It’s been a busy year for us here at FreeAgent Towers, and before we turn our sights to 2015 and beyond, here’s a review of the new features that we released this year, along with the best bits of company news. Hold on to your hats...
We started the year off with a bang: just in time for the tax deadline, we launched a huge new Self Assessment filing feature. FreeAgent can fill in up to 90% of our Sole Trader customers’ tax returns, and then they can file them directly to HMRC. We followed this by completely revamping FreeAgent’s time tracking features, launching a new timer that makes time tracking even easier. We were also thrilled to find out that we had been shortlisted in the prestigious FinTech 50; the annual rundown of Europe’s 50 most innovative financial tech companies.
In February, we unveiled the winner of our first “win your tax” competition - Moray Metals - and gave them £5,000 towards their next tax bill - if that sounds like something you’d like to enter, we’re running it again this year! We also launched a dedicated accountant division focussed on improving the way we work with UK accountancy practices (which we marked by becoming an official 2014 ICAS partner), and also spread a little love on twitter with a special Valentine’s giveaway for our lovely customers.
Then, in March, we unveiled support for reverse charge VAT in FreeAgent, and followed this up with additional support for the Employment Allowance in April. We also kicked off the first of our “Get Growing” roadshows, where we joined forces with companies including PayPal, Elance, and Constant Contact to support small businesses across the country.
At the start of the Summer, more than 40 keen FreeAgent team members signed up to the Global Corporate Challenge, a worldwide effort to improve employee health. Together, the FreeAgent team clocked up 32,674 kilometers worth of steps, burning enough calories for over 8,500 slices of pizza!
In Summer, we also released one of the most eagerly-anticipated FreeAgent features we’ve ever had: support for multi-currency banking. We also expanded Self Assessment filing for Limited Company directors and launched an integration with PayPal’s shiny new mobile payment service PayPal Here.
By the time Autumn rolled around, we had a new ScotlandIS Digital Business Award on our trophy shelf, and were delighted to be named as one of the “Ones to Watch” in the 2014 Tech Track 100 initiative. We followed this success by winning the Practice Software Product of the Year at the British Accountancy Awards and featuring in the Deloitte Fast 50 list of the fastest-growing UK tech companies for the second year running.
To round off the final few months of the year, we signed some major accountancy practice deals with JSA and Umbrella.co.uk, received accreditation from the Institute of Chartered Bookkeepers (ICB), co-hosted the official Scottish event for National Freelancers’ Day and won the PC Magazine Business Choice award for accounting software (with the highest customer ratings that they had seen all year). We were also selected by Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland for their new "Business Toolbox" designed to help small business owners.
And finally, in December we not only hosted a social media #DecorateYourDesk Christmas competition, but also launched our first-ever Self Assessment Survival Kit.
Safe to say, it’s been an incredible year for us and a lot of the success we’ve had has been not just down to the hard work and dedication of our team, but also the commitment and loyalty of our amazing customers. I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has helped us on our journey so far.
There’s a lot more to come and, hopefully, this will include some very exciting developments in the New Year - so here’s looking towards a great 2015!