article may not include all significant viewpoints . please improve the article or discuss the issue . november 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message athene systems limited type private limited industry computer software founded united kingdom 1996 headquarters farnborough hampshire united kingdom key people alan wright md paul taylor director neil chadwick director website www.libertyaccounts.com liberty accounts is an integrated online accounting and payroll system designed specifically for small and medium enterprises in the uk . also described as a software as a service or saas cloud computing application liberty is available to both business owners and accountants . 1 for accountancy firms it is available as a co branded solution including the firm s own visual identity and availability form their website . 2 contents 1 history 2 technical details 2.1 management tools 2.2 data and functionality 2.3 value added tax 3 references 4 external links history edit a second generation online accounting system liberty was developed by athene systems limited along with neil chadwick former marketing director of easycounting . 3 according to the institute of chartered accountants in england and wales icaew this independent technology company has been coming up with innovative software solutions for business processes since 1996 . members of the team have worked for american express black & decker and ernst & young and they been involved in offering online accounting solutions to accountants since the earliest days of the market . 4 athene systems limited was founded in 1996 by alan wright and paul taylor who realised the potential of the internet as a means of collaboration between accountants and their clients . development work on liberty accounts started in 2001 with the initial launch in 2003 . neil chadwick joined alan and paul in 2006 . 5 since 2004 05 the system has linked directly to the hm revenue and customs hmrc portal for online filing of paye and p11d 6 as well as facilitating ir35 income and expense association with contracts and employees . 4 in 2009 liberty accounts was accredited by the institute of chartered accountants in england and wales icaew . 4 technical details edit the liberty accounts system uses industry standard oracle and java programming language technologies . it delivers html in a cross platform web browser environment hosted in the uk in a secure data centre . 5 management tools edit liberty accounts offers different levels of functionality depending on the skills and training of the user meaning that both accountants and their clients can work on the same records at their own level . 7 this allows for closer and more ongoing collaboration between accountants and client businesses . according to accountant ray backler i work with my clients on a day to day basis using the online system and the current financial position of the business is always up to date so it is obvious when additional work is required and it s easy to make recommendations for additional revenue streams . 8 accountants can set up a separate area within liberty accounts where they are able to access to cross client views and a range of reports as well as highlight key tasks and event dates . global account settings can be enforced for p11d classification nic classification default vat rates and nominal codes for export to statutory accounts packages from this control area and the system can be tailored with the help of pre packaged roles . these help members of the firm to manage their work efficiently and make it easy for firms to control and restrict the menu options and structure available to clients . 4 data and functionality edit secure transmission of data for online transactions is via a thawte ssl web server certificate . the visual treatment is similar to that found in the windows environment featuring a typical management snapshot lists of outstanding sales and purchase invoices and the current bank balance . the windows style drop down menus mirror desktop accounting packages ... reports are generated as pdfs almost instantly and displayed automatically . the presentation of reports and the range of report options look very much like quickbooks so there s instant familiarity for most accountants . 9 transactions such as invoices bank entries or journals can be posted singly or in batches . 9 liberty supports the use of foreign currencies for invoices and customer statements and can automatically calculate and post exchange rate gains and losses and as well as having built in stock control and payroll it is unusual in offering the tools required for p11d compliance including section 336 claims ... it captures p11d related information at a transaction level pulls the figures together on screen and then produces an hmrc approved facsimile of the p11d form for one click electronic filing . 4 value added tax edit liberty was the first online accounting provider to offer vat functionality including transactions such as european union acquisitions and production of the european community sales list form vat 101 . standard and cash accounting vat schemes are supported as well as flat rate vat calculated on a transaction basis . 4 according to david harbron at the fenchurch group of commercial and residential property development companies when the uk vat rate rose to 20 % in the new year i knew that liberty would immediately be updated to reflect the increase and that the automatic invoices the fenchurch group had set up for its tenants would all go out with the correct vat rate on . 7 references edit head in the clouds 2.0 prof nigel lockett frsa 23 may 2011 retrieved 15 august 2011 . the beancounter s guide to internet accounting john stokdyk 20 january 2009 retrieved 15 august 2011 . cloud accounting s pioneers where are they now john stokdyk 4 december 2008 . retrieved 15 august 2011 . a b c d e f meall lesley october 2010 online accounting software chartech software product guide p. 13 . published by icaew . a b salter kevin . november 2009 icaew accreditation scheme financial accounting software evaluation athene systems limited p. 4 . published by icaew . pay as you earn paye online software and online forms retrieved 15 august 2011 . a b leaping into cloud based accounting and finance systems lesley meall 14 february 2011 retrieved 15 august 2011 . life on accountancy s online frontier lesley meall 15 june 2009 retrieved 15 august 2011 . a b online software review liberty accounts by nigel harris retrieved 15 august 2011 . external links edit 1 official website 2 the institute of chartered accountants in england and wales 3 hm revenue and customs 4 prof nigel lockett professor of enterprise and director of the leeds enterprise centre at the university of leeds 5 fsn publishing limited 6 businesscloud9 7 sift media 8 accountingweb retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title liberty accounts & oldid 699165289 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