VAT
To complement our full bookkeeping, accounting and tax services, we also prepare and submit quarterly and annual VAT Returns on behalf of many clients.
If you are not yet VAT registered, we can provide a detailed analysis of your trading to date and advice as to whether you need to become VAT registered – and when. The timing of registration is so important and it really is something you should take professional advice on – it can save you thousands!
Your business may not yet have to become VAT registered but it may be beneficial to do so – we can advise accordingly of the advantages and disadvantages.
Of course, we can also advise and implement the various non-standard VAT schemes such as flat rate, cash accounting and annual accounting.
At some point during your business’s life, you are likely to be randomly selected for VAT inspection by HMRC. We aim to take as much of the stress out of these as possible – the Inspection can be carried out on our premises and we can assist when you meet with the Inspector to give them a ‘snapshot’ of your business and trading and answer any queries they have. You can rest assured we will do all we can to ensure the Inspection is completed as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Payroll
Prompt and effective dealing of a business’s payroll is more important today than ever. The introduction of HMRC’s Real Time Information (RTI) systems now means it is compulsory for the business to electronically file their payroll each frequency – very promptly (with strict penalties for late filing).
Given this, and so they can concentrate on their business, the majority of our clients prefer us to take responsibility for running their payroll.
You can tell us whether weekly, bi-weekly, four weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually payslips suit you and your business best.
If you are a director shareholder of a Company we can advise what level of nominal salary will minimise your overall tax liabilities (once your expected dividends and other income is taken into account)
By February 2018 all businesses with employees should have considered the requirements for Auto Enrolment pension schemes. For smaller businesses there are staggered staging dates for when this has to be dealt with. The minimum might require a compliance declaration with The Pension Regulator. More likely (if you have an employee earning over £10,000) you will need to set up an Auto Enrolment pension scheme and enrol the employees in the scheme and commence employee and employer pension deductions from your gross pay each pay period. We have considerable experience of helping clients set up these schemes.
If you prefer to run the payroll and Auto Enrolment scheme yourself, alternatively we can provide full training on our recommended software (cost less than £100 per annum) and provide year-round assistance.
CIS – Subcontractors
If you are a subcontractor (sole trader or Limited) we can help you register to be self employed and as a registered subcontractor with HMRC’s Self Assessment and CIS units. Claiming any CIS you’ve suffered during the year back from HMRC can be a notoriously drawn-out process if not handled correctly – we can handle this on your behalf so you get any refund back efficiently and you can focus on your business.
We can also advise and assist in applying for ‘gross status’ when your turnover reaches the appropriate level.
CIS – Contractors
If you are a contractor (sole trader or Limited) we can help you register as a contractor with HMRC’s CIS unit. If you already have a PAYE scheme, we can easily convert this to a PAYE/CIS scheme.
We can either submit your monthly CIS Returns to HMRC (or train you to do so yourself and provide year round assistance whenever you require it, if you prefer). We would advise you each month of the CIS liability you need to pay over to HMRC.
We can also assist to verify new subcontractors (you must do this before you pay them anything) and confirm with HMRC what rate of CIS tax needs to be deducted from their invoice.