On Sunday 5 May, 11 spritely accountants selflessly sacrificed a weekend of bank holiday shenanigans in favour of an altogether more philanthropic cause – the 2019 Simplyhealth Great Bristol 10k. Raising money for Corrigan's Quartet Fund, training had been tough with competition running high between Partners and Managers including daily comparisons of Strava statistics, a [...]
What should be a simple task of claiming back expenses can quickly turn into a paperwork nightmare. Many clients we see have piles of receipts from fuel to meals, and everything in between, which they manually input into a spreadsheet each month (or worse, yearly!). Well, there is now an app-based solution that integrates with [...]
We have written before about the use of so-called "alphabet" shares to give different rights to particular shareholders in a company, and in particular the care that must be taken with anti tax avoidance legislation to avoid unpleasant surprises. What we haven't seen before is the problem encountered by a company owner in a recent [...]
We are celebrating our 10th anniversary this year and have taken the opportunity to reflect on how we have built a great team of people and developed successful collaborative partnerships with our clients. The last 10 years have flown by but we're well on the road to becoming the leading independent accountancy practice in Bristol [...]
The food and drink industry is a vibrant and fast-moving area so here is a summary of some recent news to keep you up to date. Vouchers Selling gift vouchers in restaurants can be a really good way of generating some additional sales but also getting customers to try a new venue. Although well established, [...]
With less than a month to go until MTD for VAT, HMRC have confirmed that the digitisation of the tax system will be occurring from 1 April 2019. The changes are likely to affect more than 1.2 million VAT registered businesses across the UK. Key messages from Corrigan Don't panic – there is a soft-landing [...]
Dealing with uncertainty is, more than ever, a daily challenge for many businesses and charities. So how can a business owner, trustee or FD create a financial plan which takes that uncertainty into account; to create realistic budgets and targets for an organisation while being comfortable that adequate funds will be available? We’ve helped a [...]
There's not much joy in the Christmas air right now with the Brexit deal seemingly beyond our grasp. Business is nothing if not adaptable but it would be good to know at this stage what we are adapting to! The uncertainty caused by the delay runs the risk of cooling the economy but the uncertainty [...]
Two changes to the private residence relief for capital gains tax ('CGT'), announced in October's Budget, could have a significant impact on tax liabilities for rented properties sold after 5 April 2020. Many rental properties have previously been occupied by the owners as their homes. This can arise for a number of reasons; the owners [...]
For the second year, we attended Xero's yearly conference in the London ExCel – The UK's largest accounting convention with over 3,000 professionals in attendance! This is the best place to learn about the latest developments in the Xero ecosystem and demo the newest add-ons, apps and integrations. It allows us to remain at the [...]
One of the few notable announcements in the Budget on 29 October 2018, introduces significant changes to the qualifying conditions for entrepreneurs' relief. One fundamental change came into effect immediately with others coming into effect from 6 April 2019. Before the budget announcement the basic conditions for a shareholder to claim entrepreneurs' relief on a [...]
Overview The Chancellor claims that the era of austerity is coming to an end, and there are substantial spending commitments, both in tax cuts and spending, most notably the NHS and Universal Credit – but all bets are off if there is a no deal Brexit. There follows a brief summary of the key points, [...]
Increasingly our expertise is in demand in Bristol's burgeoning technology sector. Bristol has been placed among Europe's top 10 tech 'super clusters' in a recent survey. Employment in Bristol's tech sector has grown by 25% since 2008. We believe Bristol's technology profile will grow in 2019, following trends of previous years. In 2017, the City [...]
What is Making Tax Digital? From 1 April 2018, VAT-registered businesses with a taxable turnover of over £85,000 will be required to keep their VAT records digitally and submit VAT returns using Making Tax Digital (MTD) compatible software. At present, only 11% percent of VAT returns are filed with software. Under the new regulations, it [...]
Despite having to redirect resources to deal with ever increasing pressures from Brexit, and calls to further delay the implementation, HMRC are persevering with their digital revolution - Making Tax Digital (MTD) – starting with MTD for VAT taking effect from 1 April 2019. This will see VAT-registered businesses having to comply with new legislation [...]
When furnished holiday property is let on a commercial basis for short periods, the owner can benefit from certain tax reliefs which wouldn't otherwise be available to residential landlords, providing certain conditions are met. However, there are also several disadvantages associated with letting property as holiday accommodation whether or not the furnished holiday letting conditions [...]
We’re delighted to announce that we have been appointed as a Xero Gold Partner which means we can help you achieve more success in your business by adopting this innovative, cloud-based accounting software solution. Contact us today to find out more about how Xero could help make running your business so much easier. For those [...]
In contrast to the improving fortunes of the England football team, there’s been a lot of news about corporate failure in the last few months. At the beginning of the year Carillion entered administration, calling into question the role of the auditors in the period leading up to the insolvency. The events appear to have [...]
On 4 April, HMRC confirmed that State Aid approval for EMI (Enterprise Management Incentive) share options expired on 6 April and that although the government had applied for renewal this had not yet been granted. HMRC provided guidance which stated that it was their view that the tax benefits of qualifying EMI share options would [...]
Grant bodies such as Innovate UK (a trading name of the Technology Strategy Board) often require the awardee to obtain external scrutiny of the grant claims made for a project. Assurance reports from an external accountant are usually required twice over the life of a project, although this can vary depending on the value of [...]
A "call for evidence" One of the few newsworthy items in the Chancellors spring statement was a "call for evidence" about the impact on growth of the VAT threshold. There is, apparently, a bunching of businesses with a turnover just below the VAT registration limit of £85,000, suggesting that businesses close to the limit either [...]
In a time of doubt and faltering confidence in the UK and global economies, Brexit and the possibility of trade barriers and ongoing uncertainty in international relations, it is reassuring to observe our local landscape as politically stable, economically thriving and featuring internationally for all the right reasons. In the UK Smart Cities Index 2017, [...]
The personal company of BBC Look North presenter Christa Ackroyd was landed with a tax bill of over £400,000 recently when HMRC successfully took it to the Tax Tribunal – what does this mean for contractors and those who hire them? Many of you will be familiar with the term IR35 – the name, based [...]
The National Cyber Security Centre (a part of GCHQ) issued this month its first guidance for smaller charities (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/charity). The guidance includes several tips across five areas. Many of the recommendations aren't new, but the relatively short guidance is a useful refresher given the increasing risks in this area. Most of the tips aren't exclusive [...]
This is the first quarterly column providing useful hits and tips to help you get the most out of Xero. We will also keep you up to date with the latest news and updates with the software. Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform that allows you to have real time access to your business financial [...]
