Latest Technology

General Election: Which manifesto helps TechCo’s ? With the 8 June general election fast approaching, directors of technology companies will be scanning the main manifestos to consider which party is potentially offering the most useful new policies for their business: Conservatives (link to 84 page manifesto) Running a balanced budget by the middle of the…

What’s in it for Technology Companies? Philip Hammond’s first Spring Budget announced a handful of steady-as-she-goes measures. The new announcements that will catch the eye of technology companies include: From 6-Apr-18, the tax free allowance for personal dividend income will reduce from £5k to £2k pa, For tax advantaged share schemes: clarifying the EIS and SEIS…

EIS:  Growth Shares and Preference. Abingdon Health Ltd v HMRC TC05525 This was an interesting case, and a warning for the unwary. The issue at stake was whether HMRC’s withdrawal of EIS relief as a result of a preference created by a new class of growth share was reasonable. The taxpayer company sought EIS relief in respect…

R&D Tax Relief: Claims rose by 38% in 2014-15. The latest data from HMRC indicates that there has been an increase in both the number of companies making R&D tax relief claims and also that companies are increasing their R&D spend. The fact that there are a significant number of companies making claims for the first time…

FRS102: How affects TechCo’s ? Accounting standard FRS102 is the biggest change in accounting rules for nearly a generation. It will influence how statutory accounts are presented, the terminology and how profit (and hence tax) is calculated. All SME companies must follow this standard for accounting periods commencing on or after 1 January 2016, with earlier adoption encouraged. So…

Super Tax Reliefs: Claim both patent box and R&D relief? The answer to this question is yes and the combination of the two reliefs can be very valuable! We have a number of clients who are undertaking ongoing research and have already registered a patent on their earlier research. They are able to receive the…

P/E Ratios: Mind the Gap! If your business exit plan is a trade sale, then you will be interested in taking advantage of differential Price Earnings (P/E) ratios.  A P/E ratio is the multiple of future maintainable earnings (profits) used to value a business. The P/E ratio appropriate for valuing your tech business will depend…

Growth Shares: Incentivize & tie-in key managers. Attracting, motivating and retaining key staff  is a primary aim for most tech and other business owners. As part of their remuneration package, allowing such staff to invest in growth shares in the company is a useful tool to achieve this. Growth shares are a separate class of equity, with specific…

SME Cyber Security: £5k grants available. Small and micro-sized businesses can apply for government vouchers of up to £5,000 for specialist advice to boost their cyber security, and to protect new business ideas and intellectual property. The vouchers enable businesses to access services from the UK cyber security industry. This new scheme will also help…

Product Development Costs:  CapEx or OpEx ? Nowadays there are very few areas where accounting standards give you a big choice over what accounting treatment you can adopt. The costs of developing a new product (once it has passed its research phase) are one such area. Tech companies have the choice of accounting treatment –…