Posts Tagged ‘Accountants’
McGregors join up with Senior Entrepreneurial Tax Consultants
McGregors join up with Senior Entrepreneurial Tax Consultants
McGregors Corporate, the independent firm of Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, have agreed a consultancy contract with The Ironbridge Tax Consultancy Limited and its managing director, Keith Richards, to add to the firms tax support for Nottingham and Leicester.
Mr Richards is formerly a tax director for RSM Tenon and Grant Thornton and is well known amongst the business communities of Nottingham and Leicester.
McGregors Corporate who recently started to operate in Leicester, have already built a senior team with partners from the likes of Grant Thornton and PKF, together with a mix of former finance directors, are looking to establish themselves as an independent alternative to the large accountancy firms in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.
Director, Steven Mugglestone, said, “I am certainly extremely pleased to be working with Keith and his company in helping us support our clients and building our presence in Leicester and Nottingham. Keith has significant tax advisory experience within the SME sector, as well as helping individuals with all aspects of their personal tax planning and we see our relationship with his company as providing a huge benefit to both of us, together with both of our respective client bases as well as potential future clients. We are also very keen on building on the success that we are achieving in winning new clients in the Leicestershire area and establishing our practice in the city.”
Keith Richards of Ironbridge continued, “Ironbridge has agreed a working relationship with McGregors, as we see them as a really good fit of pro-active and experienced business advisers and accountants. All of their directors have worked with the same types of growing owner-managed businesses as we have and our outlook and approach are very similar. I think that together, we can help support many clients and I am certainly looking forward to working with Steven and his team in the Nottingham and Leicester areas.”
McGregors are a full service firm of Chartered Accountants and business advisers, providing a varied range of services to SME businesses in the Midlands region.
Steven Mugglestone BA FCA,
Finance Director Services
McGregors Corporate, Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers
…….Really good for your business
McGregors Corporate are a Member of Probiz Tax, providing Innovative Tax Solutions to Owner Managed Businesses.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevenmugglestonefca/
T: 0845 519 5659 T: 0121 236 3317 T:0115 9415193
steven@mcgregorsbirmingham.co.uk
steven@mcgregorsleicester.co.uk
Connect, call, talk, email, contact us, send a messenger pigeon and arrange a discussion, review and free meeting.
Taxis, Markets and Restaurants are now on the HMRC Menu:
HMRC target taxis, markets and restaurants
The list is growing as HMRC announce six new taskforces and follows on from the ones below:
- “HMRC are showing their teeth and will bite” http://wp.me/pQyUg-9D
- “Electricians in for a shock” http://wp.me/pQyUg-6h
- “Medical professionals Encouraged to Come Clean” http://wp.me/pQyUg-63
- “HMRC Target landlords, fast food retailers, construction workers and late filing” http://wp.me/pQyUg-5H
- “It is only a matter of time until HMRC finds your undeclared income!” http://wp.me/pQyUg-4H
- HMRC are targeting undeclared income for private tutors & coaches. Act now to avoid hefty penalties: http://lnkd.in/ZkCNuU
These taskforces will operate specifically within the following industries and locations:
- Indoor and outdoor markets in London
- Taxi firms in Yorkshire and East Midlands
- Property rentals in East Anglia, London , Yorkshire and the North East
- Restaurants in the Midlands
These selections are not arbitrary; as HMRC state, taskforces are created to target high risk trade sectors and locations in the UK where levels of tax evasion, avoidance and fraud are perceived to be high.
The taskforces, comprised of various HMRC compliance and enforcement teams, will visit traders to review their records and carry out other investigations. HMRC anticipates that these six new operations will recover more than £23 million in unpaid tax. This will add to current projections of over £50 million the revenue expects to recover resulting from taskforces mobilised in 2011/12.
HMRC’s Mike Eland, Director General Enforcement and Compliance, said:
“These six new taskforces will bring together specialists from across HMRC to tackle tax dodgers. If you have paid all your taxes you have nothing to worry about. But deliberately evading tax you should be paying can land you with not only a heavy fine but possibly a criminal prosecution as well.”
For accountants, such initiatives represent a significant opportunity to win new business by offering assistance to individuals and businesses facing the possibility of investigation.
To find out more about these taskforce initiatives, please visit HMRC or when you need help, contact us below:
Steven Mugglestone BA FCA,
Finance Director Services
McGregors Corporate, Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers
…….Really good for your business
McGregors Corporate are a Member of Probiz Tax, providing Innovative Tax Solutions to Owner Managed Businesses.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevenmugglestonefca/
T: 0845 519 5659 T: 0121 236 3317
steven@mcgregorsbirmingham.co.uk
steven@mcgregorsleicester.co.uk
Connect, call, talk, email, contact us, send a messenger pigeon and arrange a discussion, review and free meeting.
Steven Mugglestone BA FCA,
Finance Director Services
McGregors Corporate, Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers
…….Really good for your business
McGregors Corporate are a Member of Probiz Tax, providing Innovative Tax Solutions to Owner Managed Businesses.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevenmugglestonefca/
T: 0845 519 5659 T: 0121 236 3317
steven@mcgregorsbirmingham.co.uk
steven@mcgregorsleicester.co.uk
Connect, call, talk, email, contact us, send a messenger pigeon and arrange a discussion, review and free meeting.
This continues to be our most popular article to date, so much for the technical, MBA & tax stuff:
Are Accountants Really Boring or Really, Really Boring
I started to write a technical piece, but I was distracted by the eternal debate that appears to have started again. Are Accountants really boring or really, really boring.
Yes, I am an Accountant and yes I am part of a firm of accountants, in fact I am a Chartered Accountant and part of a firm of Chartered Accountants. I have lived with this all of my working life. I trained as an Accountant and qualified as an Accountant (although, I do not have an Accountancy degree, it was Economics). I have worked in business, as a finance director, which is like an Accountant, just more decisive. I have faced the stigma and the ridicule, the tumble-weed silence when someone asks you what you do. I consider myself a fairly confident and comfortable individual, married with children. The stigma of instantly explaining that I am an Accountant usually means that I tend not to tell new acquaintances what I do. I tend to have a good chat and sometimes later in the discussion I get asked the inevitable question and usually I get the same response, “No, …. Really, … You don’t seem that boring.”
I have read recently how the debate continues, Accountants are boring.
So I have taken some time to have a look at this, …. Sensibly and with the respect and gravitas that the subject deserves.
The Science of It
It appears that in 2005, the City University of Hong Kong proved that accountants were boring and this was due to using dull words and dull methods of communication.
Now, I am sorry, but I think that you will find, that if you study any specialist talking through the technical areas of their roles, it is boring to others. Physics and rocket science hardly makes great after dinner conversation, but Hollywood can make it look like that they are all Tom Hanks. And anyway, an academic study to prove that accountants are boring, surely that has to be the apex of boring.
Technical or detailed aspects of any job will be boring but cannot make you boring. All jobs have a level of technical knowledge and expertise; Formula 1 engineers are intensely technical, yet are seem to be glamorous. Honda pride themselves on the attention to detail and market that as a key USP for what they do. Professional decorators watch paint drying for a living, but they are not labelled as boring as Accountants.
In fact the technical point and the issue that even Accountants are different can be seen in the categories that in the Accountancy profession, we find ourselves labelling each other, finders, minders and grinder. The differences between those who are good at getting clients; those that build relationships and those that do the numbers.
The Butt of Many Jokes
Accountants tend to be the butt of jokes and they centre on the boring tag:
An Accountant is:
- Someone who uses their personality as a form of birth control (I have two sons!)
- Someone who makes a bold fashion statement by wearing a blue suit instead of grey
- Someone who isn’t really boring, they just get excited over boring things
- Someone who does not have the charisma to be an undertaker
- Someone who does not know that Gap is a clothing store
An extroverted accountant is one who looks at your shoes while he is talking to you instead of his own.
However my favourites have to be:
There are three types of accountants in the world, those who can count and those who can’t!
There once was a business owner who was interviewing people for a division manager position. He selected an engineer, a mathematician, a physicist, a logician, a social worker, a lawyer, a trader and an accountant to interview and decided to select the individual that could answer the question “how much is 2+2?”
- The engineer pulled out his slide rule and shuffled it back and forth, and finally announced, “It lies between 3.98 and 4.02”.
- The mathematician said, “In two hours I can demonstrate it equals 4 with the following short proof.”
- The physicist declared, “It’s in the magnitude of 1×101.”
- The logician paused for a long while and then said, “This problem is solvable.”
- The social worker said, “I don’t know the answer, but I am glad that we discussed this important question.
- The lawyer stated, “In the case of the Crown vs. Svenson, 2+2 was declared to be 4.”
- The trader asked, “Are you buying or selling?”
The accountant looked at the business owner, then got out of his chair, went to see if anyone was listening at the door and pulled the drapes. Then he returned to the business owner, leaned across the desk and said in a low voice, “What would you like it to be?”
Why is the last joke funny? Yet it speaks volumes about why Accountants are not boring. It is not that we cheat or that we have an array of despicable tricks (ish). It is that we are trained to think laterally, finding an answer and solution for our clients in what we do, despite apparent problems and issues. We try and cut through the issues and problems and solve the problem, in whatever way we can. We are solution providers and aim to get clients where they want to be. There is no such answer as no and there is no such statement as “It cannot be done.”
Glamour and fame does not necessarily mean that you are not boring
Living with the stigma of being an Accountant has meant that I do not immediately tell people, as I explained earlier. Yet it can appear that working in the more interesting world of showbiz can mean that you are instantly seen as interesting and glamorous, even if in reality you are, well, boring.
Everybody has an odd story about meeting a TV celeb and I am not any different. Mine comes from meeting a celeb as part of the hobby that I have, a hobby that used to be seen as unusual and weird unless you were Welsh or gay with a Judy Garland obsession, I sing. But now since the advent of Last Choir Standing, X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and now Glee, it seems not only acceptable, but actually cool.
I was actually taking part in a large choral piece with a group of choirs and we had an afternoon rehearsal before the evening performance. I stood next to a chap, who I did not know, and spoke to him during the coffee break. Now I usually have a high tolerance for boring people but he was pushing that somewhat and he started to say to me that he likes singing but “with his job” he does not really get enough time to join in with singing stuff. Now at that time, I was going to ask what he did, but I did not get the chance and we carried on chatting or he carried on talking at me and he kept dropping in with, “of course with my job I don’t get a lot of free time and of course with my job I am out and about a lot.” Well, I kind of got the message, but decided that I would not ask him what he did, let alone realise that I was supposed to know already.
Afterwards I was asked by the others around me, what was he like? What did we talk about? I did not know that he was a famous TV presenter (of the DIY/house-changing/gardener-ish ilk), yet I declared that he was ok, a bit boring and pretty self-centred.
A lot of people in business say that perception is everything. I think that is true in this case, he was perceived to be interesting and famous, and I am sure that it is true about Accountants.
Accountants in business and as leaders
The UK has about 50,000 family doctors, but nearly 280,000 professionally qualified Accountants. That is a lot of boring people. At any one time there are 165,000 registered students training to be Accountants. That is a lot of young people wanting to be boring people.
Around 80% of FTSE 100 Companies have at least one Chartered Accountant on their main board of directors. Many Finance Directors go on to be Chief Executives and prove to be successful, ok Gordon Brown did not do that well.
And Accountants have gone on to fame and fortune and have shaken off their old image as being boring:
- Barry Hearn – Boxing manager and sports events promoter
- J. P. Morgan – This famous financier and banker
- Pádraig Harrington – The former PGA and Open Golf Champion
- Lee Van Cleef – Hollywood star of spaghetti westerns
- John Major – Former British Prime Minister and often described ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ (…no wait that’s Mike Tyson). Major trained as an accountant. Some might say, “Unsurprising!”
- Kenny G – The saxophone player
- Josiah Wedgewood – As in Wedgewood the potter.
- Luca Pacioli – Big mates with Leonardo Da Vinci.
- John Grisham – The best-selling author, and I thought he was a lawyer
- Robert Plant – The Led Zeppelin rock legend
- Cecil Parkinson, former Conservative MP and now Baron Parkinson
And for those in the West Midland who have already have heard of Peter Murphy, he was included in an article in the FT in December 2010 as the story of the Accountant who went on to feature on the South Bank Show, meet the Queen and play harp for Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.
Has Accountancy made me boring?
I do not believe Accountancy has made me boring, but I let others be the judge of that. I do believe that it has given me an insight into how businesses work and what does not work. It has given me insight into how you can build a business, sustain a business, the importance of supporting structures for business, for operational issues and improvement, the importance of strategic thinking, of assessing where you are now, where you want to get to and how to structure a plan of how to get there. It has given me an insight into finance, into cash management and working capital and it has given me insight into taxation, what can be achieved and what cannot be achieved. It has given me an insight into leadership and change management and what makes organisations work and what deters them from working well. It has given me an insight into recruitment and appraisal and how to challenge others and help them improve, how to empower others to improve the business and to enhance the team, their skills and achievements as well. It has allowed me to work with a large number of businesses, helping them achieve their goals. It has given me an opportunity to understand the real meaning and importance of good marketing and sales as the lifeblood of a business. It has allowed me to be involved in marketing initiatives, new start-up businesses, new funding initiatives, working with banks, with other business organisations, with universities and new technologies. I have worked on business turnarounds, helping business turn a corner and re-build. I act as Finance Director for a number of innovative start-up innovative product businesses, new technologies and leisure businesses. It allows me to talk to and meet new contacts and potential new clients on a constant basis.
If all of that means that Accountants are boring, then, well I am ….. boring I suppose.
Steven Mugglestone BA FCA,
Finance Director Services
McGregors Corporate, Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers
…….Really good for your business
McGregors Corporate are a Member of Probiz Tax, providing Innovative Tax Solutions to Owner Managed Businesses.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevenmugglestonefca/
http://twitter.com/McGsCorporate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhC0wlglePE
http://www.mcgregorscorporate.co.uk/
T: 0845 519 5659 T: 0121 236 3317
steven@mcgregorsleicester.co.uk
steven@mcgregorsbirmingham.co.uk
Connect, call, talk, email, contact us, send a messenger pigeon and arrange a discussion, review and free meeting.
#Rip Off Britain, a Solution for SMEs:
#Rip Off Britain, a Solution for SMEs
Or Accountants get away with £500+/hour charges; The Emperor’s New Clothes and why Aldi are right!
Brand Status
Nike, Adidas, Boss, Harrods, David Beckham. They are all recognised brand names, across the globe and all we know that we pay a significant premium for that brand. It does not, however, stop us from going out and paying the extra, for being seen owning these brand names, vanity, kudos, style, all combine to make us believe that these are quality must have items. We do this when we also recognise that the trainers we buy probably all come from the same factory in China or wherever or that perfume or aftershave is just water, alcohol with something that makes it smell nice. The brand is the value, when the content is usually pretty much undistinguishable.
Most people recognise this, but it does not stop them paying over the odds for the name.
Things are changing and certainly have changed in both food and many clothes ranges in shops, own brands are becoming more and more popular and most people recognise that many own brand labels of foods are actually made by the well-known brand manufacturers from the same factories and production lines. I have certainly personally walked around two well-known snack food factories to see both main labels and supermarket own labels being made and boxed.
The Emperor’s New Clothes
I would expect everyone knows the Hans Christian Andersen story about the Emperor’s New Clothes, but as a reminder you can always read the outline at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes
To a business, there is a serious message here, for all of us. Sometimes there is nothing special, nothing new, nothing powerful or exclusive, nothing that can really add value, but we are expected to believe that there is and we act accordingly, recognising but never saying, “but, the king is in the altogether!”
Aldi are helping us see what the emperor is not wearing
I do uphold and applaud the current advertising campaign for Aldi. Two products, side by side, the main label and their own label, with the same message from the person in the advert. They like both products the same, but the message on the screen shows us that the Aldi own label product is a fraction of the price.
Professional Support is about people and experience and not a brand
What lessons can we learn about accountants/professional advisers and what should SMEs be wary of.
Well, brand values are prevalent in the accountancy profession and the same can be said of accountants and any professional advisers. Well, I believe that sometimes, it can. The brand will out. But, we fail to recognise that service businesses provide people as their product and it is really those people that make the real difference, rather than the name of business itself. In fact, the accountancy world is changing significantly both locally and nationally, with many established older independent firms being sold to brand names, but with many brand names failing in business and failing to develop their own businesses. Conversely, there are other independent firms, like ourselves, being developed from senior and experienced professionals from within the larger brand names.
The reason our business and similar ones are being developed is that we want to work with SME clients and help them achieve. It is what we do and what we enjoy. Any SME business from start-up to larger established businesses want to work with a trusted adviser, someone they can rely on and call upon for help, direction and advice. These are people and relationship issues and have nothing to do with a big corporate brand. We want to build a long lasting business relationship with our clients. At the same time, our clients can rely on the fact that our partners have been through far more business and finance experience than many others.
But we need a “name” because ….
Sometimes businesses say this as they believe that they have to have a “name” and accept the cost consequences for this. With the Emperor’s New Clothes in mind, let us have a look as some of the facts:
- Chartered Accountants are governed by standards set by the ICAEW and all operate within those standards.
- Chartered Accountants have the same qualifications but it is the business experience that distinguishes them.
- All audit work is carried out to the same standards under ICAEW guidance.
- Many firms, like ourselves, also have our work and files checked for quality by third party training companies.
- All work is insured under appropriate professional indemnity cover, in case of error.
- All accountancy, tax, audit and business advisory work is undertaken by individual professionals and it is the experience of those individuals that matters.
- Most accountants in practice have never been part of a business, never worked within a business, dealing with all of the day to day, support, operational or strategic issues and have never been integral to the growth of a business.
- Most independent firms, like ourselves, provide fixed fees for audit, accounts and tax compliance work and other fee structures based on performance/savings obtained for other areas.
- Referral or recommendations from others are great, but all businesses should test their professional support with other providers as well, they may be surprised.
- Most accountants pay fees for referrals so can you be sure that the referrer is not being paid.
- A brief search of big name recent issues finds the following:
- Arthur Andersen were a “big 5” name and went bust because of fraud and their part in the Enron debacle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen
- PwC owned up to JP Morgan Audit mistakes: http://www.accountant.co.uk/news/2011/Aug/pwc-owns-up-to-jp-morgan-audit-mistakes-98971089.html
- Vantis entered administration weeks after suspending its shares: http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/1808535/vantis-enters-administration
- KPMG accountancy chief fiddled £545,000 to pay for his new wife’s luxury tastes: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1208975/KPMG-director-stole-500-000-expense-claim-scam-fund-wifes-lavish-lifestyle.html
- BDO faces questions in Healthcare Locums inquiry: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/supportservices/8613022/BDO-faces-questions-in-Healthcare-Locums-inquiry.html
- Mistakes were made at Tenon: http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/2073417/mistakes-tenon-raynor
- RSM Tenon warns of loss: http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/2140498/raynor-steps-rsm-tenon-warns-loss
- And the list can go on and on and on and on…….
I am not seeking to single out any particular firm, as the same “issues and things” can be found for most, if not all of the top 10 firms or top 20 or so franchises. The key point to raise is that the “names” are not whiter than white and sometimes do not offer a better level of service, they are prone to mistakes, errors and fraud and sometimes, these are major problems, yet we perceive that these firms are cleverer, offer better service, better value and we are willing to pay the cost. Many SME businesses using “names” can expect to pay up to £500 and sometimes more an hour for some directors, let alone partner/owner levels, at local offices for many areas of work, yet it is unclear why a business should accept that and what extra value they are getting for this premium.
How can we establish ourselves and take on the brands
We are building a brand, as you would expect, but by a quirk of fate rather than any pretentious reasons, we have corporate in our name, although we aim to be entrepreneurial in our approach. Being entrepreneurial and independent, however, does not mean that we do not have the same level of corporate skills, systems and experience and, sometimes, more than many of the largest of firms.
Our partners have many years-experience working both within the largest accountancy practices and as finance directors within a variety of business up to listed public companies. We have combined these skills and approaches to really ensure that we can be a valuable and trusted adviser to our SME client base.
Our approach is always to ensure that our client’s goals are achieved but we will always ensure that this is done by first addressing their personal and family position, after that we apply our commercial acumen and experience to really help a business achieve, working with them to set the agenda for what it is they want from a business and a business life.
This is not done by delivering pages of pre-prepared generic notes but is always personal to the client and is achieved with the support and expertise from business professionals with real wide-ranging experience and expertise. We also always aim to do this with a smile as we look to build a great long lasting relationship with our clients. We believe that providing the same level of services expected from large national firms, delivered locally by the same quality and experienced partners is key to what will prove to be our current and future success.
These are some of the ways that we do this:
- Our Audit Service provides quality controlled audit work using up to date systems and managed by experienced auditors, who have been involved in large complex audits covering most business sectors. We use this insight into a business to provide a commercial view of the strengths, weakness qualities and improvements required for a business and its systems.
- Our Statutory Accounts and Tax Compliance Service is carried out by experienced local professional staff with many years-experience working with SME businesses.
- Our Management Information Service works with businesses to create appropriate and tailor made reporting to help manage a business and its growth.
- Our Finance Director Service is controlled and delivered by partners who have been FDs, raising finance; growing businesses; starting businesses and turning businesses around. This ensures that your business can be lead in the same way as many large established business, but at a cost that suits SME businesses.
- Whether looking for finance to start, grow, acquire or eventually to retire or sell, our Corporate Finance Service ensures specialism, knowledge and trust in a business is combined.
- When looking to acquire a business or sell or re-structure a business our Transaction Support Service will really help. Managed by partners with real FD experience, unlike many other firms.
- Our Specialist Personal and Corporate Tax Service provides innovative structures and solutions, together with Probiz Tax, to really mitigate and reduce tax costs.
- Our Business Growth Service joins with our associated partners to help improve sales, whilst managing and reducing costs as well as controlling risks.
- Our Wealth Management Service protects an SME, their owners and their family and builds and protects their future wealth.
Advert over, but the key point is that many, newer independent accountancy firms, as well as ourselves, are being developed in the market today and these are being developed by partners and directors formerly from within the larger businesses, offering the same service from the same experienced senior team, but at a fraction of the cost.
The times they are a changing
The last 3-4 years has seen significant changes to the world of accountants, as well as lawyers, and this looks like it will continue.
Many of the large firms growth has slowed, stopped and gone backwards. National practices have gone bust, which cannot be a great advert to support your credentials as a business adviser, yet these firms have morphed into other competitors, who equally face problems. Some of the largest firms have completed takeovers and/or mergers which, again, have proven to be a disaster, with the businesses being acquired appearing to be works of fiction and the subsequent redundancy programs of 10% of their staffing as a direct result of bad business decisions and policies which amount to keep growing and acquiring come what may.
The loss of traditional independents
Many of the older and established firms have been lost or have been acquired by the national firms and franchises and this is largely because the existing partners could not develop a younger partnership to take on the future of their businesses and have had no choice but seek to sell to others.
As well as other companies that we know, we believe that we are amongst a new breed of commercial and entrepreneurial firms of Chartered Accountants. We also believe that we have the experience and provide the same level of service as the largest firms supporting SMEs, but we are keeping our costs low and we are looking to pass this on to our SME clients. Many of the larger firms serving the SME market have to service high local salaries, significant local office costs, higher national salaries and national office costs and on top of that provide returns to their shareholders. The pressure is on for local offices to earn more and more from their existing SME clients as well as seeking more clients with high recurring fee levels.
We stick by the Aldi business model
Aldi are striving to show consumers that they are offering the same quality of product but at a fraction of the cost and they continue to shout this out, loud and clear. To do this they also have to ensure that their own costs are controlled and the advisers and auditors that they have used are midlands based independents, so it is good enough for them.
We also work with colleagues at Expense Reduction Analysts, http://www.expense-reduction.co.uk/, to help our clients and contacts to source alternative supply chains in order to lower their costs for many direct supplies as well as overheads. They cannot recommend a professional adviser, but would suggest that a business looks at the charges for their audit, accountancy and tax compliance costs regularly as well and seek other firms to provide professional service proposals.
Two key reasons for my own return from Finance Director back to accountancy practice are that I really enjoy working with SME business and the other is about sharing with clients the things that I know now that I did not know when previously in the profession and these are both commercial skills as well as understanding the story of the emperor’s new clothes and trying to ensure that SME businesses do not fall for it.
We, like Aldi, aim to keep saying this, loud and clear, same service, same people providing the service just at a fraction of the cost.
Steven Mugglestone BA FCA,
Finance Director Services
McGregors Corporate, Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers
…….Really good for your business
McGregors Corporate are a Member of Probiz Tax, providing Innovative Tax Solutions to Owner Managed Businesses.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevenmugglestonefca/
http://twitter.com/McGsCorporate
http://www.mcgregorscorporate.co.uk/
T: 0845 519 5659 T: 0121 236 3317
steven@mcgregorsbirmingham.co.uk
Connect, call, talk, email, contact us, send a messenger pigeon and arrange a discussion, review and free meeting.
Top Tax Tips for 2012, without moving to Switzerland
Top Tax Tips for 2012, without moving to Switzerland
We often get asked, “How can we save tax, without looking at any complicated stuff, and we do not want to move to Switzerland.” We have, therefore, put a short but perfectly constructed list together of easy and straightforward things for all SME business to consider before 31 March 2012, and maybe beyond, depending on George Osborne. It is not easy to say, but these are our top tax tips for 2012.
We, of course, can help you with any of these areas:
“The tax relief that time forgot”: We have said it before, Click: http://wp.me/pQyUg-6j, Research & Development Tax Credit Relief is potentially available to businesses involved in most technological or scientific advancements. This is a 200% relief, with SMEs getting £2 tax relief for every £1 spent on qualifying R&D spend. This is, therefore, one of the most valuable tax reliefs available to businesses today.
“The Return of Entrepreneurs Relief”: another valuable tax relief which can save entrepreneurs up to £1.8m of tax as part of the sale of a qualifying business or asset. Business owners should check with their advisers whether they can claim for any of the many reliefs that are available to them.
“How green is your transport”: We have said this before as well: Click: http://wp.me/pQyUg-6w, using ‘green’ company cars with low CO² emissions as well as bikes, can result in a saving on tax. Many car manufacturers are now rising to the challenge of the increased demand for green cars and there are a variety of ‘executive’ and even ‘prestige’ cars which have low emissions.
“Trust the Carbon Trust”; the Carbon Trust oversees a list of ‘green’ equipment for which businesses can claim Enhanced Capital Allowances. This includes low CO² emissions machines, screens for refrigerated cabinets, solar collection systems to heat water, and more recently, washroom hand dryers. The advantage of buying this equipment is that, subject to limits on Capital Allowances, the cost qualifies for full tax deduction against profits.
“The Final Countdown for First Year Allowances”; Buy machinery before April so businesses can claim Capital Allowances when purchasing qualifying items of plant and machinery. Subject to certain conditions, full tax relief can be obtained on purchases up to £100,000. But watch out because from April this year, the allowance is to be reduced to £25,000, so business owners need to consider the timing and may need to buy now or pay more tax later.
Maximise property capital allowance claims: from April, new provisions will be introduced to restrict claiming Capital Allowances on the acquisition of second hand buildings. This means that property owners should consider whether they have claimed everything they can on property acquisitions prior to this date. Those considering purchasing a new property should seek advice regarding the timing of this.
VAT moves from paper to online: from April all businesses will have to submit their VAT returns online and pay their VAT liability electronically. Any businesses not yet filing their VAT returns will need to register for online filing as soon as possible. While we’re on the subject, don’t forget that from this year an automatic penalty of £100 will be automatically issued if a tax return is filed late, and this will apply regardless of whether there is tax to pay or the tax due has been paid on time. Swap salary for benefits and a bike: this is becoming increasingly attractive for the majority of businesses struggling to give their staff a pay rise. Employees can look to exchange part of their salary in exchange for a benefit which can result in tax and NI savings. This arrangement is available for a wide range of benefits from pensions to cycle to work schemes, again mention at: Click: http://wp.me/pQyUg-6w.
The new kid on the block…. Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme – April 2012 sees the relaxation of the conditions for companies to qualify for Enterprise Investment Scheme EIS status as well as the introduction of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). Businesses should find it easier to raise finance in the future. Business owners can speak to us now to review their funding requirements and the qualifying criteria so that they are ready to act in April.
Watch this space as further things develop. Also, if you do want to look at Switzerland …………
Steven Mugglestone BA FCA,
Finance Director Services
McGregors Corporate, Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers
…….Really good for your business
McGregors Corporate are a Member of Probiz Tax, providing Innovative Tax Solutions to Owner Managed Businesses.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevenmugglestonefca/
http://twitter.com/McGsCorporate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhC0wlglePE
http://www.mcgregorscorporate.co.uk/
T: 0845 519 5659 T: 0121 236 3317
steven@mcgregorsbirmingham.co.uk
Connect, call, talk, email, contact us, send a messenger pigeon and arrange a discussion, review and free meeting.
Independent Accountants, McGregors Corporate open in Leicester
Independent Accountants, McGregors Corporate open in Leicester
McGregors Corporate, who are an independent firm of Chartered Accountants, Finance Directors and Business Advisers have started to operate in Leicester, with an office in New Walk.
McGregors, currently operate from offices in Birmingham, Nottingham, Mansfield and Lincoln, have a mixed partnership made up of senior directors and partners from large national and smaller mid- tier accountancy firms, together with partners with industry experience as finance directors. They also contribute and are members of Probiz Tax Solutions, who both sponsor and have Leicestershire cricket captain, Mathew Hoggard, as their local ambassador and promoter.
Steven Mugglestone, the partner responsible for the development of the Leicester practise, who had worked in Leicester for many years and still lives with his family in the city, said, “I am very keen and excited about working within the Leicester business community again and opening a presence in Leicester.
Establishing a presence in the city had become a natural progression as we have been working with more clients in the Leicester area. We have a number of projects that we are also currently putting together, including a business growth forum, within Leicester and we have been working with other Leicester professional advisers, Bray and Bray Solicitors and Precept Optimum Performance to launch that additional support later this year as well.”
McGregors describe themselves as Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants, as they work with growing owner managed businesses, helping businesses with accountancy, finance, tax and general business strategic planning. Steven Mugglestone continued, “I think that we are seeing a different new breed of business accountant and adviser and hopefully more choice. There is a lot of change in the accountancy world. We are building an independent partner lead practice, with over half of our partners, including myself, coming from larger corporate and commercial backgrounds, at a time when many of the older established independents have looked to being acquired by the national firms and franchises. We are keen to highlight our varied skills, experience and backgrounds to be able to offer SME businesses a real alternative to the more expensive big names and perhaps the less innovative and experienced smaller firms. Our experience as Finance Directors working within growing businesses is also proving to be successful with our clients and is really adding to their success and improving our working relationships with them. Our message is simple, in that local SME businesses do not have to face the high fees and costs of large national firms to have access to the same service, advice and experienced staff.”
Steven Mugglestone BA FCA,
Finance Director Services
McGregors Corporate, Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers
…….Really good for your business
McGregors Corporate are a Member of Probiz Tax, providing Innovative Tax Solutions to Owner Managed Businesses.
http://www.mcgregorscorporate.co.uk/
T: 0845 519 5659
47 New Walk
Leicester
LE1 6TE
steven@mcgregorsleicester.co.uk
steven@mcgregorsbirmingham.co.uk
Connect, call, talk, email, contact us, send a messenger pigeon and arrange a discussion, review and free meeting.
HMRC warns of fake tax rebate and close 185 fake websites
HMRC warns of fake tax rebate and close 185 fake websites
We have already warned you in “Pop Pickers, Top 20 Scams and Frauds of 2011 and Warning for 2012”; Click: http://wp.me/pQyUg-79
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has now officially issued a warning over the latest round of ‘phishing’ emails. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/examples.htm
As the self-assessment deadline approaches, the emails in question pose as HMRC notifying the recipient that they are due a tax rebate.
The email then links to a clone of HMRC’s website, and asks for bank or credit card details, which are then used to empty accounts. In the last three months HMRC has helped to shut down 185 websites that were responsible for sending such emails.
HMRC is urging taxpayers not to get caught out. Commenting, Joan Wood, director of HMRC Online and Digital said: “We only ever contact customers who are due a tax refund in writing by post. We currently don’t use telephone calls, emails or external companies in these circumstances. If anyone receives an email claiming to be from HMRC, please send it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk before deleting it permanently.”
“HMRC will do everything possible to ensure those people receiving this email know what steps to take to protect their information, and we are working closely with other law enforcement agencies to target the criminals behind this serious crime and see them brought to justice.”
HMRC has published security advice, including example emails on the HMRC website at the link below;
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/index.htm
HMRC will never send notifications of a tax rebate by email, or ask you to disclose personal or payment information by email.
If you think you have been the victim of an email scam the advice is to report the matter to your bank or card issuer as soon as possible.
Steven Mugglestone BA FCA,
Finance Director Services
McGregors Corporate, Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers
…….Really good for your business
McGregors Corporate are a Member of Probiz Tax, providing Innovative Tax Solutions to Owner Managed Businesses.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevenmugglestonefca/
http://twitter.com/McGsCorporate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhC0wlglePE
http://www.mcgregorscorporate.co.uk/
T: 0845 519 5659 T: 0121 236 3317
steven@mcgregorsbirmingham.co.uk
Connect, call, talk, email, contact us, send a messenger pigeon and arrange a discussion, review and free meeting.
McGregors Corporate 2011 blogs in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,900 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 48 trips to carry that many people.
Gut Instinct Does Not Replace Good Management Information, Just Ask the England Cricket Team:
Gut Instinct Does Not Really Replace Good Management Information
I have seen it on numerous occasions, when appointed as a part time finance director. The owner knows their business inside out, or so they say and believe. The classic statement, “I know my business income and costs, a third direct costs, a third overhead and a third contribution to financing.” So after a brief review of the actual information put together, which has never been done, my reply has been, “So what’s the other third then?!”. “Oh.” is usually the reply.
How to ensure rock solid business decisions
The above situation is more common than you think and, at least in part, the tendency to make decisions on an ad-hoc basis is down to the general lack of good management information. If the numbers are not at your disposal, and that is financial and non-financial, then many businesses have little choice but to make decisions based on gut instinct.
Contributing to this issue is the unreliability of monthly management information, attributed to managers disregarding early warning signs of problems in profitability and liquidity. In larger organisations with a number of senior management including sales and operational management, a classic technique in order to duck and avoid their own shortfalls and potential failings is to “dis” the management information, picking on the commas, the brackets and the spelling as evidence that it cannot be relied upon. Nero and Rome aflame comes to mind.
Management is certainly moving from an art to a science. With the on-going computerisation of all business systems, moving on to cloud based systems allowing access and use on the go and more information becoming available to managers on which to make decisions.
With facts at hand, most business decisions become logical. For example, if you know that advertising in using email provides a 15% response rate and you convert 50% of these, as against another that generates a 5% response rate with a 50% conversion, the rational decision is to invest more in the advertising area that provides the greater return. The basis of decisions moves from gut instinct to evidenced based logic if the right reliable information is available.
What if you have poor management information?
The lack of reliable and timely management information can create many problems for entrepreneurs and owner mangers. All management training and business planning relies on being able to measure things to be able to manage.
One of the key reasons why the England Cricket have become the world’s number one test team is that they have an advanced system of information advising of how opponents react to certain styles of play and where balls need to be pitched. This is based on reliable data from actual statistics. And do you know what, ….. it works!
The consequences of not having reliable management information are clear – the business will not perform to its potential, because the right decisions are not being made. The importance of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is vital for this success and the England Cricket team are a classic example of this.
Privately owned businesses that underperform have a significant impact on the financial well-being of the owners and, perhaps even more importantly, will create a level of stress that lowers the return for effort to an unacceptable level.
What can you see happening?
Everyone, at some stage, knows how it feels to need vital information but not have it to hand. What may not be so obvious is whether you have information about the right things or whether the information itself is accurate.
A key part of the business planning process is to identify the business drivers, the KPIs, or those factors that drive your revenue and your major costs. KPIs can be seen as numbers but are not necessarily at all financial. Examples include numbers of calls per hour, numbers of bums on seats, footfall, downtime, spend per head, machine hours, the weather and temperature, benchmarking against other businesses etc, etc.
It is crucial that your management reporting system measures such drivers. Being in a situation where the business drivers are not known or measured can be your warning sign. Another warning sign to note is major fluctuations between monthly results. This might indicate unreliable information and if that is the case, the warning bells should be sounding. One example of fluctuations was order numbers, with a business having two good months and one poor. On further review, the director responsible for sale, updated the sales brochure every three months, so was not out selling. Easily fixed, but not discovered until the information was made public.
Interested in the issues?
Work with good business advisers, ones like McGregors Corporate, that include partners who have actually been Finance Directors and have been responsible for these improvements first hand. Work with us and we both can obtain a proper understanding of your business issues, drivers and KPIs.
After that we can work with you to develop a meaningful business plan (which can be very simple) and forecast that you can measure against. Being able to measure accurately and frequently the mission critical elements of your business will be the start of key improvement to your business, its profits and its cash. Which business person does not want to see that happen?
Steven Mugglestone BA FCA,
Finance Director Services
McGregors Corporate, Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers
…….Really good for your business
McGregors Corporate are a Member of Probiz Tax, providing Innovative Tax Solutions to Owner Managed Businesses.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevenmugglestonefca/
http://twitter.com/McGsCorporate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhC0wlglePE
http://www.mcgregorscorporate.co.uk/
T: 0845 519 5659 T: 0121 236 3317
steven@mcgregorsbirmingham.co.uk
Connect, call, talk, email, contact us, send a messenger pigeon and arrange a discussion, review and free meeting.
HMRC seeking 100% penalties for late Tax Returns, resistance is useless & the world recession is not an excuse for having no money
HMRC seeking 100% penalties for late Tax Returns, resistance is useless & the world recession is not an excuse for having no money
Some clients complain that we badger and moan (politely) at them for their tax return information, but we do this for good reason.
H M Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is now looking to introduce new increased, and some say far more draconian, penalties for late submission of tax returns and for the late payment of tax. In some cases the penalties may be up to 100% of the tax shown on the Return. There is, therefore, an incentive to ensure that you pay tax on time and submit your tax returns on time, which is why we carry out the gentle badgering. Late Tax Return penalties for partnerships may also prove to be an expense for each partner as they will be charged a penalty each rather than there being one penalty for the partnership itself.
The changes are part of the numerous changes that have been made in recent years to the UK’s tax administration legislation including:
- Increased HMRC powers for obtaining information and inspecting business records,
- Increased penalties for errors and the introduction of rules to enable HMRC to publish the names and details of those who are charged a penalty for deliberately evading tax
- Increased task forces and “own up and pay up” amnesties for a variety of sectors including plumbers, electricians, tutors, doctors and landlords
- The new penalties, however, for late submission of tax returns and late payment of tax have the potential to affect the greatest number of taxpayers.
The late return penalties apply to personal, partnership and trust returns for 2010/11 onwards. If the return is submitted after the filing deadline (31 October 2011 for paper returns and 31 January 2012 for electronic returns) then a £100 penalty will automatically be charged.
If the Return is more than three months late then HMRC may also impose a £10 daily penalty. If the Return is still outstanding 6 months after the submission deadline then HMRC will charge an additional penalty of £300 or 5% of the tax liability shown on the return, whichever is greater. To top it all, a further penalty can be imposed if the Return is submitted over 12 months late and this can be up to 100% of the tax shown on the return, so much for those of you that think that there is a cash flow benefit of not submitting your returns and paying your tax bills.
The penalties for failing to submit a tax return on time apply regardless of whether the tax has been paid, so paying first and then not filing the return is not really a sensible option.
For those partners in traditional partnerships or LLPs amongst you, if a partnership return is submitted late then each partner is charged a penalty. If a partnership of 10 partners files its return two months late then the total penalty will be £1,000. If I were HMRC, I know where I would be looking to find some money.
The late payment penalties apply to income and capital gains tax liabilities whether included in tax returns for 2010/11 and subsequent years or separately assessed, which includes amendments to returns made in 2010/11 and after. On top of all that interest is also charged on the late paid tax.
The late payment penalties are:
- 5% of the tax that is not paid within 30 days of the due date,
- A further 5% of the tax that remains unpaid 6 months after the payment date, and
- An additional 5% of the tax that is still unpaid 12 months after the payment was due.
Late payment penalties can be avoided by contacting HMRC before the payment is due to let them know that the taxpayer is experiencing cash flow difficulties and reaching an agreement as a “time to pay agreement”. These agreements, however, are not as easy to obtain as they once were. If the revised payment deadlines, however are not met then late payment penalties will be charged.
You can, however, appeal against the amount of any penalty and it is also possible to ask for a penalty to be reduced to nil if you have a “reasonable excuse”, whatever that is. The legislation, however, states that having insufficient funds cannot be a reasonable excuse unless it is caused by events out of the taxpayer’s control… world recession, the Euro crisis and the continuing credit crunch seem all to be within the taxpayer’s control.
Also the reliance on another person may not be a reasonable excuse and that once the excuse ends then the penalty will be charged unless the failure to pay tax or submit a return is corrected without unreasonable delay.
If a taxpayer submits their Return late and pays their tax after the due date then both late payment and late return penalties will be charged unless they have a reasonable excuse. Failing to comply with tax obligations will rapidly become expensive…. Resistance is useless!!
It is, however, easier to organise your tax affairs so that you get your information to your tax adviser, and reduces our moaning and badgering, to be in good time to enable your tax return to be submitted before the deadline.
Even if you are preparing it yourself, leaving it to the last minute will mean that things are done in a rush and, even with the best will in the world, mistakes can and will be made which give HMRC even more opportunities to charge tax geared penalties for errors. You also risk suffering late payment interest and penalties if HMRC do not receive your payment in time, especially as HMRC cannot receive payments via the Faster Payments Service so bank transfers usually take at least three working days to reach them. The “cheque’s in the post” is also not a get out and will not work.
If you are unable to submit your Return and pay your tax on time, do talk to a tax adviser and we will be happy to help in a relatively painless way and we will not moan at you too much, …… honest.
Steven Mugglestone BA FCA,
Finance Director Services
McGregors Corporate, Entrepreneurial Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers
…….Really good for your business
McGregors Corporate are a Member of Probiz Tax, providing Innovative Tax Solutions to Owner Managed Businesses.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevenmugglestonefca/
http://twitter.com/McGsCorporate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhC0wlglePE
http://www.mcgregorscorporate.co.uk/
T: 0845 519 5659 T: 0121 236 3317
steven@mcgregorsbirmingham.co.uk
Connect, call, talk, email, contact us, send a messenger pigeon and arrange a discussion, review and free meeting.
Steven Mugglestone 
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