Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.
LJN's professional business forum is unrivalled and open to anyone within within the UK landscape industry
LJN's Business Objectives Group (BOG) is for any Pro serious about building their business.
For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.
Replies
My immediate reaction was "What's in it for Natwest?" as they need to have a reason.
If you use an Accountant you might want to use something that they favour - so it is easy for them to do any year end account processing for you, without incurring extra cost of them having tioo import / retype data
I don't think that Book keeping software is expensive, so I wouldn't be tempted by free, but would choose on ease of use and good fit for my requirements, i.e. keeping my time in doing the books to a minimum, and compatibility with my accountant's systems. But Freeagent might still be the front runner. I have no personal experience of it.
I read an article early 2018 which said that NatWest had purchased shares in FreeAgent. At that time I was looking for business accounting software, and the fact that NatWest were backing a new start up seemed interesting to me, particularly at a time when there is plenty of competition about from the likes of Xero/Quickbooks etc.
We joined FreeAgent March 2018, their name is odd as they were free during the three month trial and thereafter we pay about £35pm - so they are not free.
Like with all systems you need to go through the agony of learning how to use the thing, However, they are really supportive with plenty of guidance templates and email support with a quick turnaround. The system sorts all the invoices, quotes, uploads bank statements and calculates VAT in a simple process. It provides Trial Balances, P&L and Balance sheets, it is nearly a pleasure to use and is totally accurate which enables us to file our accounts with confidence without the need to use an accountant (although I do have experience in finance).
NatWest promot Freeagent because they own it, and it is excellent. If you do have an accountant then you may wish to establish what software ie Xero they use before making your choice.
Thanks for the feedback
The software is free to NatWest buisness account holders and is something I've toyed with for a while.
i currently use spread sheets with lots of formulas which work ok but just wondered if there is simeothing better with less user input required
Prior to FreeAgent I also only used Excel spreadsheets with various formula. I then made an error with a VAT return, which created a stressful time with HMRC to resolve. We are a growing business, using a spreadsheet as before would now be a nightmare/impossible, FreeAgent has simplified many of the tasks. You could run your spreadsheets at the same time as trialling FreeAgent - nothing to loose other than your time, and perhaps much to gain.
Thank you
that really makes sense whilst work is slowing down for the winter