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Another financial year has passed, and as you look back, will you seek to do things differently next time around? Below, Dean Snappey, the President and Co-Founder of DocsCorp discusses with Finance Monthly 5 simple accounting tools that’ll make your life that much easier to navigate at this time of year.

Over the past 12 months we have seen considerable adjustments to taxation, such as changes to dividend taxation and the recent increased tax for landlords. Aim to prevent the end of year mess and avoid the kind of errors that carry implications to your and your company’s reputation.

There are several accounting tools and software solutions available at your fingertips to ease the process, stay organised and plan ahead. Make the most of these accounting tools and follow these five easy steps to make pre-emptive tax planning simple.

1. Bundle Documents. Best practice is to ensure any invoices, statements and paperwork are scanned and saved as a PDF document as paper filing systems and loose documents are at risk of being lost or damaged. Document bundling software gives you the ability to collate PDF content and bind all relevant documents such as tax returns, invoices and financial accounts into a single file for each client. By bundling all important documentation, it will make the process of finalising paperwork much easier as all documentation required will be stored together. Finalised documents can then be sent as a single secure file in one hit rather than multiple attachments, saving you time with each client and avoiding the risk of lost or separated files.
2. Redaction. As part of the process of preparing documents with such complex data, it is essential to redact classified or sensitive information. To redact is to remove, therefore ‘redacted’ is often used to describe documents from which sensitive information has been expunged. By using a redaction tool it is easy to search whole documents to redact multiple instances of a word or string of words in a way that is quick, easy and fail-proof. Redact personal information or bank account details in documents as part of an audit.
3. Make Scanned Documents Searchable. When you scan invoices, receipts and finalised paperwork onto your desktop, the scanned documents are image documents that do not have the text layer that’s needed to make them searchable. You can make the documents text-searchable with an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool. This software converts scanned, printed or handwritten files into its machine readable text format.  You can then search whole documents for a word, phrases or a set of numbers which makes finding information or documents for tax audits a breeze.
4. Remove Metadata. Metadata may appear hidden, however, every time you annotate, edit or alter a document, your decision is stored invisibly within the very document you’re working on. Metadata removal software removes metadata from files – eliminating any risk of unintentional information leakage. To put it simply, the metadata cleaner will ensure you only send the part of the document or spreadsheet you intend to – exactly what would be printed out on a piece of paper. Remove hidden cells and other sensitive metadata before uploading or attaching files intended to be sent to clients.
5. Compare Documents for Change. Working with numerous clients means navigating through each client’s financial accounts and complex paperwork. Throughout the year many changes can occur within clients’ businesses, often meaning multiple changes to important documentation. Analysing large volumes of documentation, in which precision is required, can be very time consuming. There is a simpler way to undertake this task, which is by using a Comparison software package. This enables you to compare and analyse the differences between two documents with incredible accuracy and reliability. The software is able to show you the smallest change in documents, spreadsheets, PDFs without needing to convert them first. Save time and never miss an important change again.

What’s stopping you from investing in property, or more property? Is it a lack of finance? If so, you’re probably looking at things the wrong way. Here Mark Homer, Co-founder at Progressive Property, fires out 5 quick tips for your joint venture pitch.

It’s no secret that joint ventures (JVs) are the key ingredient for building a healthy property portfolio. What is more of a mystery, however, is how you actually secure JV partners.

While the property experts are all shouting about the importance of JV deals, you’re left wondering how to make yours a reality.

Never fear, it’s all about the pitch, and we’ve got five top tips for nailing yours right here.

1. It’s likely you only have a brief opportunity the first time you meet, at a networking event for example, to capture their imagination and grab their attention. Make sure you do so with something unique and compelling. Bear in mind, too, that investors invest in people, so you are an essential part of the deal. Be likeable.
2. Private investors are pitched to every day. Clarity is always better than persuasion, so make them aware of the need to do business with you. Identify their pain point and actively promote a remedy. Speak in their language and focus on being understood.
3. Offer them a unique solution. A profit share in the cashflow and equity. Differentiate yourself by your unique value – what can you offer that no one else can? (Investors aren’t keen on ‘me too’ ideas).
4. Every investor is sold on perceived capability. You can build this by displaying positive examples of your determination and ability to get the ‘job done’.
5. If a potential JV partner is interested, offer to buy them lunch so you can talk more about your property investment proposal. With any luck, this will be the start of an everlasting and successful JV relationship.

Bonus tip

Don’t be afraid to show your passion and enthusiasm – it could be the difference that makes the difference and gets you another conversation.

In the eyes of multinational financial institutions, fintech innovators have moved from game-changing competitors to crucial allies. Ben Butler, Corporate Partner at national law firm Bond Dickinson gives Finance Monthly a rundown of the current progress between financial services, banks and fintech start-ups.

Customer demands and developments in technology have forced banks to think and act in a new way. In an industry in flux, the benefits for small and large companies of collaboration and building on each other’s strengths are clear.

The difference between well-established financial organisations and their start-up counterparts in many ways couldn’t be starker. The former can struggle to be agile, weighed down by processes and legacy – but they are often bolstered by their size, brand recognition and access to finance. All of which is in much shorter supply for small fintech companies: designed to be nimble, with digital talent at their core, they are at the same time constrained by their youthfulness in the market.

In a period of change and disruption, fintech startups are now key players in the digital transformation strategies of the established giants – and the most innovative amongst them can prove to be valuable partners.

Our new economic study Close Encounters: The power of collaborative innovation found that large financial companies took part in 1,864 such deals with UK SMEs in the last four financial years. £31bn is known to have been invested in these deals between the 2013/14 and 2016/17 tax years. The financial services industry is far ahead of any other sector in the UK.

But what are the five key areas organisations should consider and discuss frankly when entering into such deals?

1. Motivation 

Beyond the fair arrangement on the financial settlement, it is important to think practically about how differing motivations might play out as the relationship develops. Is one side looking for a quick result, with the other more focused on the long-term benefits of the partnership? Or could it be a defensive move on the part of the larger player in an attempt to remove the product from the hands of competitors – in which case the future may not look so exciting for the SME?

The nature of such deals means that the players in the small organisation will inevitably be focused on making the most from their distinct offering, while the corporate will instead have an eye on delivering against the investment. The most successful alliances nevertheless bring two organisations together that are aiming for a shared outcome, and motivated by the desire for continued innovation.

2. Culture 

Corporates often struggle to marry the objective of maintaining process-driven behaviours while still encouraging innovative thinking. Working together with a more agile SME might create a greater strain on this, and both parties need to carefully consider what this balance will look like in the new partnership.

The smaller partner will also need to be sure they can cope with the tighter controls that might be demanded of them, and the stricter processes that will likely come from working within a more established structure. Founders are often key for deals, but they should know what their exit route options are, should they find themselves in a less dynamic and rewarding environment.

3. Brand 

In the wake of the financial crisis, maintaining trust is front and centre of mind for organisations when looking to maintain a positive brand. So it is perhaps unsurprising that one of the biggest concerns arising from such deals is the reputational threats they may bring with them. Both parties need to be upfront from the beginning about a potential need for conformity and a possible loss of independence for the SME as a result.

Attitude to risk can also differ greatly for start-ups, and this can sometimes be incompatible with the compliance restrictions faced by large organisations. Understanding these challenges, some small organisations choose to go through regulation in advance of approaching the banks.

4. Tax 

At times, objectives can conflict when it comes to optimising tax: the corporate may qualify for Research and Development tax relief from the deal, while the SME shareholders may each be entitled to Entrepreneurs' Relief. In these circumstances, it can be in the interests of the corporate to secure more equity; yet those in the SME may want to hold on to a large enough stake so that they are eligible as individuals for the other scheme. This can be extra challenging when there are lots of shareholders, as the equity has to be spread more thinly.

5. Exit

Our research highlighted the popularity of minority stake purchases, which accounted for 75% of deals in the industry – three times as many mergers and acquisitions (25%). This may reflect the challenges that can arise from M&As which involve fully integrating systems and processes. Or it may be a sign that financial services firms are becoming savvy to the short-term exit strategies that seem to be ‘of the moment’, and that they are looking for something new – such as the recent trend towards selling rather than listing.

For corporates looking to purchase future value as well as intellectual property, a full acquisition is a less attractive option as a long-term innovation strategy.

However, minority stake purchases won’t always be a suitable answer for the smaller party. To get around such opposing interests, entrepreneurs might want to ensure the earn out is structured around the long-term prospects of the organisation and the future leadership, or perhaps around innovation goals rather than revenue generation.

Padmasree Warrior, CEO of electric car company NIO US and former Motorola and Cisco executive, is a force in the technology world. Warrior shares three traits she says are necessary to make it in the tech industry.