Thursday April 19, 2012 at 1:37pm
The recent Budget saw a concerted attack on tax avoidance, especially the practices used by the super-wealthy. And when you look at some of the headline figures, it’s hardly surprising the Government saw this as a ripe target. Many were dismayed when Gordon Brown abolished the 10% tax band for the lowest earners. However, with a little creativity, 10% tax still exists – only this time for the UK’s highest earners. HMRC found that 10% is the average rate of income tax paid by th....
Friday February 17, 2012 at 9:00am
Being in business is about facing challenges. You may have devised a growth strategy and know where you hope to be in, say, three years' time. But even the best strategy has two shadows looming over it: a struggling economy and the government. Broadly speaking, you can do little about the state of the economy. At best, you should remain positive and continue looking for opportunities. The shadow the government casts is a different matter. Government policies or inaction can hold you back. What y....
Friday February 10, 2012 at 9:00am
Investors and start-ups take note. From 6 April 2012, the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) offers tax breaks to individuals investing in small companies. In 2012/13, these tax breaks could be worth 78% of the investment.
SEIS conditions
SEIS builds on the success of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). The government's idea is to help riskier start-up companies raise the finance they need.
In order to qualify:
Companies must have 25 employees or fewer
Their assets must ....
Thursday January 12, 2012 at 9:00am
Amidst all the doom and gloom of 2011 I was encouraged to read that according to recent research 470,000 new businesses were created last year an increase of 18 per cent on figures for 2010. Even taking account of the high number of insolvencies there was still a net gain of 455,000 new limited companies. It’s not unsurprising as in previous recessions when large numbers of people have been made redundant many have elected to set up their own business, often offering their skills and exper....
Thursday December 8, 2011 at 10:00am
I was reading the results of a survey recently which looked at how equipped entrepreneurs are to succeed in business. The results were somewhat surprising.
Fail to plan and you can plan to fail!
In this survey 16 per cent of entrepreneurs didn’t have a written business plan. Now, I’m no advocate for the kind of business plan you might learn how to write in business school. But I am in favour of a set of measurable goals and detailed strategy outlining how the goals will be achiev....
Thursday October 13, 2011 at 9:30am
Cash is king. How many times have you heard that? Too many perhaps, without a full explanation of what it really means.
When business advisors and accountants talk about ‘cash’ being king they are really warning against the dangers of overtrading – in other words celebrating the success you’re having in selling without paying adequate attention to the overall financial health of your business.
You’d think that sales growth was a good thing – but if you exp....
Thursday October 6, 2011 at 9:30am
Times are tough and they are likely to remain challenging for many businesses. So what do businesses have to do to ensure that they succeed in the economic environment of the next few years?
There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to this business planning question. Different businesses will have different requirements but here are a few tips observed in businesses that have succeeded in past tough times:
Put your customer first For the next few years, arguably more than ev....
Thursday September 15, 2011 at 10:00am
There will be few business owners who haven’t dreamt of being offered a multi-million pound inducement to sell their company. But for most it remains just that, a dream.
You can take some steps towards making that dream a reality however, once you’ve decided that selling your business is the right move for you. Business succession planning or exit is something many business owners put off, often to the point where it’s too late. My advice to every business owner is the same &....
Thursday August 11, 2011 at 9:00am
That’s the beauty of outsourcing, the contracting out of a business activity, usually carried out in-house, to a specialist provider. Of course for many SMEs and family owned businesses it’s not just the tasks that they don’t like that can be outsourced, it’s non-core activities, those that add limited value or require specialist expertise.
I recently wrote a blog (It’s time for accountants to offer more) about how the accounting profession needs to step up to the....
Thursday July 21, 2011 at 9:00am
You may have read about the tax planning carried out by UK PLCs to reduce their corporation tax bill and thought 'Why can't we do that?'
Well, maybe you can. You may not be able (or want) to commit to some of the cross border tax planning strategies that a much bigger, global business can. But there are simple tax planning strategies available to pretty much any business.
Firstly check whether you are making the most of your legitimate corporate tax reducing opportunities and, at the same ti....
Friday April 29, 2011 at 10:00am
Most businesses create a business plan at the start of each year which outlines where the business is today, what happened last year and where they want to be at the end of this year. But as we enter the 2nd quarter of 2011, how many business owners have reviewed the business plan and where necessary updated it. Every well managed business prepares monthly accounts, but what about a monthly or even quarterly update to the firm’s strategic plan?
Reviewing and updating your plan ensures t....