Category: Blog

Entrepreneurs are usually focussed, visioned and enthusiastic individuals. They may have a unique skill or have seen a niche in the market place that they can exploit. A small business is started and through their focussed determination, the business grows rapidly.

All too often the small business will focus on growth and leave overheads to spiral out of control, stifling cash flow. During such tough economic times as we see today, this is a very important area of any business that needs to be managed very carefully.

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The Autumn is upon us and with the changing season, a change in Government policy will also take effect. For the 9 million self assessment taxpayers in the UK, the cost of filing late has just multiplied.

Designed to assist HMRC in cracking down on the 1 million or so tax payers who file their returns late each year, the new penalty scheme could see even those owing no tax incurring fines of over £1,300.

Until this recent change, anyone filing a late tax return would incur a £100 fine, increasing to £200 if you had still not filed 6 months later. However, the fine could not exceed the amount of tax owed. So if you owed no tax, you could not be fined for filing your return late.

The newly implemented penalty scheme will now see any late filers incurring an automatic £100 fine, even if there is no tax to pay, though the major change is the clock will start ticking on other penalties. Continue reading →

Financial forecasting reminds me of the weather – you make your forecast at a moment in time based upon the information currently available. You draw a conclusion and state your financial forecast. But then, the information changes, now it’s raining, and you’re caught without your umbrella!

Financial forecasting, unlike the weather, isn’t a science but it’s not pure guess work either. It is a combination of:

• Knowing your business
• Understanding your marketplace
• Setting goals
• Using common sense

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Double entry bookkeeping stretches back centuries perhaps even as early as the 12th century and is now accepted worldwide as the accounting standard to be employed by all companies in recording the financial accounting records. The first written explanation of the accounting system was reportedly by a Venetian mathematician Luca Pacioli towards the end of the 15th century.

The accounting industry has grown somewhat since then and today contains many technical words known but largely ignored by non accountants. The understanding and desire to understand accounting terms is further confused by the banking industry while adopting double entry bookkeeping as standard use what appears to be diametrically opposed terms in the presentation of information to their customers.

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As a business owner, you know all too well that one of the most important parts of running an efficient and viable business is keeping your books in order. While many business owners do their own books or have an accountant on their staff, there are numerous benefits to outsourcing your accounting needs.

In this article, we will discuss the various ways that outsourcing your bookkeeping services can help you and your company perform better, cut costs, and improve your bottom line.

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