Is it too early to mention the "C" word? Hopefully it's not too early for us to share our advice on how to make sure that your Christmas Party is allowable for Tax. Follow these simple rules (applicable to Limited Companies only): The party or event needs to be open to all employees It is an annual occurrence but doesn't have to be at Christmas … [Read more...]
Planning for a Mortgage when Self Employed
Securing a mortgage can be hard enough at the best of times. Couple that with being self employed and the whole process could turn into a bit of a nightmare unless you’re well prepared. We regularly help clients with providing an accountant’s reference which most lenders will require if you are self employed. This usually shows the last two or three years financial data, … [Read more...]
Simple guide to closing a company
Many people set up a limited company with very high hopes of business success. Unfortunately such success is not guaranteed and can elude some, resulting in the need to close the company. If your company is no longer needed, has no debts and has stopped trading then closing the business should be easy and straight forward. In these circumstances the closure of … [Read more...]
10 tips to make sure you get the right accountant for your business
If you are running a business, doing the accounts is an essential part of your operations. Unless you have a background in accounting or tax, keeping up to speed with all of the necessary laws, rules and regulations that you have to comply with can be a drain on your time. Time that you could better spend running your business. Getting an accountant onboard can help; … [Read more...]
Do you know how to produce an invoice?
It might seem simple, but if you’ve never produced an invoice before, how would you know what to include? Should I include the word ‘Invoice’ in big letters at the top? All invoices should be clearly marked with the word ‘invoice’ to make it obvious to the recipient that it is a request for payment. Using sufficiently large letters at the top of the page is a good … [Read more...]
What is a dormant company?
I regularly see the term dormant company used incorrectly. Things like: “Can I declare my company dormant?” “I have a few transactions but want to file dormant accounts” Unfortunately the term “dormant” is often misused and perhaps misunderstood. So what is a dormant company? The definition of importance is the Companies House one: A company is dormant if it has had no … [Read more...]
Just How Do You Start An Accountancy Practice?
Starting any business requires a lot of hard work. An accountancy Practice is no exception to this. As a sole practitioner there are four main routes available to you to get your Practice off the ground: Start from scratch Buy A Franchise Buy a Block of fees Purchase an existing Practice Let’s look at each of these from the view point of the three … [Read more...]
Five top tips for doing your own books
Maintaining your own financial records – AKA doing your books – can seem daunting when you’re new to it. However, it’s an essential part of running your business and ignoring the accounts will lead to big problems later. Start From Day One As soon as you set up your business, start recording your all costs and sales you make. In fact, you may incur costs before you … [Read more...]
Don’t just set up a limited company because ….
The rate of new limited company formations is at an all time high. Whilst new businesses are great for the economy, I have to ask have all of these limited companies been set up for the right reasons. I see many a business owner set up a limited company and then run into trouble when the first set of accounts are due. In some cases they really are not aware of what … [Read more...]