From 1 April 2011, for any accounting period ending after 31 March 2010, Company Tax Returns must be filed online, AND you can no longer file accounts using PDFs.
Accounts software companies have received the equivalent of a state-aided bonus courtesy of HMRC which has mandated that companies must file accounts and computations in a set format called "Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language" or iXBRL, now referred to as just XBRL. Practically the move ensures major trauma for many small companies and their advisers: one cannot simply convert accounts prepared in Word or Excel into PDFs anymore, as PDFs will not be acceptable and a late filing penalty will ensue.
What now?
HMRC has created a template which allows you to "convert" your own accounts into XBRL: the downside is that you have to physically enter all your figures again, and will find it very hard to use if you have not already prepared accounts in the correct format.
Small companies will still also have the option of preparing abbreviated accounts for Companies House, however due to compatability problems it seems that those who wish to use Companies House template will have to enter those up separately, or use commercial software to do so.
Software developers will eventually create a package that will allow conversion from other formats into XBRL, but at present the safest course of action is (probably) to purchase XBRL compliant accounts production software.
Unincorporated organisations and charities that don't need to prepare accounts under the Companies Act can choose to send their accounts in XBRL or PDF format. However any computations must be sent in XBRL format.
Verdict from the private sector?
Big firm advisers KPMG say, "We are all doomed" - no that is a joke (sorry KPMG, we do not want to dis you because you have written fine and public spirited guidance on this topic - we admit that we made that last quote up for effect). What KPMG really say is that “the majority of companies are completely unaware of this ‘ticking time-bomb’. They go on, "The problem isn’t the filing of CT Returns (tax software vendors are already working hard to ensure that tax numbers can be filed in an XBRL format) but the filing of company accounts.”
So there you have it: we probably are all doomed.
Links: ATT unconvinced about the benefits of iXBRL
