I picked up on a consultation doc issued by HMRC last week entitled 'Business Record Checks'. This seemingly innocuous sounding document has quite important potential ramifications for all small business owners - the full text can be found here, though I'll attempt to quickly summarise.
Existing legislation exists concerning the records all businesses must keep, along with the additional records needed by VAT registered firms. HMRC have always had the ability to levy penalties for inadequate record keeping, though in reality these have not often been used.
HMRC estimate that tax loss due directly to poor record keeping is a factor in 40% of random enquiries - they therefore propose to check the records of up to 50,000 businesses annually, beginning in second half of 2011.
That timescale is actually rather soon, if your records are not currently up to scratch!
PS: SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
There is a small amount of small print, pls email us at plymouth@taxassist.co.uk !
Thursday 23 December 2010
Friday 17 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #12 - VICE!
A bit of Christmas fun (ok, its slightly sadistic fun), but being Friday and all......
Ever wondered exactly how much money the govt makes out of your particular vices? You know, the odd ciggy here, bottle of claret there; or those few pints after a hard days work?
Well calculate it here http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/vices-calculator presenting you with the Vice-Ometer - courtesy of thisismoney
The figures are accurate to the budget earlier this year though won't reflect the emergency budget.
It won't stop @plymtax enjoying a few jars this Christmas mind!
Wednesday 15 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #11 - Quick Tax Savers!
Are you maximising your use of available tax allowances / breaks? Here are some quick wins you may not have thought of, and all represent legitimate tax planning:
1: Use of Home - If you run your self-employed business from home, HMRC recognise that a share of the costs of running your home office can be included as an expense against income. There are specific guidelines covering different scenario's on the HMRC website
2: Income Generating Assets - If you are married or have a civil partner, you may transfer assets between spouses without tax consequence. This means income generating assets can be transferred to the spouse with the lower tax rate.
3: Motor costs - If you run a business, sole trader or limited, have you had your motor expenditure 'audited' by your accountant to identify best treatment? Its a complex area, with different reliefs operating depending on how the vehicle is used and the model. Handsome savings are possible.
4: Employing a spouse: Most people are aware that business owners often employ a spouse on a low salary, if the spouse is non-working. It allows the spouses unused personal tax allowance to be used, whilst getting a deduction in the books of the working spouse. There must be some substance to the arrangement though! This might be assisting on admin side or acting as company secretary.
5: ISA's, pensions etc: These tax saving 'vehicles' are extremely tax efficient and for the majority of people are suitable for virtually any savings for the medium/long term. Remember, with pensions, money is locked in once contributed, and with ISA's, its one allowance per year - you snooze, you lose!
PS: SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
There is a small amount of small print, pls email us at plymouth@taxassist.co.uk !
1: Use of Home - If you run your self-employed business from home, HMRC recognise that a share of the costs of running your home office can be included as an expense against income. There are specific guidelines covering different scenario's on the HMRC website
2: Income Generating Assets - If you are married or have a civil partner, you may transfer assets between spouses without tax consequence. This means income generating assets can be transferred to the spouse with the lower tax rate.
3: Motor costs - If you run a business, sole trader or limited, have you had your motor expenditure 'audited' by your accountant to identify best treatment? Its a complex area, with different reliefs operating depending on how the vehicle is used and the model. Handsome savings are possible.
4: Employing a spouse: Most people are aware that business owners often employ a spouse on a low salary, if the spouse is non-working. It allows the spouses unused personal tax allowance to be used, whilst getting a deduction in the books of the working spouse. There must be some substance to the arrangement though! This might be assisting on admin side or acting as company secretary.
5: ISA's, pensions etc: These tax saving 'vehicles' are extremely tax efficient and for the majority of people are suitable for virtually any savings for the medium/long term. Remember, with pensions, money is locked in once contributed, and with ISA's, its one allowance per year - you snooze, you lose!
PS: SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
There is a small amount of small print, pls email us at plymouth@taxassist.co.uk !
Tuesday 14 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #10 - Saving Accountancy fees!
Biz Tip #10 is all about saving the pennies and pounds with your Accountant!
Here are some 'quick wins' to keep those accountancy fees down, and value received, up:
1: Books & Records: By far the most significant way you can reduce your fees is by doing the bookkeeping well. At its most basic level, this could be a simple spreadsheet of ins and outs. To get maximum savings, you must reconcile the bank.
2: Identify which specific services you need the accountant to provide. Good accountants will demonstrate clearly the impact that each service line has upon their fee.
3: Areas such as payroll can often be performed more economically by a specialised bureau, rather than your accountant. Can you outsource this particular task?
4: Keep in touch with your accountant! The accountant can't do a lot in the way of tax advice if he only finds out after the event that you've sold an investment property for instance. A lot more could be done in advance!
5: If you like and value your accountant, can you recommend business to them? The accountant will be mindful of this when performing fee reviews.
At TaxAssist Accountants in Plymouth we've recognised that getting value from us is fundamental to the service clients want. We price new work from a fixed price menu to demonstrate this, and then actively help clients progress to the right accounting solution for their business.
PS: SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
There is a small amount of small print, pls email us at plymouth@taxassist.co.uk !
Here are some 'quick wins' to keep those accountancy fees down, and value received, up:
1: Books & Records: By far the most significant way you can reduce your fees is by doing the bookkeeping well. At its most basic level, this could be a simple spreadsheet of ins and outs. To get maximum savings, you must reconcile the bank.
2: Identify which specific services you need the accountant to provide. Good accountants will demonstrate clearly the impact that each service line has upon their fee.
3: Areas such as payroll can often be performed more economically by a specialised bureau, rather than your accountant. Can you outsource this particular task?
4: Keep in touch with your accountant! The accountant can't do a lot in the way of tax advice if he only finds out after the event that you've sold an investment property for instance. A lot more could be done in advance!
5: If you like and value your accountant, can you recommend business to them? The accountant will be mindful of this when performing fee reviews.
At TaxAssist Accountants in Plymouth we've recognised that getting value from us is fundamental to the service clients want. We price new work from a fixed price menu to demonstrate this, and then actively help clients progress to the right accounting solution for their business.
PS: SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
There is a small amount of small print, pls email us at plymouth@taxassist.co.uk !
Monday 13 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #9 - Incentivising the Team
Welcome to Biz Tip #9 - incentivising the team
If you are looking for growth in your business, what better way to achieve that than have the whole team involved? It makes sense - if the team are involved in the selling process, they'll be more engaged in service delivery, as its their own promises they are delivering on.
The key to incentivising your particular team, and making a scheme work, lies not in offering the biggest slice of commission, nor the most rapid rise up the career ladder within the firm. Instead, its taking some time to recognise what factors are important to each employee.
For instance - praise and recognition amongst their fellow employees, additional days off work, financial reward will be important to some, greater responsibility at work, career progress, one off 'awards' like weekends away etc.
Any scheme must be set out clearly, so the team know what to do to earn the rewards. When a staff member qualifies, make a big deal out of it - the others will want a slice of the action.
For the employer its a win-win situation - all commission / rewards are paid for by business growth - no fixed costs. You cannot afford NOT to be doing this!
PS: SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
there is a small amount of small print, pls email us at plymouth@taxassist.co.uk !
Friday 10 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #8 - The Emotional Sell
Welcome to tip #8 - on a slightly different theme.......
This wasn't the intended post for today, but was inspired by an event I attended last night - basically invited round a friends place to view a 'business opportunity'....
...Of course that was the first hook, I (and OH) were intrigued so went along wondering what to expect.
The meeting went along these lines - got there, some familiar faces, others I didn't know, 10 mins of nervous chatting whilst everyone turned up, then a presentation (more on that in a mo), a product tasting, a (brief) look at some figures, and finally, the sell.
So the crux of this blog is really about the presentation - our friends, although not presenting themselves tonight, helped the guys who were as they were still fine tuning. It wasn't initially clear what was going on - the presentation was talking about earning a residual income in ones spare time without much effort (suspicions immediately aroused), berries, a large corporate company in the States, a business opportunity and some very rich Americans.....we were becoming a little lost.
Anyway, all became clear when a dvd was played - this piled it on emotionally - lots of images and clips of wealthy so called part time workers driving expensive Mercs etc. I still had no idea what the business was, but the sales approach was to hook me into 'the dream'.
Cutting back then to the presentation - we were told that the product behind the success stories witnessed was a simple health juice made from berries. And even better, to earn our residual income, we didn't have to sell it, but just to share it with friends ("share" later transpired to mean in exchange for £26 a bottle - in my book that means sell, not share).
After a tasting - the product actually tasted good, the presentation flew through some figures. Now, I'm an accountant, and have a head for these things - I didn't understand where the income was being generated from - aside from recruiting your friends into the system and selling the stuff. Perhaps the fact that direct sales of juice are made stops this from being an illegal pyramid selling system. What I do know is that a substantial portion of the 'residual income' I would earn was due to come from recruiting other distributors - that is a classic sign of a pyramid system where the guys at the bottom earn diddly squat.
What I did pick out of the facts was one that read 87% of all distributors earned an average of $1700 (not exact figs) in 2009.
Most worrying was that those who'd bought in to the system were evangelical about it. My friend cited cases of millionaires being made and cancer being cured.
We were then asked to rate the opportunity on a scale of 1 to 10. The guy before me said 9, and that he wanted in there and then. Hmmm - I was deeply suspicious of that - he'd not asked a single question. Could he be a plant? Surely not!
My turn - well, I didn't bother rating it. I chickened out and politely said it wasn't for me but thanks for the opportunity to hear about it. I may buy a bottle of the stuff - it was quite nice. The sales approach was classic American - hook people emotionally rather than rationally, with the power of the group to speed things along. Not my cup of tea (or glass of juice for that matter)
I really hope it works for my friend - he's in early in the UK so it may just do that. Money doesn't grow on trees, or does it?
This wasn't the intended post for today, but was inspired by an event I attended last night - basically invited round a friends place to view a 'business opportunity'....
...Of course that was the first hook, I (and OH) were intrigued so went along wondering what to expect.
The meeting went along these lines - got there, some familiar faces, others I didn't know, 10 mins of nervous chatting whilst everyone turned up, then a presentation (more on that in a mo), a product tasting, a (brief) look at some figures, and finally, the sell.
So the crux of this blog is really about the presentation - our friends, although not presenting themselves tonight, helped the guys who were as they were still fine tuning. It wasn't initially clear what was going on - the presentation was talking about earning a residual income in ones spare time without much effort (suspicions immediately aroused), berries, a large corporate company in the States, a business opportunity and some very rich Americans.....we were becoming a little lost.
Anyway, all became clear when a dvd was played - this piled it on emotionally - lots of images and clips of wealthy so called part time workers driving expensive Mercs etc. I still had no idea what the business was, but the sales approach was to hook me into 'the dream'.
Cutting back then to the presentation - we were told that the product behind the success stories witnessed was a simple health juice made from berries. And even better, to earn our residual income, we didn't have to sell it, but just to share it with friends ("share" later transpired to mean in exchange for £26 a bottle - in my book that means sell, not share).
After a tasting - the product actually tasted good, the presentation flew through some figures. Now, I'm an accountant, and have a head for these things - I didn't understand where the income was being generated from - aside from recruiting your friends into the system and selling the stuff. Perhaps the fact that direct sales of juice are made stops this from being an illegal pyramid selling system. What I do know is that a substantial portion of the 'residual income' I would earn was due to come from recruiting other distributors - that is a classic sign of a pyramid system where the guys at the bottom earn diddly squat.
What I did pick out of the facts was one that read 87% of all distributors earned an average of $1700 (not exact figs) in 2009.
Most worrying was that those who'd bought in to the system were evangelical about it. My friend cited cases of millionaires being made and cancer being cured.
We were then asked to rate the opportunity on a scale of 1 to 10. The guy before me said 9, and that he wanted in there and then. Hmmm - I was deeply suspicious of that - he'd not asked a single question. Could he be a plant? Surely not!
My turn - well, I didn't bother rating it. I chickened out and politely said it wasn't for me but thanks for the opportunity to hear about it. I may buy a bottle of the stuff - it was quite nice. The sales approach was classic American - hook people emotionally rather than rationally, with the power of the group to speed things along. Not my cup of tea (or glass of juice for that matter)
I really hope it works for my friend - he's in early in the UK so it may just do that. Money doesn't grow on trees, or does it?
Thursday 9 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #7 - Outsourcing and SME's
Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la. Tis the season to be jolly
OK OK, thats enough of that, 2 weeks to go still.......
Outsourcing is still a word that conjures up thoughts of call centres and poor customer service with many SME owners. Many on the other hand have wised up to the benefits, put simply - improved profitability through productivity and professionalism!
Here are some tasks which a third party is likely to be able to do better than a typical SME in house:
IT
Telephone overflow answering
Bookkeeping, Accounts, Tax
HR
Other Legals
Marketing
Printing
Website design, optimisation & maintenance
etc etc
All these have a cost of course, but as the saying goes - work on what you are good at, and let others do the rest.
BTW, I have some FANTASTIC contacts all GREAT at what they do who can provide the services above delivered to how your business needs them. Call me if you want to be put in touch :)
Alex
OK OK, thats enough of that, 2 weeks to go still.......
Outsourcing is still a word that conjures up thoughts of call centres and poor customer service with many SME owners. Many on the other hand have wised up to the benefits, put simply - improved profitability through productivity and professionalism!
Here are some tasks which a third party is likely to be able to do better than a typical SME in house:
IT
Telephone overflow answering
Bookkeeping, Accounts, Tax
HR
Other Legals
Marketing
Printing
Website design, optimisation & maintenance
etc etc
All these have a cost of course, but as the saying goes - work on what you are good at, and let others do the rest.
BTW, I have some FANTASTIC contacts all GREAT at what they do who can provide the services above delivered to how your business needs them. Call me if you want to be put in touch :)
Alex
Wednesday 8 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #6 - Can you eliminate bad debts?
Is it possible to eliminate bad / slow debts? Here are some tips to show you how:
First, consider why bad debts occur in your place. Usually it will be for the following reasons:
1 Customer goes bust
2 Dispute over services / product supplied
3 Customer is defrauding your business
Second, look at why slow payment takes place, and typically its because of:
4 Customer ignores your terms & conditions
5 You have no legally binding terms & conditions
6 Customer is following their standard practice
7 Customer has cash flow difficulties of their own
Working through these, its possible for many firms to dramatically cut the risk of bad debt in their business.
It all goes back to why your customer is buying from you. Are they buying from you because you are cheapest, or are they buying from you because your product / service is what they want?
For most, its actually the latter, and price (and payment terms) are a secondary buying factor. So why is this relevant? Well it means that you, the supplier, can dictate payment terms. If your customer wants your product, and you think you are the best at supplying it, then why not require payment in advance?
Payments in advance eliminate bad and slow debt and make (most) businesses cash positive. Don't underestimate how this can transform your business - its a nice place to be!
Sometimes, and normally where price is a greater factor in the buying decision OR when dealing with huge organisations, there is less scope to negotiate upfront payment.
So, other steps are needed!
- Can a reduced up front payment / deposit be obtained. We think most SME's out there can at least get some form of upfront deposit
- Implement terms and conditions: Just because you write 'Due in 30 days' on top of an invoice, doesn't make it binding! Such a statement is meaningless if written post-contract. Get payment terms into the Ts and Cs!
- Credit check all new customers, get a deposit and set a credit limit. Then stick to it!
- If someone has not paid, set a credit limit to indicate the point at which that customer will nto be supplied anymore, and stick to it, even if they are a nice bloke!
- Set up your accounts package to automatically email suppliers a reminder 7 days before payment date, and then firmer reminders beyond that. (See our Christmas offer below for a package that will do this)
- After you've exhausted chasing a client (through the systemised reminder process above), pass the debt to a collection agency. There are many professional firms out there, and often this will elicit a response without any talk of court etc. It also keeps your relationship with the customer in tact
- Review the cost to your business of working with slow payers. If you are losing considerable time yourself, or employing a credit controller, then are those customers paying you enough to work for them?
- Consider using a finance firm to chase your invoices for you - the cost of doing so might just balance things once the cost of your time chasing is factored in
- Above all - never expose your business to a risk with a single customer that could take your business down in the event of non-payment
PS: SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
ther e is a small amount of small print, pls email us at plymouth@taxassist.co.uk
1 Customer goes bust
2 Dispute over services / product supplied
3 Customer is defrauding your business
Second, look at why slow payment takes place, and typically its because of:
4 Customer ignores your terms & conditions
5 You have no legally binding terms & conditions
6 Customer is following their standard practice
7 Customer has cash flow difficulties of their own
Working through these, its possible for many firms to dramatically cut the risk of bad debt in their business.
It all goes back to why your customer is buying from you. Are they buying from you because you are cheapest, or are they buying from you because your product / service is what they want?
For most, its actually the latter, and price (and payment terms) are a secondary buying factor. So why is this relevant? Well it means that you, the supplier, can dictate payment terms. If your customer wants your product, and you think you are the best at supplying it, then why not require payment in advance?
Payments in advance eliminate bad and slow debt and make (most) businesses cash positive. Don't underestimate how this can transform your business - its a nice place to be!
Sometimes, and normally where price is a greater factor in the buying decision OR when dealing with huge organisations, there is less scope to negotiate upfront payment.
So, other steps are needed!
- Can a reduced up front payment / deposit be obtained. We think most SME's out there can at least get some form of upfront deposit
- Implement terms and conditions: Just because you write 'Due in 30 days' on top of an invoice, doesn't make it binding! Such a statement is meaningless if written post-contract. Get payment terms into the Ts and Cs!
- Credit check all new customers, get a deposit and set a credit limit. Then stick to it!
- If someone has not paid, set a credit limit to indicate the point at which that customer will nto be supplied anymore, and stick to it, even if they are a nice bloke!
- Set up your accounts package to automatically email suppliers a reminder 7 days before payment date, and then firmer reminders beyond that. (See our Christmas offer below for a package that will do this)
- After you've exhausted chasing a client (through the systemised reminder process above), pass the debt to a collection agency. There are many professional firms out there, and often this will elicit a response without any talk of court etc. It also keeps your relationship with the customer in tact
- Review the cost to your business of working with slow payers. If you are losing considerable time yourself, or employing a credit controller, then are those customers paying you enough to work for them?
- Consider using a finance firm to chase your invoices for you - the cost of doing so might just balance things once the cost of your time chasing is factored in
- Above all - never expose your business to a risk with a single customer that could take your business down in the event of non-payment
PS: SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
ther e is a small amount of small print, pls email us at plymouth@taxassist.co.uk
Tuesday 7 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #5 - Tax Enquiry Insurance: Whats it About?
Christmas is a'comin, Christmas is a'comin, and here is our top biz tip #5:
You may have heard that HMRC are expected to massively increase the number of tax investigations they make, in a bid to reduce the tax gap. Small businesses can be an easy target, so we are suggesting that SME's take steps now to protect themselves financially from the Inspector's call.
The investigation insurance company, CCH, has already seen an explosion in new cases, with new claims up 82%* compared to the previous year and this is expected to ramp up even more in the next few months. Our own experience is similar.
Small businesses should follow five golden rules when the tax inspector calls:
• Challenge any part of the tax assessment you know is wrong
• Answer all correspondence from HMRC within their deadline – or fully explain why if you need more time
• Anticipate the inspector’s questions – if there is anything to declare do so early
• Ensure your tax advisor is experienced in negotiating with HMRC
• Appeal against any HMRC order to the independent commissioners within 30 days and go to the Tax Tribunal if you have a particular grievance
Any individual or business can see any documents / telephone recordings held on them by HMRC by calling the HMRC Data Protection Unit on 0191 225 7575.
And finally - ensure the business has tax enquiry protection insurance in place. This protects against the accountancy fees that can rack up, even for the smallest sole trader under enquiry. Unlike many accountants, TaxAssist Plymouth consider this insurance so important we ensure all clients are included on a practice policy at no additional cost. (Beware of inferior freebies from membership of trade federations which have severe restrictions in place on when a claim can be made).
PS: SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
*Just a few conditions apply, pls email for details
You may have heard that HMRC are expected to massively increase the number of tax investigations they make, in a bid to reduce the tax gap. Small businesses can be an easy target, so we are suggesting that SME's take steps now to protect themselves financially from the Inspector's call.
The investigation insurance company, CCH, has already seen an explosion in new cases, with new claims up 82%* compared to the previous year and this is expected to ramp up even more in the next few months. Our own experience is similar.
Small businesses should follow five golden rules when the tax inspector calls:
• Challenge any part of the tax assessment you know is wrong
• Answer all correspondence from HMRC within their deadline – or fully explain why if you need more time
• Anticipate the inspector’s questions – if there is anything to declare do so early
• Ensure your tax advisor is experienced in negotiating with HMRC
• Appeal against any HMRC order to the independent commissioners within 30 days and go to the Tax Tribunal if you have a particular grievance
Any individual or business can see any documents / telephone recordings held on them by HMRC by calling the HMRC Data Protection Unit on 0191 225 7575.
And finally - ensure the business has tax enquiry protection insurance in place. This protects against the accountancy fees that can rack up, even for the smallest sole trader under enquiry. Unlike many accountants, TaxAssist Plymouth consider this insurance so important we ensure all clients are included on a practice policy at no additional cost. (Beware of inferior freebies from membership of trade federations which have severe restrictions in place on when a claim can be made).
PS: SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
*Just a few conditions apply, pls email for details
Monday 6 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #4 - Good & Bad Websites / Stationery
Our fourth tip - this time on the subject of websites and stationery.
I think its a safe bet to say most businesses now recognise the value of a good website - the better the website, the more a business will gain financially from it.
BUT - what about a bad website? Just having a website should never be seen as job done. If it looks shabby, poorly presented, has broken links, spelling mistakes or just way out of date, far from just not generating business, it will actually deter people from doing business with you.
The same is true for stationery - before getting those free business cards printed from we-all-know-who, just think, do these cards convey a professional image of my business? Conversely, if you offer a no frills product, do you want to be dishing out the latest in metallic-embossed-hologrammed business cards!!
We are always happy to recommend great local firms for each who will listen to your requirements & budget too.
For websites and stationery, the quality of each must match the overall impression you wish your business to give out :-)
SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
*Just a few conditions apply, pls email for details
I think its a safe bet to say most businesses now recognise the value of a good website - the better the website, the more a business will gain financially from it.
BUT - what about a bad website? Just having a website should never be seen as job done. If it looks shabby, poorly presented, has broken links, spelling mistakes or just way out of date, far from just not generating business, it will actually deter people from doing business with you.
The same is true for stationery - before getting those free business cards printed from we-all-know-who, just think, do these cards convey a professional image of my business? Conversely, if you offer a no frills product, do you want to be dishing out the latest in metallic-embossed-hologrammed business cards!!
We are always happy to recommend great local firms for each who will listen to your requirements & budget too.
For websites and stationery, the quality of each must match the overall impression you wish your business to give out :-)
SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
*Just a few conditions apply, pls email for details
Friday 3 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #3 - Client Christmas Gifts
Here is our third top tax tip for Christmas - if you are buying presents for any of your staff or customers this yuletide, make sure they qualify for tax relief!
To qualify for tax relief, gifts to customers shoul dbe below £50, and carry conspicuous advertising. Remember too that alcohol will always be disallowed. If the total value (including wrapping!) goes over £50, no tax relief is given.
What about the staff I hear you cry!!! Gifts to staff are actually classed as taxable benefits, unless 'trivial'. SO what does trivial mean? Well, perishables such as a turkey, a bottle of wine, and a box of chocolates are common gifts, and all considered trivial, and not therefore taxable. Money and vouchers are always not trivial, and should go through payroll.
Happy giving!
SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
*Just a few conditions apply, pls email for details
To qualify for tax relief, gifts to customers shoul dbe below £50, and carry conspicuous advertising. Remember too that alcohol will always be disallowed. If the total value (including wrapping!) goes over £50, no tax relief is given.
What about the staff I hear you cry!!! Gifts to staff are actually classed as taxable benefits, unless 'trivial'. SO what does trivial mean? Well, perishables such as a turkey, a bottle of wine, and a box of chocolates are common gifts, and all considered trivial, and not therefore taxable. Money and vouchers are always not trivial, and should go through payroll.
Happy giving!
SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
*Just a few conditions apply, pls email for details
Thursday 2 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #2 - Employer advice for the snow
No 2 in a series of tax and business top tips this festive season......
"Wahey its snowed, no work today", shouts many an employee countrywide. For huge corporations, it's a contingency they factor in and generally (historically at least), grin and bear the lost worktime.
For the SME, the impact can be financially tough - having had three tough winters on the trot, many employers will have lost significant worktime to the snow - employees simply unable to get into the office.
So what can (and should) an employer do in this scenario? We think businesses should have a 'bad weather plan', covering how the business operates in adverse conditions, and covering:
TRAVEL: - Don't force employees into work if not safe for them to travel! This is a bad place for an employer to be if the employee subsequently has an accident en-route!
WORKING FROM HOME: - Think about remote working for office employees - services such as 'logmein' allow users to login to their desktop machine over the internet whilst sat at home sipping cocoa. Think about the phones - who will cover them and how? Technology (skype / voip) and telephone answering services have this base covered.
ENVIRONMENT: - If you are in work, make sure the environment is safe - grit any public areas you are reposnible for if iced up, and make sure basics like temperature are reasonable too. If an insurance claim is then necessary, you can demonstrate that you had necessary safeguards in place.
CONTACT: - Do staff know who to contact in adverse weather scenario's if they can't get in? No point in calling the office if no one is there, and that is exactly when the Bad Weather Plan needs to kick in. Also worth updating phone messages and the website with the situation, so customers know what is happening if they can't contact you.
PROLONGED OFFICE CLOSURE: - Your plans should cover the scenario of a prolonged spell of adverse weather (read snow, flooding etc). It maybe more than a day or two that access is not possible.
Plan in place and actioned, working from home, they'll be plenty of time during the day to go out and chuck a few snowballs at some schoolkids.
SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
*Just a few conditions apply, pls email for details
"Wahey its snowed, no work today", shouts many an employee countrywide. For huge corporations, it's a contingency they factor in and generally (historically at least), grin and bear the lost worktime.
For the SME, the impact can be financially tough - having had three tough winters on the trot, many employers will have lost significant worktime to the snow - employees simply unable to get into the office.
So what can (and should) an employer do in this scenario? We think businesses should have a 'bad weather plan', covering how the business operates in adverse conditions, and covering:
TRAVEL: - Don't force employees into work if not safe for them to travel! This is a bad place for an employer to be if the employee subsequently has an accident en-route!
WORKING FROM HOME: - Think about remote working for office employees - services such as 'logmein' allow users to login to their desktop machine over the internet whilst sat at home sipping cocoa. Think about the phones - who will cover them and how? Technology (skype / voip) and telephone answering services have this base covered.
ENVIRONMENT: - If you are in work, make sure the environment is safe - grit any public areas you are reposnible for if iced up, and make sure basics like temperature are reasonable too. If an insurance claim is then necessary, you can demonstrate that you had necessary safeguards in place.
CONTACT: - Do staff know who to contact in adverse weather scenario's if they can't get in? No point in calling the office if no one is there, and that is exactly when the Bad Weather Plan needs to kick in. Also worth updating phone messages and the website with the situation, so customers know what is happening if they can't contact you.
PROLONGED OFFICE CLOSURE: - Your plans should cover the scenario of a prolonged spell of adverse weather (read snow, flooding etc). It maybe more than a day or two that access is not possible.
Plan in place and actioned, working from home, they'll be plenty of time during the day to go out and chuck a few snowballs at some schoolkids.
SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
*Just a few conditions apply, pls email for details
Wednesday 1 December 2010
Biz Tip Stocking Filler #1 - Get online with the books!
Christmas is nearly here.......so time for some top business and tax tips from us, and a very special December offer to boot!
Our first tip was easy to come up with - take your record keeping to another level and get it online. Especially if all you are doing is using spreadsheets. Just a few of the benefits.......
-Access to your records wherever you are;
-Much improved security of your data
-Low cost and time saving (importing transactions)
-Professional invoicing and great credit control - ie easily see who owes you money and chase them!
-Know how profitable the business is in real time, not when your accountant has done the accounts!
SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
*Just a few conditions apply, pls email for details!
Our first tip was easy to come up with - take your record keeping to another level and get it online. Especially if all you are doing is using spreadsheets. Just a few of the benefits.......
-Access to your records wherever you are;
-Much improved security of your data
-Low cost and time saving (importing transactions)
-Professional invoicing and great credit control - ie easily see who owes you money and chase them!
-Know how profitable the business is in real time, not when your accountant has done the accounts!
SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER
****We love online accounting so much, as a special Christmas pressie are including a full years Kashflow license at no extra cost throughout December for all new client sign ups****
*Just a few conditions apply, pls email for details!
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