|
The Chancellor’s pre-budget report affected everyone this year...none more so than the high street retailers! The 2.5% reduction in VAT which was designed to persuade shoppers to spend has caused confusion and created extra administration for all optical outlets. Just to make it that bit harder the deadline of December 1st gave little time for preparation and implementation. The adjustment caused chaos for many optical outlets who had to alter everything including their tills, accounting procedures, patient standing orders and Direct Debits and also where applicable the prices of all their stock. All this at such short notice made the task impossible for many optical outlets. Optical professionals need to bear in mind however this is a “Temporary VAT reform”.... meaning you will have to change everything back next year on December 31st, midweek, a Thursday in case you were wondering! See 20/20, the most advanced ophthalmic practice management system available in the market today came to the rescue of their entire user base. The VAT adjustments were done centrally by the See20/20 support team, and then applied to all users throughout the evening of 30th November. This standard operation caused NO disruption to practice hours and was live and ready for start of business on the 1st December. With such short notice the task was completed with incredible ease by the See20/20 support team who contacted all users to explain the changes that were about to be made and offer assistance and advice where required. In some cases many users simply logged on from home and made the adjustments themselves! Mr Barry Duncan (ABDO President and See20/20 user) said “I was dreading the moment we had to start adjusting all our stock items and prices, especially over the four practices. But I was delighted to be told it was a simple change and that the See20/20 support team offered to do it out of working hours – fantastic!” Mr Philip Egan (Practitioner and See20/20 client) said “To be informed that See20/20 Support were going to adjust the VAT figures was outstanding. We were not use to this level of service from our last supplier so it was a real pleasant surprise to be told by a member of my staff that the VAT issue was now sorted and that we didn’t have to stay behind after closing time to sort it for next day”. One of the many key benefits of See20/20 being web-based is that all updates and amendments can take place centrally and can be rolled out to all users in parallel. This was used to great effect during the VAT reform and will also make the switch back in 12 months seamless. Where necessary the See 20/20 support team could make the changes for many users where as others simply logged on from home and made the adjustments themselves. The simple fact is that with the minimum effort all See20/20 users were fully compliant with the VAT reform when opening their doors at 9am on Monday 1st December. Even the huge high street brands have struggled to implement this change. The modern and agile system which is See 20/20 can cope with any change centrally, thus massively reducing the administrative burden for all types of high street practitioners. See 20/20 is used by many practitioners across the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. Practices can now simply and easily manage the complete patient journey and everyday tasks from the diary through to the till with complete control and peace of mind knowing that it will be done right first time, every time. Management procedures and information is just as simple with the complete handling of Direct Debit payments and schemes, VAT management, accounting and KPI Reporting.
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
|
|
 |
