Business

This is actually a really easy one to answer. If you had a leaking toilet would you fix it yourself or call out a plumber. Similarly, would you cut your own hair to try and save the cost of a haircut. Why wouldn’t you outsource your bookkeeping. Running a small business is hard and traditionally every small business...

When it comes to choosing the appropriate business structure for your new venture in the UK, one of the most important considerations is protection from potential liability associated with the business. Most new business owners start their venture as a sole proprietorship, trading under their own name.  While a sole proprietorship offers the simplest form of business organisation,...

If you want to stabilise your finances and grow the business, working to strict budgets becomes a necessity. Managing the cashflow twists and turns of a project can be hard work. But it’s easier to do when you have an agreed budget and can track your spending and performance. So, what’s the best way to stay in control...

Every business owner needs to take cash out of the business at some point. But if you’ve just moved from being a sole trader to a limited company, you may get caught out by the different rules around withdrawing cash from the company. Why are the rules different for directors and sole traders? When you’re a sole trader,...

When you start running a business, it’s important to be able to clearly separate your own personal money from the cash that’s been generated by the business. This is why you need a business bank account. One of the simplest ways to do this is to create a separate business bank account. Opening a specific business account gives...

Having that Eureka moment when you cook up a great new business idea is a great moment. You’ll be full of ambition and eager to begin building your startup. But once you've had that initial rough idea, how do you assess and plan out your business idea to make sure that it has legs? For a startup, the...

As ever, we want to keep you on the ball with the latest dates and deadlines for your business diary. Get your online calendar fired up and highlight some of the upcoming deadlines and cut-off points for Q2 of 2022. Q2 2022 DEADLINES NOTE: If your company’s accounting period is longer than 12 months, the first deadline is...

The 5% reduced rate of value-added tax (VAT) has been in place since 8 July 2020. The reduced rate has been extended on numerous occasions to factor in changes to the affected sectors over the course of the pandemic – and has been a lifeline for many affected companies. But, from 1 October 2021, the 5% rate jumped to a...

As we start to recover from the worst effects of the Covid 19 Pandemic, many owners, directors and self-employed individuals remain concerned about having enough funds to pay their self-assessment income tax bill. The good news is that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) does have a facility for spreading out your income tax payments. HMRC’s ‘time-to-pay’ arrangement allows you to...

If you are looking to exit your business or have a future plan to do so, you need a business exit strategy. When you sell up, you want your business to have as much inherent value as possible – so you get a good price, a great return on your investment and the best possible payout. So, how...