Case Study: Streamlining tax deductions for the creative industry with Prosaic

Background

Fantail Finances, based in Auckland, specialises in tax and production accounting for the creative sectors, including film, music, and art. With a team of Xero-certified professionals skilled in the latest financial software, they offer end-to-end services from budgeting to compliance, including GST and year-end filings. Led by Alecia McCulloch, a veteran in creative industry finance with a Masters of Business Administration,

Fantail Finances is renowned for its speed, accuracy, and integrity. Alecia's extensive experience ensures the firm not only delivers expert financial management but also navigates the complexities of funding and compliance with ease, making them a trusted partner for creative projects.

The Challenge

The unique nature of the creative sector often blurs the lines between personal and business expenses. For Fantail Finances' clients, distinguishing between subscriptions to streaming platforms for business research or personal use, and allocating home office expenses accurately, is a common challenge. The manual methods clients use to keep tabs on spend are not only inefficient but also prone to inaccuracies, leading to dissatisfaction and potential compliance issues.

The Solution

Fantail Finances were introduced to Prosaic AI, a new, AI powered home office expenses app designed to automate and simplify the home office expense management process,  by automatically reading financial data from personal sources like loan accounts and credit cards, then suggesting common claims.

Prosaic stood out for its ability to accurately categorise expenses and streamline the claim process. By providing for the first time a secure, enhanced feed from a range of client financial sources, it allows the Fantail team to simply take care of their clients finances, without having to chase them for data. This is ideally suited to the needs of the creative sector.

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Implementation

Learning and adopting a new tool always takes time, but with Prosaic, the interface and onboarding experience is fast and intuitive, and once you’ve connected your bank accounts, the AI does most of the heavy lifting.  

It's been exciting to see our clients adopt such a clever new tool, and share their positive feedback,” says Alecia McCulloch. “The back and forth that inevitably goes with running down expenses like home office takes a lot of manual work, and delays our ability to complete GST returns or year end. Having the full picture of clients data, not only from their business account, but any claimable personal expenses, means we can offer our clients a much more streamlined service and makes everyone’s lives easier.

Outcomes

Rolling out Prosaic at Fantail finances offers these benefits for their practice and clients

• Real time visibility of ALL expensable bank data: For clients who have a range of spend not automatically picked up by a business bank account, Prosaic enables Fantail to have full visibility into their deductions, without having to wait for the client to provide it
• Less manual reconciliation and re-coding: For clients who run everything through personal bank accounts, it saves the team hours of time reconciling and removing ineligible transactions, by just importing into Xero the bank transactions that matter
• Better client experience: For clients on Prosaic, a major headache at year end (home office claims) is now done automatically, which means returns completed early, with less work required from the client.

Conclusion

For Fantail Finances, the integration of Prosaic into their tax compliance process has not only streamlined operations but also provided strategic advantages in serving the creative sector. This partnership helps realise Alecia McCulloch's vision of simplifying financial management for creative professionals, so they can focus on what they love doing best.

Learn more about Fantail Finances services and lovely team at https://www.fantailfinances.co.nz/

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