When creating financial statements, you need to make sure that your accounts adhere to accounting standards. Failing to comply with legislation can incur fines, audits or other severe sanctions. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to remain compliant. There are regular legislation changes and introductions which accountants must stay informed on. 

A simple and easy way for keeping up with legislative changes is to use a software which monitors it for you and is designed to help you navigate through it. Bright’s cloud accounts production software, BrightAccountsProduction, is an example of this. By using a software that prioritises compliance, you can cut down on the time you spend researching legislation changes. Plus, you won't have to manually update the formats of your accounts. 

BrightAccountsProduction offers numerous compliance-related features, such as: 

• A dedicated compliance team  
• Automatic compliance updates 
• A central compliance database to navigate from  
• Direct editing of financial statements  

Below, explore everything you need to know about these features. 

Dedicated compliance team 

To spend even less time overall on a client's accounts, BrightAccountsProduction offers 9 accounts production formats tailored to different client entity types. All formats are FRS 102 Section 1A and FRS 105 compliant, while dual jurisdiction ROI/UK and NI compliant versions are available. 

The compliance of these formats is monitored by a dedicated compliance team, whose sole responsibility is to monitor legislative changes and immediately update the templates. 

Automatic compliance updates 

As a cloud system, all updates to formats are automatically added to the software without needing to interrupt your business or requiring you to manually update the software yourself. You don’t need to waste time sitting through system installations or restarting your computer. 

With automatic updates, you can rely on your software to always be line with the latest legislation, providing you with peace of mind.  

Compliance database 

In BrightAccountsProduction, the Compliance Database is the main location for creating and posting information about your client which is used to produce financial statements. It lets you determine the level of disclosure you want to see in your accounts, the legislation applicable and input any other information required to produce financial statements.  

It is categorised and sub-categorised into the different sections which make up the financial statements. For example, under the ‘Director’s Report’ heading in the ‘Primary Statements’ section, you will find all the settings related to the director’s report. The software also includes a search bar to allow you to find specific settings. 

To see how the compliance database works, watch this video. 

Direct editing of financial statements 

Once your financial statements have been created, the next step is reviewing them. With most accounts production software, you would have to manually go through the produced accounts and take note of changes that need to be made, before moving through the software to edit the compliance settings, reproduce the accounts and beginning the review process again.  

With BrightAccountsProduction, there is no reason to waste time doing this. Our software lets you edit ‘on the fly’, meaning any information which comes from the compliance database can be edited through a pop-up box in the review section. 

To see how this feature works, watch this video. 

Final thoughts 

Ultimately, remaining compliant is essential for accountants. As mentioned, failing to comply with legislation can be extremely damaging to you and your clients. Manually monitoring compliance is a time-consuming task, and can be extremely stressful, so why do it this way when an alternative solution exists? 

By using software which automatically ensures your accounts are always compliant, you can not only save time, but gain peace of mind that the accounts you create will be accepted by the HMRC. 

When it comes to compliance, don’t leave it to chance. Choose BrightAccountsProduction, the number one accounts production software on the market.