FINANCE Taking account

If you are a self-employed fitness professional and are finding things a little slow at the moment, you may want to consider claiming benefits from your local council. It is a commonly held misconception that you can only claim benefits if you are an employee, or if you are unemployed. But you can also claim various benefits as a self-employed person including housing and council tax benefit, and self-employed women can also apply for maternity benefits.

Housing/council tax benefit For this you will need to contact your local council and request a housing benefit claim form. You will also need proof of the net profit that your business has made upon which your benefit claim will be based. For this you will need:- l Your most current set of accounts and l Associated receipts, bank statements etc that go with them.

In general if your accounts have been prepared by a qualified accountant then it is not usually necessary to produce supporting documentation.

There are a variety of other factors that are used in calculating housing benefits and at first glance these can seem very time-consuming and daunting, however the usual adage applies - if you don’t ask, you won’t get. The claim form can be downloaded from http://www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/claimforms/hctb1_print.pdf

Maternity pay There are certain rules and regulations but in general: l You can claim from week 26 of your pregnancy for a maximum of 39 weeks l You must be registered with HM Revenue & Customs and paying Class 2 National Insurance contributions or hold a Small Earnings Exception certificate l You must have been self-employed for at least 26 weeks out of the 66 week period running up to and including the week before the week your baby is due (the Employment Test) l You must be earning on average £30 a week or more (the Earnings Test).

How much will I get? The weekly rate is based on your average weekly earnings. maternity allowance is paid at standard rate or at a rate equal to 90% of your average gross weekly earnings. You will get whichever is the lower rate. The standard rate is £124.88 from 6th April 2010.

Your questions If you have any questions relating to accountancy or finance matters then please send them to me via reps@sportex.net and I will answer them as best as I can from the information

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If number crunching’s not your style don’t worry, financial expert Jamie Crampton’s here to help

provided. Some common topics include: l Business planning and start-up l Should I be a Limited company or sole trader? l What if I employ someone to work for me? l When do I have to pay tax? l What kind of records do I need to keep? l Can I claim for my car/van? l What other expenditure can I claim for?

There are of course many other areas that you may have a question about and I will be happy to try and help, or at least point you in the right direction. Please note that I am unable to advise on pensions and investments as these are very specialist subjects, however I can refer you to contacts in these areas.

THE AUTHOR

Jamie Crampton has worked in accounting since 1979, in both general practice and business and commerce for a variety of firms of all sizes, including Mitsubishi, GWR Radio

(now Heart), the British Racing Drivers Club, Parcelforce, Fossil and many others. In 1995 he qualified as chartered management accountant and in 2008 set up his own business – Accounting 4 Fitness.

Does your financial fitness match your personal fitness?

Whether you are an established or newly formed business, or thinking about starting, we can help you. We provide advice on Accounting,

Self Assessment, Income & Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE and many other financial services at extremely competitive rates, which can be paid monthly. We are experts in all aspects of Leisure & Fitness industry accounting and can easily arrange personal consultancy sessions that fit in with your schedule, anytime and anywhere in the UK.

For more information call Jamie Crampton, ACMA (T) 01234 267860 (M) 07830 225612 (E) Jamie@a4f.co.uk.

Accounting 4 Fitness

12 Boxgrove Priory, Bedford MK41 0TQ. Registered with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants as a Member in Practice.

The REPs Journal 2010;17(June):24-25