Director’s loan accounts are when you as a director of your limited company get money from your company that is not a salary, dividend or expense repayment and is in effect money you’ve previously paid into or loaned the company.
We’ve written about Director’s Loans before and the tax implications of borrowing money from your own company. Here we look at what a director’ loan is, how a director’s loan account works and the benefits of a director’s loan.
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Corporation tax losses are available to limited companies as a form of tax relief by offsetting any loss you make in a given accounting period against your other gains or profits of your business in the same accounting period. You can also choose to carry the loss back to previous accounting periods, and if you do not, the losses can be carried forward to another accounting period.
Corporation tax losses are an important tax relief to limited companies who are keen to reduce their tax liabilities during their growth phase.
Next month heralds the first obligatory VAT return submission via Making Tax Digital (MTD) compliant software, online. Are you ready for your first MTD VAT return?
Submitting your VAT returns online is the first part of the government’s plan to move all tax reporting digitally, and has unfortunately already been dogged with numerous issues and concerns.
… Continue ReadingA question we hear a lot when meeting small businesses who want to establish a relationship with us, is this: How do we switch accountants? Where do we begin?
Switching accountants may seem like a daunting process, especially if you have been with your accountant for some time or if you have only ever had a relationship with your existing accountant.
The good news is that the process is straightforward and actually requires very little work by you.
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Good business management is essential for small business owners. As a small business owner, there will inevitably be areas of running your business where you will require expert advice or software solutions to help with the business management of your company.
Take the financial side, for instance. Some of your legal obligations when running a business, such as declaring your earnings if a sole trader or completing accounts if a limited company, are perhaps not the top of your agenda as you focus on establishing or growing your business.
While you may realise the importance of keeping an eye on your finances, this is in fact a common problem faced by small business founders. Indeed, while more than 660,000 new businesses are formed in the UK every year, over half will fail within their first five years of launching, one of the main reasons being down to poor cash management.
As an employer, you need to be aware of how to complete, and when to file, your employees’ P11D form which reflects the benefits that your employees receive over a given tax year.`The deadline for submission for P11D forms to HMRC is fast approaching, and if not submitted by 6th July, you will be penalised by HMRC.
Read Southside Accounting’s Employers Guide for P11D forms here – what you need to include, when you need to file a P11D form and the penalties imposed by HMRC if not doing either correctly.
As a limited company, pension contributions are one of the few remaining tax breaks you can take advantage off as a company director and your employees, if you have any.
Pension contributions are already set in law as compulsory as part of the UK government’s auto-enrolment arrangements, which you can read more of here.
However, as a limited Company Director, you may want to consider contributing more than the minimum statutory amount to reduce your tax bill.
You may remember the major cyber security attack in 2017 ‘WannaCry’, which affected a huge swathe of individuals and organisations, including the NHS, and had a significant financial impact on all those infected. Since then, there has been a growing awareness heightened of cyber security measures and a strategic view by companies of the measures required to operate safely online.
Here are four key takeaways for small businesses to keep safe online and ensure robust cyber security measures are in place.
Every trade business is different. Whatever trade you are in, and whether you are looking to maintain your current lifestyle or if your looking to grow your business, it doesn’t have to cost the earth. Here we set out a few simple techniques that can bring in more business.
If you’re a small business that employs staff you will need to set up a payroll system to make sure you’re fulfilling your legal obligations and making payroll filings with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
You will therefore need a robust, and ideally online, system in place that stands muster. Here’s where to start – setting up payroll and your definitive checklist.
