Posted by martinparry on February 25, 2010 under Finance, HR, SME News, Tax | 
According to Rachel Burgess of Business Car Magazine plans for workplace parking taxes are emerging across the UK, with York and Exeter city councils first to follow Nottingham’s confirmed scheme by revealing proposals for charging businesses that providing parking for employees.
However, states Rachel, the Forum of Private Business has branded the additional tax burden, intended to cut congestion and reduce carbon emissions, as “unfair, unsustainable and unacceptable”.
“It is an attempt to tax struggling businesses for employing people at a time when we should be facilitating them to take on staff. Instead we are penalising them,” a spokesman told BusinessCar. “It is very much a case of looking for short-term gain at the expense of longer term economic stability.”
Sc: http://businesscar.co.uk
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Posted by admin on under Tax |
Companies house
The filing dates for filing private limited company accounts have been brought forward by a month and now need to be filed within 9 months of the year end. If the accounts are filed late then the following penalties apply:
Not more than 1 month – £150
More than 1 month but not more than 3 months – £375
More than 3 months but not more than 6 months – £750
More than 6 months – £1,500
New PAYE penalties for late payment
From 6 April 2010 there will be penalties imposed
Location First South Bank for paying the PAYE late. PAYE is due to be paid on the 19th of each month. The table below shows how the penalties will be calculated:
Number of times payments are late in a tax yearPenalty Percentage
1No penalty
2-41%
5-72%
8-103%
11 or more4%
Penalties for all tax returns
Penalties will be due if a tax return or other tax document is inaccurate. The penalties range from:
MinimumMaximum
Reasonable careNo penaltyNo penalty
Careless unprompted0%30%
Careless prompted15%30%
Deliberate unprompted20%70%
Deliberate prompted35%70%
Deliberate & Concealed unprompted30%100%
Deliberate & Concealed prompted50%100%
HMRC will reduce a penalty from the maximum if you:
Tell them about any inaccuracies
Help them work out what extra tax is due
Give them access to check your figures
It is therefore important for you to keep on top of your tax returns to avoid unnecessary penalties being charged.
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Posted by admin on February 24, 2010 under HR |
1. Put 400 bricks in a closed room.
2. Put your new employees in the room and close the door.
3. Leave them alone and come back after 6 hours.
4. Then analyze the situation:
a. If they are counting the bricks, put them in the Accounting Department.
b. If they are recounting them, put them in Auditing.
c. If they have messed up the whole place with the bricks, put them in Engineering .
d. If they are arranging the bricks in some strange order, put them in Planning.
e. If they are throwing the bricks at each other, put them in Operations.
f. If they are sleeping , put them in Security.
g. If they have broken the bricks into pieces, put them in Information Technology.
h. If they are sitting idle , put them in Human Resources .
i. If they say they have tried different combinations , they are looking for more, yet not a brick has been moved , put them in Administration.
j. If they have already left for the day, put them in Marketing.
k. If they are staring out of the window, put them in Strategic Planning.
l. If they are talking to each other, and not a single brick has been moved, congratulate them and put them in Top Management .
m. Finally , if they have surrounded themselves with bricks in such a way that they can neither be seen nor heard from, then put them in Government
HOW TO PROPERLY PLACE NEW EMPLOYEES
1. Put 400 bricks in a closed room. 2. Put your new employees in the room and close the door. 3. Leave them alone and come back after 6 hours. 4. Then analyze the situation: a. If they are counting the bricks, put them in the Accounting Department. b. If they are recounting them, put them in Auditing. c. If they have messed up the whole place with the bricks, put Location Central Valley Bank them in Engineering . d. If they are arranging the bricks in some strange order, put them in Planning. e. If they are throwing the bricks at each other, put them in Operations. f. If they are sleeping , put them in Security. g. If they have broken the bricks into pieces, put them in Information Technology. h. If they are sitting idle , put them in Human Resources . i. If they say they have tried different combinations , they are looking for more, yet not a brick has been moved , put them in Administration. j. If they have already left for the day, put them in Marketing. k. If they are staring out of the window, put them in Strategic Planning. l. If they are talking to each other, and not a single brick has been moved, congratulate them and put them in Top Management . Finally , if they have surrounded themselves with bricks in such a way that they can neither be seen nor heard from, then put them in Government
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Posted by martinparry on February 23, 2010 under Business Planning, Finance, Tax |
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is no longer permitting small firms to submit paper returns for employee pay records. It has issued a reminder to businesses that all PAYE returns must be filed online, even if the firm has less than 50 staff. There is free filing software available for small businesses from Location Bank@net Empresas HMRC or other suppliers.
To read more on this story go to:
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/clientmicrosite/Content/Detail.aspx?ClientId=257&NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=411117&SubjectId=36
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Posted by admin on under IT |
Rumour has it that small and mid-sized companies don’t care about energy or the environment – that your sole focus is on profits. Oh please, say it isn’t so.
It’s kinda like saying “I’m too busy and too small to put my money in the bank – I’ll just stick it here in my pocket and take it out when I need it.”
Aligning with Green
Green and sustainable business isn’t an enterprise initiative. If you have brand that matters to you, if you want to stay relevant in today’s markets, if you actually care about efficiencies in your business, you’re paying attention to green and figuring out how you can align your organization.
More at Stake
For most organizations, going green means identifying improvements that likely better your processes and save you money, but there’s much more at stake than that:
- Have you asked your stakeholders how they feel? With new procurement policies calling for green vendors, products and services, your customers may have an opinion on your responsible behavior (or lack there of).
- Have you asked your kids? I know this isn’t a typical business metric, but if you have anyone you care about who you want to see live their lives without worrying about having enough water to drink in another 20 years, it’s time you start your environmental education.
No Place to Hide
The challenges this earth is facing are here now. Al Gore put it so aptly so many years ago: Environmental reality is not convenient. And sticking your head in the sand and saying it doesn’t apply to you doesn’t cut it. You are responsible. The good news is that once you start acting that way, both you and your business will do better.
Source: http://www.theinfoboom.com/pov/expert/too-busy-too-small-care-about-green-it-green-it
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Posted by admin on February 22, 2010 under Business Planning |
In December 2009 Cobweb carried out its latest survey of UK business advisers to find out their opinions on whether business support policy and delivery should be driven locally, regionally or centrally (ie nationally).
The survey was carried out among subscribers to Cobweb’s BAD News service and 254 individual business advisers participated. Respondents were located across the whole of the UK and were working for (or with) a range of support agencies including regional Business Links, local enterprise agencies, local councils, Chambers of Commerce, RDAs, charities and trade associations, as well as independent business advisers and consultants.
The headline results reveal that only 11% of respondents believe that support policy, strategy and delivery should be driven centrally, with over 80% saying policy should be decided and driven without any central Government influence or control. Almost half of survey respondents were of the opinion that business support should be entirely locally driven, as far from the centre as possible.
Download full report: http://www.cobwebinfo.com/servlet/file/pdf006_complete.pdf?ITEM_ENT_ID=13363&COLLSPEC_ENT_ID=439
Read more: http://www.cobwebinfo.com/site/article_detail/item13346/
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Posted by admin on February 21, 2010 under Finance |
Keeping costs down is essential for firms, but many have seen charges for a fundamental part of their business – processing card payments – rise in recent months.
All card payments and transactions must be processed via an ‘acquirer’, with most firms automatically using their bank for this, and acquirers will charge for the service.
According to Accept Cards, an independent price comparison service, many acquirers have raised their charges in recent months.
Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/work/small-business/article.html?in_article_id=496555&in_page_id=1
Contact now to find out how you can reduce costs: paul.green@mgba.co.uk
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Posted by admin on February 20, 2010 under IT |
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have reason to feel optimistic. A forthcoming report from Microsoft (the Microsoft SMB Hosted IT Index 2010) states that 86% of SMBs worldwide see IT as ‘very important’ or ‘critical’, recognising the impact IT has on business productivity by way of customer and supplier contact, marketing facilities and accountancy for example. The report also identified what it calls SMB ‘IT envy’ – the belief that the more IT you have the more effectively you can compete with bigger businesses. Regardless of cost, 4 in 5 businesses think they would be better off having more IT tools although the economic downturn has severely impacted IT spend.
So, understanding that IT solutions can help small businesses, but without the funds to invest, where does that leave SMBs?
Subscribing to hosted services <http://co1piltwb.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/mcoeredir/mcoeredirect.aspx?linkId=13157941&s1=87f0afaa-993e-cd03-6e64-722429291a16> is emerging as a clear winner here. Subscription models mean you can buy the services you need as and when you need them so that you might only rent a service for a month to support a particular sales campaign or at certain times of year.
Source: Microsoft
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Posted by admin on February 19, 2010 under HR |
Last year, despite tough labour market conditions, over 70,000 16 and 17 year olds started an Apprenticeship. Despite this there are still many more young people who want to learn whilst they are in work and we are determined to make sure that the opportunities are there for them to do so.
The new Apprenticeship Grant: AGE 16 and 17, of £2,500 is to enable employers to offer 5,000 new Apprenticeship places and take on an unemployed 16 or 17 year old apprentice immediately. The £2,500 grant is in addition to the costs of training which is met by the National Apprenticeship Service.
Read more: http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/Employers/AGE16and17.aspx
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Posted by admin on February 11, 2010 under Finance |
Almost half of small business owners don’t know what their breakeven point is, according to research from Business Location Town Community Bank And Trust Link.
The government agency also found that 29% have no effective form of cashflow management, while 45% have no efficient system in place to chase unpaid invoices.
“Sound financial management should be the bread and butter of every business, especially during these tough economic times,” said Matthew Perkins, a senior Business Link advisor.
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