Business Services > Business Accounts & Taxation

Business Service
Our business services are aimed at the owner managed sector, taking in business from start up, through to sole traders, and onto to the more mature Limited Company enterprises with
turnovers up to the audit threshold of £5.6 million.

We are not in the business of providing quick tax and accounts solutions. We aim to build a solid and personal service to our business clients.

Management Basis
Although our role will always be the completion of your annual accounts and your tax return, we are also skilled to act for you on a much broader management basis. Tax efficiency is one consideration, but some of our clients use us as a virtual Finance Director, giving advice and practical assistance to everyday situations, such as accounting system implementation, credit control, investment evaluations, PAYE and VAT issues and more.

Unlike some Practioners, our principle David Shephard, has considerable experience working as an accountant in industry.

• Start Up Businesses
• Sole Traders
• Limited Companies

Start Up Businesses

Starting up in business can be both a daunting and exhilarating experience. It is a sad fact of life, and we see it time and time again, businesses only engage professional help when tax
returns are due, and in so doing miss many of the opportunities to save money during the year by arranging their business and personal affairs in a more tax efficient manner. Even worse many fail to comply with all the regulations and face fines and penalties.

Why may you ask do they do this? Quite understandably people feel they cannot afford to spend their limited financial resources on good advice.

Our philosophy therefore is to encourage small businesses by offering assistance right when they need it most, when things are being planned and starting to happen.

Free Consultation
Firstly we offer a free “face to face” consultation or by telephone, if the former is not possible. We can assist in a wide range of areas, and provide contacts that will assist in a variety of ways, and not just about your tax.

In a small number of cases, a small fee will apply, for example, if a business plan is required, but in the majority of cases, we are able to send you off, armed with the resources and
information required to get you off and running. We will also be available throughout the year for a chat about how things are going.

Standard Fees

At the outset of our working relationship, we provide our client with a “Contract of Engagement” which specifies every service we believe we have been contracted to undertake. This will be broken down into specific areas with specific fees. There will be a total, which we are happy to reduce by 10%, if the client agrees to pay monthly by standing order, VAT is then added to the discounted sub total, and the annual contract fee is arrived at.

Those wishing to pay on an annual basis, will be billed at the end of the year on completion, and again we do everything to keep “our fees” competitive, not just only in the first year.

Top Tips - Your Records
Expenditure – List what it is for, the date it was purchased, the amount of the purchase and most important, a receipt.

Income – Keep a receipt book, or at the minimum a detailed list of money coming in each week.

Bank Accounts – Separate your private affairs from your business income. Open up a Business Account, many banks offer free banking for at least twelve months, others for more.

Motoring Expenses – If you use your private vehicle for business, keep a log of where you went, the date, how many miles you travelled, and the purpose of the trip. You can charge
your business 40p per mile “tax free” for the first 10,000 miles, thereafter it’s 25p per mile.

General Advice and Support – Website Links

• Your local Business Link offers a free meeting and heavily discounted training days.
• The Shell Live Wire Community is a place for under 30’s (or just about anybody else for that matter) with some comprehensive guides to getting going sooner, it also has
a strong forum.
• The Start-Ups forum is another excellent community with a strong membership.

Sole Trader

Starting off your business enterprise as a sole trader is the way many businesses begin. There are compliance requirements which are relatively straightforward, and there are a few restrictions about what you can do with the money you earn. Our emphasis is on assisting you plan your activities to minimise the taxation due, as well as completing and monitoring the compliance side for you.

• Key Services
• Basis of Assessment
• Next Steps

Key Services
We offer a complete service to include:

• Help with planning your record keeping
• Advise on the best business structure
• Tax Returns - see our tax services for details and fees
• Capital allowance computations
• VAT return
• Payroll Services
• Book Keeping Services

In addition we can advise you on the more commercial aspects of running your business, such as cash flow planning, credit control and investment appraisal. If you have a sole trader business, please feel free to get in contact, and have a free consultation about your needs.

Tax is calculated on the incomes less allowable business expenses. Income is recorded on the self-employment pages within a normal tax return, for earnings per tax year, which run to the 5th April each year.

Filing and taxes are due by 31st January following the tax year in which the period ends.

So an accounting year end of 5th April 2004, will mean tax has to be paid by 31st January 2005.

For the second and subsequent tax years, interim tax assessments are made by the Inland Revenue on the 31st January and 31st July of each year, where “payments on
account” are made, with a final balancing payment due on submission of your return by the following 31st January.

Next Steps

If you have not done so already, you can register as a sole trader here. You need to register with the Inland Revenue within three months of starting your trade or profession…
If you are new in business, look at our “starting up” pages which contain some useful information.

Limited Companies

Operating a Limited Company is often seen as the way to make your business credible.

The compliance requirements are relatively complex compared to a sole trader, and there are restrictions about what you can and cannot do with the money you earn. Our aim is to
ensure you comply with the numerous regulations that exist, and assist you to plan your activities to take advantage of the various tax planning opportunities that arise within a Limited Company.

We offer services for the smaller owner managed business up to the audit threshold of £5.6 million turnover.

• Key Services
• Basis of Assessment
• Early Advice
• Financial Director Services

Key Services
We offer a complete service to include:

• Incorporation issues
• Company Formations for Limited Companies
• Limited Company Accounts
• Corporation Tax Returns
• Profits Distribution policy
• Capital allowances computations
• VAT returns
• Help with planning your record keeping

In addition to the above, we can advise on the more commercial aspects of running your business, such as cash flow planning, credit control and investment appraisal.

Our fees for small companies start in the region of £400 see our fee factsheet for further details.

If you have a small Limited Company, please feel free to get in contact, and have a free consultation about your needs.

Basis of Assessment
The Limited Company is a separate legal entity to the owners, and is taxed in its own right.

Any money taken out of the Company should be done carefully and with advice so as to avoid penalties.

Your first trading year is by default twelve months from the end of the month in which the company is first incorporated (born).
Tax is calculated within the Company based on the income earned less allowable business expenditure, which may include salaries to director’s, but which does not include dividend
payments.

Companies are required to file accounts both with Companies House and with the Inland Revenue. The Inland Revenue also require a Corporation Tax Return (CT600) with appropriate computations.

Filing and payment of taxes are 9 months from the end of your company accounting year, with interim tax assessments not required, unless your company profits exceed £1.5 million
per annum.

Early Advice
Although some people only seek advice toward the end of their first financial year, if you have a Limited Company we strongly advise that you make contact at the outset. Time and Time
again, we see new clients taken on toward or after their first year end have missed opportunities to save tax, and have often inadvertently incurred financial penalties for withdrawing too much money from their businesses. This generally results in higher fees and more tax in the long term.

To assist small Limited Companies we offer three competitively priced company formation packages through Quick Formations Limited, our internet formations agents. These have been specifically aimed at the start up stage, and are geared to help you avoid the pitfalls and problem areas.

Financial Director Services
We can act for you either in an interim or permanent, to assist during a period of change when additional accounting knowledge id required, or in the longer terms as a part time

Financial Director.
Specific areas of experience are accounting and business accounting system development, cash flow management, business planning and strategy, as well as being able to provide the more routine on site accounting support to your existing staff.
We find this particular support services especially popular to our SME sector, where the employment of a full time financial professional would be prohibitive, but the newly or partly
qualified accounts staff would benefit from additional guidance.
Fees are set at a competitive daily or half-daily rate.