Category: Business & Accounts

• Latest update allows farmers to easily keep track of their costs, as well as analyse key trends and wider commercial performance
• Access to commercial data has never been more critical for farmers

Farmplan, part of Proagrica, has today announced a new enhancement to Farmplan Business Cloud to expand the management information which can be recorded and reported on in Farmplan Business Cloud.

In the current economic climate where commercial margins are under pressure, it has never been more important for customers to be able to access critical quantities and pricing information.

In addition to being able to enter quantity and price against all purchase and sales invoices, farmers who use Farmplan Business Cloud will now have the ability to record quantities and prices within all data entry screens. They can also drill down on these details or export them for more detailed analysis of trends. This latest feature promises both clarity and opportunities for cost-saving, in a straightforward format.

Farmplan, part of Proagrica is made up of agricultural experts, and is renowned for its hands-on, timely customer care. This update is the latest effort to provide additional benefits to existing customers and crucially, facilitate those moving to the cloud from desktop platforms.

Anne Cianchi, Product Manager, commented:

According to our survey, 33% of respondents have already started utilizing the new feature for recording quantities, with a significant 70% of those rating the enhancement with an impressive 4 or 5 out of 5. This upgrade has been highly regarded for its ability to offer a much-appreciated level of detail in reporting and pricing, ultimately leading to improved accuracy in cost attribution and simplified reporting processes. Users have expressed their satisfaction with the latest release, as it allows them to effectively monitor price changes, track stock levels, and determine average unit price.

To learn more about Farmplan Business Cloud and Farmplan, please click here.

Farmplan, the UK’s leading agricultural software specialists, have announced a major new update for all existing customers of their industry-leading Business Manager solution. The update will allow users to view and interrogate up to ten years’ worth of their data in just a click, giving farmers the chance to unlock extra value without requiring any additional input.

Business Manager uses are now able to compare figures over a ten-year span both as P&L (Profit & Loss) and Cashflow. Previously, it was only possible to create comparisons between the current and previous year. With this greater access comes greater insight – farm businesses can measure their performance in the long-term and make more informed decisions as a result.

Data can also now be examined more closely, focusing on specific enterprises down to a granular level. For example, a dairy farm can – using their decade’s worth of data – analyse the following and more:

• Pence/litre of milk
• Income per litre
• Profit per litre

Analysis can go even further to give the farmer unprecedented insight into every facet of their business; for example in a dairy enterprise, the user can identify the cost of production, such as the amount and cost of food used per cow and, ultimately, determine the actual profit per litre over a period of their choosing. Equally this could be applied to an arable enterprise to look at the cost of production per tonne or per hectare over time. All data can be used to instantly generate representative graphs and charts as desired.

Behind the scenes, small tweaks have also made importing and exporting of data simpler and more intuitive than ever before. Invoices and journals can be imported directly via CSV file – with members of North Herts Farmers now able to import their information directly, along with AF Group and Fram Farmers members – thus eliminating the need to enter data more than once, saving time and resources.

“This represents a significant upgrade for Business Manager users,” says Sally Ashwell, Product Coordinator at Farmplan. “Farmers will now be able to measure and guide their business performance to an unprecedented degree. These changes don’t mean a revolution for your systems or require adjustment in terms of operation. Instead, it makes Business Manager smarter at a fundamental level, unlocking more value from your existing data than has never been possible before.”

Farmplan are pleased to announce the Autumn update of Business Manager is now available.

Business Manager is Farmplan’s flagship business and accounts management software solution, used by over 12,000 farms, estates, and rural businesses across the UK. With the Autumn update, released November 2020, users can now view and interrogate up to ten years’ worth of data in just a click, giving you the chance to unlock extra value with no extra input. Business Manager is now smarter at a fundamental level, unlocking more value from your existing data than has never been possible before.

Whether you’re a dairy enterprise looking at the cost of food used per cow and, ultimately, identifying the actual profit per litre of milk, or an arable enterprise looking at the cost of production per tonne or per hectare over time – you can now compare trends over the last 10 years.

Not only this, but we’ve developed enhanced functionality for members of North Herts Farmers enabling all of the detail on your bi-monthly invoice be imported in just a few clicks. Helping save time and room for error with minimal manual input required.

James Williams, North Herts Farmers says, “We are really excited to be launching this new facility for members in conjunction with Farmplan. The North Herts Farmers administration is an extension of our members administration so if we can minimise the amount of extra work and duplicate entry that our members are having to do then that’s a huge benefit.

We already have members who have been using the system and are really enjoying the ability to import their data. Its quicker, easier and almost completely removes the chances for human error.

We plan to keep working with Farmplan to develop this further and for the facility to be even more valuable to our mutual members/clients. If members would like to receive their data upload electronically then please get in touch.”

Marianne Venn, Rural Administrator in Bedfordshire adds, “I have just completed my first import from North Herts Farmers, which was very easy to match up. Details came over very well. Overall I’m really pleased and this will certainly help save me time when processing these invoices.”

Simon Eagle, Regional Account Manager for Farmplan adds, “We work closely with buying groups like North Herts Farmers to understand ways we can improve the use of our software and as such we have been able to offer this new functionality to help members save time and improve their invoice management process. Not only that but this functionality is included as part of existing subscriptions, so there are no additional charges.”

If you’d like to find out more about Business Manager software, click here or call sales on 01594 545000

Ahead of the switch to digital taxation this April, UK top 30 accountancy company Duncan & Toplis has announced an important partnership with the market-leading farm software provider Farmplan.

This partnership strengthens the agricultural specialist’s offering of Making Tax Digital compliant accounting software and delivers savings for clients.

Farmplan is partnered with just 24 businesses across the UK and only three businesses in Lincolnshire, including Duncan & Toplis. The partnership also marks the first time Farmplan has aligned itself with an accountancy practice that operates in Leicestershire.

The partnership comes days before one of the biggest shake ups in tax comes into force. Every VAT registered business with a turnover higher than the £85,000 threshold will have to keep their records digitally and send VAT returns using MTD compatible software from 1st April 2019, rather than traditional methods. This will include filing monthly or quarterly VAT returns directly from compliant software and maintaining accurate and up-to-date financial information throughout the trading year.

Businesses have had more than two years to adapt to Making Tax Digital, which was originally to become mandatory in April last year, but figures suggest a surge in rural businesses switching to digital platforms at practically the last minute.

Mark Chatterton, head of agriculture at Duncan & Toplis, said: “We’ve seen that Making Tax Digital will impact a great deal of businesses across the East Midlands, particularly agricultural businesses. Many may still feel unprepared for the switch because of a lack of communication from HMRC and a number of myths that have circulated over the past two years, such as the need for high-speed broadband in order to access MTD-compliant software.

“We’re working tirelessly to educate and advise our clients on what they can do ahead of the deadline and beyond. By partnering with Farmplan, we’re able to offer leading farm software that we know and trust to help them take the steps towards becoming MTD compliant. Farmplan’s software automatically calculates VAT, provides a simple, advanced cash flow management service and offers reporting and analysis tools to help agricultural businesses save time, money and stress.

“Some of our clients have been using Farmplan for 30 years and have found their services very useful. Their tools have evolved as technology and legislation has advanced over the years, and as a result Farmplan is the software market leader in the industry.

“We’re really pleased to be a Farmplan partner and we look forward to strengthening our relationship with the team, while assisting new and existing agriculture clients with all their accountancy needs.”

Farmplan has been providing accounts software for thousands of agricultural clients throughout the UK for more than 45 years. Its software specialists have developed solutions built around farming specific requirements, from seasonal incomes and cropping years to contra entries and complex VAT rules.

Farmplan has worked to ensure all its accounts products are compliant with HMRC regulations, and as a result, its accounts packages were amongst the first to be recognised as MTD ready by HMRC.

Recognising the unique needs of farmers and rural business owners, Farmplan has also adapted its entry-level solution, Cash Focus, and introduced a subscription based option to give its customers more choice and increased affordability. This is especially important for those making the move from paper or spreadsheet accounts to digital, which they may not have budgeted.

Regardless of which level of software chosen from the Farmplan range, all meet HMRC’s new requirements and can also generate cash flow reports and offer a quick and easy audit of income and expenditure.

Simon Eagle, regional account manager at Farmplan (East & East Midlands) added: “We’re very excited to be partnering with Duncan & Toplis to bring our range of accounts solutions to their client base. As leading providers of tools, advice and support for the agricultural community we’ve worked together for many years. This new partnership will help them provide an even better service for their clients, with further support from the Farmplan team. This really is an opportunity to help clients find the right solution as we move towards MTD – digital VAT and beyond.”