Latest Business News from Chichester Accountants Evans Weir

September 17, 2021

What is a Profit and Loss Report?

A profit and loss, also called a P&L, report is an important financial statement for every business. In summary profit and loss reports detail the company’s financial performance during any given period. It is a statement of the income and expenses, normally divided into categories, that when considered in conjunction with one another, explains how the company has fared and the extent to which it has been able to turn a profit. A P&L report typically covers a standard reporting... read more

What Does the Health and Social Care Levy Mean for Me?

In a clear breaking of a manifesto pledge, Boris Johnson has announced a 1.25% tax levy, to be applied through National Insurance (NI) contributions and dividend taxation, to help plug a funding gap in NHS and social care spending. But what does this mean for you? How much extra will I pay? As an employee, the amount of NI you pay will be increased by 1.25%. It may not sound like much but on an average UK salary, which is deemed to be around £30,000 a year, you will pay around £255... read more

One Million Job Vacancies and Rising

For the first time since the number of job vacancies were recorded in 2001, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced that they topped 1 million in August 2021. Despite much speculation that it would be unemployment figures that would peak at this point, following the pandemic and the winding down of the furlough scheme, this comes as positive news and suggests growth in the jobs market and therefore the wider economy. But whilst the news indicates business confidence in... read more

August 17, 2021

How can I improve credit control in my business?

Whether physical ‘hard cash’ or merely digital numbers moving between bank accounts, cash is king and therefore good credit control is the first step to maintaining good cash flow in your business. Since 1967 we’ve helped hundreds of businesses to establish themselves and grow and so we know the best ways to manage credit control and quality cashflow in SMEs. Here we provide our top 10 tips for how to improve credit control. Make sure your terms are clear from the startInvoice on... read more

GDP and Inflation Rises Point to Recovery

Recent announcements regarding the increase in GDP and inflation both point towards another strong phase of recovery, but the headlines hide a slightly different story. GDP figures covering the second quarter of 2021 were incredibly positive, showing almost record growth in a single period of 4.8%. Inflation figures released around the same time and covering June 2021, showed the rate of increase of prices sitting at 2.5%, primarily driven by food and energy. Still not back to... read more

PAYG Tax for Self Employed?

As part of the continued push towards a fully digitised tax system, plans have been outlined by the Treasury for the self-employed to begin paying their taxes on a PAYG (Pay-As-You-Go) basis. Currently, freelancers and the self-employed pay tax annually or bi-annually as part of the self-assessment tax return process and based on their actual earnings for the previous tax year. As a minimum, their tax return must be submitted and taxes paid by 31st January of the year following the tax year... read more

July 19, 2021

How can we reduce our corporation tax bill?

Nobody likes paying tax, whether via their business or personally and the question of ‘How can we reduce our corporation tax bill?’ is one we are faced with almost daily. Sadly, the query tends to come when it is either too late to do anything i.e. they are looking at their completed accounts and therefore the corporation tax bill, or they are just weeks away from year end and the magnitude of their tax bill has just hit home. Corporate Tax Planning To avoid turning up late to the... read more

Salary or Dividends? – How do I draw earnings from my company?

Should you take your income as salary or dividends? The question of how to draw earnings from your business when you are an owner director is a perennial one, but in recent years, successive changes in government policy have made the answer slightly more nuanced. There is no ‘one size fits all’ response and there are multiple factors to consider before one can give a concrete answer. However, here are the key criteria we would be looking at when helping a client make that decision. Who... read more

June 17, 2021

How much can I claim for running my business from home?

How much you can claim for running your business from home has always been a hot topic for debate even before we all moved home to work! Historically, the options were simple. You either took an HMRC approved payment of a few pounds for ‘non-exclusive use of home as office’, along with any expenses that were directly incurred; or you took a calculated payment based on the running costs for the entire property and the percentage of floorspace used for business. Working from home... read more

How should I manage my bookkeeping?

The world of bookkeeping has changed significantly over the last few years, leading many to ask the question, how should I manage my bookkeeping? What is bookkeeping? The concept of bookkeeping is simple when you consider the etymology of the word – keeping of the books. The reference to books refers to a time whereby there would have been three actual books (journals or ledgers) that made up the accounts – one for sales, one for purchases and one general ledger. The job of the... read more