We thought the questions asked in the discussions area in our Crowdfunding Raise were superb so we wanted to replicate them here. Please let’s keep the discussions going and put forward your ideas to keep growing Crunch (and therefore your investment!)
Investor query (originally posted on Seedrs):
W/ MTD 2023 in the offing, and HMRC connect trialed and tested, and to be rolled out, can you give me your vision for the future? (apologies for this Q being rather nebulous).
I can very much appreciate that there will be a phasing in period (as w/ the VAT MTD, where tacitly the first year was for everyone to get things in order), however:
1) Post that timeframe, what is your strategy?
2) How will the software be adapted to meet the criteria?
3) Will you be introducing blockchain tech. into your software e.g. imagining for a moment a sale’s transaction taking place. Once this transaction has happened a complex set of algorithms kick in, solving the equation and adding it onto the Blockchain, which functions as an autonomous aggregated ledger, unchangeable and accurate. Where the data (in this case the sale’s transaction) is encrypted and kept across the entire network securing it from cyber-attacks. The transaction is then automatically posted to the correct account without the intervention of a human. There is no need to check it, it is correct 100% of the time. This transaction, alongside hundreds and thousands more, will eventually form part of the statutory accounts and will be filed on time, without delay or human input.
Our response:
Thanks very much for your questions.
We always strive to be early adopters when HMRC releases new processes and often support with the BETA phases. We had planned to start development this Autumn, but when HMRC announced a year’s delay, we took advantage and instead started work on a really exciting e-commerce integration which will go live in the New Year.
We now plan to start working on MTD ITSA next year. As we have recently rebuilt our Self Assessment filing functionality, we will more easily be able to adapt the software to meet the new requirements, as we did for RTI and MTD VAT.
Our roadmap is public and can be viewed at any time:
https://trello.com/b/UX3Wscf7/crunch-software-development-roadmap
Blockchain technology is something we’ve discussed at length before for the reasons you’ve mentioned, as well as serving as an immutable record allowing us to retrace an accounts state to any point in the past.
However for now with our current resources we are primarily focussed on enhancing some key areas of the system, and will continue the discussion around the use of blockchain at a future date.
We hope that answers your questions.
Kind regards,
Helena Mann
Head of Transformation & Product
