Why keeping your accounts up to date could mean all the difference between running a successful business, limping along, or failing. Would you fly a plane while wearing a blindfold? I ask new clients ‘Would you fly a plane while wearing a blindfold?’. They look at me...
Finance
HMRC taxing Contractors deemed as Employees (IR35)
IR35 in the Public Sector How could this affect your business? Introduction IR35 is a piece of legislation that allows HMRC to collect additional payment where a contractor is an employee in all but name. If a contractor is operating through an...
Financial information you need to run your business effectively
In order to manage your business effectively you need to be sure that it has enough cash to keep trading and that it is running profitably. To ensure this happens, I recommend you review your financial status at the start of each and every business week. ...
Case Study – Part-time Financial Director helps growing business to meet the audit threshold with confidence
Background Following a period of rapid growth, the business had outgrown its finance systems, processes and controls. The business was approaching the audit threshold and quarterly corporation tax payments, so cash control and forecasting needed to be reviewed much...
Top tips for giving an Xmas Bonus to your team
It's that time of year, when Managing Directors are considering (or agonising over) whether to give a Xmas bonus. My start point would be to ask why you are considering a Xmas bonus. (If you are agonising over it then this suggests it is a marginal decision and you...
Better budgeting in 10 steps
Many entrepreneurs and their management teams don't devote enough time or attention to the process of preparing annual budgets, especially when they operate in rapidly growing or uncertain markets. A financial plan in a private company is at risk of becoming gradually...
How do Research & Development Allowances (RDAs) help to buy buildings and equipment?
Research and Development Allowances can be claimed at 100% in year one, which means they provide a very generous cash releasing opportunity when you are purchasing fixed assets. Plus unlike the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) they apply to buildings as well as other...
Excel automation
Not more spreadsheets to analyse and chart… Always a regular cry in the office. Reports produced on a regular basis need to be embellished, with charts that involve some fairly complicated calculations – cross-reference look-ups, previous month comparisons, and all...
My business is driven by technology – can I claim R&D Tax Credits?
Maybe you are creating apps or adapting existing software for cloud delivery (SaaS), or creating tools to make sense of big data, or using CNC machines to mill complex parts, or developing wearable tech or designing new medical devices …… the list is endless. Whatever...