Latest Start Ups

With the UK tax system as complicated as ever, there are certain rules which we come across that can very easily give a particularly unexpected (and unpleasant) consequence. Income Tax When either parent has taxable earnings over £50k (after personal pension contributions), entitlement to child benefit is reduced. As higher rate income tax starts at…

Wondering ‘Why should I write a business plan?’ Business plans are vital for the future of any small and large companies. They investigate the long-term goals and objectives that you would like to achieve and put these into short term goals to ensure you are reaching your end target.   A good business plan may…

With many businesses seeing a return to pre-pandemic trading levels, now is an ideal time to review your SME’s VAT status.   Businesses must compulsorily register for VAT where ‘VAT-able’ supplies (which is usually, but not always, your turnover), on a rolling 12 month basis, exceeds £85,000. Voluntary registration, however, can take place with turnover below this…

As we continually move from the analogue to the digital age, approving business documents by e-signature is becoming evermore common place. In response to this, The Law Society have just issued an updated practice note. This practice note sets the scene by recognising that e-signatures can be in various forms: name typed on a document…

HMRC will raise interest rates on tax debt from 11 October following the 0.5% increase in the base rate.   This means that the late payment interest rate will increase to 4.75% from 11 October 2022. The rate last increased to 4.25% on 23 August. This is the highest rate since the height of the financial crisis…

Cambridgeshire County Council has just relaunched its Business & IP Centre (BIPC) ‘Jumpstart’ grant scheme, to help startup businesses in Cambridgeshire. Main eligibility criteria: Your business must have been registered, in Cambridgeshire or Peterborough, on or after 1 November 2021, or be registered within two months of receiving the grant. You must be 18 or over.…

Are you thinking about setting up a business? If so, one of the first decisions you will need to make is that of business structure.   The main business structures are: sole trader, partnership, limited liability company and limited liability partnership (LLP).   Sole trader – This is the easiest set up, with very little…

If you operate a trade through a limited company, and your ‘numbers’ are big enough, then there are some scenarios where it is often best advice to insert a parent company above this trading company, to create a simple group structure: As a risk management measure, to enable valuable assets (eg business premises, investment property,…

For some businesses having a strong credit rating is fundamental to their future success. It can affect availability of supplier credit, the ability to borrow and eligibility to be on customer/prospect tender lists as an approved supplier. For many other businesses, however, this credit rating is totally irrelevant.   Experian is one of the major…

If you’ve never used a cloud software before coming to a decision on what package to choose can be quite daunting. Well, in this blog I am going to summarise what different packages are available and tell you what each package does and also, what it doesn’t do.   There are three packages that Xero…