PAH Accountants

As you can assume from the term Bribery Act it essentially is a piece of legislation that has been produced to counter bribery from taking place within an organisation. Moreover the act also includes businesses that you deal with. It is this aspect that will become a significant issue for many business owners.

What the Bribery Act will increase is the potential prosecution of corporations based in the UK however it has been noted that the Bribery Act does have the potential to also have a positive impact on UK corporates in the long term.

The legislation states that an organisation must be able to convey they have quality controls in place and controls that go to other companies the business deals with such as suppliers, customers, contacts etc. As this is new legislation it does mean that a business may have to alter the way they have ‘done business’ for decades which to some

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are on the lookout in 2011 for small business tax under payments and tax evasion with the HMRC’s introduction of making tax compliance spot checks on small United Kingdom businesses.

These compliance spot checks are one of the last things that small UK businesses need as they try to battle the poor economic climate that exists today. What is expected is that roughly 50,000 small UK businesses will be visited, closely examined and if their books do not meet the minimum standards set then they could end up facing a fine of up to £3,000 which for many small businesses could be devastating.

The reason for the compliance spot checks is because

Many companies take the unfortunate view that breaching health & safety is rather like getting a corporate parking ticket – an irritation; mildly expensive; but something which can just be put down to experience.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

A conviction for a health & safety breach is not only a criminal matter (and individuals as well as companies can be prosecuted) but it can also cripple the company’s ability

It is not often I blog about topical entertainment shows such as the apprentice; however, this weeks episode (10th May 2011) has infuriated me so much that I felt obliged to. I watch the apprentice mainly for entertainment as I don’t feel it represents real business; however, I like to think how I could approach most of the tasks involved.

This particular episode featured an accountant, Edward Hunter, who basically did nothing to enhance the reputation of accountants. He was

The issue of travel and subsistence is considered to be one of the most problematic and grey areas within small business accounting, particularly for self employed individuals.

The basic reality is reasonably simple; in order to qualify for tax relief, any expenditure must be wholly and exclusively incurred for the purpose of the trade. Where an expense is incurred for a non trade or private purpose

Many businesses ask what are the most important things they need to know about Intellectual Property so here goes:-

1 – If you have an idea or invention DO NOT TELL ANYONE

To be protectable by patent a new invention must be novel and inventive. As soon as you tell someone you have destroyed the novelty and hence made your invention un-patentable. If you do need to discuss your idea make sure you do it under the cover of a Non-Disclosure or

The best way to the performance of your business is to use some key accounting ratios. These help you to analyse financial information about your business. Having this knowledge will aid making informed decisions about how to manage your business and help it to grow. This article highlights some of the common ratios that a business should use to measure its performance.

Profitability ratios

There are many factors to consider when looking at how profitable a business is. The profit and loss account shows

On 14 October 2010 the Government published its latest proposed amendments to our pension legislation and as is invariably the case what The Government gives in one hand they invariably take away in another. What’s important is does this affect you now and in the future?

Here is a summary of the changes;

• The lifetime allowance i.e. the maximum size of your pension fund at retirement will be reduced from £1.8 million

It has been announced by Companies House that virtually all of their services are to be online by March 2013. Indeed their vision is to become a fully electronic registry.

Much of the Companies House forms have been available to file using the WebFiling service for quite a while now. You should have been given an

Your accountant will often produce a set of accounts that include a balance sheet. But what exactly is this? It is a common misconception that the profit is the only factor you need to worry about.

Actually the balance sheet is very important. It provides a summarised snapshot of the business assets and liabilities at a particular date in time. Whilst not necessarily an accurate way of valuing a business it can be a very