FEATURE
ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES
Accountancy tips for small businesses
As a small business owner, it’s crucial that you get your finances in order and avoid making costly mistakes. Business Network offers five accounting tips that will help prevent financial mishaps.
KEEP THINGS SEPARATE It’s vitally important that you separate your business finances from your personal finances. As well as giving you a clear indication of the money your business has coming in – and how much is going out – one of the main benefits of keeping your finances separate is for tax purposes; your business will be able to take advantage of tax deductions not available to individuals, including writing off business expenses. Keeping things separate will also help in the event of
HMRC audit – if your finances are merged this will most likely result in HMRC auditing both you and your business. Opening a business bank account is the easiest way of keeping things separate, but make sure to also store all receipts and invoices separately. Paying yourself a regular salary can help you draw a clearly defined line between your money and the business’, but personal purchases should never be paid for on a company card.
A NEED FOR ACCURACY Separating your finances is only the first step – you must also strive to keep your business accounts as neat and accurate as possible. Efficient bookkeeping will make staying on top of your
finances much easier, as a lack of organisation could result in bills being paid late, or you falling into your overdraft without realising. Keep all your bills in one place, and draw up a schedule
for when you expect them and when you’ll pay them – ideally as soon as possible. Make sure you review your budget regularly – aim for once a month – and adjust your spending accordingly. A smaller business operation may be able to manage their finances in-house, but it may save time and money in the long run to pay for a bookkeeping service.
GET ADVICE You may think that, as a smaller business, you can’t stretch your budget to pay for outside help, but the assistance of a tax accountant, particularly one who specialises in small businesses, can free up a lot of your time, enabling you to focus on other areas of the business. A small business accountant will not only have the skills
and experience to organise your accounts and put efficient practises in place, but they will also be able to provide a wealth of information drawn from their experiences working with similar businesses.
STICK TO DEADLINES As well as paying your bills on time, you should also make sure you know exactly when your tax payments are due – and give yourself sufficient time to meet the deadline. Tax forms that are filed incorrectly or late can result in
late fees, fines, or a time-consuming audit, all things any small business would surely wish to avoid. If you have employed the services of a tax accountant, filing your tax returns on time is just one of the ways in which they will provide support to your business.
76 business network February 2020
EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY Investing in accounting software has many benefits. Online accounting platforms are easy to learn and subsequently use, even for less tech-savvy business owners, making it much easier to keep your accounts up-to-date. It can also reduce the need for an accountant, as it can
handle such jobs as payroll and invoicing, and the easy-to- use system will also positively impact productivity and accuracy. Additionally, many types of online accounting software
systems can help the business to track losses and profits, enabling you to spot trends and opportunities to improve revenue or streamline your business. The only costs involved with investing in such software are paying for the software and paying for staff training if necessary – and many software systems operate on a subscription basis, which will mean paying smaller fees each month instead of a larger, one-off payment.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
