SYNERGY 2019: Highlights, hot topics and the hybrid approach

Last month saw our customer conference, SYNERGY 2019, take place in Hinckley, Leicestershire. Both new and seasoned delegates joined us who chose from a range of 60 sessions over the two days. Sessions were tailored toward helping our customers with their daily tasks, and ranged from in-depth tax training, content creation workshops to thought-leadership sessions with industry experts. The Making Tax Digital talk with Mark Purdue and a representative from HMRC was as expected, a well-attended session. It was made all the more entertaining by an entrance from Gary Jacobs of Eazitax which raised the eyebrows of organisers and delegates alike. As a key participant in the MTD pilot, Gary provided a no-nonsense depiction of the new regulation in practice, and delegates benefitted hugely from listening about his experience.

Charlotte Rushton, Thomson Reuters President of Tax Professionals joined us from her usual US residency to deliver an informed keynote speech at SYNERGY 2019. She addressed recent changes to the organisation and referred to our hybrid approach which was later detailed by Dave Pearson, Product Lead for UK Tax Professionals.

“Just as you and your firm must be nimble to respond to your clients’ changing needs and regulatory landscape, we must also keep pace with the rapid rate of change and position our organization to act with speed and agility to help you and your firm to thrive.”

Product Mangers gave a detailed overview of our development with Onvio, which now has a new formations module and is available for customers. Onvio Formations can run alongside desktop Digita software but share the data and documentation with clients.

As with every year, the in-depth training with experts proved invaluable to users, and provided tips on how to get the very best from their software. Rasmus Ankersen, Danish author and successful business consultant presented a thought-provoking angle on eliminating complacency and gave useful advice on how to succeed in practice. Day two’s highlight was a panel discussion led by AccountingWEB’s Tom Herbert, which emulated the popular gameshow Room 101. Panellists Richard Sergeant, Jessica Pillow, Gary Jacobs and Liz Waterson debated which everyday accountancy task should ultimately end up in Room 101, with much comic disagreement along the way!

Another highlight was a sensational Gala Dinner with casino entertainment. Unsurprisingly, there were a few sore heads a little later!

We’d like to thank all the delegates who came, as well as the long list of presenters and panellists who made the event informative and interactive. Special thanks to Gary Jacobs who gave up so much of his time to take part in multiple sessions and which ultimately enabled customers to envisage what life will be like under MTD.