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Glover Stanbury & Co is a four-partner firm based in two locations in North Devon. There are 12 professional staff that need access to tax reference materials and have access to, and make extensive use of, Digita Personal, Business and Trust Tax, which has been used in the practice for many years.
A number of tax reference sources are in use, from a range of suppliers including Butterworths Tolley. A paper version of Tolleys Income Tax, VAT, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax was made available in each office and the CD version of Tolleys Tax was the main reference source in one office and Simon’s on CD was used in the other office.
All staff have Internet access - one office having an ISDN line and the other currently with a dial-up connection. The Butterworths Tolley Internet service has now been made available to staff and partners generally, with a view to replacing the CD and paper versions.
Overview
The link between Butterworths Tolley and Digita Personal, Business and Trust Tax takes two forms:
- a direct link from within Digita Personal, Business and Trust Tax help files to the Butterworths Tolley legislation.
- a button link to the login and main Butterworths Tolley screen from the Digita Personal, Business and Trust Tax toolbar.
How the link has been implemented
The Digita Personal, Business and Trust Tax technical help has been significantly improved with the interface and underlying presentation improved and the information more comprehensive.
Additionally, a large exercise has been undertaken to insert statutory references into the Digita Personal, Business and Trust Tax help screens. These are hyperlinked so that clicking on the link takes you straight into the relevant section of the Butterworths Tolley legislation via the Internet.
Information delivery - which method is best?
Information Technology partner Kevin Salter outlines his thoughts on this question.
The three methods of ascertaining information are from a book, from a CD, or via the Internet. As with any IT system there are bound to be some people that much prefer to look up details in a book. However, has the last person to use the book still got it, or has it been returned to the library? Who was the last person to use it? Should everyone have their own personal copy, which in some cases may only be used once or twice - or even, not at all - during the year?
Obviously, there are still potential ongoing problems with going online, e.g. if our Internet Service Provider (currently British Telecom) has problems with its service, but thankfully this is not too common. With the ISDN connection, there is little to choose in time between getting connected to the Butterworths Tolley site or accessing a CD across the network.
In use, the search facilities on the CD and across the Internet are broadly similar. Having found a particular reference, the Internet version does have an added advantage in that you can see in the left hand pane exactly where you are in any particular reference source, e.g. the book and chapter.
Obviously, when running parallel systems - CD and Internet - people are reluctant to change and tend to go down the 'known' route, but the Internet has to be the way forward and this is going to become more common in the future.
Butterworths Tolley has a vast range of materials and publications available and a simple phone call will enable access to any of the other products pretty well immediately, as a password can be emailed to you.
Conclusion
The jump from the widely accepted book/CD methods of sourcing information to purely the Internet was not really considered until the Butterworths Tolley/Digita link was made available. However, this investment by the two companies should be looked at seriously as the way forward for sourcing tax reference and other data in the future.
