Category Archives: Bicknell Business Adviser

Do you really need a car or van? why not join a club? Reply

Bicknell Business Adviser • Tags: , , ,

Car and Van club vehicles can be booked by members for any length of time from 30 minutes, with the flexibility to increase the booking period to anything from an hour up to a whole weekend, or longer by arrangement.

  • Book online, by app or by phone
  • Drive for as long as you’ve booked it for (increasing if you need to)
  • Pay direct from your account (based on hours used and mileage)

Zipvan is popular for Vans and cars, it works

Obviously at the moment some locations don’t operate Car and Van Clubs but could this be the future for vehicle usage?

It will save you having to buy or lease a vehicle and pay for insurance and maintenance.

You will need to work out a cost analysis to compare options.

What are your current costs?

What are the vehicle club costs?

Does it save money and give you greater flexibility?

According to Transport for London

What are the benefits?

  • Convenient car use
    The convenience of a car without the hassle of owning one – no more servicing, insurance, parking, MOT, repairs
  • Self-service
    Cars are accessible to members at all hours
  • Saves you money
    According to Carplus, joining a car club could save you £3,500 per year compared to owning a car (if you currently drive fewer than 6,000 miles per year)
  • Protect the environment
    Car club vehicles are energy efficient and cleaner than the average car. They also reduce the need to own a car and discourage unnecessary car travel. Some car clubs offer electric vehicles (EVs) which emit neither harmful CO2 nor air pollutants from the tailpipe

steve@bicknells.net

 

Will the Small Business Commissioner help your business? Reply

Bicknell Business Adviser • Tags:

At the start of October the Government announced

The appointment of the father-of-three from Birmingham marks an important step toward ensuring small businesses have the support they need to thrive and grow – a central tenet of the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

As Commissioner, Mr Uppal will lead an independent office tasked with empowering small businesses. The role will be crucial to supporting small businesses resolve disputes with larger businesses and will help drive a culture change in payment practices.

Mr Uppal and his team will provide general advice and information to small businesses on matters such as resolving disputes, including signposting small businesses to existing support and dispute resolution services, which will be delivered through the commissioner’s website. His priorities will reflect his 20-year experience as a small business owner in the real estate sector, where he saw how even sound businesses could struggle when faced with a culture of late payment by customers.

Mr Uppal said:

“Running your own business can be a very lonely experience and my priority will be ensuring small firms feel supported as well as helping to create an overall impression that business isn’t necessarily cut throat.

“In fact, successful businesses are built on integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and trusting relationships and I want to highlight that Britain can be the best place in the world for new entrepreneurs to establish and grow their own businesses.”

Many small business are overwhelmed by red tape and paperwork, worried about the economic climate and brexit and need support, will the new commissioner come to their rescue?

steve@bicknells.net

We have automated book keeping with Receipt Bank 1

Bicknell Business Adviser • Tags: ,

 

We have become Receipt Bank Partners which means we now have a practice licence and can use receipt bank for any client that allows us to.

Most software now allows you to capture and save receipts but receipt bank actually reads the receipt so there is less data entry required.

It has preset rules for specific suppliers so it knows where you would like things posted.

When it sends information to Sage or Xero (or other programs) it attaches the invoice or receipt.

We think this a major leap forward in the automation of book keeping.

steve@bicknells.net

CGMA Compass taking Management Accounting to the next level Reply

Bicknell Business Adviser • Tags: , ,

I have been privileged to have been working with CGMA and taking part in the Global Management Accounting Principles:

1. Self-assessment Tool Pilot Community

2: Pioneer Advocates

CGMA Compass followed on from the worlds first management accounting standard.

BSI, the business standards company, has published PAS 1919:2016 Guide to management accounting principles. The guide which was sponsored by CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) also saw collaborative input from such organizations as Environment Agency, Fujitsu, NHS and Siemens.

Designed as a best-practice guide to management accounting, defining what “good” looks like, PAS 1919 provides organizations with a framework to support their decision making and contribute to overall improved performance and sustained success.

The finance function is key to unlocking value across the organisation to drive performance and success.  Yet business leaders are under increasing pressure. Quality decision making is essential but impulse often takes the place of insight.

As your finance function transforms itself to deal with challenges and harness opportunities, how do you measure success?

Underpinned by the Global Management Accounting Principles©, the CGMA Compass is an online self-assessment diagnostic that enables organisations to gain a 360 degree view of the strengths and weaknesses of the finance function to drive effectiveness.

This is achieved by assessing performance against the 14 management accounting practice areas outlined in the Principles:

  • Cost transformation and management
  • External reporting
  • Financial strategy
  • Internal audit
  • Internal control
  • Investment appraisal
  • Pricing, discount and product decision
  • Project management
  • Regulatory adherence and compliance
  • Resource management
  • Risk management
  • Strategic tax management
  • Treasure and tax management
  • Management and budgetary control

Analysis is provided in the form of heat maps – presenting rich data in an easy to read format which highlights aspects of high performance alongside those where improvements can be made.

With all of this insight you will:

  • Build confidence and trust by increasing business resilience, preserving value.
  • Join the dots and understand how things are being done in practice.
  • Shape the conversations which drive good decisions.
  • Put finance at the heart of business decision-making.
  • Build a shared understanding of levers for value creation, transform information into insight.
  • Better manage risk and capitalise on new opportunities

Don’t miss Samantha Louis, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants presenting the CGMA Compass Webinar on 30th October at 12.30!

Webinar sign-up: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Events/Events/Finance-Proving-youre-more-than-just-an-overhead/

CGMA Compass web information: https://www.cgma.org/cgmacompass

You can also get further details from alpa.saujani@aicpa-cima.com

I fully endorse and recommend CGMA Compass, its a first class management tool

steve@bicknells.net

Are your spouses wages tax deductible? Reply

Bicknell Business Adviser • Tags: , ,

Any salary paid will be subject to Income Tax and National Insurance as well as having to comply with National Minimum Wage and Auto Enrolment.

But you can only use the cost as a business tax deduction if:

  1. Its ‘wholly and exclusively’ for the benefit of the business
  2. The payment must reflect the actual work done and be realistic
  3. The payment must be shown in the accounts
  4. The wages must actually be paid
  5. If you provide for wages they must be paid within 9 months of the end of the accounting period

Mark McLaughlin explains more in this video and tells about a recent case involving a Heating Engineer and his wife. Mark is a brilliant tax writer and I have already order his next book ‘Tax Planning 2017/18’

The rules don’t only cover spouses, they also cover other family members.

 

 

 

There are many other pitfalls relating to other ways to share income such as dividends.

The s660 rules (or settlements legislation) have been around since the 1930s.

The rules stop you passing income to someone else in the family, or giving income or assets to someone else in an effort to reduce your overall tax bill. This is called a “settlement”, and the aim of the legislation is to stop people settling their income on another person who pays tax at a lower rate. (Contractor UK)

steve@bicknells.net

How do DIY builders reclaim VAT? Reply

Bicknell Business Adviser • Tags: , , ,

You can apply for a VAT refund on building materials and services if you’re:

  • building a new home
  • converting a property into a home
  • building a non-profit communal residence – eg a hospice
  • building a property for a charity

The building work and materials have to qualify and you must apply to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) within 3 months of completing the work.

But its important to note..

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-construction/vconst24350

When a sole proprietor or partnership is in the business of constructing property for sale and builds a house on his own land for his own occupation, or by a connected person, he can either:

  • recover the VAT through his VAT return in the normal way

or

  • claim the VAT through the Refund Scheme.

Until 1 January 2011, a sole proprietor or partnership (in the business of constructing property for sale) who built a house on his own land for his own occupation, or by a connected person, could either:

  • recover the VAT through his VAT return in the normal way

or

  • claim the VAT through the DIY Refund Scheme.

After 1 January 2011, however, this choice is no longer available to him and it will only be possible to recover VAT through his return to the extent that the services and materials will be used for taxable business purposes. Where the house has not been constructed for a business purpose it will not be possible to claim back the VAT through his return. The only option that will now be available to him will be to make a claim through the Refund Scheme.

Companies and other corporate bodies who build dwellings for their staff or officers of the company can’t make a Refund Scheme claim because the tax is incurred in the course or furtherance of their business.

VAT incurred in relation to staff accommodation is input tax and can be recovered through the company’s VAT return, subject to the normal rules.

As such the only way to recover the VAT is by making a DIY claim for the cost of materials and this should be made as one claim within 3 months of completion.

steve@bicknells.net

HMRC lose first case to fine a Senior Finance Officer for errors 1

Accounting, Bicknell Business Adviser, HMRC • Tags: , , , ,

All companies must deliver correct and complete tax returns.

A company may not be able to do this if its tax accounting arrangements are not fit for purpose. These arrangements will range from how it accounts for its business transactions to how it works out its final tax liability.

Schedule 46 FA09 sets out rules for certain large companies. Those companies must establish and maintain their tax accounting arrangements and their Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) is responsible for ensuring that they do.

This guidance tells the reader about

  • the rules that put responsibilities on those companies and particularly their SAOs
  • the actions that those companies and SAOs must take
  • how HMRC will ensure that they comply with the rules, and
  • the penalties chargeable if they fail to comply.

The way in which HMRC ensures compliance with the SAO rules is consistent with HMRC’s wider strategy for Mid-sized and Large Businesses by which we seek to build and maintain open and transparent relationships with companies and to work collaboratively with them in real time to reduce their level of tax compliance risk.

Currently SAO rules only apply to large companies (turnover of £200m plus) but will HMRC extent this to smaller companies?

Senior Accounting Officer Main duty: what is the main duty

The main duty of a Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) is to take reasonable steps to ensure that a qualifying company, see SAOG11000, establishes and maintains appropriate tax accounting arrangements.

This means, in particular, that the SAO must take reasonable steps to

  • monitor the accounting arrangements of the company and
  • identify any respects in which those arrangements are not appropriate tax accounting arrangements.

Penalties

A penalty of £5,000 is charged for the following failures:

  • Failure by the company to notify HMRC of the name and contact details of its SAO
  • Failure by the SAO to carry out their main duty under the rules
  • Failure by the SAO to provide a certificate to HMRC, or providing a certificate that contains a careless or deliberate inaccuracy.

The penalty is payable by the person responsible for the failure, as above.  The penalties are at a flat rate and cannot be mitigated.

K Thathiah v HMRC [2017] UKFTT 601 (3 August 2017)

The FTT found that a senior accounting officer (SAO) had not breached his main duty under FA 2009 Sch 46.

The case related to VAT errors totaling £1.3m despite providing ‘clean’ certificates, however, it was decided that reasonable steps were being taken to ensure the accuracy of VAT returns for example setting up a team, providing training and using an agent.

I think all SAO’s should take this a warning! get the right systems and procedures or face personal penalties

steve@bicknells.net

HMRC Tax Experts to directly advise growing businesses Reply

Accounting, Bicknell Business Adviser, HMRC • Tags: ,

On the 20th September 2017 HMRC announced

A new service to directly help mid-sized businesses as they expand and grow, has been launched today by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

There are around 170,000 mid-sized businesses registered in the UK. Businesses with either a turnover of more than £10 million or more than 20 employees, and undergoing significant growth, can now seek expert help from HMRC growth support specialists.

Known as the Growth Support Service, HMRC tax experts will offer dedicated support, tailored to the customer’s needs. It has been created to help growing, mid-sized businesses access the information and services they need.

This could include:

  • helping with tax queries about their growing business

  • supplying accurate information and co-ordinating technical expertise from across HMRC

  • supporting them to get their tax right first time and access relevant incentives or reliefs

I wonder if HMRC have plans to help other businesses too?

steve@bicknells.net

 

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