Bookkeeping & Accounting

Sole Traders – Self Employed- Limited Companies- Partnerships

The last thing you want in your business is to have valuable time and resources tied up with routine bookkeeping and accounting.

That’s something we can do for you, either at your office or at ours.

We begin by discussing your specific requirements with you and then we set up appropriate accounting procedures and controls and ensure your accounts are kept fully up-to-date and in compliance with statutory regulations.

But we don’t stop there. We can also provide you with regular management accounts to keep you informed on essential areas such as:

• Cash-flow
• Profitability
• Performance ratios
• Customer activity
• Credit control
• Budget comparisons

VAT

VAT can be the bane of everyone affected by it. The complex regime of regulations imposes a tremendous administrative burden on businesses.

With the rate being so high, mistakes in calculating VAT can be costly – and the rigid system of penalties and interest charges for mistakes and the late submission of returns add to that burden.

Our cost-effective VAT compliance and planning services can relieve you of this burden.

We provide an efficient cost effective VAT service, which includes:

• Assistance with VAT registration
• Advice on VAT planning and administration
• Use of the most appropriate scheme
• VAT control and reconciliation
• Help with completing VAT returns
• Planning to minimise future problems with Customs and Excise
• Negotiating with Customs and Excise in disputes and representing you at VAT tribunals

Self-Assessment and Personal Tax Returns

Self-assessment can be a time consuming and often confusing business for busy individuals. And judging by the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers who are penalized by the Inland Revenue each year it can also be very costly if:

• Deadlines are missed
• Incorrect returns are delivered
• Appropriate records are not retained or presented

We aim to spare you all these headaches and free up your valuable time by offering a comprehensive Individual Self-Assessment service, including:

• Liaising with your bank, building society, stockbrokers etc. to gather the relevant data for your annual returns
• Calculating your tax liability
• Completing and filing your tax return on your behalf
• Advising you when various payments are due and how much to pay
• Advising on appropriate record retention
• Introducing you to any relevant tax saving ideas

Representing you in the event of your being selected for investigation by the Inland Revenue

Personal Tax Planning

With the tax regime becoming more complex and more emphasis being put on taxpayers’ individual responsibilities, everyone who is subject to taxation needs professional advice and support if they are to optimise their tax position and ensure they meet all the compliance requirements.

We are the tax specialists. We can provide you with year round tax advice on:

• Income tax
• Capital Gains tax
• Inheritance tax
• Trusts and estates
• Non-domiciliary tax issues

Every pound of income tax you save means more income at your disposal, every well planned disposal of assets means minimal loss of capital gains, and every inheritance tax saving means more benefit for your beneficiaries.

Payroll

Administering your payroll can be time consuming and burdensome, diverting energy and resources from the core activities of your business. And the task is made all the more difficult by the growing complexity of taxation and employment legislation and the accompanying regime of penalties for non-compliance.

We have dedicated staff that can relieve you of this burden by providing a comprehensive and confidential payroll service, including:

• Customised payslips
• Administration of PAYE, national insurance, statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay, and such like. Completion of statutory forms, including year-end returns, to issue to your employees and submit to the Inland Revenue
• Summaries and analyses of staff costs
• Administration of incentive schemes, bonuses, and ex-gratia and termination payments
• Administration of pension schemes

Even if you have only a few employees, you will make savings by engaging us to administer your payroll.

New Business start-up

Most people who start up in business do so because they have a good business proposition and the enterprise and commitment to see it through, not because they are experts in the legal, financial, and fiscal aspects of running a business.

Indeed, these matters can often seem daunting, and even off-putting, to the budding entrepreneur. The good news is that you do not need to be an expert in these fields to succeed in business. All you need is the support of a team of trained experts.

That’s where we fit in. Bring us your business ideas and we’ll help you to evaluate them in a constructive and realistic manner. We can also help you:

• Decide on the most suitable structure for your business – sole trader, partnership, or limited company
• Prepare a business plan, cash-flow projections, budgets, and trading forecasts
• Assess your finance requirements, advise on the best sources of finance, and draw up the necessary proposals
• Establish a good working relationship with your bank
• Complete any registration procedures with Companies House and HMRC
• Deal with company secretarial issues
• Set up a recording system for your internal use and for complying with statutory requirements

Corporate Tax Planning

We offer a range of services to help you minimise your corporate tax exposure and relieve you of the administrative burden of complying with tax legislation. These include:

• Determining the most tax effective structure for your business
• Taking full advantage of tax opportunities and reliefs
• Achieving the optimum capital or revenue tax treatment
• Reducing tax on disposals and maximising relief on acquisitions
• Making the most of tax opportunities specific to your industry
• Meeting the rigorous demands of compliance including corporation tax self-assessment
• Acting on your behalf in discussions with the tax authorities, corporation tax represents a substantial part of your trading costs. Moreover, ever increasing investigations by HMRC or Inland Revenue and harsher penalties for non-compliance mean that an undue amount of your time and resources can be taken up collecting revenue for the Government
• Efficient corporate tax planning can result in potentially significant improvements in profitability.

Pension Planning and Maximising Tax Reliefs

Are you confident you have made adequate preparations for your retirement?

These days, with increasing life expectancy and advances in healthcare it is not uncommon for people to live for twenty to thirty years after they retire. This can be more than half the time they spent working!

The three keys to successful retirement planning are:

1. Plan well ahead – It is never too early to start retirement planning. The earlier you start the greater your chances of achieving your objectives
2. Maintain balance & flexibility – It is especially important to achieve an appropriate balance between high and low risk exposures, and to maintain flexible options with regard to instruments such as pensions, savings, investments, and insurance.
3. Seek professional advice – This very complex and continuously changing area, and we strongly recommend you seek skilled, professional advice at every step.

Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS)

Such schemes are designed help smaller higher-risk trading companies to raise finance by offering a range of tax reliefs to investors who purchase new shares in those companies.

The investor on the other hand gets significant income and capital gains relief and deferrals in return which can significantly reduce ones tax liabilities.

However, one important bit of advice that is offered with all investments may well apply here more than elsewhere: “Don’t let the tax tail wag the investment dog”.

Trusts and Executorships

Trusts are extremely useful instruments for tax planning purposes. They are particularly useful for holding shares in private companies as part of a family financial or tax plan – especially if you want to reduce inheritance tax liability in your estate.

They can also be useful for:

• Providing funds for your children’s education, maintenance, etc.
• Restricting access to property by future beneficiaries
• Providing for people who are mentally or otherwise incapacitated
• Gifting to charity

There are four main types of trust:

1. Life interest trusts
2. Discretionary trusts
3. Accumulation and maintenance trusts
4. Bare trusts

Each type of trust receives different tax treatment and can be adapted to many different purposes. To take full advantage of trusts in your tax and estate planning you need to receive expert help and advice.

We can help you determine which types of trust are suited to your purposes, prepare the necessary documentation, and advise on appropriate trustees.

Estate planning

When you have spent a whole lifetime building up your personal wealth, you want to think that upon your death your estate will pass into the hands of your chosen beneficiaries and not into the hands of the Taxman.

And yet, all too often we meet clients who are shocked at how much of their inheritance is taken from them before they even see it! At present rates, the Taxman can take up to 40% of your estate! Yes almost half its value!

Inheritance tax (IHT) used to be referred to as a ‘voluntary tax’ for the very wealthy, but with the recent dramatic increases in property values without a corresponding increase in the IHT threshold, many more estates have come within of the Taxman’s reach.

This makes estate planning all the more necessary – and all the more urgent.

There are a number of ways to reduce the potential tax liability on your estate, but they all involve careful planning – often over a long period.

Lifetime gifts, the judicious use of trusts, and care with transfer of agricultural and business property can all help to reduce IHT liability.

It is also possible to mitigate potential inheritance tax liabilities by arranging adequate life assurance cover.

We can help you with your estate planning, including succession planning and business exit strategies.

We can also help with the drafting and updating of your will, and where appropriate, act as trustees or executors.

Company Secretarial

The Companies Act requires companies to submit various documents within strict time limits. Not only is this a considerable administrative burden, failure to comply can result in potentially severe penalties for directors.

We can relieve you of both the burden and the worry by helping with your Company Secretarial duties. Our service includes:

• Company formations
• Preparation and filing of statutory returns
• Preparation of all documentation related to minutes and resolutions
• Maintenance of statutory books
• General advice on company law