Software
Review: Keytime P11D Calculator
AccountingWEB 24th May 2004
If
P11Ds are a headache for you, this updated software package could
be just what you're looking for. Previously branded as Pastel
P11D, Keytime is the new name for the Pastel range of
products in the UK. Nigel Harris took a closer look.
Keytime
P11D was released last month. At just £105 plus VAT the
company claims it is the smallest price you can pay for multi
company, unlimited employee P11D software.
However,
despite the huge price differential with apparently more sophisticated
and "comprehensive" products, P11D Calculator certainly
seems to do everything required to satisfy employer reporting
requirements. Data entry is completely intuitive. Down the left
hand side of the screen is a explorer-style tree list of benefit
types which can be expanded to show individual items. At the employee
setup stage you can include or exclude benefit types and create
the required number of instances of each benefit - for example,
you may need several company cars. This makes on-screen navigation
easier, but extra benefits can easily be added later, as required.
The navigation tree uses icons to indicate whether each section
is not started, changed or complete, a very useful visual tool
for a reviewer.
A
handy touch is the on-line help provided with each question/form.
The first tab in each data section reproduces Revenue notes on
that particular benefit. Subsequent tabs are for benefit details,
any employee contributions, and calculation of net benefit.
Further
help is available in the form of IR 480 tax guide and forms CWG5,
P11D, P11D(b) and P46 (car), which are included as Acrobat PDF
documents.
If
you have a colour printer and ink to burn the software will print
coloured P11Ds to conform to Inland Revenue Standard. Single colour
forms are acceptable though. The Print Form Manager provides for
multiple copies of a P11D, a facility which will become more useful
towards the July filing deadline if you are preparing P11Ds in
bulk for clients!
This
is a well-priced, simple to use product, which will speed up the
production of P11Ds in any firm which handles a large number each
year. It appears however to be a single year product, so the company
and employee data will all have to be entered again in the 2005
version next year. But as a calculator and automated form filler
it's hard to fault.
