Business advice news | UK Business Advisors

HMRC taxing Contractors deemed as Employees (IR35)

January 9, 2020 By Edward Tudor

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 intermediary, such as a limited company, and but for that intermediary they would be an employee of their client, IR35 applies.

New rules for IR35 will apply from the 1^st of April 2020 in the Private Sector as they have been applied in the Public Sector for the last two years.

Each business needs to assess the Risk and implications of these new rules and make the necessary changes to procedures before early April 2020.

Who will be affected in the Private Sector?

Medium and Large Companies will be the initial target of the IR35 rules and they will follow the rules that now apply in the Public Sector.

Small businesses do not have a definition for IR35 but the definition will probably follow the criteria in Companies Act 2006.

How will IR35 affect your Business?

Changes will affect businesses who engage Personal Service Companies (PSCs) to provide workers. This will include intermediaries including Private Limited Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships and Partnerships. The new rules require the private sector organisation to assess the intermediary to see if the IR35 rules apply to the service contracts they enter into with a PSC.

Where IR35 applies the employer must apply PAYE and NIC deductions to the payment for the worker’s services.

This means that the worker is a deemed employee for tax purposes. This also means that you must also account for Employer’s National Insurance and possibly the Apprenticeship Levy.

These changes will almost certainly increase the operating costs of your business:

As a result of being the Fee payer
Because intermediaries will increase their charges to mitigate the increases in tax and National Insurance.

There is an outstanding consultation on employment status which has had no response from government yet.

We suspect that HMRC will expect businesses to use the CEST test to make the assessment.

CEST is short for Check Employment Status for Tax.

It’s a digital tool designed by HMRC to help public authorities decide if a worker falls inside or outside the scope of IR35

When to use the tool

Use the tool to check employment status when:

you are hiring a worker directly
you or the intermediary you work through accepts a new engagement with a client
you are a public authority or limited company hiring a worker and paying for the services of a worker who works through an intermediary
you are an agency or other third party supplying a worker who works for a public authority through an intermediary
there has been a change to an existing contract or service agreement
your worker disagrees with a determination you have provided them

Choose answers that best match the usual working practices of the engagement.

Before you start

You will need to know:

details of the contract
the worker’s responsibilities
who decides what work needs doing
who decides when, where and how the work is done
how the worker will be paid
if the engagement includes any corporate benefits or reimbursement for expenses

If you do not know who the worker is, the tool will not ask questions about the worker’s circumstances. You will still get a determination that HMRC will stand by.

Preparing for IR35 in the Private Sector

The new legislation comes into force in April 2020 which is only a few months away so you should consider the impact on your business and how it will affect your payroll and PAYE compliance procedures.

To start, establish:

The Personal Service Companies you use.
Where you use them I your business.
How you use them
Their importance to the functioning of the parts of your business.
The current contracts you have in place and their Terms of Service.

Once you have this information you should review the contracts to ensure that you comply with IR35.

It is critical that you know which parts of your business are affected by PSC’s as this will affect your business risk assessment.

You may need to renegotiate the contact with the PSC or have to employ a worker to take over the work.

These reforms could increase your operating costs considerably and have an affect on the way your business will operate.

The earlier you start this IR35 assessment the more time you will have to ameliorate the affects of IR35.

How can we help?

UK Business Advisors can work with you and your key suppliers to identify any risks in your business. We can help you assess the financial impact on your business and help you change your operational procedures where necessary to minimise the impact of the new legislation. This will provide a basis for compliance with future changes.

If you need help preparing for IR35 within your business, get in touch with Edward.tudor@hcbusinessadvisors.co.uk to discuss your requirements.

Important employment law changes coming in April 2020

January 5, 2020 By Stephen Cowburn

As the New Year dawns, some changes to the detail of your employment contracts, leave arrangements and holiday pay will need to be made in April. Furthermore you will need to start to think about how you are going to resource your business with changes in how ‘temps’ are paid and, further down the line, how your company is going to employ contractors.

Employment contracts

Two changes may be necessary depending on your current contracts and your process for issuing them to new starters after April 6^th 2020.

Firstly, all new starters (including employees, zero hours’ workers, casual and seasonal workers) after this date need to be issued with a written statement on or before the first day of employment (rather than within the first 8 weeks of employment as is currently the case)

Secondly, for new employment contracts issued after 6^th April 2020, the mandatory information that needs to be included has been extended to include the following:

normal hours of work, days of the week the worker will be required to work and whether these days/hours may vary
forms of paid leave such as family-friendly leave
details of other employee benefits, not just those relating to pay, such as benefits in kind or financial benefits
terms relating to probationary periods including those in relation to the length of probation and conditions pertaining during the probationary period and what happens on successful and unsuccessful completion of the probationary period
details of training provision and requirements.

ACTION: Ensure your processes ensure new starters have their written statement on or before their first day of employment and that the statement includes the additional mandatory information.

Holiday pay

From 6^th April the reference period will be extended from the current 12 weeks to 52 weeks to allow a fairer approach to holiday pay when workers carry out flexible working hours. This means that a day’s holiday pay will need to reflect an average day’s ordinary pay over the average of the previous year’s earnings to ensure that the individual is not penalised for going on holiday.

Although not a change (though bear in mind that case law is continually clarifying the position), where there are additional payments such as overtime or profit related pay or regular commissions or other such payments and these are ‘sufficiently regular and settled’ and so effectively amount to ‘wages or salary’ then these will count as normal remuneration and should be taken into account for holiday pay calculations if needs be going back 52 weeks.

ACTION: Determine whether various types of remuneration form part of a worker’s ordinary pay by considering whether it is sufficiently regular and settled or whether it is exceptional or not usually paid.

Bereavement leave

After 6^th April 2020, a bereaved parent will be able to take statutory bereavement leave of at least two weeks if the employee suffers a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy or loses a child below the age of 18.

ACTION: Update the leave section of your Employee Handbook to include this provision.

Resourcing your business

Two changes are in the air – one effective in April regarding ‘temps’, the other down the line, regarding use of contingent workers, which will affect larger private sector businesses from April and likely the SME sector in coming years.

Temps

From April 6^th 2020, all agency workers (those provided by an employment business) will become entitled to equal pay when compared to comparable full-time employees, once they have reached 12 weeks’ service within one assignment. Whereas the employment business (‘agency’) will have to notify the worker of this, you the SME end-user need to be aware of this potential increase in cost as you plan the relevant assignments.

Contingent workers

From April 2020 large (more than 250 employees) private sector employers are being told to ask themselves whether their contingent worker is really an employee and so assess if the worker is covered by IR35 rules and, if so, to make the appropriate tax and NIC deductions at source.

It is important to note that this only affects large organisations this year. It is likely to impact smaller businesses in the future.

ACTION: Be careful on how you use temps to avoid a sudden, unexpected increase in cost. Where you rely on using specialists on a regular basis consider what changes you may have to make to fall within the rules as they are rolled out in the coming years.

Changes to statutory rates

On different dates in April, as in previous years, the following statutory rates will change due either to government policy or inflationary revisions.

Statutory rates for Sick Pay, Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave Pay are all likely to increase. New rates relating to the national living/minimum wage have also just been announced. From April 2020, the new rates are: The National Living Wage for ages 25 and above – up 6.2% to £8.72. The National Minimum Wage for 21 to 24-year-olds – up 6.5% to £8.20. For 18 to 20-year-olds – up 4.9% to £6.45.

Some of these changes will affect all businesses across the board and are part of the on-going changes to statutory terms and conditions. Other changes are more nuanced, and the impact on your business will need to be based around the facts relating to your specific circumstances.

For a confidential telephone discussion on how these changes may affect your business please contact our specialist business adviser Stephen Cowburn either via email stephen.cowburn@lgbusinessadvisors.co.uk or on 07974 425 361

Disclaimer:

This blog provides a wide range of advice across topics of interest to business owners. We hope you find it interesting and relevant. However, please note that the blog postings are not legal advice, nor should they be taken or relied upon as such. Individual circumstances will vary and we would advise that a discussion takes place with a professional advisor to ensure they understand the facts of your situation, and can then provide you with appropriate advice specific to your business situation.

Important employment law changes coming in April 2020

January 5, 2020 By Stephen Cowburn

Employment contracts

Two changes may be necessary depending on your current contracts and your process for issuing them to new starters after April 6^th 2020.

Secondly, for new employment contracts issued after 6^th April 2020, the mandatory information that needs to be included has been extended to include the following:

normal hours of work, days of the week the worker will be required to work and whether these days/hours may vary
forms of paid leave such as family-friendly leave
details of other employee benefits, not just those relating to pay, such as benefits in kind or financial benefits
terms relating to probationary periods including those in relation to the length of probation and conditions pertaining during the probationary period and what happens on successful and unsuccessful completion of the probationary period
details of training provision and requirements.

ACTION: Ensure your processes ensure new starters have their written statement on or before their first day of employment and that the statement includes the additional mandatory information.

Holiday pay

Bereavement leave

ACTION: Update the leave section of your Employee Handbook to include this provision.

Resourcing your business

Temps

Contingent workers

It is important to note that this only affects large organisations this year. It is likely to impact smaller businesses in the future.

Changes to statutory rates

On different dates in April, as in previous years, the following statutory rates will change due either to government policy or inflationary revisions.

Disclaimer:

Preparing for BREXIT if you export to the EU

January 5, 2020 By Gemma Clarke

Start with an EORI number

Do you currently export with all or some of your international sales focused upon the EU? If that is the case, then after the UK leaves the EU, those firms that trade with the EU will need an economic operator registration and identification (EORI) number to comply with customs rules.

A lot of EU-focused exporters have yet to apply for their EORI – so now’s a good time to prepare for the future. Here’s a link to double-check if you’re all set, or guidance on applying for your EORI – a good thing to get sorted so you can get back to growing your exports. https://www.gov.uk/eori

How BREXIT might affect you

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has predicted that BREXIT could lead to tariffs of 4% being imposed on goods traded with the EU – up from zero currently – and that higher trade barriers with the EU would “weigh on exports”. The OBR added this was “not necessarily the most likely outcome” but also “by no means the worst case scenario.” (They might have also added…’we’re covering all of the bases….’)

So what does that potentially mean for UK SME’s?

Your prices to EU customers could rise by 4%+
More paperwork and documentation
A squeeze on margins
Increased competition?

Painful and frustrating but not exactly new. You are faced with these factors regularly, and you deal with them. In fact, BREXIT might be the perfect trigger to have a good review of your business:

Maybe a renewed focus upon added-value and differentiation?
A review of potential cost-savings?
A review of marketing budgets, products and routes to market – shortening supply-chains, getting closer to customers and suppliers?
Building a closer relationship, and perhaps an opportunity for renegotiation with international partners?

If you have not done so already, now is the time to really start preparing for BREXIT….starting with that EORI number.

UKBA Consultant Gemma Clarke works with UK SME’s to drive international sales and revenues. If you would be interested in a review of your exporting business and potential, please email gemma.clarke@ukba.co.uk and start looking forward to a great 2020.

Preparing for BREXIT if you export to the EU

January 5, 2020 By Gemma Clarke

Start with an EORI number

How BREXIT might affect you

So what does that potentially mean for UK SME’s?

Your prices to EU customers could rise by 4%+
More paperwork and documentation
A squeeze on margins
Increased competition?

Painful and frustrating but not exactly new. You are faced with these factors regularly, and you deal with them. In fact, BREXIT might be the perfect trigger to have a good review of your business:

Maybe a renewed focus upon added-value and differentiation?
A review of potential cost-savings?
A review of marketing budgets, products and routes to market – shortening supply-chains, getting closer to customers and suppliers?
Building a closer relationship, and perhaps an opportunity for renegotiation with international partners?

If you have not done so already, now is the time to really start preparing for BREXIT….starting with that EORI number.

Preparing for BREXIT if you export to the EU

January 5, 2020 By Gemma Clarke

Start with an EORI number

How BREXIT might affect you

So what does that potentially mean for UK SME’s?

Your prices to EU customers could rise by 4%+
More paperwork and documentation
A squeeze on margins
Increased competition?

Painful and frustrating but not exactly new. You are faced with these factors regularly, and you deal with them. In fact, BREXIT might be the perfect trigger to have a good review of your business:

Maybe a renewed focus upon added-value and differentiation?
A review of potential cost-savings?
A review of marketing budgets, products and routes to market – shortening supply-chains, getting closer to customers and suppliers?
Building a closer relationship, and perhaps an opportunity for renegotiation with international partners?

If you have not done so already, now is the time to really start preparing for BREXIT….starting with that EORI number.

Are you ready to put your STAMP on 2020?

January 5, 2020 By Gavin McWhirter

Strategy Targets Accounts Marketing People

However you voted in December, and whatever your preferred outcome, we know the UK will be leaving the EU on 31st January. The clock starts on the transition period… but don’t worry, this is not a Brexit rant! The start of every New Year is the perfect time to restock your thought-bank, recharge your batteries and do some planning.

Here’s how you can put your STAMP on your business in 2020 by focusing on these 5 important areas:

Strategy

Most small businesses do not have an up-to-date business plan, which means they tend to focus only on shorter-term outcomes. And as the Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there.” The classic result is an initial feeling that you are responding to the market and widening the range of services you provide, but this soon develops into a business spread so wide that it’s impossible for potential customers to define what you are really good at. Sound familiar? Then it’s time to update your 5 year business plan, and ideally get some external input to the process.

Targets

A strategy without a plan is just a pipe dream. Once you know what you want the business to look like in a few years from now, you need to break this down so the different functions in the business are all working to achieve that same goal. That includes being realistic about the costs that will be incurred in order to achieve growth, and the timetable.

And this means targets. Every business is different and it may mean daily or weekly targets, but as an absolute minimum the business must have monthly targets, whether this is for sales, profitability, gross margin achieved or numbers of new key accounts opened.

Accounts

If you do not fully understand the financial accounts of your business, this section is here to scream at you to do something about it. A study in the US in 2018 suggested that 82% of small businesses that fail do so because of cash-flow problems, which means that many of those failures could have been prevented had the owner managed their cash position better.

This is not just a gentle prod to start the year with a clear understanding of your financial accounts, it is a proper kick. Talk to your bookkeeper or accountant about how you might work together to improve the reporting so it is clearer. Maybe take an online course on business financial management. Do you know which customers are the most profitable? How much does it cost you to acquire a new customer? What is the average spend of your customers? Who are you highest value customers? Do you understand the costs in your business, and the profit margin for every product?

And, as it’s up-and-coming, make sure to submit your own tax return before the 31st January 2020 deadline.

Marketing

Marketing is a core area of the business and one where many people struggle. Although it sounds gobsmackingly obvious, it is shocking how often companies are not able to succinctly describe what they do. Add in ‘who’ they do it for, and ‘why’ customers buy from them, and it starts to expose more than just cracks.

I am a big fan of the value proposition, and have been working with companies for over a decade to help them develop a clear set of messages that describe what it is they do, who they do it for and why they should buy from them rather than someone else. It is rarely straightforward and it is exceptionally hard to do on your own.

The process of developing a value proposition also forces you to clarify who you are targeting. Don’t be tempted to go broad and try to have an all encompassing value proposition. Much better to be focused and niche. It is perfectly acceptable to have several variations of your value proposition, for different segments of customer.

Once you have clarity on your value proposition, and the target audience for that message, developing a marketing campaign to reach that specific segment becomes much more straightforward.

People

Now while a business must have a clear strategy, without great people it’s meaningless. Peter Drucker famously said: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” and it is absolutely true for companies both large and small. The people in your business make it work, or break it. It is never easy, and it never stops evolving. Structure can help, but the single most important factor is a set of values that genuinely governs how you work. It must emanate from the leadership team, and it should define who you employ. Sure you need skills, but do not hire on skills alone. Probe and test people about the cultural fit, and if they are wide of the mark do not hire them, however smart they are on paper.

Putting a STAMP on your business on your own is hard, which is where UKBA can help through the use of independent business advisors.

If you’d like support planning your business in 2020, we offer our TwentyTwenty Insight Review, which provides a snapshot of the health of your business with recommendations for a programme of improvement. Contact Gavin McWhirter on 077 3606 0230 or gavin.mcwhirter@lgbusinessadvisors.co.uk to find out more.

Gavin McWhirter has over a decade of experience working with SME’s to develop sales, marketing and market research strategies, and supporting the execution of those plans.

Are you ready to put your STAMP on 2020?

January 5, 2020 By Gavin McWhirter

Strategy Targets Accounts Marketing People

Here’s how you can put your STAMP on your business in 2020 by focusing on these 5 important areas:

Strategy

Targets

Accounts

And, as it’s up-and-coming, make sure to submit your own tax return before the 31st January 2020 deadline.

Marketing

Once you have clarity on your value proposition, and the target audience for that message, developing a marketing campaign to reach that specific segment becomes much more straightforward.

People

Putting a STAMP on your business on your own is hard, which is where UKBA can help through the use of independent business advisors.

Gavin McWhirter has over a decade of experience working with SME’s to develop sales, marketing and market research strategies, and supporting the execution of those plans.

6 Good Reasons Why You Should Consider Exporting In Your Next Strategic Review

December 1, 2019 By Gemma Clarke

Quarter 4, planning the office party, trying to bring in orders before the second week of December. Oh…..and BREXIT and a General Election.

Right now, thinking about a strategic review and thinking about growing your business through exporting maybe about as much a priority as a choice between parsnips or sprouts. You feel like you’ve got enough on your plate.

But imagine selling your product or service to a whole new audience, imagine adding 10%, 20% to your bottom-line, imagine how it would feel to have a global brand.

When businesses go global not only can revenues rise, but there are a host of benefits that can accelerate your growth that you may not be aware of, not forgetting the impact upon potential exit values.

So is it really a good time to add ‘start exporting’ to your 2020 ‘wish-list?’

BBC News reported recently that despite US v CHINA and JAPAN v SOUTH KOREA trade disputes (and in the UK, the ‘B-word’) – global trade has grown at 3% this year. It’s a really good time to be exporting, and it’s getting better, easier, and less costly every year. It’s no longer just the big corporations and multi-nationals that are reaping the benefits.

Right now SME’s are having ‘their moment.‘ Having taken a ‘Dragons Den’ business into over 100 countries, and having helped to internationalise over 30 UK businesses through online, offline, global retail and distributor channels I know this to be true.

More agile than multi-nationals, able to customise and differentiate and flexible enough to work with shorter product life-cycles, this is becoming the best of times for SME’s and going global.

It’s all coming together despite what you might read in the news. Global demand for the UK’s innovative products, UK-branding and creativity, expertise in services, all supported by a new generation of trade-tech companies, trade-finance, insurance and shipping – you name it. It’s becoming as easy to work with customers in Berlin and Brisbane as it is to work with customers in Birmingham.

So here are 6 good reasons why exporting can be good for your business, and why we believe there is no better time:

* 11% – SURVIVAL: Businesses that export are 11% more likely to survive

* 15% – SALARIES: Workers at ‘global’ co’s earn 15% more

* 30% – GROWTH: Exporters showed average business growth of 30% after exporting for only 2 years

* 78% – INNOVATION: 78% of business owners said exports led to fresh ideas and innovation

* 80% – BOTTOM LINE: 80% of businesses experienced a positive impact upon their bottom-line within 2 years

* 87% – PROFILE: 87% of exporters said exporting had significantly improved credibility or profile

So there are some reasons ‘WHY’ your business can benefit from exporting. If you would like to know ‘HOW,’ we have very significant experience in working with companies completely new to exporting, experienced exporters and even start-ups whose target customers are outside of the UK.

The process starts with a review of your business, product or service, and a check-list of becoming export-ready or scaling-up into new markets. We can assist with positioning, building awareness, market-selection and pricing. In many cases we may even be able to tap into our network of global partners, distributors or retailers.

Contact Gemma Clarke on 07598 888130 or gemma.clarke@lgbusinessadvisors.co.uk to discuss the potential of exporting for your business.

Gemma Clarke specializes in international trade and global marketing and has launched brands and businesses into Europe, North America, Latin America, South-East Asia including China, and Australasia.
She has worked with global multi-nationals, SME’s, start-ups and laptop businesses, and also run brand, distribution and sales-agency businesses.

Communication – the key to unlocking growth and success

November 4, 2019 By Mike Pill

At the heart of every business one factor continuously calls for our attention – improving communication with a view to unlocking business growth and success.

Over the years many a consultant has advised and implemented varying communication scenarios for their clients; the Total Quality Management (TQM) business management approach enjoyed widespread attention during the late 1980s and early 1990s before being overshadowed by the standards specification of ISO 9000 and the improvement methodologies of Lean manufacturing, and Six Sigma. The common thread of all these procedures is communication.

How do these approaches differ?

TMQ consists of organization-wide efforts to install and make a permanent climate where employees continuously improve their ability to provide on demand products and services that customers will find of particular value.

The ISO 9000 family of quality management systems standards is designed to help organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while meeting statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service.

Lean manufacturing or lean production is a systematic method originating in the Japanese manufacturing industry for the minimization of waste within a manufacturing system without sacrificing productivity, which can cause problems. Similar principles can be applied to services.

Six Sigma is a method that provides organizations tools to improve the capability of their business processes. This increase in performance and decrease in process variation helps lead to defect reduction and improvement in profits, employee morale, and quality of products or services.

Whatever procedure you use, a focus on better communicating your business methodologies will always secure dividends.

Top tips for improving communication

Good communication is essential across ALL employee, contractor and partner interactions. Don’t’ just assume it’s all about your internal people.
You may wish to consider who has most client contact in your organisation. Perhaps you first response may be sales or customer service, but you may be surprised to learn that it is your accounts receivable clerk in the accounts department who regularly calls your clients to chase payment and sustain the all-important cash flow. It is very important that they understand the service level agreement with clients (SLAs) and feedback immediately if a payment is delayed due to client perception of a shortcoming.
Acronyms and jargon are all very fine, giving perpetrators a feeling of grandeur, but common sense will always prevail via clear and simple communication.
Make sure that all your employees are kept up to date with key business objectives and progress. Strategy may start in executive suite, but it cannot be delivered effectively if not clearly communicated to all concerned.

Honing your internal business communications is one of the areas we cover in our TwentyTwenty Insight business review process, where we provide a snapshot of the health of your business with suggestions on what you might do next to grow your business.

If this is of interest, why not speak to Mike Pill on 01276 684 007 or email him at mike.pill@hcbusinessadvisors.co.uk

About the Author

Mike Pill is an Executive Search and Selection specialist with in depth experience placing worldclass executives, managers and staff into Engineering, Finance, Sales & Marketing and Technology roles.

Navigation

IR35 in the Public Sector

How could this affect your business?

Introduction

Who will be affected in the Private Sector?

How will IR35 affect your Business?

When to use the tool

Before you start

Preparing for IR35 in the Private Sector

How can we help?

Employment contracts

Holiday pay

Bereavement leave

Resourcing your business

Changes to statutory rates

Employment contracts

Holiday pay

Bereavement leave

Resourcing your business

Changes to statutory rates

Start with an EORI number

How BREXIT might affect you

Start with an EORI number

How BREXIT might affect you

Start with an EORI number

How BREXIT might affect you

Strategy

Targets

Accounts

Marketing

People

Strategy

Targets

Accounts

Marketing

People

So is it really a good time to add ‘start exporting’ to your 2020 ‘wish-list?’

So here are 6 good reasons why exporting can be good for your business, and why we believe there is no better time:

How do these approaches differ?

Top tips for improving communication

About the Author