Kashflow vs Crunch
Discussion
Just been looking at online accounting tools on behalf of a small business owner.
Kashflow does stuff like payroll and invoicing. Crunch is 12 times more expensive than the basic Kashflow offering but Kashflow doesn't submit accounts to HMRC so the person I'm doing the research for would need an accountant to do the HMRC stuff (assume this person can't do any accounting). Crunch appears to do everything.
Which would you recommend based on ease of use as well as cost?
Kashflow does stuff like payroll and invoicing. Crunch is 12 times more expensive than the basic Kashflow offering but Kashflow doesn't submit accounts to HMRC so the person I'm doing the research for would need an accountant to do the HMRC stuff (assume this person can't do any accounting). Crunch appears to do everything.
Which would you recommend based on ease of use as well as cost?
nickd01 said:
I use FreeAgent, which is between £20 - £30 / month and does submissions to the revenue for Payroll and VAT. I'm not an accountant by any means, and their support is top-notch if you're stuck.
I have a referral code, which gives 10% off if you're interested - just send me a PM.
Thanks.I have a referral code, which gives 10% off if you're interested - just send me a PM.
What about the end of year accounts to HMRC? CT600 etc.
I had to look up what a CT600 is!
It does "do" Corporation Tax, and will produce a breakdown between Capital allowance and Taxable profits and then show the overall profit and corp tax due. It has a 'running total' dashboard too, so you can always see where you roughly are with those numbers.
I can't see an automated way of sending that to HMRC though. (I've only had it for 3 months, so not had to do that yet) It does RTI and VAT automatically.
It does "do" Corporation Tax, and will produce a breakdown between Capital allowance and Taxable profits and then show the overall profit and corp tax due. It has a 'running total' dashboard too, so you can always see where you roughly are with those numbers.
I can't see an automated way of sending that to HMRC though. (I've only had it for 3 months, so not had to do that yet) It does RTI and VAT automatically.
To get the RTI submission in Kashflow, you need the £15 / month package but I agree it does seem to do most other things that Freeagent does.
Kashflow doesn't mention Corporation Tax or Dividends in their features and I needed those and so went with Freeagent. I also preferred the interface.
Kashflow doesn't mention Corporation Tax or Dividends in their features and I needed those and so went with Freeagent. I also preferred the interface.
I think I'm somewhat qualified to answer.
I was with Crunch for just under a year back in 2013. Then, due to complicated shareholdings that didn't really fit with their system we left for a more local based accountant who provide us with a Xero account. Now due to their incompetence I've been looking for both a new accountant and possibly new account package.
So, to start with Crunch. They are essentially an accountancy service and online accounts package rolled into one. Their online system is brilliant, better than Xero, Kashflow, Quickbooks, FreeAgent, the lot of them. As long as you keep it up to date you'll have full view of how much you owe in VAT, Corp Tax, etc. It's incredibly easy to use and the reporting is generally everything you need. Along with the online system you'll be assigned an account manager and through them you have access to an accountancy team, so if you have a tax or accountancy questions they'll generally be able to get you a good answer. We even got an answer from one of the co-founders as we had such a complicated shareholding request. For day-to-day accountancy stuff they are OK - not the best in the world, but far from the worst, but what do you expect for an accountancy service well under £1k a year. They are only for Ltd companies and if you meet their target audience (one/two man bands and smaller SMEs) then I'd thoroughly recommend them.
As for other online accountancy packages. Xero is very, very good - let down only by it's reporting.
Kashflow is OK, you get what you pay for. Not as easy to use as Xero, nor as slick/polished.
FreeAgent: I sooo wanted to be able to use FreeAgent, as a bit of a control freak it would have allowed me to be in charge of all the accounts stuff I'm comfortable with (RTI, PAYE, VAT, Corp Tax, etc). However, the fact that I couldn't import all my old Xero stuff in FreeAgent was an absolute deal breaker for me.
I was with Crunch for just under a year back in 2013. Then, due to complicated shareholdings that didn't really fit with their system we left for a more local based accountant who provide us with a Xero account. Now due to their incompetence I've been looking for both a new accountant and possibly new account package.
So, to start with Crunch. They are essentially an accountancy service and online accounts package rolled into one. Their online system is brilliant, better than Xero, Kashflow, Quickbooks, FreeAgent, the lot of them. As long as you keep it up to date you'll have full view of how much you owe in VAT, Corp Tax, etc. It's incredibly easy to use and the reporting is generally everything you need. Along with the online system you'll be assigned an account manager and through them you have access to an accountancy team, so if you have a tax or accountancy questions they'll generally be able to get you a good answer. We even got an answer from one of the co-founders as we had such a complicated shareholding request. For day-to-day accountancy stuff they are OK - not the best in the world, but far from the worst, but what do you expect for an accountancy service well under £1k a year. They are only for Ltd companies and if you meet their target audience (one/two man bands and smaller SMEs) then I'd thoroughly recommend them.
As for other online accountancy packages. Xero is very, very good - let down only by it's reporting.
Kashflow is OK, you get what you pay for. Not as easy to use as Xero, nor as slick/polished.
FreeAgent: I sooo wanted to be able to use FreeAgent, as a bit of a control freak it would have allowed me to be in charge of all the accounts stuff I'm comfortable with (RTI, PAYE, VAT, Corp Tax, etc). However, the fact that I couldn't import all my old Xero stuff in FreeAgent was an absolute deal breaker for me.
I use crunch and I pretty happy with them, not been using them for a full yet so I can't comment on all their services but everything I've wanted to do has been pretty straight forward, I did have to contact them once with a query and they answered it quickly.
If anyone is thinking of giving it a try if you sign up with this link and you'll get £25 amazon voucher (i get one too)
If anyone is thinking of giving it a try if you sign up with this link and you'll get £25 amazon voucher (i get one too)
Edited by bishbash on Thursday 9th April 19:59
I use Crunch too and thoroughly recommend them. They do provide a full accountancy service and take care of all the HMRC and Companies House filings - and its very easy to keep things up to date. They provide an expense inputting service so you can photograph receipts with their smartphone app and an hour or two later they are all entered into your books in the right categories with VAT taken care of etc.
theboss said:
I use Crunch too and thoroughly recommend them. They do provide a full accountancy service and take care of all the HMRC and Companies House filings - and its very easy to keep things up to date. They provide an expense inputting service so you can photograph receipts with their smartphone app and an hour or two later they are all entered into your books in the right categories with VAT taken care of etc.
The photograph thing sounds good. I guess they get someone to type it in. I've been with crunch for a few years now which is surprising considering they filed my company accounts late the first year so in curing my company a late penalty fee!
They are pretty good for what I need and I've used other types of accountants in the past.
When you first have to set up your account it can be quite time consuming but as someone has already said I like the fact I can log on and see your companies finances.
They are pretty good for what I need and I've used other types of accountants in the past.
When you first have to set up your account it can be quite time consuming but as someone has already said I like the fact I can log on and see your companies finances.
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