Has your company received a letter from the pensions regulator in regards to Auto enrolment ? well if you have a limited company you should have received a letter displaying your staging date. Do you know the next steps ? do you nee help in enrolling your staff ? Automatic enrolment is compulsory and shouldn’t be ignored otherwise you could find your facing substantial fines. contact us now for help.
As part of HMRCs process to roll out the new Making Tax Digital (MTD) the new regulations will state that all expenses and income must be kept in a digital format within a software package which is recognised by HMRC.
As a Cloud Bookkeeper we have always taken the steps to keep all records in a digital format within the bookkeeping software and Cloud storage for receipts and invoices.
To avoid any compliance issues its best to seek help with these matters, the days of paper filling and on site software are soon to be a thing of the past. For more information contact Jason at Cloud Bookkeeper for more information
info@cloudbookkeeper.co.uk
For many businesses particularly in the services sector the Flat Rate scheme has been the main choice when it came to VAT. The flat rate scheme typically simplifies the Vat return at a flat rate. The Flat rate is available for businesses with turnover up to £150,000
New changes to the Flat rate scheme come into effect from april 2017 the new fixed flat rate will be 16.5%
Phillip Hammond the Chancellor has delivered his Autumn Statement today and heres the key points in regards to tax
- Income tax threshold to be raised to £11,500 in April, from £11,000 now
- Higher rate income tax threshold to rise to £50,000 by the end of the Parliament
- Tax savings on salary sacrifice and benefits in kind to be stopped, with exceptions for ultra-low emission cars, pensions, childcare and cycling
- National Living Wage to rise from £7.20 an hour to £7.50 from April next year
- Employee and employer National Insurance thresholds to be equalised at £157 per week from April 2017
- Insurance premium tax to rise from 10% to 12% next June
We have decided to feature some of our existing clients on our blog, some businesses are not very computer minded never mind entering the cloud revolution but with our help we manage to teach our clients an effective way raising invoices and producing reports on there business. Working in the cloud doesn’t need to seem so scary and our clients are now benefiting from good systems and accurate books. This video is on Daniel from D&L House clearances, a company who clear properties around the south east of England and dispose of materials by giving back to charity and recycling.
Article written for http://www.cloudbookkeeper.co.uk/ by IAB
Bookkeeping myths
Regardless of where you stand within the business world, bookkeeping can prove to be a difficult task. Involving the likes of keeping a track of finances, enduring that paperwork is organised, and –ultimately – many more tasks which a busy worker may find difficult to perform.
It just so happens that these performing these tasks are vital to having a business which runs properly. One way to ensure that all bookkeeping talks are completed with little detrimental effect to you and your business is to hire a bookkeeper – be it from a firm or an independent individual.
Oddly enough, there are several misconceptions and myths that surround hiring a bookkeeper for your business – luckily, we’re here to tackle them.
Only big businesses need help from a bookkeeper
Many imagine that a bookkeeper is something that only large, prestigious businesses and corporations need. This couldn’t be further from the truth, we’ll assure you. When you first start your business, you may find yourself feeling a tad overwhelmed at the wealth of tasks that need to be performed – anything from finding office space, to sorting out any legal affairs. Hiring a bookkeeper during this time can help to lighten the load a little – even more so if you aren’t confident in your math or organisational abilities.
Never be afraid or feel ashamed to contact a professional bookkeeper, regardless of your businesses size – be it a still- blooming start up to a sizeable success story.
My business doesn’t make enough money to hire a bookkeeper
You may have to shop around a tad to find a professional bookkeeper that allows you to live and work comfortably within your personal budget, but as a whole, hiring a bookkeeper can help you to save money in the long run.
Think of it like this; all of the time you may spend trying to organise paper work, doing sums, and trying to keep everything together could be better spend growing your business in a wealth of ways. Hire a bookkeeper, and you’ll find that all of this time is magically freed up – meaning you’ll most likely more of a profit in the process!
Bookkeeping is just about maths
This is one of the most common misconceptions about bookkeeping – besides that it’s all about collecting books, too.
In reality, bookkeepers are involved more in the numerical side of your financial issues. As well, they can also assist you with communication, which is ultimately how they help you to save time and money in the long run.
For example, you may have difficulty expressing what you want from an insurance package from your business, or you may be struggling with a difficult aspect of the maths behind your money. Hire
the correct bookkeeper, and you’ll have everything explained to you in a way that you understand, as well as being a lot more organised.
Anyone can do bookkeeping
There’s tons of knowledge needed to be a bookkeeper, and not knowledge that can be gained overnight or after a quick course. Bookkeepers can go through years of training, working, and assessments before they can become qualified. This ensures that you’ll only ever hire a bookkeeper that knows everything needed to correctly understand transactions, collating, and analysing accounts without any error.
‘I don’t need a bookkeeper, I’ve been okay so far!’
It may have been smooth sailing for you and your business so far, but one just remember that the business world is one that is constantly changing, which makes it likely that your business will have to adapt accordingly. It may not necessarily be in a negative way, it may be that you have to learn how to use a popular new social media site, or that you decide to upgrade to a bigger office space – whatever it may be, plenty of work may be required!
The point is; no business stays the same forever. Hiring a bookkeeper to take care of your accounts and paperwork can be all the help in the world when you have a growing business to take care of. As well, a bookkeeper can offer you expert advice in regards to what the best path for your business to take best would be.
Hopefully, you can now see that hiring a bookkeeper is one of the best – and easiest – ways to ensure that your business doesn’t begin to fall behind. Get hiring, and you can then begin to focus on the most important thing of all – running your business.
For further if formation about bookkeeping, hiring a bookkeeper, and anything else regarding bookkeeping, don’t hesitate to contact the International Association of Bookkeepers (IAB).
The tax relief that landlords of residential properties get for finance costs will be restricted to the basic rate of income tax, this will be phased in from April 2017.
The amount of income tax relief landlords can get on residential property finance costs will be restricted to the basic rate of tax.
The changes will:
- affect your clients if they let residential properties as an individual, or in a partnership or trust
- change how they receive relief for interest and other finance costs
- be gradually introduced over four years from April 2017
Finance costs won’t be taken into account to work out taxable property profits. Instead, once the Income Tax on property profits and any other income sources has been assessed, your client’s income tax liability will be reduced by a basic rate ‘tax reduction’. For most landlords, this’ll be the basic rate value of the finance costs.
Who’ll be affected?
Clients will be affected if they are a:
- UK resident individual that lets residential properties in the UK or overseas
- non-UK resident individual that lets residential properties in the UK
- individual who let such properties in partnership
- trustee or beneficiary of trusts liable for Income Tax on the property profits
All residential landlords with finance costs will be affected, but only some will pay more tax.
Clients won’t be affected by the introduction of the finance cost restriction if they’re a:
- UK resident company
- non-UK resident companies
- landlord of Furnished Holiday Lettings
They will continue to receive relief for interest and other finance costs in the usual way. The restriction will be phased in gradually from 6 April 2017 and will be fully in place from 6 April 2020.
| Tax year | Percentage of finance costs deductible from rental income | Percentage of basic rate tax reduction |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 to 2018 | 75% | 25% |
| 2018 to 2019 | 50% | 50% |
| 2019 to 2020 | 25% | 75% |
| 2020 to 2021 | 0% | 100% |
Tax-free child care is a new government scheme to help working parents with the cost of childcare. Tax-Free Childcare will be launched from early 2017 and it will be offered gradually to families, with parents of the youngest children eligible to apply first. For every £8 a parent pays in, the government will pay in £2. Parents can receive up to £2000 per child, per year, towards their childcare costs, or £4000 for children with disabilities.
Richard Hotchin, the director of Qube Specialist Maintenance Solutions LTD, inflated the value of his purchases and drew up invoices for equipment he had never bought. Hotchin pleaded guilty in court on the 22nd of June 2016 and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. Confiscation proceedings are underway to recoup the proceeds of his crime.
The VAT act 1994 and The VAT regulations 1995 will need updating after the referendum. One key issue raised by the leave campaign during the referendum is the possibility of changing the VAT rate for domestic fuel and power from 5% to 0%. This hasn’t been decided upon yet and is unlikely to happen but the UK will now have the right to apply the reduced and zero rates.