Archive for the ‘Consultancy’ Category

New additions at Slaters Chartered Accountants

Monday, July 6th, 2015

Slaters Chartered Accountants Exterior Signage
Slaters chartered accountants have appointed new recruit Steve Mastin who joins the practice as a tax assistant. Steve’s appointment follows recent new starter Dave Johnson, who joined the practice as senior accountant, increasing the workforce to a team of 16. Based on London Road in Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Slaters is currently planning to expand its existing premises to accommodate the growing team.

Steve’s background is in the legal profession, prior to joining Slaters he worked for six years at Manchester law firm Pannone, where he was responsible for managing the personal tax affairs and investment portfolios of more than 300 high-net-worth individuals.

Practice owner Steve Slater said: “Steve’s addition to Slaters’ tax department greatly increases our capacity to offer additional tax services, both personal and business, but it also means that we can provide our existing clients with more of a personal service.”

Senior accountant Dave is responsible for client management, including accounts preparation, company formations and accounts finalisation meetings. He joins Slaters from Stoke-on-Trent solicitors J S Williamson & Co, where he spent eight years as an account senior.

Steve Slater added: “We’ve already started to build a portfolio of clients for Dave to manage. As a qualified certified accountant and a senior member of the team, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his new role, which will be of great benefit to his clients, making their accounts more efficient and ultimately saving them money.

Slaters Chartered Accountants Team Picture“It’s great to see the business grow and everyone at Slaters is looking forward to the new skills that both Steve and Dave can bring.

“I’m personally pleased with how the company is progressing and I’m excited to see our plans for expansion be put into practice later this year. The extended office space will allow us to take on further members of staff; in particular we are hoping to add to our payroll department and also the accounts team.”

 

Slaters Chartered Accountant specialise in supporting all aspects of owner-managed businesses from sole traders to groups of limited companies. Its range of services includes accounts, management accounts, bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and taxation. The team are dedicated to delivering excellent services through a friendly but professional approach.

New business start ups

Wednesday, May 6th, 2015

 This posting lists a few (but not necessarily all) of the tax issues you will need to consider when you are planning a new business:

  1. Get you business registered with HMRC, failure to do this can lead to penalties. If you are incorporating your business, HMRC generally pick up your business registration via their links with Companies House. But if you are aiming to be self employed, as a sole trader or in partnership, you will need to notify HMRC within certain time limits of your commencement date.
  2. In similar vein, if you need to employ staff you must register as an employer with HMRC.
  3. If you intend to register for VAT from the date you commence to trade you can still recover input VAT that you have paid on certain setup costs that you expended prior to the official start date.
  4. If you intend to register your business for VAT could you take advantage of one of HMRC’s special VAT schemes? For example:
  1. Cash accounting: pay over the VAT you have collected on your sales when you are paid by your customer, rather than when you issue your sales invoices. There are turnover limits to registration, but this option can have a significant impact on cash flow if the amounts you are owed is more than the amounts you owe.
  2. Flat rate scheme: using this scheme you calculate the amount you owe as a fixed percentage of your turnover each quarter (including VAT). For smaller businesses, who do not have significant VAT inclusive costs, this scheme can produce additional profits and simplify the calculation of your quarterly returns.
  3. Annual accounting: using this scheme you send in one VAT return a year instead of the usual four. Also for nine months of the year you make agreed payments on account to cover VAT due. The scheme is simple to administer, only one set of calculations per annum, and the monthly payments help to spread the cash flow impact of payments made.
  1. Invest in tax planning. The UK’s tax code is one of the most complex in Europe. We recommend that you take tax planning advice before you start in business and again at certain key moments in your trading year. At the very least you should discuss your trading results with your advisor before the end of your first trading year. It always pays to see what planning options are available before you take action to implement change.

If you are about to set-up a new business please call, we offer a no obligation first appointment to prospective new clients.    

Last chance to plan for 2014-15

Monday, March 2nd, 2015

As we mentioned in our January 2015 newsletter there are a number of tax planning opportunities that will cease to exist once the clock passes midnight, 5 April 2015. For businesses whose year end coincides with the 5 April 2015 (or 31 March 2015) these opportunities included:

  • The timing of capital purchases: equipment, vehicles and so on.
  • The timing of significant overhead expenditure.
  • Dividend and profits extraction planning if your business is a limited company.
  • And again, if you have a limited company is your director’s loan account overdrawn?

In fact, all taxpayers, whether in business, employment or receiving a pension, may have opportunities to legitimately reduce their tax liabilities for 2014-15. The point of this article is to remind you that once the tax year end passes these opportunities will be lost, very often permanently.

Readers who are in business, or who have significant or complex sources of income, should have contacted and consulted with their tax advisors by now. If not, there is still just over three weeks to take action. Please call to see if there are any advantages that may be available to you.

 You may be kicking yourself later this year if you pass over this planning window without taking action.