We believe any business owner should consider management accounts: they give you up to date information about the performance of your business.

In the current economic climate, people understandably want to reduce their costs and strip out anything unnecessary. Management accounts are an essential tool to help do this, and can save you far more than they cost to produce.

Simple management accounts may cost less than you think

If you keep your books in a modern accounting package, like Solar Accounts or Accounts Portal, then the facility to run simple reports like a profit & loss, balance sheet or debtors and creditors is built in. If you use a professional bookkeeper, then adding some basic management reports to the package shouldn’t cost much more, and provides so much more value than simple tax compliance.

If you get confused when you look at accounting reports, we will happily give you a quick talk through the basics for free. We can also provide more in depth training for those who wish.

Cash is king

Cashflow is king; more advanced management accounts can provide you with cashflow projections, budgeting forecasts and analysis and more.

Management accounts can turn your job into a business

If you’re a small sole trader who wants more than simply having a job where you are your own boss, having up to date business information can help you transform your job into a thriving business – you can go on holiday and the business is still making you money!

If you are happy with the size and structure of your business and have no plans to expand, simple regular reports and accounts are still a useful tool in helping you streamline your business finances, maximising your profit and minimising your tax.

Talk to us for free to see what type of management accounts can help you today

We often get asked how complicated it is to change your accountant. Some people think it’s difficult, for any number of reasons. The answer is: it’s very easy!

Once you’ve made the decision to switch, all you have to do is one thing:

1. Write to your current accountant saying you wish to change, give your new accountant’s name and details, and give them consent to pass your details on. We can even give you an example letter to use.

The incoming accountant then does the rest!

2. The new accountant writes to the outgoing accountant with a letter of “Professional Clearance.” This is a standard process, and the two accountants handle all of the necessary paperwork and handover between themselves.

It’s that simple.

The Farrant Frost team are doing the Race for Life in Salisbury on 3rd July 2011!

We would be very grateful for any and all sponsorship – our page is here.

Dont forget to gift-aid it!

Remember – if you are a higher rate taxpayer, you will get tax relief on your charitable donations if you declare them on your tax return.

There are various tax breaks for businesses who promote the health and wellbeing of their employees. As us about the Cycle to Work scheme, or how to claim back expenses for work related cycle trips.

HMRC will never email you to tell you about a tax refund. NEVER!

Some more scam emails are doing the rounds, this time entitled “Income tax repayment” or “Tax refund notification”.

Delete and DO NOT click any links in the email. If you are in self assessment, any tax you owe or are due back will be calculated via your tax return.

HMRC state on their site:

“HMRC will never send notifications of a tax rebate by email, or ask you to disclose personal or payment information by email. If you have received an email claiming to be from HMRC that you suspect may be fraudulent, please forward it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.”

If you think you may have overpaid tax, please contact us to see how we can help you.

At Farrant Frost, we are always looking to improve – and we’ve just made our complete accounting service All Beans Counted even better!

We’ve smoothed out our pricing policy, meaning great value complete accounting can be yours for low monthly fees, every month, even if you join part way through your financial year. Great!

For example, if Bob’s monthly fee is £30, and he joined us in month 4 of his financial year, he will need to pay for months 1-3 as well as month 4 onwards. Previously, we typically added all prior months into the first invoice. That would be a bill to Bob for £120. We didn’t like it, we don’t like lump sums here at Farrant Frost and All Beans Counted, but we couldn’t think of a better way.

A cup of tea later, we’ve made it so much better! Now, if Bob joins us, we will invoice him £60 for the first 3 months he’s with us, then £30 per month thereafter. This gets all of his financial year done, with a much smoother cashflow. And there’s still no contract or tie-in!

We like it. We hope you will too.

Have a look at our ABC site to see if affordable, simple to use, “we-do-it-all, you-don’t-have-to” accounting and bookkeeping is for you.

And while you’re here, please vote for us in the Progressive Practice competition. Thanks!

We look after everything - down to the last bean

We’ve made the final 5 in AccountingWeb’s Progressive Practice competition.

We want to make number 1!

We can only do this if you vote for us. It only takes a minute.

Our All Beans Counted service is a complete, low cost accounting service that keeps the tax man happy and puts you in the picture with your business finances every month. No spreadsheets, no entering your transactions on an online interface, just give us your paperwork (in a provided envelope or electronically) every month and let us look after everything for you.

David and I are delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted for AccountingWeb.co.uk‘s Progressive Practice competiton!

This is due to our innovative service All Beans Counted and the way we’ve streamlined our systems to mean we can provide a premium accounting service for a great low fee.

The final 5 competitors will be put to a public vote – we hope you will support us!

We will be posting a link to the competition as soon as it’s launched.

~Jenni

November 2011 update: Sadly Solar have withdrawn all discounts on referral links and so there are no more discounts available

You can still purchase Solar Accounts through our link, below, and please watch this space for any Solar-related special offers or promotions we may offer in the future (or contact us).

We offer support to businesses keeping their books on Solar and also offer Solar training, and are happy to offer year-end services including tax returns and advice for Solar accounts users.

_________________________________________

Original post:

Farrant Frost is an official Solar Accounts friendly accountant! We are able to offer a discount of 20% on the RRP.

We also offer year-end and in-year accountancy services for businesses who keep their books on Solar Accounts, as well as Solar Accounts training.

Please follow this link for our 20% discount*

Get in touch today to discuss how we can help your business.

*Please note: this will redirect you to an external website. November 2011: Please note, this link will no longer give a discount.

Keeping records for self employed individuals

If you’re self employed, you are legally obliged to keep records of your business transactions.

You must keep these records for at least five years and ten months after the end of the tax year to which the records relate (so, you can get rid of your 2003-04 records on 6th February 2010).

Self employed individuals aren’t required to complete a balance sheet (a statement of your assets, liabilities and equity) although it’s a useful management tool to have.

This means that, at the most basic level, you can simply keep a record of your income and expenditure as detailed on our self employment article.

National Insurance is a compulsory insurance that acts like a tax. Individuals who pay National Insurance qualify for a state pension and various benefits. There are 4 classes of National Insurance:

• Class 1
• Class 1a
• Class 2
• Class 3
• Class 4

Current rates of NI can be found on HMRC’s website.

Class 1

Primary: Payable by employees on income earned through employment. Deducted by the employer and paid over to HMRC on the employee’s behalf.

Secondary: Payable by employers on top of the employer’s salary. Calculated by the employer and paid over to HMRC.

Class 1a

Payable by employers on taxable benefits provided to employees. Paid to HMRC once a year.

Class 2

Payable by self employed individuals, currently at £2.40 per week. This ensures their NI contribution record is kept up to date.

Individuals making less than £5075 profit per year can apply for a Small Earnings Exception by completing form CF10. This means they don’t have to pay the Class 2 contributions – but it also means they aren’t contributing to their NI record, unless they are paying another form of National Insurance, such as Class 1 from a job.

Class 3

Voluntary contributions payable by individuals unable to keep up their NI contribution record any other way. Currently £12.05 per week.

Class 4

Payable by self employed individuals. A percentage of profits paid, like income tax, by 31st January following the end of the tax year and calculated on a tax return. Currently 8% on profits from £5715 to £43875 per year and 1% on profits above this.