5 reasons why you should find out more about selling your business (even if you have no plans to sell)

Many business owners don't give much thought to selling their business until something happens which brings it into play - illness, family crisis, divorce, economic downturn, increased competition etc. 

The problem is it's then often too late to get the best price for the business. At worst it become a fire sale with years of commitment and hard work sold for a pittance

It doesn't have to be like this. I think every business owner should have a strategy or strategies (there may be a number of options) for exiting from their business in a planned way.

Here are 5 reasons why you should put some serious thought and research into selling your business, before you are ready to sell

1. Avoid a fire sale

I know, I'm repeating myself. But you get the point. If you wait until you need to sell, it is probably too late to get a good price

2. Your exit plan will determine how you shape your business

When you have done your research and thought about a possible method and timing of sale this is likely to influence how you develop your business in the following years. For example you might need to systemise or simplify your business to make it more attractive to a buyer or make it less dependent on you as a the business owner.

3. It leads you to the next stage in your life

For many, selling the business will be the step before retirement. For others, it may be the opportunity to start a new venture in a completely different field. Knowing what you may get from your exit and the timing can help you plan ahead

4. It's a big motivator

If you know what your exit looks like, that brings some clarity to what you need to do to get there. Having that goal of a big pot of gold and freedom 5 or 10 years in the future can be a huge motivator and drive you on in your business.

5. Team development

Your exit plan may highlight that you need to develop key members of your team or recruit key personnel to make your business more saleable

So thinking about your exit in advance is important and worth investing some time in. The payback in terms of the knowledge and benefits gained should be very significant indeed

We are very lucky and honoured to have business sales specialist and author Gary Morley presenting at Knowledge Bites for Base52 on Thursday 21 June. It costs a fiver  and includes a buffet lunch. As a business owner it could just be the best value couple of hours you are likely to find anywhere

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/knowledge-bites-selling-your-business-june-2018-tickets-40899833503

5 tips for small businesses to survive and thrive in tough economic times

The UK has just announced that growth in the first quarter fell to only 0.1%. Construction and retail sectors were hit particularly hard with the bad weather having a significant impact. 

Consumer confidence remains low with high inflation and slow wage growth being contributing factors

So how do small businesses cope in these challenging times? How can they keep stable and even grow when the overall economy is underperforming?

Here are 5 tips for staying on course:

1. Pay attention to the financials

This is a time to put additional care into financial management. Ensure that you have a regular routine for record keeping and reviewing business profits. Use forecasting to look ahead and ensure that your finances are stable for three, six and twelve months into the future.

2. Stick to the knitting

This is not the time for being distracted by exciting and speculative new ventures unless you have significant reserves or adequate financing in place. Focussing on the fundamentals of your core business - looking after customers, ensuring operations are efficient and effective and that current trading is profitable will pay off in the long run

3. Keep creditors informed

If cashflow is tight it is important to keep creditors informed and work with them rather than lying low and hoping things improve. If your suppliers know that you have a plan and are intending to settle with them when you can, they are more likely to stay supportive than if you keep them in the dark or break promises

4. Talk to your bank

If your business is going through a difficult period, talking to your bank at an early stage is a good idea. It is possible that a refinancing package or extended overdraft taken at the right time could make the difference between fire fighting and a more managed recovery

5. Don't stop marketing

When finances are tight the temptation is to cut back on all discretionary spending, including marketing. That could be a mistake because when the upturn happens you will not be in the best place to take advantage. It is a good idea to review your marketing however and concentrate on the activities which are delivering tangible results.

There are no guarantees for survival and growth for any business. In tough times, doing the basics well and following these tips should help.

If we can help at Base52, please get in touch

www.base52.co.uk

GDPR and all that...

These things keep coming along.

It starts with maybe a newspaper article, then a post on Linkedin or Facebook, then more posts and articles. Pretty soon there seems to be a whole industry built around the latest ‘thing’. Recent ‘things’ have been PPI claims, bitcoins, blockchain, crypto currencies and pensions auto enrolment.

The new kid on the block is GDPR. Can we ignore it and hope it just goes away? Well for a while perhaps we can. But the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect on 25 May 2018. For all businesses who hold data relating to customers, employees and other contacts there are new rules coming into force and a penalty regime for non compliance. So the time for putting this in the ‘too difficult’ box has passed. Businesses need to act fast to assess what the new rules mean for their business and how they can ensure they are compliant.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for overseeing compliance with the new regulations in the UK. They have published a guide and other reference material which is a useful starting point.

We have also prepared our own summary here GDPR - what is it all about?

If you are still struggling we are running a training event in Hitchin on 18 April which will help you evaluate what you need to do to ensure your business complies with GDPR.

This link provides further details and booking instructions GDPR event Hitchin

On counting things...

Accountants like to count stuff and I'm no exception. Sales, costs, profits, tax, debtors, bank balances etc have all been thoroughly counted over the last few years. I've been very good at counting things that accountants like to count but not so good at counting other things that can be equally useful to keep an eye on.

A little while ago I read a book called 'Better' by Atul Gawande. An interesting read about improving standards in the medical profession. Here's my summary of Better

The author closes by giving some tips on some things to do to get better in your own area of work. One of his tips was 'count things'. He didn't say what you should count. He just said, have a go. Pick a few things you think it might be useful to count and start doing it.

So I did. As well as my usual accountancy things I started counting how many tax returns we filed in a month, how many VAT returns, how many payslips we processed, how many meetings with new prospects we had, how many clients we signed up, how many clients we lost (not many thankfully) and so on.

Well I admit I'm a numbers nerd but I have found this very enlightening. Instead of relying on my gut feel for operational and marketing measures I now have some hard facts. Over time we have built up a trend and year on year comparisons. So I can see growth and areas that need some attention.

I think counting these non financial things has helped me to manage the business more effectively. If you are already doing this, that's great. If not, I can recommend it. Pick a few things to start counting now and see how it goes. Let me know if it works for you - I would be interested in your feedback

www.base52.co.uk

When in a hole you MUST stop digging - when insolvency strikes

As business owners we are invariably optimists. Things will get better. Work a bit harder. Tweak a few things.

But what if the business is insolvent?

This can creep up on a business. One or two unprofitable projects, a significant bad debt perhaps and all of a sudden cashflow is extremely tight. The definition of insolvency is a business not being able to meet its payment obligations to creditors when they fall due. This is not a short term cashflow blip, but something more systemic. On the balance sheet liabilities will exceed assets. Of greater concern is when short term liabilities - bank overdraft, tax due and payments due to suppliers exceed cash and payments due from customers.

In this situation the directors of the business have legal obligations. They can't just keep calm and carry on. Choosing to pay some creditors in preference to others when the business is insolvent is a legal offence and the directors could be held personally liable if the business fails.

The choices for the directors are:

1. Contact all creditors and see if you can reach an informal agreement

It is recommended that a financial projection is prepared in advance of any discussions with creditors so that there is a realistic view of what is affordable. A turnaround plan may involve deferring payments on 'old' debt whilst keeping up to date with new obligations. It is critical that the plan shows that the business is profitable going forward. This is likely to require significant cost cutting and restructuring

2. A Company Voluntary Arrangement

This is where an Insolvency Practitioner is engaged to make binding arrangements with creditors. Unlike the informal arrangements at 1 above, this is a formal arrangement the creditors must adhere to. The company can continue to trade during the CVA

3. Administration

Again this is a formal arrangement where respite can be gained from creditors and the company can continue to trade. Property may need to be sold to cover debts

The final option is liquidation where the company is wound up and any assets are sold and distributed to creditors

So when the company is insolvent, carrying on as normal is not an option. The choices listed above must be followed or the directors will be open to the charge that they treated some creditors more favourably than others

With speed and resolve, following option 1 can turn a company round and bring it back to stability. If action is taken too late, it is more likely that the business will fail and liquidation becomes the only option.

If you think your business may be insolvent I would recommend an urgent discussion with your company accountant.

www.base52.co.uk/services/consultancy

New year, new goals?

The start of the new year is often a time for looking back and reflecting on the last 12 months and setting new resolutions and goals for the year ahead. This is true both personally and in business

But is it really necessary or should we just plough on, doing what we have been doing, especially if things are going reasonably well?

We all know the 'gym' syndrome of lots of people signing up for annual gym membership in January after over-indulging at Christmas. The gyms are full in January and into February and then things start to taper off. By March we are wishing we had never bothered. 

Some entrepreneurs favour BHAGs or Big Hairy Audacious Goals. I'm not sure why they are hairy. The danger with BIG goals and annual gym membership is that we are setting ourselves up to fail.

But goals are important. I'm reading 'Moonwalking with Einstein' by Joshua Foer at the moment. A great book about improving your memory. He describes the 'Plateau of ok' which most of us reach when we learn a new skill. We become comfortable at this plateau and stop improving. The only way to improve is to set new goals, stay curious and learn by your mistakes, i.e. stop being comfortable. So goals are critical if we want to keep improving, whether personally or in business

Maybe I'm setting my sights too low but I favour more modest but achievable goals and not having too many of them. Telling people about your goals is another way of helping you to achieve them. So I thought I'd increase my chances of success by telling you that my modest but achievable goals are to grow sales in my business by at least 10% and to start some language classes. Nothing big or hairy about them but they motivate me and I intend to focus on making sure they happen

What are your business goals for 2018?

If you need some inspiration why not come along to Base52 Growth Club in Hitchin on 25 January? Our guest speaker is Jess Butcher MBE co-founder of Blippar which has grown into a leading tech company in just 6 years! Use this link to book your place https://www.base52/events

Good luck with achieving your goals in 2018

www.base52.co.uk

Deal or no deal?

I had lunch with a lovely chap yesterday who helps people sell their businesses for a living. One of his many insights was that the people who get the best deals are ready to sell but also ready to continue running their business if the offer on the table isn't good enough. The other side of the coin is where the seller has had enough and is desperate to sell. Inevitably they end up getting a poor deal.

So the lesson is that if you are thinking of exiting from your business in the future, it's never too early to start thinking about it and plan your strategy. 

The topic of the moment is Brexit and there has been much debate about 'hard Brexit' and 'Crashing out out of the EU without a deal'. The reality is, from a negotiating perspective, the UK needs that alternative or they have an even weaker hand in negotiations with the EU.

In their acclaimed book about principled negotiation,'Getting to Yes', Fisher and Ury describe the concept of a Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA). They argue that it is foolish to enter into an negotiation without a BATNA and you should work hard to make your BATNA as attractive as possible. This gives significant leverage in a negotiation and allows the holder to walk away until a better offer is put forward.

So if you are in a negotiation, be it a multi-million pound deal or a relatively minor customer complaint, think about your BATNA and be prepared to use it. It may help you achieve a better outcome.

www.base52.co.uk

What's your dream income?

Earning without working or 'passive income' is many people's ideal. Like the guy in Nick Hornby's, 'About a Boy' whose dad wrote a hit pop song and he was able to live a life of leisure on the royalties.

So how do you start to acquire passive income? Many people in employment (and more now with the Government's pensions auto enrolment initiative) will be putting funds aside into a pension. For most, that, along with the State Pension will be their passive income in retirement.

But what about passive income before retirement age? How can we start to build up investments which generate income whilst we are still young enough to enjoy it?

I like George S Clason's book, 'The Richest Man in Babylon'. It's full of tips about thrift and personal financial management purportedly based on the wisdom of the ancient Babylonians. Two tips which have stuck with me are (and I might be paraphrasing here), 'Pay yourself first' and 'Save 10% of what you earn'.

'Pay yourself first' means that you put some money aside for investment before you start paying the household bills etc. That is top of the list and gets done every month. What's left is to live on. 10% is his suggested minimum for setting aside. This is easy to say and much harder to do, particularly if finances are tight. His point is that 10% of even a small amount will not be missed and over time will accumulate if invested wisely.

So let's look at someone earning £30,000 after tax, or £2,500 per month. Paying themselves 10% before they do anything else would generate £3,000 over a year or £250 per month . Within a few years this could build up to a sizeable pot. Let's be clear this is not for a holiday or to put towards a new car. This is for investment, to generate a passive income. Sure, the £250 will be missed but Clason's point is it will not be missed as much as we think. Most people will adapt and reduce their discretionary spending.

What to invest in is a separate question and will depend on a number of things. There are lots of tax incentives for some investments in the form of ISAs, LISAs, Help to Buy ISAs etc. Clason suggests taking some time and doing some research to find the right investment for you. An Independent Financial Advisor can help devise an investment strategy suited to an individual's goals and attitude to risk.

Generating a passive income stream is not easy. It takes discipline and sacrifice but it can reap significant rewards and potential escape from the drudgery of work. Starting early is key so take a tip from the Babylonians and 'Make thy gold multiply'.

www.base52.co.uk

Is the price right?

Getting the price right, or setting price at a level which provides good value to the customer and profit for the business is one of the most important business decisions. It is an area that some businesses give little thought to however and as a result they get by on poor margins and struggle to make ends meet.

Steve Ballmer, ex CEO of IBM puts it more starkly, 'This thing called ‘price’ is really, really important. I still think that a lot of people under-think it through. You have a lot of companies that start and the only difference between the ones that succeed and fail is that one figured out how to make money, because they were deep-in thinking through the revenue, price, and business model. I think that’s under-attended to generally'

So what is the right price?

Ron Baker, Value Pricing expert argues it should be based on value provided to the customer rather than 'accounting' methods like chargeable hours or 'cost plus'. In his book, 'The firm of the future' he gives an example of an accountant who helps a wealthy client sell their business. He is at the client's beck and call for many weeks, uses his knowledge and lifetime experience to deliver an exceptional deal and then he is very pleased with himself when he eventually presents the client with a quite a large bill for hours worked. The client is even more pleased  because in the context of the business sale the fees charged were minuscule. If the accountant had charged a fee based on value delivered, his client would have still been very happy and he would have been able to charge significantly more than the self-limiting hourly rate. The same principle  applies to tradespeople who often limit their pricing with day rates when the value delivered is often significantly higher.

Let's be clear. This is not about overcharging. This is about thinking carefully about the value provided, agreeing terms in advance and then delivering on your promises.

'My business is different' you might say. 'It's very competitive, the price is set by the market'. This can be true of commodity products or services. If you are trapped in this mindset it is not a nice place to be. The challenge I think is try to differentiate your product or service offering so that you provide some unique value and are not competing solely on price.

All accountants know that an increase in price feeds straight through to the bottom line. It is additional profit with no energy expended other than making the decision and presenting it to your customers. A decrease in costs also increases profit (to  a lesser degree) but often there are consequences - you need to give something up, improve productivity, work with another supplier etc. Pricing is the biggest lever for increasing profits.

So I don't have all the answers but I do know that getting the price right is critical for business success. As Steve Ballmer says business owners need to think it through and keep thinking it through. It can be the difference between success and just muddling through

www.base52.co.uk

A tale of two sales

Last year my wife and I had the holiday of a lifetime in India. It was a wonderful experience with fantastic monuments, history and culture, great food and the warm and friendly people.

We came back with lots of stuff we hadn't really intended to buy due in no small measure to the local merchants' talent for selling.

The format usually went something like this. We would have a morning's sightseeing with a local guide. On the way home he would invite us to drop in at a local merchant - jeweller, potter, fabric trader etc. Let's use the jewellers as an example but the experience was similar, whatever the trade, 'Would you like to visit a local jewellers? The owners are very nice and they have a workshop on the premises which they will be happy to show you'. 'Why not?, we thought. There was no 'hard sell', we were free to say no but we usually opted to have a look around. We were greeted by the owner and several others at the entrance and warmly welcomed. Masala tea was offered and we were invited to look around the workshop. We had a personal tour and were shown the journey from raw gem stones, through cutting to designing and manufacture of the jewellery. Nothing was too much trouble. Lo and behold at the end of the tour we ended up in the jewellery shop. More tea was brought in and we were asked about our holiday so far. 'Would we like to see some jewellery?' No one asked us to buy anything but somehow we just did. Not things we needed or had planned to buy but presents and mementos from an enjoyable trip.

Let's contrast this with a trip to a carpet shop at home this weekend. We are in the process of redecorating our house. My wife has thought very carefully about the decor, we just needed the carpets and wanted advice on what to buy. We were ready to be sold to. We had a budget (well sort of) and a deadline. A couple of sales people were sitting down as we entered. We were welcomed and shown a few samples and basically left to potter around and well...leave. We had lots more questions, we wanted some ideas, some input, to let us know what was possible. A cup of tea and a chat would have been nice.

Ok so it's a different situation but I think illustrates a point. In India we had not intended to buy but were shown the possibilities and buying was made easy. So we bought. In the carpet shop we were ready to spend. We had the money ready and wanted help. The kind of help we wanted wasn't forthcoming so we didn't buy.

Off to a new carpet shop today so will see how that one goes...

www.base52.co.uk

A case for outsourcing

In the early days of running a business, often the business owner does a bit of everything. Looking after customers, sure, but doing the accounts, paying the bills, fixing the computer, cleaning up, sorting out problems and anything else that comes along too. The phrase, 'Chief cook and bottle washer' describes it well. From the interesting and important stuff to the plain boring and mundane, it all needs to get done...somehow.

As the business grows the business owner might start to bring in help. They then need to decide what tasks to let go of and what they need to keep hold of. Michael Gerber's, 'E-Myth' describes this dilemma well. He advocates that over time the business owner should delegate the 'technical' stuff and in due course, the 'managerial' stuff and end up being the entrepreneur who develops and guides the business. It's a difficult journey and many don't stay the course. Many stay stuck in the mire of dealing with technical matters, often where they are not an expert and fail to focus on developing their businesses.

A good solution can be outsourcing. Outsourcing is passing responsibility for a set of tasks to an external party, usually a specialist in this line of work. There are many advantages but these include:

• It's often cheaper than employing someone to do this work for you as you only pay for the support you need
• They are are experts and have the knowledge and resources to do the work better than you can
• It's scaleable - as you grow or contract you can adjust your level of support accordingly
• It leaves you to focus on the entrepreneurial stuff

 It's almost a no-brainer but I see many businesses of a reasonable size who deal with their own IT (if something breaks they get someone in to fix it), have no HR back up, do their own marketing (when they get time) and yes, do their own bookkeeping, payroll and VAT, not always in the most effective way

Since starting Base52 we made an early decision to outsource IT and HR support, website maintenance and aspects of marketing. I've never regretted this. It's a monthly overhead but I feel it is an essential cost of 'doing business'. Similarly we offer an outsourced accounting service to many of our clients covering bookkeeping, VAT, management accounts, payroll and well as year need compliance. I believe this arrangement works very well and many of these clients have stayed with us for many years on their business growth journey. 

I found this quote from a chap called Alphonso Jackson, 'The other part of outsourcing is this: it simply says where the work can be done outside better than it can be done inside, we should do it'. 

I think that's pretty good. Cost is also a factor of course (you'd expect an accountant to say that) but if it's affordable, I'm a big fan.

Outsourcing at Base52

A lesson in value

It sounds rather grand but for the last few years I have hired someone to help with the gardening. It's never been my favourite thing, more a chore than a hobby, so getting some help to do the pruning and heavy lifting seems to make good sense.

The chap I have been working with is his own man and he works around his own schedule. I've tried to book him for specific times in advance but he prefers to keep it more flexible. So it turns out that when I need him he's not always available and when I don't need him (in the depths of winter) I get a text asking if we have any work.

That said, he knows his plants and generally his work is tidy and he's reasonably efficient. His hourly rate is quite high but all in all, he is reasonable value for money.

I was walking to town the other day and saw a young chap with a hedge trimmer attacking my neighbour's privet. I stopped for a chat and found out he charged half the hourly rate of my man. This seemed too good to miss so as the garden needed a tidy up I arranged for the young man to come along and have a look. We had a chat about what needed doing and arranged a time.

Big mistake! Turns out this chap is basically a 'man with a lopper' who appears to know nothing about plants. He has butchered the Rosemary at the side of our steps so it has gone from being a luxuriant shrub to a misshapen bunch of leafless twigs. He carved all the flowering heads off the Buddleia to leave a sorry looking clump of withered leaves and he left when the bin was full of debris so one half of the garden was untouched and half was left scarred by his indiscriminate attack.

As the saying goes, 'You get what you pay for'. My new guy was cheap, but an unmitigated disaster. He sent me a text asking if I would like him to come round and finish the other half. I have gently said that I have this covered

So I am back with my somewhat inflexible but knowledgeable and expensive original gardener. I rather sheepishly told him about my trial with the other chap and he took a little too much pleasure in letting me know what a mess he had made. I think I heard him whistling and chortling while he went about his work.

So a few lessons learned there but the main one being that 'cheap' isn't necessarily good value. I will take a little more care next time I think something is too good to miss.

www.base52.co.uk

Small business has become this government's 'cash cow'

The increase in National Insurance contributions announced in the Spring Budget is the latest in a number of tax increases introduced by this government which have a negative impact on small business. The government is in need of cash and it seems like squeezing small business is a relatively easy way of swelling their coffers.

Let's explore the evidence for this. Recent tax changes targeted at small business include:

• The introduction of a dividend tax effective from April 2016
• Changes to the VAT flat rate scheme effective from April 2017
• Increase in national insurance for the self employed from April 2018
• Reduction in the tax free dividend allowance from £5,000 to £2,000 per annum from April 2018

The case put forward by the government for making these changes is that they are 'Levelling the playing field' between 'self employment' and employment. I use the term 'self employment' in its broadest sense here to include those who trade via limited companies, usually as owners (shareholders) and directors (employees). So they have set about withdrawing all the relatively minor tax breaks which were in place to support risk-taking and entrepreneurship.

The issue here is that self employment and employment are not the same and in my opinion should not be taxed in the same way. Many of the smallest businesses are already struggling to make ends meet, particularly in the early stages of their business. Many entrepreneurs do not have a pension or if they do it is often inadequate. They don't get paid if they are absent or sick. All spare funds are often put into keeping their business going and paying their employees and other costs. An extra tax burden on top of this will be hard to bear and in some cases will have a significant effect on the businesses and their owners.

The dividend tax has been introduced without so much as a murmur of protest. For a basic rate tax payer the extra tax burden will be around £2,000 per annum. There were no marches on Downing Street, no petitions on Facebook and no outcry in the Press. The changes to the VAT flat rate scheme again have passed through with little opposition although the cost to a small businesses turning over say £50,000 will be around £2,000 annually along with an increased administration burden. The National Insurance increase has generated more resistance, not least as it went back on the Tories election manifesto pledge not to increase National Insurance, Income Tax or VAT. At the time of writing the government has said the change is 'fair' and it will go ahead.

So what is the conclusion to be drawn from this? Well it seems clear to me that this government does not understand or value small business and sees it as an easy target to hoover up cash. It's an easy target as the Tories are attacking their natural constituency. There has been little protest from the opposition to these tax changes. Small businesses seem to bracketed in with 'big business' excess and tax avoidance scams and as such are seen as fair game to squeeze a bit harder. The danger with attacking your natural supporters is that when things start to bite as they will soon, you find that you cannot take your core support for granted any more.

The UK is still a good place to do business. It's relatively easy to start up and administration, although burdensome, is simpler than in many other countries. If we take away all the tax incentives for business owners we will see more businesses failing and more entrepreneurs thinking, 'What's the point'? if an increasing chunk of their endeavours goes straight into the Chancellor's purse.  Small businesses are the engine for job creation, they give our high streets their diversity and colour, they are the big businesses of the future. We need to nurture and encourage them rather than squeeze the life out of them.

www.base52.co.uk

9 things to do before the end of the tax year

It's that time of year again when some planning in the last few weeks before the end of the tax year could provide a useful tax saving.

The tax year end for individuals is 5th April 2017. Many self employed people also have their accounting year end as 5th April or 31st March to coincide with the tax year. For private limited companies, 31st March is also a common date for the year end.

Here are some ideas:

1) Buy business assets and bring forward expenditure before the year end

If you are thinking of investing in business assets - new plant & machinery, vehicles, office furniture, computer equipment it is sensible to make your purchase before the end of current financial year, rather than the start of the next one. Timing your investment could mean that you can claim your capital allowances sooner, saving on cashflow. Similarly if you are intending to carry out some repairs or maintenance work, doing this before the year end will reduce your next tax bill.

Click here for more details

2) Manage your income

If you are in the fortunate position of being able to manage your income, plan now to optimise your income for tax purposes. For example, as a company director and shareholder, you may be able to reduce salary or dividends to keep your income below the key tax thresholds of £43,000, £100,000 or £150,000. An income level of £50,000 where child benefit is withdrawn from the highest earner in a household is another key threshold to monitor.

The £100,000 threshold is particularly painful from a tax perspective as the personal allowance is withdrawn. This gives an effective rate of tax at a very painful 60% at income levels between £100,000 and £122,000. So best avoided if you don't need the income and can defer this to another year.

3) Consider the effect of the new dividend tax

A new dividend tax was introduced from 6th April 2016. This affects people who receive a significant amount of dividend income each year. There is a £5,000 dividend allowance where dividends are free of tax. Above this level however new rates of dividend tax apply for varying levels of income. 

The dividend tax has a significant impact on business owners who may be used to drawing a relatively high proportion of their income as dividends. If possible the higher rate dividend rate of 32.5% is best avoided by capping gross income at the basic rate threshold of £43,000. Gifting shares to a spouse so that they can utilise the dividend allowance may be appropriate in some cases

Click here for more details

4) Contribute to a pension

Pension contributions before the year end are a tax efficient way of saving for the future and reducing your tax bill. Advice should be sought from a suitably qualified Independent Financial Advisor to ensure that your particular circumstances are considered.

5)  Use gift aid for donations

Using gift aid for charitable donations has the effect of raising the basic rate tax band and saving 20% tax for higher rate tax payers. So for every 80 pence you donate, your chosen charity receives £1.00. 

6) Use your tax free savings allowance

If you are lucky enough to have surplus cash, make sure that you use your annual ISA allowance. Within an ISA, all income and gains are tax free. 

You can save up to £15,240 for 2016/17 and the limit will be increased to £20,000 for 2017/18. You can choose how you split this between stocks & shares and cash ISAs. 

Click here for more details

7) Use your annual capital gains exemption

If you have personal assets (shares, property etc) and are intending to sell them soon, consider the capital gains tax implications in advance. You may be able to time the sales of shares for example to spread over 2 or more tax years and utilise your £11,100 2016/17 annual exemption effectively. For married couples and civil partners consideration should be given to each spouse/civil partner using their allowance.

Click here for more details

8) Review use of the VAT Flat Rate Scheme

For businesses using the VAT Flat Rate Scheme the government have introduced a new definition of a 'Limited Cost Trader' whose expenditure on goods is less than 2% of VAT inclusive turnover. If using the scheme you should consider if you are a LCT in which case it is likely to be advantageous to revert to Standard VAT Accounting from 1 April 2017.

Click here for more details

9) Set money aside for your tax bill

If you take some of the steps above you should be able to reduce your 2017 tax bill. 

If all or some of your income is not taxed at source however, it is likely that you will be faced with a tax bill for 2016/17.

Setting a percentage of your income to one side to cover your tax bill and placing it in a deposit account is a sensible measure and will help avoid any last minute panics in January trying to find the funds. Another tip is to get your tax return completed as soon after the end of the tax year as possible. This give you an early warning of any additional tax due so that you have sufficient time before the payment deadline in January.

Note - This draws on a Blog first published in February 2016 and is updated for new tax rates and allowances.

www.base52.co.uk

Join our VAT simplification scheme - oops no, that's aggressive tax abuse

The VAT Flat Rate scheme was introduced by HMRC in 2002 as a 'simplification scheme'. The idea being that it was simple and beneficial for the small businesses who were eligible to participate and simpler for HMRC in terms of compliance. Essentially the way it works is that a business pays a lower 'flat rate' VAT to HMRC which varies according to their sector. As a trade off the businesses are not able to recover any VAT on expenditure. So a win/win and small businesses signed up for the flat rate scheme in droves. HMRC even offered a 1% discount on the flat rate for the first year of VAT registration.

So all this changed in the last Autumn statement. HMRC have introduced a new concept of a 'Limited Cost Trader' to describe businesses which have minimal expenditure on HMRC's definition of 'goods'. For these businesses they will need to use a new flat rate of 16.5% of VAT inclusive turnover which by my maths comes out at 19.8%. Er...no thank you, we might give that a miss. 

That's all fine but instead of HMRC saying they got it wrong initially and the rates were too generous (even without the 1% first year discount they threw in) or that economic circumstances have changed, low and behold, HMRC have blamed it all on the businesses who took up the scheme.  There is a Technical Note on HMRC's website with the heading, 'Tackling aggressive abuse of the VAT Flat Rate Scheme'  - as if these businesses were doing something wrong? I'm struggling to understand what is aggressive or abusive about adopting a scheme which HMRC devised and promoted and then changed their minds about.

For many businesses the best option will be to revert to standard VAT accounting and recover VAT on their expenses. Depending on their turnover and business sector some businesses will be a few thousand pounds worse off each year as a result of this change. Coming on the back of the dividend tax introduced last April and pensions auto enrolment it's another unwelcome burden for some of the smallest of small businesses. Implying that it was their fault that the scheme is being changed adds insult to injury.

www.base52.co.uk

Accountants aren't just for the year end

Many business owners have a 'once a year' relationship with their accountants. They do their own bookkeeping and VAT administration in house, maybe with a part-time bookkeeper and their accountant is engaged to prepare the year end accounts, possibly with a bit of payroll thrown in.

This arrangement can work fine, especially if you have a good and reliable bookkeeper. It may be more problematic if the in house bookkeeper is not very good or if they decide to move on. In the latter case, finding a replacement can be difficult and an overhead as the newbie learns the ropes and settles in.

So what about outsourcing as an alternative? Outsourcing all of your financial administration including booking and VAT to your accountants can have a number of benefits, including:

• Continuity - the firm you engage should have cover so that if there are staff changes, it's their problem, not yours
• Scalability - if you business grows or contracts they can adapt the level of resources (and costs) to suit your needs
• Synergy - as your accountants are dealing with your bookkeeping they should gain efficiencies on year end work, reducing costs
• Familiarity - with regular contact they get to know you and your business and what makes it tick. They can add value by preparing monthly or quarterly management accounts on the back of the bookkeeping work
• Certainty - you should be able to agree a fixed monthly fee for all the accountancy work so you can budget with certainty

For a small business, outsourcing can be a cost effective and attractive alternative to 'bookkeeper plus accountant'.

A high proportion of the accountancy support we provide at Base52 is as a comprehensive outsourcing package. We like it because we get to know our clients better and we think we can provide a more proactive service with regular contact with our clients.

Please see our website and video for more details

www.base52.co.uk/services/outsourced-accounts-and-tax

Another busy January

I was just thinking about our January tax return workload and reflecting on how things have changed over 14 years at Base52.

In the early years there were just a handful of tax returns, mainly for our business clients. I did the tax returns myself along with most of the business accounts.

14 years on we now deal with a range of tax returns from the routine with self employment profits or PAYE and dividend income, to the more complex with capital gains tax computations, entrepreneurs' relief, foreign income, enterprise investments schemes etc. We have also seen the rapid growth in buy to let ownership. Nowadays, many of our clients have buy to let income on their tax returns. Another change has been the requirement for 'high income' taxpayers who earn more than £100,000 per annum to file a tax return.

One thing that hasn't changed is the January rush. Almost inevitably a high proportion of our tax return work still falls in December and January. There is a nothing like a deadline for focussing minds and helping everything to come together before HMRC penalties apply.

We do try and keep a little in reserve however so despite being a very busy time we are still, 'open for business' in December and January and delighted to welcome new clients.

There is more change on the horizon with the introduction of a dividend tax and changes in buy to let tax from this tax year and Digital Tax Accounts and quarterly reporting from 2018. We are already making plans for the new digital reporting regime and want to be in the best position to support our clients and help them adapt to the new requirements.

So it's heads down for a busy last few weeks to the end of a another tax season. Roll on January 31!

www.base52.co.uk