InfoPage: Zipaccs - Supporting the landlord and tenant relationship

Landlord and Tenant - Lending Support​

The relationship between landlord and tenant is complex, extending well beyond the provision of a lease. The landlord may negotiate discounts for the tenant on products supplied under the terms of the tenancy, or possibly offer special rates for repairs and improvements. Nevertheless, one complaint that we hear frequently is that tenants feel that they don't receive sufficient support from their landlord.

What we have to understand is that few tenants take on a pub as a pure business proposition. Running a pub is a decision that owes more to the heart than to the head, and people who make that decision need plentiful business support if they're to make a success of the venture. The vision of the friendly innkeeper who supplies cheer to a familiar circle of customers is an attractive proposition. The reality of working as an unpaid tax collector for Customs & Excise is less compelling.

Given this scenario, it's hardly surprising that bookkeeping is the most widely ignored discipline of the business process. At the end of a long hard day, in the choice between spending another hour or so bringing the books up to date or grabbing a few hours' well earned rest, there's an obvious loser. The inevitable result is a cash position that keeps springing unpleasant surprises. Unchecked, this leads to financial collapse, and the landlord's loss of a good tenant.

An alternative approach has been available for over a year now, and it's already found favour with a great many publicans. It's called Zipaccs Cash Accounting, and it has been designed specifically for the licensed trade, with that end-of-day energy drop firmly in mind.

The original design brief for Zipaccs centred on one word - simplicity. It was obvious that the other software packages on the market offered complex features that are probably invaluable to a multi-national corporate giant, but have limited use when applied to the Dog & Duck. So out went accountancy jargon like nominal codes and ledgers. People make mistakes, so let's not punish them for it - and out went instructions for "Reversal of erroneous transactions" to be replaced by the more understandable "Click delete".

It's also important to understand that things can go wrong. Computers crash, pubs get burgled, or someone just spills coffee on the keyboard. So Zipaccs automatically backs itself up to a secure data vault via your normal Internet connection. If your hard disk eats itself, or the kids download the MegaWipeOut virus along with the latest Atomic Kitten MP3, you can have your vital figures back up and running in minutes.

And what about year end and VAT returns? All taken care of for you; Zipaccs handles the quarterly VAT by giving you an exact copy of the VAT form, with all of the boxes filled out ready for you. And when the end of the year arrives, you automatically receive bound certified accounts to meet your legal responsibilities - all within just a few days. There's no accountant's fee to pay - it's all included in your low monthly subscription to the system.

Zipaccs even takes care of the payroll by means of its integrated ZipPay system. ZipPay makes a simple task of preparing the wages; you simply enter your employees' pay details - which are automatically brought forward from the last payslip so that you don't have to re-enter anything that's changed. The system then sends a payroll request to the ZipPay server and your payslips come back to you by e-mail, ready for payment.

For a tenant who wants to take control of the finances without spending hours keeping the books, Zipaccs offers a beautifully simple solution. And for the landlord who wants to do more to guarantee the success and longevity of his tenants, there's no better way than to arrange a group package that will be appreciated and used by all of them.

In either case, the first step to finding out more is to visit www.zipaccs.com​, or call Zipaccs on 001858 439444.