Farmplan has launched Farmplan Business Cloud, a new cloud-based accounting package for farmers. Charlotte Cunningham reports.

Designed to combine a simple interface with functionality, this new addition to Farmplan’s product portfolio allows users to work with real-time financial insight and automate time-consuming manual transactions.

Farmplan Business Cloud is based on real farmer feedback to create a package with their needs in mind.

From seasonal income, to complex VAT rules and contra entries, Farmplan Business Cloud can be accessed any place, any time. When starting Farmplan Business Cloud for the first time, a series of prompts asks about your farm setup before generating a personalised interface that meets your requirements, says the firm. This can then be customised as much or as little as needed.

Smoother management

For smoother management of entering data, Farmplan Business Cloud permits an automated feed from the bank. This will save time as the details will be entered automatically and reduces the potential risk of data entry errors. Users can match the bank details with their relevant categories, or they can be set to follow predefined rules, for example, if a user makes a monthly payment for their phone bill, this can be marked as such and automatically categorised going forward.

Changes to tax regulations will require all VAT registered businesses to use accounting software in order to record and demonstrate their financial history. Farmplan Business Cloud is prepared for this necessity, putting greater insight and control into your data, income and expenditure.

“Farmplan Business Cloud is part of the next generation of account and business tools for the industry, backed by a support team with extensive experience and deep knowledge of farm management processes,” says Anne Cianchi, project manager for Farmplan Business Cloud. “Although a wide range of cloud accounting software packages are already on the market, the majority are not geared up to deal with agricultural scenarios – until now. Farmplan Business Cloud has been created by agricultural experts, for the agricultural community, and is underpinned by familiar terminology that means something to your business.”