dataflow.co.uk

DataFlow is an integrated accounting and ERP platform for UK businesses, built by Clarity. It runs the full accounting and trading lifecycle — sales and purchase ledgers, nominal accounts, stock control, order processing and VAT — on a single database, so the trading side and the accounting side stay in step without imports or re-keying. It suits distribution, accountancy and trading businesses that currently run orders and invoices in one tool and the ledger in another, and it is UK-focused with HMRC Making Tax Digital built in.

What the platform actually covers

Every module posts to the same integrated database, sharing one set of customers, products and accounts. You can start with the ledgers or the trading engine and add the rest as you grow.

The page also notes that any number of companies can run on one installation, and that the system plugs into the systems you already run.

The problems it is designed to solve

DataFlow's own framing lists four patterns common to distribution, accountancy and trading businesses that haven't consolidated their systems:

• Trading and accounts in separate systems. Orders and invoices in one tool, the ledger in another — month-end becomes a reconciliation exercise with manual re-keying.
• Paper piling up. Supplier invoices, delivery notes, customer POs and contracts filed in many places, slowing down audit or customer queries.
• No single view of stock and margin. Stock valued in one system, costs and revenue in another, so true margin per product, job or customer becomes an untrusted spreadsheet exercise.
• 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 at least one of these describes your current setup, that is the clearest signal the platform is aimed at you.

Who it is for

The stated audience is UK businesses that trade and account in one system — distribution, accountancy and trading businesses. The page cites Bannerman Company Ltd among its users. It is a fit if you need ledgers, stock and order processing to share one source of truth; it is less relevant if you only need standalone bookkeeping with no trading or stock dimension.

What to check before deciding

• Module entry point. Decide whether to start with the ledgers or the trading engine — the rest can be added later on the same database.
• Multi-company needs. Confirm how many companies you need on one installation; the page states any number is supported.
• Existing systems. Ask which of your current tools it plugs into, since integration is claimed but not itemised on the page.
• Compliance scope. MTD VAT is built in; confirm EC Sales Lists and payment-practices reporting match your obligations.
• Commercial terms. Pricing and purchase details are not published on the page, so request them directly rather than assuming terms.

The practical next step is a demo: it is the fastest way to see whether the single-database model matches how your trading and accounting actually run.

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.

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.

You likely need integrated accounting and ERP software when trading and accounts sit in separate systems, documents are scattered, stock and margin can't be seen in one place, or VAT and compliance work is stitched together by hand each period. DataFlow (Clarity) targets exactly these four patterns by running sales and purchase ledgers, nominal accounts, stock, order processing and VAT on a single database, so the trading and accounting sides stay in step without imports or re-keying. The signs below are the practical test: if at least one matches how your business currently operates, a consolidated system is worth evaluating.

Sign 1: Trading and accounts live in separate systems

Orders and invoices sit in one tool while the ledger sits in another. The visible symptoms:

• Month-end turns into a reconciliation exercise between two sets of figures.
• Someone re-keys numbers from the trading tool into the accounts, or exports and imports files.
• Discrepancies between the two systems are found late, often after reporting.

DataFlow's answer is structural: order processing, trade ledgers and the nominal ledger all post to the same integrated database. Quotes, orders, deliveries, invoices and credit notes post as they go, so there is no hand-off step to reconcile.

How to check: count how many manual transfers happen between your order/invoicing tool and your accounts in a typical month. More than zero is a signal; a recurring month-end reconciliation session is a strong one.

Sign 2: Paper and documents are spread across many places

Supplier invoices, signed delivery notes, customer POs and contracts filed in a dozen locations create a specific failure mode: when an auditor or a customer asks for a document, finding it takes longer than answering the query.

How to check: pick a recent customer query or audit request and time how long it took to locate the supporting document. If the answer involved searching email, shared drives and filing cabinets, document handling is costing you.

DataFlow's page evidence names this as one of the four common patterns but does not detail a document-management module, so treat this sign as a reason to ask about document handling during a demo rather than an assumed feature.

Sign 3: No single view of stock and margin

Stock is valued in one system while costs and revenue live in another. The result: true margin per product, per job or per customer becomes a spreadsheet exercise nobody trusts.

How to check: try to answer, from system data alone and without a spreadsheet, "what is the margin on this product (or job, or customer) this month?" If you can't, or if different people give different answers, this sign applies.

DataFlow's Stock Control module covers the physical-goods side — catalogue, movements and layered pricing — on the same database as costs and revenue, which is the mechanism that makes per-product or per-job margin a system output rather than a manual calculation.

Sign 4: VAT and compliance work is manual

Making Tax Digital submissions, EC Sales Lists, payment-practices reporting and a full audit trail stitched together by hand every period is the fourth pattern. The tell is calendar-driven: compliance work clusters at period end and depends on someone remembering the steps.

DataFlow states HMRC Making Tax Digital is built in, and lists EC Sales Lists and payment-practices reporting among the compliance outputs that fall out of the system rather than being assembled manually.

How to check: list the compliance tasks done by hand each VAT period and who does them. If the process depends on one person's checklist, consolidation removes a key-person risk as well as the labour.

What DataFlow actually is, in one paragraph

DataFlow (Clarity) is integrated accounting and ERP software for UK businesses that both trade and account. Its modules cover the Nominal Ledger (chart of accounts, journals, cash book, reconciliation, period close), Trade Ledgers (sales and purchase ledgers, credit control, BACS), Order Processing (quotes, orders, deliveries, invoicing, credit notes, works orders) and Stock Control. Every module posts to the same database, any number of companies can run on one installation, and it plugs into systems you already run. You can start with the ledgers or the trading engine and add the rest later, sharing one set of customers, products and accounts.

Choosing between consolidating and staying put

The staged entry point matters: because modules share one database, you can begin with the area causing the most pain (for example, trade ledgers) and add order processing or stock control when ready, rather than replacing everything at once.

Next step

If two or more of the four signs above match your business, book a demo and bring the specific checks with you: your month-end reconciliation steps, a recent document query, a margin question you couldn't answer from system data, and your VAT period checklist. Ask how each would work on one database. Pricing and licensing terms are not stated on the pages reviewed here, so confirm commercial details directly with DataFlow.

DataFlow (Clarity) runs accounting and trading on one database, so every module posts to the same set of records rather than exchanging files with the others. Sales and purchase ledgers, nominal accounts, stock, order processing and VAT all sit on that single database, and the modules share one set of customers, products and accounts. You can start with either the ledgers or the trading engine and add the remaining modules later, which suits UK businesses that want to consolidate a trading system and a separate accounting package without replacing everything at once.

The shared database is the mechanism

The important detail is not that DataFlow offers accounting and trading features, but that they write to the same place. When an order is processed, the resulting invoice posts to the ledger as part of the same transaction, so the trading side and the accounting side stay in step without imports or re-keying.

A practical example: a distributor raises a quote, converts it to an order, records a delivery and issues an invoice. Because order processing posts as it goes, the sales ledger entry and the stock movement are created from the same event. There is no month-end exercise to reconcile the order system against the accounts, and no one re-entering figures between two tools.

The same logic applies across modules:

• Shared master data. Customers, products and accounts are defined once and used by every module, so a new customer or product does not need to be created twice.
• Multiple companies. Any number of companies can run on one installation, which matters for groups that trade through more than one entity.
• VAT from the system. HMRC Making Tax Digital is built in, alongside EC Sales Lists, payment-practices reporting and an audit trail, rather than being stitched together by hand each period.

What each module covers

The modules fall into two groups, accounting and trading, and each posts to the same integrated database.

The Nominal Ledger is the general ledger everything posts to. Trade Ledgers brings the sales and purchase sides together with credit control and BACS. Order Processing is the trading engine that turns quotes into orders, deliveries and invoices. Stock Control covers the physical-goods side, including catalogue, movements and layered pricing.

Where to start

Because every module shares the same database, the entry point depends on which side of the business is causing the most friction.

• Start with the ledgers if your accounting is the priority and trading is currently handled adequately elsewhere, or if you want the nominal and trade ledgers consolidated first.
• Start with the trading engine if orders, deliveries and invoicing are the pain point, and let the accounting modules follow.
• Add the rest when ready. Modules added later share the existing customers, products and accounts, so growth does not require a migration between systems.

The pattern DataFlow describes is common to distribution, accountancy and trading businesses that have not consolidated: trading and accounts in separate systems, documents filed in many places, no single view of stock and margin, and VAT compliance assembled by hand. If more than one of those applies, the shared-database design is the part worth evaluating first.

What to check before deciding

The site describes the module structure and the single-database design but does not publish pricing, so cost and licensing terms need to be confirmed directly, for example through the demo booking offered on the site. Before committing, it is worth confirming:

• Which modules you need on day one and which can wait.
• How your existing customer, product and account data would be brought across.
• Whether your current order volumes and company structure fit a single installation with multiple companies.

For a UK business that trades and accounts in one operation, the value lies in removing the reconciliation step between trading and finance. The test is whether your current month-end involves re-keying or matching figures between two systems; if it does, a single-database setup addresses that directly.

Yes to both, with a caveat on the second. DataFlow (Clarity) is built to run any number of companies on a single installation, and its own modules — nominal ledger, trade ledgers, stock, order processing and VAT — all post to one database rather than exchanging files. The site also states that it "plugs into the systems you already run," though it does not name specific third-party products or list integration methods, so you should confirm the exact connectors you need before committing.

Multiple companies on one installation

The product page lists "Any number of companies on one installation" as a core capability. In practice this means you are not buying a separate copy of the software per entity, and the companies share one installation rather than being stitched together from separate systems.

What the page does not spell out is how far data is shared between companies — for example whether customers, products and the chart of accounts can be common across entities or must be maintained per company. If you run several trading companies with overlapping customer lists, that is the first question to put to DataFlow in a demo.

One database keeps trading and accounting in step

The central design claim is that the trading side and the accounting side sit on the same database. The modules page describes each module as posting to "the same integrated database," sharing one set of customers, products and accounts.

That matters because it removes the reconciliation step the site itself identifies as a common problem: orders and invoices in one tool, the ledger in another, with someone re-keying figures at month-end. With a single database, an order, delivery and invoice post as they are raised, and the ledger reflects them without an import step.

The module set, as described on the site:

VAT is handled within the same system, with HMRC Making Tax Digital described as built in, alongside EC Sales Lists and payment-practices reporting.

Integrating with existing systems

The site's heading "Plugs into the systems you already run" signals that DataFlow expects to sit alongside other software rather than replace everything. However, the supplied page content does not list which systems, which protocols, or whether connections are pre-built or bespoke.

So the honest position is: integration is claimed, specifics are not published in the material available. Before you rely on it, ask for:

• Named connectors for the systems you actually use (e.g. ecommerce, CRM, payroll, banking feeds).
• The method — API, file import/export, or a middleware layer — and who maintains it.
• Direction and timing — real-time or scheduled, one-way or two-way.
• What still needs manual handling, since the site's own pitch is about avoiding imports and re-keying.

A practical way to decide

If your main pain is that trading and accounts live in separate tools and month-end is a reconciliation exercise, the single-database design is the relevant feature, and multiple companies on one installation is a bonus if you run more than one entity.

If your main requirement is connecting to a specific external platform, treat integration as unconfirmed until you have it in writing. Book a demo and bring a short list of the systems you run and the data you need to move between them; that turns a general claim into a testable answer.

One further note: the page mentions pricing and purchase as signals but publishes no prices or payment terms, so cost and licensing should be raised directly rather than assumed.