Watson Knipe Blog

As we move closer to the new Government initiative of ‘Making Tax Digital, we felt it was important to explain the benefits of having an accountant.

It's always a good idea to have a business plan.  Often people do this at the start of the financial year, but any planning time you can spare is going to help whatever the time of year.  What constitutes a good business plan and how can your accountant help you?

Self-Assessment tax returns need to be submitted by individuals and businesses. Normally if a person is employed the tax is deducted automatically from wages. For businesses, they need to register with HMRC and then they can file their tax return online.

This year we have kept you up to date with changes that have affected landlords in 2018, these included Licensing reforms for HMOs and Energy Performance Certificates for Landlords. 

In the Autumn Budget 2018, some updates were announced with regards to employment taxes. We have summarised some of the key points for employers in this article. The full Summary of the Autumn Budget 2018 can be found on our website.

The main news is still about Making Tax Digital, but we wanted to give a quick summary of some of the other business taxes as well so that you are aware of what may impact your business in the next tax year 2019/20.

If you employ people in your business, then it’s essential to keep up to date with the changes to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage.

There were some changes to personal tax announced in the Autumn Budget on 29 October 2019; we have pulled out some of the key points, so you have a concise summary.

Chancellor Philip Hammond presented his second Autumn Budget on Monday 29 October 2018. In his speech, he stated that ‘austerity is coming to an end - but discipline will remain’.

On Monday 22 October, HMRC published a Partnership Pack on GOV.UK to help businesses plan for the unlikely possibility of a ‘no deal’ EU Exit.

If your business is registered with Companies House, then you should read this article as it explains the duties of a Company Secretary.

As you know the HMRC initiative for Making Tax Digital is underway and we at Adcock Accounting are keeping up to date with any news we can share with you. 

Houses in Multiple Housing (HMOs) are rental properties where a number of people live together but are not related. For example:

When you run a business, you need to know more about your tax obligations. Most people think about their end of year tax return and don’t always understand the other taxes that they may be liable for.

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) tells you how energy efficient a building is. The rating is from A to G, A being the most efficient. By knowing the EPC of a building, you will know how much it will cost to heat and light a building as well as what the likely carbon emissions will be.

We have written many blogs explaining the benefits of being a sole trader and the benefits of being a limited company. The business structure you choose depends on your own personal circumstances and your business goals.

In our last blog – Have you got an exit strategy? – We gave details of the options you may consider when selling your business. Regardless of which way is the best for your business, here are some tasks that you should undertake to make sure that your business is ready for you to exit.

When you start your business all your energy goes into product or service development, marketing and making sales you certainly don't think about your exit strategy.

Our final blog in this series is about FreeAgent Accounting Software. For businesses that are looking for an online solution to manage their finances.

We continue with our series of blogs about different accounting software that is available to small businesses. We do not have a specific bias to any one type of software.

As outlined in our blog - The benefits of using accounting software we explained that HMRC is working towards Making Tax Digital for businesses. To prepare for this change, it’s worth considering using accounting software.