As many of you will know, we have always developed our own accounting software for our clients to use. We initially did this because when we started our business in 2003, there was no cloud accounting software available for our clients, and we also really liked the idea of developing our own software. Nowadays, there are plenty of cloud accounting options for freelancers, but we firmly believe our software is still the best.
This week, we launched a rebrand of our accounting software, now called Joy Pilot. The accounting software is free for all our clients to use, and contractors and freelancers who don’t use our accounting service can also subscribe to use it for a small monthly fee.
In this article, I want to touch on the features and benefits of using Joy Pilot. The first item on the agenda is our AI Invoicing. This feature offers a glimpse into the future of how cloud accounting will look and shows how the small development team at Joy Pilot can beat all the major software firms in releasing accounting features that materially boost productivity for their users at no extra cost.
Embracing Ease with AI Invoicing
At the heart of Joy Pilot lies a truly groundbreaking feature—AI Invoicing. This intuitive system is a sneak peek into the future of how cloud accounting will evolve. But you don’t have to wait for the future; Joy Pilot’s small development team has outmaneuvered major software firms by introducing this innovative feature now.
With our AI Invoicing, you simply speak the invoice details into your phone (or any device with a microphone), and in less than 10 seconds, we translate that into a draft invoice that you can see on screen. Simply check the invoice details, update (if needed) the email address for the recipient, and then press send.
You can probably imagine preparing your invoice on the way out of your clients’ premises, or at the end of the week when you’re on the train home. It literally takes seconds, and because it’s so fast and easy, you’ll never need to worry about remembering to invoice your client again.
AI Expenses are Next
Creating and adding expenses to your Joy Pilot accounting software will be the next feature that we will be adding shortly. We have already tested AI Expenses in our development environment, and it’s working very nicely. We just need to complete a few more tests, make sure the user experience is smooth, and we’ll have this ready for release before Christmas.
If you can imagine walking out of a shop or completing an online purchase on your computer and simply speaking the expense details into your phone, then you have a pretty good idea of how this feature will work.
Multi-Currency Support as Standard
Another feature we have incorporated into our accounting software is support for multiple currencies as standard for all users. Whether you’re working with international clients or managing expenses from around the globe, Joy Pilot has you covered. Our accounting software is equipped with powerful multi-currency support, allowing you to effortlessly create invoices and record expenses in a variety of currencies. Avoid the hassle of currency conversions and complex calculations; Joy Pilot does the heavy lifting for you by providing real-time exchange rates and automatic currency conversions.
Streamlined International Transactions: Effortlessly invoice clients in their local currency, fostering a smoother, more professional business relationship.
Accurate Expense Tracking: Record your expenses in the original currency, ensuring precision and clarity in your financial reports.
Real-Time Currency Conversions: Receive up-to-the-minute exchange rates for accurate and timely financial data.
We’ve spent a lot of time simplifying the reconciliation of foreign currency transactions to ensure your accounting records are always accurate while minimizing the amount of effort required to track foreign currency conversion rates. The most common issue is when users create an invoice in a foreign currency and by the time the invoice is paid, the foreign currency rate has moved. Joy Pilot automatically adjusts for this, making bookkeeping simple.
Handling Expenses
Managing expenses is a critical component of running a successful business, yet it can be one of the most time-consuming and confusing tasks for contractors and sole proprietors. With Joy Pilot, we have always aimed to simplify this process, providing you with tools that make expense-tracking less like a chore and more like a seamless part of your day-to-day activities.
Capture Receipts with Ease
Gone are the days of storing a mountain of paper receipts. With Joy Pilot, you can swiftly capture receipts using your phone’s camera and upload them directly to the cloud. This feature helps keep your records organized, ensuring that every expense is accounted for and easily accessible when you need it. It’s a fast, simple, and efficient way to keep your financial documentation in order.
Smart Expense Categorization
Keeping track of expenses by category not only helps with budgeting but also makes tax preparation much simpler. Our smart categorization tool effortlessly organizes your expenses so that your profit and loss statement always reflect an accurate and clear financial picture. Joy Pilot’s intuitive interface means you’ll spend less time sorting and more time focusing on aspects of your business that you love.
Bulk Import to Save You Time
For those who have a multitude of transactions to log, the bulk import feature comes to the rescue. By uploading a CSV file, you can import a batch of expenses simultaneously, saving you valuable time. Joy Pilot’s straightforward matching system ensures that these expenses are correctly categorized and accounted for in your financial records.
Manage Recurring Expenses with Auto-Reminders
Some expenses occur like clockwork—rent, utility bills, subscriptions—and keeping track of them can be tedious. Joy Pilot offers a solution by allowing you to set up recurring expense entries, helping you stay on top of regular payments without the monthly manual entry. This feature ensures nothing slips through the cracks and your accounts stay up-to-date.
Mark Expenses as Billable
Turning expenses into billable items on your invoices can sometimes be a convoluted process, but not with Joy Pilot. With the click of a button, you can designate specific expenses as billable, ensuring you recover costs from your clients accurately and professionally. This feature streamlines your billing process and ensures you’re compensated for all your outlays.
Banking Made Easy
For contractors and sole proprietors, managing financial transactions is a cornerstone of running a smooth operation. Having provided accounting services to contractors and freelancers for around 20 years, we know that banking transactions are a critical element in preparing accurate financial statements. When we first started our business, we requested that clients have their banks send their statements directly to us. Some banks issued duplicate statements so both the client and we could receive copies every month. Now, with the advent of open banking and bank feeds, this process is now far simpler.
Real-Time Transaction Updates
Our bank feeds ensure that your latest bank transactions are automatically imported into Joy Pilot, offering a real-time view of your financial situation. Purchases, sales, and any other bank activities are captured and presented in an organized manner, allowing you to quickly reconcile and classify transactions as they happen.
Efficient Bank Reconciliation
Our fast bank reconciliation feature makes it easy to match your bank activity with your invoices and bills. This not only saves time but also helps reduce errors and ensure that your records are consistently accurate and reliable. Discrepancies become much easier to spot and resolve, allowing for a clean and up-to-date financial record.
Quick Reconcile for Non-Automated Feeds
Sometimes technology doesn’t play ball, or perhaps a specific bank isn’t supported for automatic bank feeds. Our Quick Reconcile feature enables you to perform effective reconciliations manually with ease and efficiency. This feature is useful not only when there is no bank feed available but also if you are adding a bank feed for the first time and need to add historical bank transactions, and also if your bank feed glitches and you need to manually add one or two bank transactions.
Bulk Import and Bulk Edits
Need to upload a batch of transactions? Our Bulk Importer lets you add all your transaction data swiftly using a CSV file. And when you need to make modifications on the fly, our bulk edit tools allow you to make changes across multiple entries, saving time and enhancing productivity.
VAT Filing
Yes, our accounting software also handles the online filing of VAT returns with HMRC. In fact, we were the world’s first accounting software firm to file a VAT return when the Making Tax Digital regime was introduced by HMRC. When we look back through our transaction log, we can confirm it was filed on 01 June 2018 at 8:43 am.
To minimize errors and the need for manual revisions, Joy Pilot VAT returns also feature comprehensive built-in checks that review your VAT calculations before submission. It’s as though you have a vigilant second set of eyes scrutinizing the figures, offering you additional assurance of the accuracy of your data before it reaches HMRC. We don’t like filing revised VAT returns for our clients, so these built-in checks are invaluable.
Whether you’re on the Flat Rate or Standard Rate VAT scheme, Joy Pilot caters to your situation with full adaptability. Our software is designed to handle various VAT schemes and allows you to toggle between them as necessary, offering flexibility and ease no matter how your business operates. Understanding that businesses may use different accounting bases, Joy Pilot also supports both Cash Basis and Accrual Basis accounting methods. This duality in function ensures consistent and correct VAT reporting that conforms to your business’s financial processes, providing confidence no matter which accounting method you prefer.
Summary
In this article, we’ve introduced you to Joy Pilot, our rebranded proprietary accounting software that has evolved since our foundation in 2003 to meet the niche needs of limited company contractors and sole proprietors. Joy Pilot stands out amid a sea of accounting options with features that streamline users’ financial processes, saving time and enhancing productivity.
Innovative AI Invoicing is at the forefront of Joy Pilot’s capabilities, allowing you to create invoices with voice commands, while AI Expenses—set to release before Christmas—promises similar efficiency for tracking expenditures. Multi-currency support is a standard inclusion, providing real-time exchange rates and hassle-free currency conversions, making global transactions a breeze.
By leveraging Joy Pilot, users gain a comprehensive, easy-to-use platform that addresses the full spectrum of accounting needs with innovative technologies and user-centric design. Sign up and experience the first month with Joy Pilot on us, confident in the fact that it’s not just an accounting tool—it’s your financial co-pilot, guiding your business to greater success.
And for those contractors and freelancers looking for a new accountant and the opportunity to use our outstanding software for free, here is our Sign Up link. ????