PAH Accountants

It has long been the common conception of accountants that they are merely number crunchers and form fillers. But is this really what they do? It could easily be argued that the external accountant of a business is the most valuable adviser to that business. The numbers in the Financial Statements can tell a lot about a business and its financial position.

Factors your accountant can advise on

Particularly in smaller owner managed businesses, the client focus of the accounts is on how much tax is there to pay at the end of the year and, more importantly, can this be reduced as much as possible.

Whether the business is making a profit or loss is usually obvious; however, is that profit analysed any further. Are profits being reinvested to build the business or drawn out immediately by the owners? Are drawings being made in excess of profits, therefore,
putting the business in a negative cash flow position?

Often in reality the Balance Sheet is the most important factor on a set of financial statements. This shows the true position of the company at a point in time. The Net Assets on a Balance Sheet should really reflect how much a business is worth; however,
this can often be

The objective of the Approved Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) scheme is to support the transport needs of business.

Employees that use their own car for business journeys can be paid the AMAP, free of tax and NIC.

The AMAP rate has been fixed at 40p per mile for what seems like forever (actually 2002!); However, the recent budget

So here we go again! You should now be receiving your notices to complete a self assessment return for the tax year to 5 April 2011.

You must ensure that this is completed by 31st January 2012 (31st Otober 2011 if completed on paper). This gives plenty of time to get it done; however, that doesn’t mean you should delay!

HMRC have amended their penalty regime, you will notice the penalty information sheet in with your tax return. The £100 penalty

The Revenue has announced the launch of its latest campaign to identify tax fraud. They are looking to crack down on people, particularly the self employed, of fraudulently claiming tax credits. It is part on a government programme, in

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

Class 2 National insurance is payable by sole traders and usually a small weekly/ monthly amount.

From April 2011, the way in which Class 2 NIC is payable will be changing. It will now match the self assessment dates of 31 January and 31 July. Only two bills per year will therefore

The taxman joined twitter just before xmas and I’d encourage fellow tweeters, whether taxpayers or accountants, to follow twitter.com/hmrcgovuk (and by all means follow @TheTaxBuzz too!)

HMRC’s twitter policy statement says that if you follow this account, you can expect 1-2 tweets

Here is my video presentation of a 4sight that I did at 4Networking Taunton.

It highlights some of the issues that can arise in a small business and gives some tactics that companies can use to

Many of you will have seen/ heard the recent media coverage regarding the PAYE error. Good old HM Revenue and Customs!

You may get a Tax Calculation (form P800) from HM Revenue and  Customs (HMRC) telling you that you’ve paid too much or too little tax for the tax years 2008-09 and 2009-10. The calculation shows your total income and the allowances that are due to you for each of these years.

Not everyone will get a calculation, only those who have paid too much or too little tax – so don’t worry if you don’t get one.

If you do get a Tax Calculation, you should check the calculation carefully to make sure you agree with all the

As many people will no doubt be aware, HM Revenue and Customs  have issued a notice that they are going to be making claims for under (and over) paid tax due to an error in the PAYE system. A further blog is to be issued regarding this; however, I felt it prudent to give a warning of the scams that could arise as a result of this.

In recent months there have been many reports of emails being issued stating that an individual is entitled to a  tax refund. The old adage of ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’ definitely applies here. Do not email back with