// CASE STUDY //
straight into an invoice has been a huge time-saver.
Have you had success with your VAT returns since using Sage?
Absolutely. With Making Tax Digital, being able to enter my Government
Gateway details into Sage has made VAT returns so much easier. Everything updates as I go, so I don’ t need to go back through paperwork or work things out from scratch. I go on the laptop quarterly to submit VAT returns, double-check everything and it’ s all there ready. It’ s a world away from where I was before.
What’ s next for your business?
The past couple of years, costs have been rising so I’ ve been using Sage’ s analytics to streamline the business. When you can see graphs showing your outgoings creeping closer to your income line, it really makes you think about what needs to change.
That visibility helped me understand that I needed to get rid of kit that wasn’ t performing and move to older, more maintainable machinery that’ s more fuel-efficient. It also helped me identify services that looked like high turnover but was actually gaining me nothing. In a brutal way, it’ s made me realise the fragility that can come with running a business. And I’ m really glad for the early awareness because it’ s helped me open up that gap between income and outgoings again. �
16 Intelligent SME. tech