be releasing its new user interface at the end of the month. Here are a few pointers to help you find your way around. Simpler menus The menus will be more logically organised. Items from the “Activities” menu will appear under new “Income” or “Expenditure” menus as appropriate and the bank related activities will be nested with the relevant bank account menu item. There will be a new “HMRC” menu which is where all your Government Gateway filing can be managed, including VAT, payroll, P11D, and charity Gift Aid claims. Listings will be paired with their respective edit items e.g. “Invoices & Credit Notes” will be in the menu with “Add Invoice”, eliminating the old “Lists” menu. More commonly used actions will be emphasised and found at the top of menu groups while configuration and setup actions will be at the bottom. Local menu for the list item Where you see the following “three dots” icon in a listing you will have access to actions such as “Open”, “Delete” etc. as relevant to the item. Use your browser back button to return to previous screen Most browsers have a “back button” in the top menu, and also provide a right-click context sensitive menu anywhere in the window which will give access to a “back button”. If you prefer keyboard commands the following worked for us: Alt + Left Arrow (Windows users) Command + Left Arrow (Mac users)

We’ve all heard about it and after some delays Making Tax Digital (MTD) will now come into effect from 1st April 2019 and apply for your first ‘VAT period’ starting after that date. The introduction of MTD will mean that, for qualifying organisations, records have to be kept in a digital form and VAT Returns filed using 'functional compatible' software like Liberty Accounts. Who does it apply to? The simple rule is that if your organisational taxable turnover/income exceeds the VAT threshold (currently £85,000) then it applies to you. What is taxable income? All sales or services where there is a VAT element is included in taxable income i.e. it excludes any sales or services that are either exempt or out of scope for VAT purposes. For charities taxable income would NOT include income from, for example, donations and grants. Other rules that should be considered: If your organisations’ taxable income falls under the threshold after your first MTD submission you will be required to continue submitting unless you de-register from VAT. If the organisations’ income has exceeded the threshold in the previous 12 months (i.e. income in a rolling 12 month period) you will be required to register for VAT from the date at which it is exceeded. Exemptions Unless you choose to do so, you will NOT have to follow MTD rules if HMRC is satisfied that any of the following apply: your organisation is run entirely by practising members of a religious society whose beliefs are incompatible with the requirements of the regulations (for example, those religious beliefs prevent them from using computers); it is not reasonably practicable for you to use digital tools to keep your business records or submit your returns, for reasons of age, disability, remoteness of location or for any other reason; you are subject to an insolvency procedure. Of course if you're reading this article then it is unlikely that you will be able to be considered for the first two exemptions!