Minerva Accountants Bristol and Somerset
Fully digital Xero accountants for consultants & service businesses
If you’re a sole trader or landlord with income (not profit!) over £20,000pa then you will be affected.
But don’t panic! I’m running a webinar on this on 4 March to explain what you need to do and when. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions if I haven’t covered your particular circumstances. The webinar is free for Minerva clients (£120 for others) with details below. Just reply to this email to register.
User experience (UX) can make or break your business.
I woke up at silly o’clock this morning dreaming about the poor UX in a particular bit of our accounting software. Every time I use it I get annoyed. There’s a similar irritant in our practice management software. Things that were poorly designed.
We try our best to ensure that dealing with Minerva Accountants is smooth and seamless. We work with tech-savvy clients so we use a lot of automated chasing BUT we also ensure that any client who replies to the emails is met with a human response.
We prefer to communicate by email for traceability and so that the whole team can see what is happening with clients BUT, if something is not straightforward, we leap onto a telephone or Zoom call.
AI and technology can make things run smoothly behind the scenes but it takes a human to think through a human friendly UX. Take some time this week to review the customer journey in your business and make it as smooth and friendly as possible.
1.How do the first contact you?
2.What is your onboarding process?
3.What is the process for delivering your goods or services?
4.What happens when something goes wrong?
5.How easy is it for customers to speak to a human being of they need to?
What one thing can you do to improve each of these touchpoints?
The GOV.UK One login is gradually replacing your Government Gateway. It will be much simpler to access everything in one place but the transition period will be a bit, well, bitty.
Every business owner has probably considered this at some point, and you may even think about it on a regular basis.
Comfortable, regular income, regular hours (even if you do end up working more than your contract), the ultimate responsibility lies with somebody else, and you can hand in your notice and walk away if things become too much.
But compare that to the freedom of running your own business. I set up my own small accountancy business after I was unable to find flexible work that would allow me to prioritise my young children. I was only going to do a few sets of accounts from the kitchen table but my corporate background running businesses meant that it grew far beyond that. I started, built, and eventually sold, Hudson Business Accountants and Advisers while working an average of just 25 hours per week. (If you want to know how then read my first book, The Numbers Business: how to build a successful cloud accountancy practice)
Now that my kids have grown and flown, I work a full week, but I run three businesses. Okay, two businesses and a side hustle. Whilst I still enjoy flexible hours, all my businesses are remote as I like to work as I travel. And our whole team have the same freedom.
As the business owner I also get to choose the work that I do and the clients that I work with. We only have the nicest clients which make work more enjoyable AND we are more motivated to do more for them. And I love it when we can help others, whether business owner clients of Minerva Accountants or accountant clients of Hudson Business Advice, to have that same business that they dream of.
If I could find an employer who shared my values and provided enjoyable work and the same flexibility, I would jump at the stability of employment but, until then, I love what I have built. And I want to help others to fall back in love with their business too.
Company cars can seem like a good buy for your business but the individual is heavily taxed if they are available for personal use. You don’t even need to drive them, they just need to be available.
Company cars are not really tax efficient and we often advise clients to buy the car privately and just charge the company for mileage. For one client with expensive taste in cars we even recommended staying as a sole trader rather than a limited company. (I know your mate at the pub probably told you that you could save a shedload of tax by being a limited company but this isn’t always true! Ask us to do the detailed calculations for your chosen car)
This is because cars are treated as benefits in kind and taxed as if you have additional salary. The value of this benefit is based on a percentage of list price (including accessories) even if you buy them second hand. The employee pays tax and national insurance and the employer also pays national insurance.
The percentage used for electric vehicles is much lower than for others although this is increasing each year.
As well as the vehicle any fuel for personal use is taxed at a flat rate for the year so work out how much you use to see if it is tax efficient.
If you’re still considering a company car then you may be able to reduce your overall tax burden by many different means:
How patronising! Am I the only one who gets wound up by trite comments like this?
We might all have 24 hours per day but we have very different responsibilities and priorities.
You might have family to care for, health issues, different work/business commitments, different commutes, gym and fitness requirements, food prep, and a need for good sleep AND quality relaxation.
There are all sort of processes/hacks that we can implement to get more out of our 24 hours. I try to share many of them here.
But please, don’t judge others or feel that you have failed because you don’t get as much done.
When I had small children I worked a 25 hour week which taught me to be very efficient and to insist on well trained clients who fitted our business well. Now that my kids have grown and flown my time is my own.
I still choose to work ‘only’ 35 hours per week using the processes and automation that I learned in my first businesses. These days I am able to travel more freely and take advantage of working holidays. I still don’t seem to prioritise the gym though!
Ideally, we would sit down with our clients each Feb/Mar to discuss any tax planning required before the end of the tax year. But many of our clients are too small to have the necessary management accounts to provide reliable information, or they just can’t afford a proactive fee so we provide them with a mini-review each year.
When we complete year end accounts for our clients we complete a 10 point tax review for each business as standard to ensure that they are making the most of their various allowances.
1. Are they using the most appropriate trading vehicle eg sole trader or partnership vs limited company?
2. Should they register for VAT voluntarily or if they have exceeded the rolling 12 month limit (currently £90k including reverse charge income)? If already VAT registered are they on the most suitable scheme?
3. Should their spouse be a partner, shareholder, or employee?
4. Are they taking the most appropriate salary vs dividends?
5. Are they approaching certain cliff edges such as 25% corporation tax, higher income child benefit charge, etc and are there legitimate ways to keep their income below these limits?
6. Are they investing in pensions?
7. Should they be paying/receiving interest on their DLA?
8. Are they using part of their home for business and should they claim these costs?
9. Are they eligible for Research and Development tax credits and is it worth claiming (as the fees can be quite high for legitimate experts)?
10.Would they benefit from an EIS/SEIS scheme?
Good compliance is essential. It keeps you legal. But it is always looking backwards and does little to help a business to grow. Many accountants only do once a year accounts and many business owners are happy with this.
Real growth comes through planning, looking forward, and taking actions.
To help with this we run FOUR strategic planning days Jan – Mar (2 for accountants and 2 for other business owners) and another in the Autumn.
But we don’t just run them for other people. My year end is July, a legacy from when my life and business revolved around my young children and the school year. I work through the same SPD myself every Summer to work out my priorities and plans each year.
We look at:
Yes, I know that covers more than strategy but, for small businesses, it’s enough to have a clear plan and we have clients who come back to repeat the exercise with us.
When did you last look at your own business in this way?
(the rules are slightly different for sole traders)
(These are generally deductible if they are wholly and exclusively for business purposes)
December is our busiest month of the year. We have lots of limited company deadlines* for companies with March year ends as well as personal tax return deadlines* in January. AND we close the office for 2 weeks so that the team can spend time with their families.
This December has been busier that usual with trying to prepare sole trader and landlord clients for MTD in April at the same time as talking limited company directors through verifying their ID for Companies House*
The only thing for it was to escape for a day with other UK based members of GWAI (Global Women Accountant Influencer group) discussing future plans and sharing ideas while also relaxing at a spa. We’re all back at work revitalised and ready to power through to Friday when Christmas holidays begin and we can switch off completely. (For those with families they just switch their accountant/business leader role for their mum role)
Sometimes you can move faster if you just take time to rest.
*None of these would be at all stressful if clients responded to our first, or even our second reminder earlier this year