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accountant / 14 posts found

A drawing of a happy face, a neutral face and a sad face with a en empty tick box next to each

8K – Customer Satisfaction

by mike tombs
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We’ve hit week 7 on the 8 Key Drivers of Business Value! An easy but often overlooked concept for this week – Customer Satisfaction A lot of businesses tend to shy away from asking their customers how satisfied they are – probably because they’re scared of what the results might be. But is that really a good way to run your business? “You can only manage what you measure” is a popular phrase around our office, but it’s applicable in this case too. A very popular indicator of customer satisfaction is the Net Promoter Score, which asks two questions: How [...]

Capital Gains Tax liabilities

by mike tombs
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Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is defined by the Government as: "Capital Gains Tax is a tax on the profit when you sell (or ‘dispose of’) something (an ‘asset’) that’s increased in value. It’s the gain you make that’s taxed, not the amount of money you receive." So, you will pay CGT on an item such as a painting, but not on your house, provided that it is your primary residence. You are liable to pay CGT at certain times of the year. If you personally disposed of an asset that is subject to a CGT charge, at any time during [...]

Don’t despair of your debt

by mike tombs
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Being in debt can be scary, and you can feel helpless. But help is at hand. The most important thing is to talk to someone. This can be your accountant, or it can be a debt charity such as StepChange. A Debt Relief Order (DRO) can help people to improve their debt situation, though it is important to understand the consequences of such action. The first DRO was approved 10 years ago in April 2009 with the aim of assisting people with small levels of assets and little surplus income deal with their debts. Since then, the Insolvency Service has [...]

Are home to work travel costs ever allowed?

by mike tombs
in Tax
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Ordinary commuting between home and work incurs costs: either shoe leather, if you walk, or the cost of transport. For most employees these costs are considered to be personal costs and are not deductible for tax purposes.   This is so even if your employer requests that you attend out of hours, say the weekend. According the HMRC:   If an employee is sometimes required by his employer to attend their permanent workplace outside normal working hours, often at the weekend. This may mean that they incur extra costs on bus fares, meals eaten at their desk and sometimes even [...]

Why does the UK tax year end 5th April?

by mike tombs
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A bit of history this week but with a practical outcome for 2019.   Up to 1582, Europe used the Julian calendar introduced by the Romans in 45BC. Unfortunately, the Julian calendar differed from the solar calendar by 11 ½ minutes; after 500 years this small difference meant that the Julian calendar was 10 days off the solar calendar.   To remedy this error, Pope Gregory introduced the Gregorian calendar in most of Europe under his influence, 1582. There was a notable exception, you guessed right, the British Empire. Sound familiar?   The Brits stoically maintained their use of the [...]

Travelling to the EU after Brexit

by mike tombs
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The following guidance was published on the GOV.UK website 20 December 2018. Much of the guidance has been updated on the basis of a no-deal Brexit.   UK citizens planning a trip to the EU and EEA before 29 March 2019 are not affected by Brexit changes.   The following comments assume a no-deal Brexit and would apply from 29 March 2019   Flying to the EU from the UK Flights should continue as today. Both the UK and EU want flights to continue without any disruption. There will be no impact to direct flights to non-EU countries. Before you [...]

Proposals for consumer protections when companies collapse

by mike tombs
in news
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The government is to consider new laws to protect consumers who have prepaid for products when a business becomes insolvent.   Government to consider new laws to protect consumers who have prepaid for products when a business becomes insolvent proposed measures will include guaranteeing consumer schemes like Christmas savings clubs can safeguard customers’ money reforms are part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy to ensure markets work in the interests of consumers   New laws to protect consumers who have already paid for products but not received them when businesses go bust will be considered by the government, it was [...]

Powers of attorney

by mike tombs
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There are two types of power of attorney that you can grant:   Firstly, to appoint someone you trust to make decisions about your health and wellbeing if you become incapacitated, and Secondly, to appoint someone you trust to make decisions about your finances if you cannot manage your financial affairs.   You can choose to make one type or both, but please note, there is a different process in Scotland and Northern Ireland.   A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make decisions [...]

Ignore these pieces of bad advice

by mike tombs
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Advice, like many other things, comes in both the good and the bad. Some people dispense excellent advice, based on a sound understanding of the circumstances, while others simply fling phrases at random, with little or no regard for their helpfulness. We work with businesses of all sizes, from entrepreneurs to established family businesses, all of whom have received advice of both varieties. Entrepreneurs in particular seem to be in receipt of an astonishing amount of unsolicited advice. Here are a selection that we have come across: “You must have the smartest offices,” – you don’t need a smart postcode. [...]

Are you doing too much?

by mike tombs
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As small business owners, we all do it! We take on too much; we do too much. We’re always saying, “there’s never enough time in the day!” But are we being productive? Or are we running around, sweat pouring out of every vein, doing tasks others could do for us? Are we always thinking about saving money, rather than the bigger picture? Is your accountant always on at you to reduce costs? But at what cost? You probably didn’t go into business to work every waking hour. You may have gone into business for the flexibility, so that you could [...]