Finance: Accounts made easy

Keeping the books is a task most licensees would rather avoid but unfortunately if you ignore it it only turns into an even greater problem. A new software package promises simplicity and was developed with publicans in mind. Phil Mellows asks, could it be the answer?

We're only flesh and blood. It's natural for our eyes to glaze over when presented with columns of figures and bewildering acronyms like VAT.

Yet for small, cash-led businesses such as pubs keeping the accounts is vital. The vast majority of failures among independent licensees comes down, in the end, to poor financial controls - simply not knowing how much money is coming in and going out of the business.

Without this basic knowledge cashflow can dry up and the most brilliant marketing initiatives can run aground.

The trouble is accounts - for everyone but the strange alien race who call themselves accountants - is excruciatingly boring and an apparently impenetrable art.

You have probably got one of these accountants but unless you pay to have them at your shoulder the whole time even they will be at a loss to rescue your business if you haven't kept on top of the day-to-day book-keeping.

That was the challenge taken up, two and a half years ago by Mark Routen, an accountant who appreciated the shortcomings of ordinary mortals when it comes to keeping track of cash.

"I had several pub clients and we tried to help them with accountancy software but it was all too complicated - so we decided to produce our own," he explains.

The result, finally ready to be unveiled to the trade, is Zipaccs - slogan: "accountancy for humans". There are existing accountancy software packages, of course, of which Sage is probably the best known. But Mark believes they are too comprehensive and specialised to be of much practical use to the average one-pub licensee.

Zipaccs has already caught the attention of the tenanted pub groups, which for years have grappled with the problem of trying to instill financial disciplines on their tenants and lessees. Enterprise Inns has just begun an extensive trial of the system on its estate.

According to Mark, Zipaccs was developed with three principles in mind: simplicity, discipline and security.

"Making it simple was very difficult," he explains. "VAT was a real struggle. It took some working out - and a lot of sleepless nights. We had to take all the accountancy terms out of it and eliminate all the potential problems associated with a cash-led business."

CD-based, the core of the Zipaccs system is run from just four different screens on which you enter figures for money coming in and going out of the pub and your bank account. VAT is calculated automatically as you go along.

There is another screen for any transaction details you might want to record and as you log out another mouse-click will back up your accounts on a server at Zipaccs headquarters. That's the security aspect.

Three more read-only information screens tell you how much cash you should have in the pub, how much you should have in the bank and how much VAT you owe. Optional extras include VAT returns and a payroll service.

Having taken more than two years to simplify it to this extent, the main potential frustration for Mark is discipline. The system will not enter the figures for you but if you have not backed up for four weeks it will automatically shut down - after ample warnings and reminders.

In practice you will find it easier to log on more frequently than that. A couple of times a week is fine for most.

"Understandably, licensees aren't interested in book-keeping," he admits. "It's not sexy and they can't get excited about it. We've tried to instill discipline as part of the system but it's hard to force anyone to do anything they don't want to do."

There is one other element of Zipaccs which is a more low-tech aid to discipline. It's a box (pictured)​. In fact it's a filing system for all your paperwork. Zipaccs will come and collect your box at the end of your financial year and, within 10 days, produce your year-end certified accounts. Then it's down to your accountant to work some magic.

• See www.zipaccs.com

How it works​

Zipaccs breaks down basic book-keeping into four easily understood steps that give an insight into just how simple controlling your finances can be.

• Cash in:​ Record what you have taken over the bar
• Cash out:​ Record your cash expenses - and make note of what you have paid for. Includes money paid into the bank
• Money into the bank:​ Record payments into your bank account
• Money out of the bank:​ Record payments from your account, including cheques and direct debits, making a note of where the money went.

In practice​

Greene King tenant Guy Oliver, one of a dozen licensees who first tested Zipaccs, started using the system at his food-led pub, the Langton Arms at Church Langton, Leicestershire, last April.

At a cost of £115 per month for the standard package plus quarterly reports, he describes as "easy to use and cost effective".

"I go on the system every two or three days," he says. "It's good for watching your cashflow. You know what you are spending, what you can cut down on and whether you've any spare money to invest."