Services

I can offer the full range of accountancy and tax services. All fees are agreed in advance, there are no hidden extras. Business advice is included; if you need to talk through an idea, give me a call without worrying about receiving a bill! Call me to arrange a free, informal, no obligation chat.

Income Tax

Everyone who is running a business either as a sole trader or a director will be required to complete a self assessment income tax return. Most businessmen and women don’t have the time or inclination to fill in forms and therefore can miss deadlines and incur penalties. I can perform this chore for you and ensure that you pay the right amount of tax at the right time.

Annual Accounts

All businesses need to prepare annual accounts. For sole traders these are fairly simple statements to back up the income tax return, but if you are trading as a limited company then the accounts need to be more detailed and in a prescribed format.

Management Accounts

In the current economic climate most businesses cannot wait until the end of the year to find out how profitable they are. I specialise in the preparation of regular management accounts. These are, as the name suggests, accounts prepared for the owners or directors of the business to help them track how they are doing throughout the year. As they are "internal" documents they can take whatever format is most relevant and appropriate to suit the business and can be monthly or quarterly. In addition to the normal profit and loss account, they can be used to assess which customers and products are most profitable and help with strategy decisions. In many cases monthly management accounts are a pre-requisite if a bank is lending money to a business.

A welcome side effect of regular accounts is that they make the preparation of annual accounts quicker and therefore cheaper!

VAT

Another regular chore is the monthly or quarterly VAT return. I can advise on the best way to keep your records in order to speed up the preparation of the returns and make sure they are submitted on time.

Corporation Tax

Limited companies are required to submit annual corporation tax returns. These are more complex than income tax returns and require some specialist knowledge.

Cashflow

The old adage that "Cash is King" is truer now more than ever. You may be trading profitably, but unless you manage your cash you could still end up in difficulty. I can give advice on the best way to manage your working capital (stock, debtors and creditors) to maximise the positive cash flow in your business. This could include helping to negotiate longer payment terms with suppliers or instigating tighter credit control to encourage customers to pay quicker.

Company Secretarial

Since the Companies Act 2006, private limited companies are no longer obliged to appoint a company secretary. However, the directors of the company are still obliged to fulfil the same duties ie ensuring that statutory accounts, annual returns, changes of directors and shareholders etc are submitted to Companies House on time. I can fulfil the role of a "surrogate" company secretary to ensure that all deadlines are met.

Ad hoc projects

As I have spent many years preparing appraisals and business analysis for consideration at board meetings I am ideally qualified to help with any "one-off" projects you may have. If you are considering expansion, major investment or moving into new markets let me prepare a business model beforehand to assess the opportunities and risks. Again all fees would be agreed in advance.