How to See a Demo of DataFlow (Clarity) for UK Accounting and Distribution

Updated

DataFlow (Clarity) offers a Book a Demo route on its website for UK businesses that want to see the platform before committing. The demo is the entry point the site presents to prospective customers: it lets you see the accounting and trading modules running on one database, and judge whether the fit is right for your sales and purchase ledgers, nominal accounts, stock, order processing and VAT. The site does not publish demo times, formats or costs, so treat those as things to confirm when you book.

What the demo is meant to show

DataFlow positions itself as one platform for accounting and distribution, not a set of separate tools. The demo should let you check that claim against your own workflows. The site's core message is that sales and purchase ledgers, nominal accounts, stock, order processing and VAT all sit on a single database, so the trading side and the accounting side stay in step with no imports or re-keying.

The site also states that any number of companies can run on one installation, and that HMRC Making Tax Digital is built in. These are the claims worth testing in a demo rather than taking on trust.

Modules to ask about

The site groups its modules under Accounting and Trading, and says every module posts to the same integrated database. You can start with the ledgers or the trading engine and add the rest later, sharing one set of customers, products and accounts.

Area Module What the site says it covers
Accounting Nominal Ledger Chart of accounts, journals, cash book, reconciliation, period close
Trading Trade Ledgers Sales and purchase ledgers, receipts, payments, allocations, statements, aged debt, BACS
Trading Order Processing Quotations, orders, deliveries, invoices, credit notes, works orders, posting as they go
Trading Stock Control Catalogue, movements, layered pricing (description continues beyond the excerpt)

Use the demo to trace one order from quote through delivery and invoice into the ledger, and to confirm stock and margin figures come from the same place as the accounting entries.

Signs you are the right kind of prospect

The site lists four problems that it says appear in almost every distribution, accountancy and trading business that has not consolidated its systems. At least one is likely to match your situation, and that match is the best reason to book:

  • Trading and accounts in separate systems, so month-end becomes a reconciliation exercise with re-keying between tools.
  • Paper piling up — supplier invoices, signed delivery notes, customer POs and contracts filed in many places, slowing down audit or customer queries.
  • No single view of stock and margin, with stock valued in one system and costs and revenue in another, leaving true margin per product, job or customer as an untrusted spreadsheet.
  • VAT and compliance stress — Making Tax Digital submissions, EC Sales Lists, payment-practices reporting and a full audit trail stitched together by hand each period.

If you recognise one or more of these, a demo is a reasonable next step. If your accounting and trading already run cleanly on one system, the case is weaker.

How to book and what to prepare

The site's route is the Book a Demo option, alongside a See the modules link for reviewing module detail first. The site does not describe the booking form, response time or whether the demo is remote or on-site, so ask when you make contact.

To get value from the session, prepare:

  1. Your current setup — which systems hold your orders, invoices, ledger and stock today, and where re-keying happens.
  2. Your company structure — how many companies or trading entities you run, since the site says any number can sit on one installation.
  3. Your compliance obligations — confirm your MTD VAT position and whether EC Sales Lists or payment-practices reporting apply to you.
  4. One end-to-end example — a real quote-to-invoice-to-ledger flow, plus a stock item whose margin you cannot currently see clearly.
  5. Your integration needs — the site says DataFlow plugs into systems you already run, so list what must connect and ask how.

What to verify during the demo

  • That a single order posts to stock, the sales ledger and the nominal ledger without manual steps.
  • How margin per product, job or customer is reported, and whether it draws on the same stock and cost data.
  • How MTD VAT submissions and the audit trail are produced from the system rather than assembled by hand.
  • How multiple companies are separated and reported on one installation.
  • Which existing systems integrate, and what that integration covers.

Practical notes

  • The site shows no pricing or purchase links, so cost, licensing and contract terms are questions for the demo conversation, not assumptions to make beforehand.
  • The site names Bannerman Company Ltd among businesses that trade and account in one system; ask for references in a similar sector if that matters to you.
  • If you only want to understand the product first, review the module pages before booking, then bring specific questions to the demo.