Since the rules on charging and reporting VAT changed in 2010, HMRC has taken a lenient approach to errors in EC Sales Lists. But there are signs that it is now toughening its stance. When you send an invoice without VAT to a customer in another EU territory, you have...
Finance
Do you have a £500 million business hiding inside your company?
Asking customers to pay to join a special group of your best patrons can increase your turnover; encourage customers to buy new products and services from you, and provide a healthy boost to your cash flow. Just ask Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com and the chief...
A quick guide to Credit Control
'Credit control' is the system used by a business to make certain that it gives credit only to customers who are able to pay, and that customers pay on time. Credit control is part of the Financial Controls that are employed by businesses to ensure that once sales are...
Financing the Retirement of the MD, or a Major Shareholder in a Family Business
Planning the retirement of the MD or another major shareholder in a family business is often an emotional, complex and time consuming affair. It is normally, but not always in the case of death, a long term project spanning a number of years. The challenges and risks...
Personal Guarantee Insurance
Are you or your clients worried about the Personal Guarantees that you have given? Then think about PG Insurance. Personal Guarantees are the bane of most business owners’ lives and something that they continually ‘moan’ about. Invariably any form of borrowing...
What do the new accounting standards mean for you?
In the next year your accountant will start talking to you about the changes in accounting standards in FRS 102. This new standard is about moving the UK Accounting standards closer to the International Accounting Standards. The main difference will be an increase in...
Four steps to make sure your clients pay on time
We all understand that not collecting payments on time has as a severe impact on your cash flow, but let's not forget also that you are effectively giving your clients, your debtors, interest-free credit, and this also has an impact on your cash flow and your profit....
Collecting cancellation fees
People don't like paying cancellation fees even if they are aware of them when they book their appointment, to the extent that charging a fee often results in the client going elsewhere. No easy remedies Apart from asking for a non-refundable deposit, there are no...
Removal of Time to Pay threatens the life blood of our economy
UK Business Advisors (UKBA) believes that Time to Pay has been a major help to small businesses, and is concerned that its withdrawal will threaten the survival of many small businesses, just at the time that the economy is looking to them to help pull the country out...