OUR SERVICES
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS AND TAX
SOLE TRADERS
In addition to the preparation of your accounts, our annual fee includes a meeting to discuss the accounts and any tax planning opportunities that may have arisen in the year, completion of tax computations, and your self-assessment tax return. We also operate a computerised reminder system, so you can't forget important deadlines.
LIMITED COMPANIES
As for sole traders, but accounts are prepared in Companies Act format (more complex). We also prepare the company's as well as your own tax return and submit the company's accounts to Companies House. Finally, we organise the submission of the company's annual return to Companies House.
PARTNERSHIPS
As for sole traders, but we prepare a tax return for the partnership itself together with one for each partner.
For more information on which business type is best suited to your circumstances, book a free consultation.
VAT
REGISTRATION AND DEREGISTRATION
We can advise on whether or not you should be registered for VAT, and assist in either process. Book a free consultation for more information.
PREPARATION OF VAT RETURNS
More and more clients are asking us to perform this service, particularly those who find it difficult to make time to keep proper books or simply don't like the admin side of running a business. In effect we provide a quarterly bookkeeping service, maintaining full accounting records on a software package called Sage Accounts. This automatically produces VAT returns and has the added benefit of making year-end work relatively simple. It helps us produce accounts closer to your year-end and provides more comprehensive records to support your VAT returns and annual accounts.
Clients who normally only provide us with bank statements, invoices, and chequebook stubs leaving us to do the majority of the bookkeeping at the year-end, tend to find that this service does not cost them much more.
PAYROLL
OUR PAYROLL SERVICE
We produce weekly or monthly payslips and payment summaries. For hourly paid employees, all you have to do is let us know the hours worked. We do the rest.
Our software works out your employees' tax and national insurance, plus other deductions such as statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay & student loan repayments.
We then simply tell you how much to pay your employees and HM Revenue and Customs.
We also complete your Employer's monthly and annual returns online and issue your employees with end-of-year summaries (form P60).
Almost all employers need to operate a pension scheme for their employees, we can help with this.
BUSINESS START-UPS
START-UPS
Most self-employed business start-ups can be dealt with as part of our initial meeting, at no cost to you. First, we decide which taxes you need to register for, and then it is just a matter of filling out the forms.
We are always happy to help you learn how to keep good books. We often arrange an appointment for a month or so after you start trading, so we can have a look at what you have done and make suggestions for improvement. This makes our job easier in the long run and helps keep your fees as low as possible.
LIMITED COMPANIES
The above still applies, although there is a charge for registering a limited company. See our page on company formations for more information.
AUDITING
AUDIT
We are registered auditors and are therefore authorised to accept statutory audit work.
INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION
Smaller registered charities may qualify for this less rigorous form of assurance, which is far less expensive. As registered auditors, we are also authorised to accept this form of statutory assurance work.
CHARITY ACCOUNTS
CHARITY ACCOUNTS
Dealing with the accounting requirements for registered charities is a specialist area. As one of the few smaller firms with experience in this market, we are well placed to offer charities a complete service without the high fees associated with the big city centre accountancy firms.
STATEMENT OF RECOMMENDED PRACTICE (FRS 102)
Our charity accounts are fully SORP (FRS 102) compliant, and we have the expertise to help trustees meet their responsibilities in respect of the Trustees' Annual Report.
CIS TAX
FROM 6 April 2007
An updated scheme came into operation:
-There is no longer be any need for CIS cards, certificates or vouchers;
-Contractors must check all subcontractors with HM Revenue & Customs;
-Contractors still need to deduct tax, but it will be HMRC who tell the contractor what percentage to deduct from each subcontractor;
-HMRC issue contractors with a return every month, to show payments made to all subcontractors;
-Contractors must declare on their return that none of the workers listed on the return are employees. This is called a Status declaration.
-Nil returns must be made when there are no payments in any month.
-There are penalties for late submission.
THE SERVICE WE CAN PROVIDE
-We can help you produce a document assessing each of your current subcontractor's employment status. Under the new scheme, you'll be making a declaration on your monthly returns that none of those you have included have been paid under a contract of employment. You may be liable for additional PAYE if this is subsequently found not to be the case.
-We can obtain verification for your existing subcontractors.
-We can produce pay and deduction statements for you to give to subcontractors each tax month showing them how much you have deducted from their pay.
-We can submit your monthly returns on-line.
COMPANY FORMATION AND SECRETARIAL ACCOUNTS
COMPANY FORMATION
We do not use an agent for company formation, so all companies are made to order. This means your company name will be the original name and you will be registered as the first directors and shareholders. Companies can usually be formed within a week to ten days.
COMPANY SECRETARIAL
You may choose to have your company's registered office at our offices. Many clients prefer to have official reminders and correspondence from Companies House and HM Revenue & Customs coming direct to us, not to mention the junk mail associated with registered offices.
There are certain statutory books that all companies should keep, and have available at the registered office for any member of the public who requests it to see. These are largely registers of shareholders, directors etc. We can keep these for you on our electronic system and on the very rare occasion that someone requests it, provide copies.
More importantly, when a company distributes funds to its members via dividends, for these transactions to be valid, the Board should minute approval of the distribution and provide the shareholders with dividend vouchers to support the payment. As dividend strategy is an important part of tax planning for companies, it is important that the correct paperwork is in place should the execution of that planning ever be challenged by HMRC. If you subscribe to our company secretarial service we produce these at the same time as we draft your annual accounts.
MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS AND BUDGETING
MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS
Often banks or regulators want to see your management accounts. We can prepare spreadsheet templates to extract the required information easily from your computerised accounting records, whilst providing well-presented documents for inclusion in board papers or submission to a third party. As well as providing year-to-date information, our management accounts will usually analyse and explain variances in budget.
PROBATE
PROBATE
We are licensed to carry out probate work.
Using an accountant to assist you with probate rather than a solicitor or a bank can be cost-effective. When someone dies, in order to access assets like properties, bank accounts, and investments
someone needs to be appointed executor to the estate of the deceased.
Some estates need to pay inheritance tax.
If the responsibility for dealing with an estate seems to be falling to you, come and see us for a free consultation. We can help with all aspects of the process, and give you a fixed price at the outset.
OUR PROBATE CHARGES
Many other probate professionals charge a set percentage based on the value of the estate. This can potentially lead to large fees being charged for relatively simple tasks. We charge based on how much time we spend assisting you:
Danny French FCA is our probate expert and a director of the firm, his time is charged at £140 + VAT per hour. Where possible he will delegate some of the administrative tasks to his support team, whose time is charged at £60 + VAT per hour.
How much time we spend depends upon the complexity of the case and how much legwork you want to do yourself.
TWO MAJOR FACTORS WHICH AFFECT COST ARE TAX AND EXECUTORSHIP
Tax: Our first meeting will determine whether an Inheritance Tax Return is required. This is lengthy and needs a separate form for each class of asset in the estate. These support a calculation of the tax due. A second form is also usually required at the end of the process to correct any estimates in the original form.
A guide price (excluding VAT) would be £400 for the main form, £200 per subsidiary form, and £200 for final amendments.
EXECUTORSHIP: EITHER YOU OR WE CAN BE APPOINTED EXECUTOR
It is much cheaper if you accept appointment and employ us to assist you in your role. Our administrative burden increases once we are the executor, including setting up a designated bank account to receive funds. We have to do everything by the book, whereas you have more scope for pragmatism, provided you keep all the beneficiaries happy.
A straightforward case where we assist you in obtaining probate and in getting access to funds need not cost more than £1,000 + VAT.
A case where we act as executor, there are multiple beneficiaries and there is a property to sell it could potentially be nearer £10,000 + VAT.
MAKING TAX DIGITAL
MAKING TAX DIGITAL
Making Tax Digital is a key plan of the Government to help businesses and individuals to keep on top of their financial affairs and get their tax right.
HMRC have an ambitious plan to be one of the most advanced tax administrations in the world. Making Tax Digital is transforming tax administration to be More Efficient, More Effective & Easier for users to get right.