In addition to keeping the internal ledgers in order, there are also requirements that relate to business accounting, calculating and paying tax, and running any payroll requirements that you have, month to month.
All these tasks come with their own mountain of rules and regulations, as well as a degree of expertise for negotiating the processes and procedures. You can try and grapple with all of these yourself… or you can get on with your day job and ask us to help you out instead.
Business Accounting
Business Accounting is broadly split into your management accounts and financial accounts.
Even a small business will need some level of management accounting. There may be external obligations – for example, compliance with the Lexcel standard or because of the requirements of your bank. But even if just for your own internal purposes, understanding the ebbs and flows of cash might be the difference between making your next mortgage payment or not.
For financial accounting and reporting, there are obligations to Companies House (which differ depending on your corporate structure and turnover) and to the SRA (which are significant if you are operating a client account).
Tax
As the saying goes, there is nothing more certain in life than death and taxes. This includes the many and varied ways of managing your obligations to HMRC.
- PAYE & NIC – if you are running any kind of payroll, then you will have a monthly obligation to pay PAYE & NIC.
- VAT – undertaken quarterly, correctly managing the input and output VAT in your ledgers is vital to ensure that this is accurate but, more importantly, to make sure you don’t pay more than you need to.
- Partners’ tax/Corporation tax – your requirements to pay tax on the profits of the firm and/or pay tax on the income of the Partners will be determined by how your firm is structured.
Tax accounting needs to be done with care and skill, to avoid additional tax audits. It also needs to be considered carefully in terms of budgeting and cash flow. HMRC are somewhat less flexible with regards their demands for payment than you might like. So, we will help you both make sure that you are paying the right amounts and that you have the cash to pay those amounts on time.
Payroll & pensions
Very small firms might be able to manage without any employees. But becoming an employer brings a lot of additional commitments, including:
- Managing variable hours
- Calculating holiday entitlements
- Making PAYE & NIC payments
- Setting up a workplace pension environment
Taking on staff is therefore not something to be entered into lightly. And if you do become an employer, then you need to find the most efficient way of carrying out your new duties. We can provide that efficient solution.