Consultancy Services

Employment Status

The question as to whether someone is employed or self employed is not as straightforward as it might at first appear. Many people assume they are free to choose, but this is not the case.

Although there is no clear-cut answer as to how you decide if you are self-employed or not, the following should be on your checklist

Fundamental factors to consider:

Control
The right to get a substitute or helper to do the job
Mutuality of obligations.

Other factors to consider:

Provision of equipment
Financial Risk
Basis of Payment
Opportunity to profit from sound management
Part and parcel of the organisation
Right of dismissal
Employee benefits
Intention of the parties
Length of engagement.

These are often matters of general employment law, and not specific tax legislation. There is an enormous amount of Case Law in this area and HMRC are not always right. HMRC do not have the final say on whether somebody is self-employed or not. We can argue your case and take it before the Tax Commissioners for you.

The cost if you get it wrong is enormous. Not only is there the question of employees and employers national insurance, being classified as an employee also gives rise to all sorts of employment rights such as holiday pay, maternity pay, unfair dismissal etc. The decision has to be made by the employer and if you get it wrong it is going to be very hard to recover the back tax, interest, penalties etc from the worker.

We can review your existing arrangements and give you our opinion on whether it will stand up to attack from the Taxman. We can help advise on contracts for services to assist you and advise on how you can maximize your chances.

Employee Remuneration Planning

Good remuneration packages are important in attracting and keeping the right quality staff.

We offer comprehensive advice on all employment tax issues including…

Tax efficient remuneration strategies
Planning for retirement
Termination payments
Inducement payments
Company car and van strategies
Benefits planning
Expenses dispensations

Annual Statutory Financial Statements

We can…

Prepare accounts to help in completion of self-assessment tax returns
Produce financial statements to file at Companies House and abridged accounts to ensure the minimum amount of your financial information is made public

Accounts are prepared to agreed timescales and deadlines.

But we can do more than just report the history of what’s already happened…

Identify areas where we can assist in minimising your tax liability
Identify areas of the business that give you the most opportunity to make improvements
Use the accounts to help you measure where you are in meeting your goals and what actions you need to take

We take the time to explain your accounts to you so that you understand what is going on financially within your business, helping you to plan for the future.

Strategic Planning Raising Finance

You’ve probably been told many times that planning is crucial to success in business but somehow you’ve never quite got round to it.

Rather than having a planned strategy you run your business by…

Trusting your intuition
Using instant decisions
And generally riding the rollercoaster

That may well work and we do realise that gut feelings are a crucial business skill in successful entrepreneurs. But planning is still crucial. Research shows that those businesses that do plan and have clear strategies are far more successful.

Our strategic planning service helps you…

Agree on long-term strategic goals both personally and for the business
Identify where you are now
Work ON the business so that you can spend less time working IN it
Identify the blocks in the strategy
Agree an operational strategy to overcome the blocks and meet those goals
Develop business growth systems
Grow a great team of people
Monitor your results against those goals
Manage the money in your business
Develop an exit strategy

The result is an agreed action plan.

Management Accounts

Up to date, relevant and quickly produced management information allows you to make the right decisions.

Our management accounts and information services include…

Monthly or quarterly management accounts
Reporting of key performance indicators that are the underlying drivers that run your business
Help with in house systems for you to produce your own information
Training on how to get the most out of your information
Supplying management information to lenders
Branch/Divisional results
Actual performance compared to budget and/or comparative periods
Costing information, including break-even turnover levels