Do outdated computers really impact you and your business?
Ever sat there waiting impatiently for your computer to load up in the morning? Remember watching the little circle go round and round as the page takes its sweet time to load up? Lost files because they have simply taken too long to save, and then failed because your computer is out of memory? You may be used to it now, and think that it’s just part of your workday. But just think about how much time you (and by extension your entire company) is losing every single day.
A recent study found that the average person in the UK loses 46 minutes a day because of slow tech. That adds up to 24 days of work time a year. 24 days. Think about that – you might as well be doubling their annual leave allowance, give them the time off to pick up a new hobby, or start working on your long-anticipated business plan. Or you could do something about it, and look at improving their computers.
Due to Covid-19, a significant number of workplaces are enforcing working-from-home policies, which reduces the visibility of this problem. Productivity may be compromised when a computer is slow and outdated, and pretty much everyone is frustrated by slow tech. Outdated technology is a pretty standard problem, and 32% of workers in the UK recently answered a survey saying that outdated technology hinders their productivity. Situations like this leave businesses vulnerable to competitors and security risks.
Upgrading tech is crucial for supporting your employees to improve their work/life balance. With newer, faster, more powerful computers, employees can get more work done and efficiency increases when they don’t lose focus every time they wait for their computers to load.
Outdated technology hinders productivity
Tech is essential in today’s workplace. It makes a big difference in employees’ morale and productivity. If tech issues are ongoing, employee irritations grow on the company and eventually change to another company that offers updated tech. Outdated technology affects employees’ emotions and activity as they feel stressed and overwhelmed by tasks that take longer than they should to complete. According to The State of Work 2021 report by Workfront, more than half of digital workers asked said they would leave their current jobs if technology actually hinders their performance.
Every employee prefers to have updated, powerful tools that enable them to give 100% to their work. When computers are regularly updated, people feel pride working in the company and will bring more value to the company as they are supported to do their job efficiently and can lead healthier lifestyles at work or at home.
Help is here – tax relief for computer upgrades
We’ve made the case for why you should upgrade your organisation’s computers from a productivity and employee perspective. But did you know that it makes financial sense to update your tech right now? If the financials of losing 24 days a year productivity per employee per year, or £2,752 in the average UK salary didn’t convince you, perhaps the UK government’s new tax relief for capital asset investments will. After all, getting money back from taxes on top of improved productivity makes it a win-win.
The new temporary tax reliefs on qualifying capital asset investments (including computers and other hardware) came into effect on 1 April 2021. The relevant part of these temporary tax reliefs is a super-deduction tax relief of 130% on new assets purchased after 1 April 2021.
In the simplest terms, the super-deduction means that if a company spends £100,000 on computer equipment after 1 April 2021, they can claim a deduction of £130,000 against taxable profits for the year. Taking it even further, for a company paying 19% corporation tax, a super-deduction claim can cut a tax bill by nearly 25p for every £1 of qualifying spend.
In addition, the temporary higher rate annual investment allowance of £1m has been extended to December 2021. The AIA allows you to claim tax deductions against capital assets for items you use in your business (again, read computers).
Together, both of these tax reliefs can save you some useful money, and with the productivity increases, you will make up the investment in no time. But both reliefs are only temporary, so better make sure you don’t miss them.
For more details on the new temporary tax relief on qualifying company assets investments, please click here.
How can we help?
Undertaking a whole new computer procurement exercise may sound like a lot of work, but that’s where we come in. At Transputec we have over 30 years of experience in IT procurement, and we know how to do the heavy lifting for you. We provide reliable, consistent, timely delivery, and the best value from a range of leading vendors. We will support you through the entire procurement cycle from needs gathering through to purchase and delivery. Contact us now to see how we can help you update your computers, and give your employees the tech they deserve.
