IT group offers VAT initiative

The VAT initiative with Hodge Bakshi chartered accountants targets practitioners who use the gross cost apportionment method when calculating VAT. Relcon's Focus practice management system includes integrated dispensing, cash and stock modules, automatically collecting the necessary financial data to assess VAT liability. Robert Ward of Relcon said that the details collected by the system were supported by a complete audit trail so that the accuracy of figures could be proven to Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue. 'There is no single correct way of accounting for VAT within optical practices, and with the variety of practices in the UK, there isn't likely to be a standard method in the foreseeable future. What we have done is produce a system that can accommodate any preferred method. 'Hodge Bakshi can provide the specialist VAT consultancy, we can supply the computer systems and together we can provide practices with a complete service that is not only financially beneficial, but also complies with both the spirit and the letter of the law,' he said. Hodge Bakshi has specialist knowledge of VAT accounting for opticians. Its VAT consultant is Fred Cowgill, who originally advised Leightons and Eye Tech in 1995, establishing that spectacles represented a partially exempt supply.