Category: Efficiency

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Is remote working right for you?

Gone are the days of everybody in the office. Since covid most businesses operate some sort of hybrid system but I’ve been working remotely since 2017 and, although my old business had physical premises, we all had the ability to work remotely since 2012. We also all work different hours to suit our lifestyles.

So how do we make this work?

• We run a paperless office. All clients have access to a secure portal or they can email things if they prefer. Most clients are on cloud based software and they can upload invoices etc using Dext or Hubdoc.
• All our software is cloud based and we can all access documents remotely on our shared Onedrive.
• We have a virtual office where we can receive mail from HMRC which is scanned for us to log into our system.
• All engagement letters, accounts, and tax returns are signed electronically using XeroTax or our secure portal.
• We all have VOIP (voice over internet protocol) phones which can be answered via an app on our laptops or on our mobiles.
• We all have laptops rather than PCs so we can work when travelling. (Although I find it much easier to have two screens when I’m in my home office)
• Our calls all come into a central answering service who act as our receptionist and distribute calls to named individuals or according to who is working that day.
• We have a shared email address where everybody can see what is going on. These are flagged by colour to indicate who needs to deal with them.
• All incoming emails are automatically copied to the client account on our practice management software, Accountancy Manager. When a client calls up, or when we are working on their accounts, we can see what emails and notes have been made throughout the year.
• All deadlines and tasks are held on Accountancy Manager so that we can see who is working on what.
• We have an online meeting at 9am each morning for whoever is working that day. We discuss what we will each be working on and if anybody needs information or help
• We have a face to face (where possible) planning meeting and brunch once a quarter to plan the next 90 days.
• We don’t have a printer. On the very rare occasions when we need to print something (usually a letter to HMRC) I have to take it to the local post office on a USB stick. This is the only thing that isn’t easier!
• We contact clients by email, telephone or Zoom depending on their preference.

Remote working gives us all the benefit of better work-life balance and saves us commuting time. For me it means that I can work around the country when busy with speaking engagements or ICAEW meetings. The money saved on offices is invested in modern software to improve communication and efficiency within the business.

Do you prefer to work remotely or from a shared office?

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Hope isn’t a business strategy

I see too many businesses set up full of hope but not much of a plan. We run strategy days for all sorts of business owners, including accountants, where we look at the following: 

  1. Services offered and what problems these solve 
  1. Business size and growth objectives 
  1. Geographic scope 
  1. Target market and competitors 
  1. Unique selling points 
  1. SWOT analysis 
  1. Financial plan (high level) 
  1. Personal objectives of the owner 

It is particularly important that you know how to identify your ideal client, how to approach them, and how to serve them so that they keep you coming back for more and referring you to everybody they know. 

Once you’ve got this knowledge you need to ACT on it because hope alone won’t get you the business that you want. 

So go ahead and think about your strategy or book a strategic planning day with us. 

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The difference between spending and investing 

Oscar Wilde once said that “The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing” and this is often true of accountants who are associated with cost cutting. 

Here at Minerva we prefer to see spending as investing. What do we get in return for the cash? 

As a small business ourselves working for small business clients it is important that every pound we spent generates future value. It’s why we invest in things such as marketing, training and business coaching (yes, as well as being a qualified business coach I also see the value of using a coach myself). These are things that many business owners see as overheads but, spent wisely, that can help to generate future profits through growing your business or operating more efficiently. 

What is your wisest investment in yourself or your business? 

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Making flexible working work

One way to recruit and retain good staff is to offer flexible working. Flexible in terms of hours and location.

Many people are uncertain how to make the change to remote working and struggling to recruit high calibre people. At Hudson Accountants we offered flexibility over hours and, to a lesser extent, location but Minerva Accountants is fully remote. So how do we do it?

Cloud software is a necessity but the less obvious key is to have good communication.

1. We use a shared inbox. As long as you use the hello@minervaaccountants.co.uk email address anybody can pick up the query or task even if the regular CAM (client account manager) is off. If it will wait until their return we use coloured flags to allocate the emails to a particular person. As well as ensuring that the best person can help with your enquiry it also reduces our digital footprint.

2. Emails are also logged by Accountancy Manager so that they are available to the whole team. We can each follow conversations. For this reason we prefer emails but notes are added of any telephone conversations.

3. We use a central receptionist to answer and allocate all telephone calls. We use VOIP (voice over internet protocol) and Webex phones to enable remote working.

4. We have a brief online call at 9am each morning to discuss what everybody is working on and if they need somebody else to do something to help them.

5. We meet up (in person if possible) once a quarter to review the results of the last quarter, plan our next three months’ targets, and spend a little time chatting.

Do you offer flexible working?

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Tax Tip 

Don’t forget to claim the VAT on business mileage.

You can’t claim VAT on the full 45p but you can claim on the fuel element. You can find out the current fuel element Advisory fuel rates – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

For instance my care has a fuel rate of 14p. This means that, for every mile, I can claim 14p *20/120 = 2.33p in VAT. There is no VAT on the remaining 31p as that is deemed to be for insurance, maintenance, wear and tear etc.

All you need to do is to keep a VAT invoice* (not a credit card receipt please!) for fuel around the date of the journey ie when you you fill up before or after the trip.

*If you’re interested then it’s because the 45p is an allowance and EU/UK law states that you can’t claim VAT on allowances. The EU did one of their usual accommodating moves and agreed that, as long as there was a valid VAT invoice for fuel around the same date (eg filling up before or after the mileage) then the company could claim VAT on the fuel element of the 45p.

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Who can you delegate to? 

Last week we looked at what you could delegate. This week I want to consider who you can delegate to.

-An employee. But what if you are a solopreneur?

-A subcontractor. Lots of people have left employment and are happy providing their services for lots of smaller clients

-An expert. As a technophile I consider myself pretty good on the IT front but it is still often more efficient to use a local IT firm when nothing is immediately obvious (we use PCDial.com) as they come across these problems all the time and usually know exactly where to look straight away. It’s the same reason we encourage our clients to delegate their bookkeeping to us; we’re faster and better than them.

-Automation. We use a lot of software in our business. Whilst it doesn’t replace people it does save our time on the mundane chores. Accountancy Manager handles all our deadline and client reminders, Stripe collects card payments for clients that don’t already pay us by direct debit through Go Cardless. Dext and hubdoc allow clients to submit their bookkeeping to us electronically without having to print out every single invoice. We can usually find software to help clients improve their business efficiency too.

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Should you be delegating more? 

The answer is almost certainly yes.

There are certain things that only you can do in your business but there is probably a lot of admin or other work that can be delegated to somebody ‘cheaper’ than you.

When coaching busy clients I recommend that they keep a timesheet for a couple of weeks. This can be on paper or using one of the free apps such as Toggl.

At the end of the fortnight look at all the work that isn’t profitable.

-If it is for a client should you be charging more or perhaps somebody else can do the work instead?

-If it isn’t customer work then is it the sort of thing that somebody else can do instead (next week I’ll talk about who you might delegate to)

-If it is work that you don’t enjoy then it might make sense to delegate it anyway. This is the main reason we encourage clients to delegate their bookkeeping to us as we can do it faster, and better, and we have people who actually enjoy the work.

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Still reinventing the wheel?

Today I’m borrowing a quote from Mark Twain

“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of coloured glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

I love being an accountant and working with lots of different businesses within lots of different industries. This, along with running my own businesses (an Minerva Accountants and a speaking/coaching business) gives me a wealth of practical ideas for business improvements as well as all the books I read.

Where do you get your ideas from?

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Tax Tip

How to take dividends – tip 2

It’s not unusual for a married couple to hold shares in a company and each of them is entitled to receive dividends on those shares. But it is important that dividends are paid to the correct shareholder.

Whilst dividends can be paid into a joint account, they should NOT be paid into an account that does not belong to the shareholder. In other words, H’s shares must be paid into H’s bank account or H+W’s bank account and W’s shares must be paid into W’s bank account or H+W’s bank account.

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Don’t reinvent the wheel

Over the years we have built up a collection of helpsheets and explanatory videos. This is because I am lazy (although I prefer to think of it as efficient) and hate doing the same thing again and again.

If a client asks a question that we think may be asked a second time then the team don’t just answer the question once but they, or I, write a helpsheet so that we have a library of resources to help instantly.

What do you do to save time?

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