Category: SME

What do FD’s want their ERP system to do? Finance Transformation

ERP CIMA

The chart (Figure 8) is an extract from the CIMA report on Improving Decision Making in Organisations, it demonstrates the huge potential to reduce costs by implementing systems and shows how the role of FD’s is changing to become business partners participating in decision making.

So how does ERP reduce cost and improve profitability

Top Tips for your ERP Implementation:

  1. Start by drawing up a specification of your requirements – what do you want to achieve with the new system, what is the scope of the system, where will cost savings be made, how could more information lead to better decision making?
  2. Get Buy In – its really important that the ERP system gets the support of the Senior Management Team and that key staff are given the chance to put forward their ideas and are involved in the project. People are often resistant to change and getting them involved early will breakdown barriers to change.
  3. Rationalise – changing systems is an ideal chance to look at how can you do things differently and stop doing things that don’t add value, this will also reduce potential customisation requirements
  4. Allocate time to the project – If you don’t allocate time to the implementation project you will regret it later but that doesn’t mean you need to do everything yourself, budget to bring in temps and consultants to help
  5. Measure the savings and benefits – make sure you achieve your goals

Below are details of the Dynamics NAV system I implemented in 2007

SJB Tekton

steve@bicknells.net

Goodwill is not so good for tax

Identity Theft

Until the Summer Budget 2015 when you purchased a business (not its shares) into a limited company from an unrelated party you could write off the goodwill (Intangibles) against your corporation tax but that has now changed and you can’t, another tax relief bites the dust!

The Policy Statement  reads as follows…

In accounting terms, purchased goodwill is the balancing figure between the purchase price of a business and the net value of the assets acquired. Goodwill can therefore be thought of as representing the value of a business’s reputation and customer relationships.
This measure removes the tax relief that is available when structuring a business acquisition as a business and asset purchase so that goodwill can be recognised. This advantage is not generally available to companies who purchase the shares of the target company. The current rules allow corporation tax profits to be reduced following a merger or acquisition of business assets and can distort commercial practices and lead to manipulation and avoidance. Removing the relief brings the UK regime in line with other major economies,reduces distortion and levels the playing field for merger and acquisition transactions.
Intangibles acquired before 8 July 2015 will continue to be treated under the old rules, so a corporation tax deduction will continue to be available for amortisation, and any loss on disposal will be treated as part of the company’s trading profit or loss for the year of disposal.
steve@bicknells.net

Have you accrued for Holiday Pay correctly? Section 28 FRS102

Flugzeug fliegend

Most larger businesses, especially if they are audited probably already accrue for Holiday Pay but not every business has been accruing the cost. FRS102 Section 28.1 will require that holiday pay is accrued. Here is an example from the FRC.
Holiday Pay

Holiday pay isn’t always easy to calculate for example if you have part time employees or casual workers, Gov.uk have a calculator to help work out the entitlement – GOV.UK Holiday Calculator

The next issue is the rate of pay, for some employees with regular hours its easy but for those with fluctuating rates, bonuses etc a 12 week average is used as explained by ACAS

On 4 November, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that holiday pay should reflect non-guaranteed overtime. Non-guaranteed overtime is where there is no obligation by the employer to offer overtime but if they do then the worker is obliged by their contract to work that overtime.

The Government set up a taskforce to consider the possible impact of the EAT’s ruling on holiday pay. Regulations were laid out on 18th December 2014 to limit claims for unlawful deductions from wages to two years. The rules apply to Employment Tribunal claims made on or after 1 July 2015.

Further details at ACAS Calculating Holiday Pay

steve@bicknells.net

 

Would a Partial Capital Allowance Claim reduce your tax bill?

Businessman get idea

It is not necessary to claim the maximum capital allowances available or even claim them at all, crazy as it might sound there are situations when not claiming capital allowances can reduce your tax bill!

Sole Trader Example

The personal tax allowance is currently £10,600 (2015/16)

Lets assume profits are £15,000 and Capital Allowances available are £5,000, so that would reduce taxable profits to £10,000 which would waste £600 of the personal tax allowance.

It would therefore be better to only claim £4,400 in capital allowances and claim the remaining £600 in the following year.

Company Example

Companies within a Group can only offset losses in corresponding tax periods, so if the the capital allowances increase the loss in one part of the group beyond the profits of the rest of the group then there would be no benefit to claiming them in that period.

Companies can claim capital allowances in any of the following 3 tax years.

There is an excellent example of this in the following blog http://taxnotes.co.uk/a-basic-introduction-to-capital-allowances/

steve@bicknells.net

New Company Reporting Thresholds now in place

Business Diagram

The new regulations came into force on 6th April 2015 setting the following thresholds for small companies

Turnover  £10,200,000
Total assets  £5,100,000
Average no. of employees 50

Medium Company thresholds will now be

Turnover  £36,000,000
Total assets  £18,000,000
Average no. of employees 250

Micro Entities thresholds are unchanged

Turnover  £316,000
Total assets  £632,000
Average no. of employees 10

As before its a  2 out of 3 test. The Audit thresholds are unchanged.

Micro entities are no longer required to produce a directors report.

The new thresholds will apply to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2016. However, early adoption is permitted.

Further details in SI2015/980

steve@bicknells.net

 

 

 

 

 

Falling HMRC Fuel Rates – are your claims right?

mann im auto

The rates only apply when you either:

  • reimburse employees for business travel in their company cars
  • require employees to repay the cost of fuel used for private travel

If you pay a rate per mile for business travel no higher than the AFR, for the particular engine size and fuel type, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will accept there is no taxable profit and no Class 1A National Insurance to pay.

You can use your own rates which better reflect your circumstances if, for example, your cars are more fuel efficient, or if the cost of business travel is higher than the guideline rates.

Advisory Fuel Rates from 1 March 2015

These rates applied from 1 March 2015. You can use the previous rates for up to 1 month from the date the new rates apply.

Engine size Petrol – amount per mile LPG – amount per mile
1400cc or less 11p 8p
1401cc to 2000cc 13p 10p
Over 2000cc 20p 14p
Engine size Diesel – amount per mile
1600cc or less 9p
1601cc to 2000cc 11p
Over 2000cc 14p

 

COMPANY car mileage rates have been slashed by up to 18% as HMRC cut the tax allowance across all six of the petrol and diesel categories in response to continuing fuel price falls.

Hardest hit by the rates, known as advisory fuel rates (AFR), are drivers of company cars with petrol engines greater than 1,401cc which have suffered a 3p cut in rates applicable from 1 March.

Business Car Manager

steve@bicknells.net

 

How does s455 tax apply to Directors Loans? what if you ‘bed and breakfast’ the loan?

Scaring amounts

Directors (participators in a closed company) often borrow money from their companies with the intention of paying a dividend to repay the loan.

If the loan is outstanding more than 9 months after the company year end, then an extra 25% corporation tax charge is due, this is the s455 tax which is refunded when the loan is repaid as explained in this blog

New tax procedure for Directors Loans (s 455)

HMRC were concerned that some participators were avoiding this tax by raising funds short term to repay an outstanding loan.  They would then draw a new loan very shortly afterwards – HMRC refer to this as “bed and breakfasting”. New anti-avoidance rules were therefore  introduced in 2013.

These new rules incorporate two provisions – the “30-day rule” and the “intentions and arrangements” rule.

30-day rule

This applies where within a 30-day period:

  • a shareholder makes repayments of their s455 loan; and
  • in a subsequent accounting period, new loans or advances are made to the same shareholder or their associate.

So basically prevents the use of ‘Bed & Breakfasting’

‘intentions and arrangements’ Rule

Relief is denied regardless of the 30 day rule, if prior to repayment there is an outstanding amount of at least £15,000 and at the time the amount is repaid to the company, any person intended to redraw any of that amount or had made arrangements to make a new withdrawal; and a new withdrawal is made.
The relief denied is the lower of the amount repaid and the amount redrawn.

 

steve@bicknells.net

How will FRS102 affect your tax position?

junge frau lernt für eine prüfung

FRS102 will affect us all, even small companies will be subject to a version of FRS102.

Its not just a reporting standard it will affect your tax position too, for example

Intangible Assets and Goodwill

Under FRS102 these assets will have a maximum life of 5 years where as UK GAAP allowed them to have an infinite useful life.

Distributable Reserves

There are various FRS102 changes that can effect these but one specific one is deferred tax which will be calculated on investment properties.

Operating Leases

Leases incentives will be spread over the entire life of the lease rather than to first break clause.

Asset Reclassification

Some assets such as Websites and software development could be reclassified as Intangible

Have you assessed the changes for your business?

FRS 102 is effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015.

steve@bicknells.net

A new type of employment status

The Office of Tax Simplification – Employment Status Report – March 2015 suggests we could see a new type of worker being created, part way between Employed and Self Employed. We could also see the term office holder removed from legislation.

Contractor Weekly reported – This involves the introduction of a new category of worker, a ‘third way’ between the employed and self-employed, acknowledging that some workers do not fit easily into either of the two traditional positions and that they should be subject to a modified set of tax rules. Freelancers might fall into this ‘third way’ and who might be seen as people who have chosen this route of working and want certainty over their status.

Click on this link to read the Employment Status Report

Will this solve the IR35 problem? who will it defined? what should the rules be?

Workers

 

steve@bicknells.net