IRIS Software Group acquires BioStore Ltd

4 minutes length

Posted: 8th January 2019

IRIS Software Group, the UK’s leading business-critical software provider is today announcing the acquisition of BioStore Ltd, a principal provider of identity management and cashless catering solutions to UK schools and businesses.

BioStore’s identity management and cashless catering solutions are used by over 3,000 UK schools and sixth form colleges to improve and streamline access control and how catering services are delivered.

The acquisition extends the IRIS education portfolio, providing solutions to manage all aspects of school management, including finance, assets and communications. Its ability to deliver a step-change in school efficiency and achieve value for money in the use of resources is a prime objective of many Academy and Academy Trusts.

BioStore will sit within the IRIS Education Division which includes PS Financials financial management; Results Squared asset management and communications; and ParentMail online payment and parent engagement, which includes the prominent messaging apps, Looked After Call and Truancy Call.

Over 11,000 education organisations use IRIS solutions, which provide essential software to 60% of UK academies and 82% of large multi-academy Trusts. IRIS also connects schools with over four million parents and guardians and sends over 300 million messages each year from schools to parents and guardians, helping to keep them informed and process payments for dinner money and other school items.

Kevin Dady, CEO of IRIS Software Group says, “BioStore has developed some game-changing technology for the education sector and I’m delighted to welcome the business to IRIS. Our mission is to help all education establishments become more efficient and productive by reducing administration and delivering services that benefit schools, colleges, students and parents. This acquisition is yet another step in helping us achieve this goal.”

Nigel Walker, managing director of BioStore says, “BioStore is a leader in providing innovative identity management and cashless catering solutions to schools and businesses for many years. We’re delighted to be part of IRIS Software Group where we can create even tighter integrations between our respective award-winning portfolios and innovate further. Together with IRIS we can offer schools and businesses an end to end solution, which creates value by making budgets go further.”

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IRIS Accountancy Solutions is seeing an increase in momentum for the HMRC Making Tax Digital (MTD) pilot as requests for IRIS VAT Filer increase to over 100 per week.

Since the VAT Filer launch at IRIS World London on 9th October, the UK’s leading accountancy software provider has received over 400 requests for its ‘bridging software’ which can only be used if accountancy practices have registered for the HMRC MTD pilot. IRIS has also seen an increase demand for its KashFlow and IRIS Snap products which also streamline MTD compliance.

Nick Gregory, Chief Product and Marketing officer for IRIS explains, “The number of requests for these products reflects the appetite from firms wanting to join the HMRC MTD pilot. It also shows accountancy professionals are talking to clients before the deadline to ensure they are prepared ahead of the new legislation.”

Bridging software allows the required VAT values to be easily imported from various sources and submitted to HMRC for compliance with MTD. IRIS VAT Filer automatically connects to HMRC and retrieves client data such as previous submissions made under MTD, current VAT obligations, liabilities due and payments already made. As a result, keeping track of clients’ submissions, payments and any amounts outstanding is much more straightforward. VAT Filer is included in IRIS as part of the subscription.

To help accountancy professionals through the process, IRIS has published a free guide, Making Tax Digital: Setup Guide for Agents. This highlights the information needed to set up an account and screen shots to show each step of the process.

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About IRIS Software Group

IRIS Software Group is the largest privately held software company in the UK and ranked at 227 in the Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250. It provides business-critical software and services for accountants, schools, SMEs, corporates and non-profit organisations. IRIS Software Group’s trusted solutions relieve the burden of compliance, while enabling productivity, facilitating collaboration and providing insight for UK organisations to connect and serve an increasingly new generation of customers.

More than 650,000 SMEs and 21,000 UK accountancy firms use IRIS applications. Four million parents and guardians use IRIS apps to connect with their child’s school. 620,000 UK employees are managed by IRIS HR solutions and 2.3 million UK employees are paid by IRIS payroll solutions.They are managed under the leading Cascade, Contact Group, Earnie, IRIS, KashFlow, Keytime, ParentMail, PS Financials, PTP, Results Squared, School Asset Manager, Star and Taxfiler product brands.

For more details visit iris.co.uk or follow the brands on Twitter: @irisaccountants, @irispayroll, @kashflow, @keytime @CascadeHRMS, @PSFinancials, @ParentMail and @TaxfilerLtd.

About BioStore

BioStore is a UK owned and run business, and since 2005 has been amongst the leading suppliers of IT providers developing identity management technologies. Providing high quality, secure systems for schools and businesses, BioStore’s solutions make it easy to manage the various software applications in use through a secure central user database.

BioStore provides integrated authentication for a variety of applications, including e-registration, print & copy, password manager, computer logon, cashless catering, visitor manager, access control, library management and locker systems. With over 3,000,000 users every day, BioStore is acknowledged as the leading Identity Management provider in the UK, delivering secure authentication by RFID, Mifare, HID iClass and Magnetic Stripe cards, Username/Password, PIN, Barcode, Finger Biometric and OTP Fob.