With the new payroll year just beginning businesses have been thinking about outsourcing their payroll or changing their provider. Now is a good time to make that change. When you are a small business with just a few employees you rarely have to deal with any complex situations but when one comes along it can be […]
Have you missed your Staging Date for Auto Enrolment?
Despite all the advertising on the television, on the radio and in the press as well as numerous articles by those involved with Auto Enrolment there are still employers who think they don’t have to do anything about setting up a pension scheme. We know because they have come to us for help after their […]
Learn to use your accounts software
Learning how to do something new is a challenge. Some people learn because they like a challenge, others because of necessity. As a business owner you have to learn all sorts of skills which didn’t even occur to you when you were working through your ideas for setting up your business. Sometimes those skills […]
Do you want to be a bookkeeper?
As a bookkeeper with a successful bookkeeping practice I frequently receive emails from people who want to become bookkeepers asking me for advice. I am happy to answer their questions and point them in the right direction for qualifications. Or at least I was…. Already this year I have received half a dozen such emails […]
Invoicing – basic information
All businesses need to provide an invoice whether that is a till receipt, a handwritten one from a duplicate book, your own template using Word or Excel, or a bespoke invoice from your accounts software. If you deal with lots of suppliers you will receive a variety of invoice formats. How many of these give […]
Are you prepared for the 2017-18 payroll changes?
One more monthly payroll and we will be starting a new tax year for 2017-18. Are you aware of the changes you need to implement? Minimum Wage increase The National Living Wage increases from £7.20 per hour to £7.50 per hour from April 2017 for employees aged 25 and over. The National Minimum Wage will […]
HMRC’s Two Step Authentication
For some time now there has been the option to set up two step authentication to access your personal tax account through HMRC or the Government Gateway. I have found that that choice no longer exists. Today I had to set up two step authentication and not only did I have to provide either […]
Bookkeeping is our Specialty!
Bookkeeping is not just entering invoices or payments. If it was I think we would be bored by now! What we love is working with such a wide variety of businesses. It is fascinating what people do, the skills and knowledge they have and how their business develops. It makes bookkeeping interesting and provides us with all […]
Is your business ready to become VAT Registered?
As your business grows there will come a time when you will need to register for VAT. In 2016-17 if your turnover reaches the threshold of £83,000 within a 12 month rolling period you have 30 days in which to register for VAT to avoid a penalty. Many businesses keep their turnover below the threshold because […]
Have you set up your pension scheme?
700,000 small employers will be reaching their Staging Date for pension auto enrolment in 2017. That is 200,000 more than the number who had to set up their pension scheme in 2016. Setting up an auto enrolment pension scheme is proving challenging for businesses. There are so many options to consider and if you are […]