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FourWord Thinking Podcast

We are proud to have featured as a guest on the FourWord Thinking podcast, talking about sustainability in small business and other things sustainable. Hopefully to inspire more business owners to make positive changes towards people, planet and the community. Remember the world doesn't need a few perfect eco-warriors, we need millions of us doing a more to have a bigger collective impact. Happy listening :-) Fourwordpocast ...

Coronavirus - Help for Business Owners

This page is intended as a central resource for our clients and any other business owners who need help in these constantly changing days we find ourselves in. Physical distancing First and foremost is the safety of you and your family and everyone you come in contact with.  Please follow the physical distancing rules (we don't like the term social distancing). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-dis...

To Plant 1 Million Trees

For a while now I have been keen to start giving from our business. We are passionate about being kind to the planet and our people but want to take this a step further and start supporting causes.  Rather than make the occasional donation to charities I want to take this to the next step and embed this into my day to day business processes. In particularly we want to align our impact to the UN Global Goals. My intention was always to kick this off after the Business For Good Conferenc...

Exciting news from Receipt Bank... no more logging to download invoices

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How to delegate paying suppliers

As your business grows you may have found that keeping control of who needs paying and dealing with invoices and payments has become too time consuming. The natural next step is to delegate this to a member of staff, a bookkeeper or accountant. But this does come with risks so you need to understand how to control those risks Rule number 1 – two sets of eyes.  There is a simple rule used in big business who have a finance team – there must always been two sets of eyes on every transacti...

Combining commerce and charity

Recently I was fortunate to be able to view the newly built Social Bite village for the homeless in Granton, Edinburgh.  As I move my business from a commercial venture to a business that supports charity through commercial activity I was really impressed by what Social Bite have achieve.  I will leave the pros and cons of the aims of the village to the experts but what really struck me was the financial gravitas of what Social bite have done.  Edinburgh Council currently pay £47...

Give to charity AND save tax.

Giving to charity is not only good for charities but, done the right way, it can also save your company corporation tax. As we go through the journey of having more social impact we thought we would share our findings on how you can support charities and save corporation tax. (Please note this article is relevant for UK Limited Liability companies and not Sole Traders, Partnerships or LLPs.) Charitable Donations to Registered UK Charities Under HMRC rules donations to registered UK Charitie...

Higher rate flat rate VAT if you don't buy physical goods!

Are you ready for the changes to the flat rate scheme? Do you spend a low amount on goods and use the flat rate scheme?  If so you may need to pay the new 16.5% rate when the changes to the VAT flat rate scheme come into force on 1 April 2017. To check if you need to pay the higher rate you need to look at your accounts, every time you do a return, and work out if the amount you spend on goods(including VAT) is; Less than than 2%of VAT inclusive turnoverMore than 2% of VAT inclusive tu...

Don't let HMRC spoil your party. Know what you can put through your business.

Are you feeling generous this year and wanting to give you customers and clients gifts, or even throw them a party?  HMRC may not be as generous as you think. People often ask what tax allowance is available for Christmas parties. We thought this is a good time to remind you of what HMRC will allow you to put through your business for gifts and parties. Client Gifts You can give a gift up to £50 per person a year if it is a business gift. It must have an obvious advertisement on the gift a...

Getting into good money habits. How habits have changed my world.

This week we ran a mini workshop for West Lothian Women in Business with Helen of HM Coaching. One of the topics of discussion was getting into good money habits for keeping on top of your finances. Throughout my life I have realised the importance of habits.  Just after I got married 14 years ago I was fed up with my weight. I had always been a healthy size but my weight had gone up to a a few dress sizes and I felt uncomfortable in my skin.  When my clothes started getting tight...

The Accounting Fairy

The accounting fairy puts on her wings,Picks up her wand and answers the phone that rings.She calms the caller who is in distress.I will deal with HMRC she says, don't you stress. She takes a pile of paper, sprinkles fairy dust,Turns them into beautiful accounts to earn her crust.With a wave of her wand she saves some taxAnd finds some costs to cut so you can relax. In a blink of an eye she sorts out a system,Magics up some software to make your office glisten.Lets look at your prices she will s...

Remember it is only the interest on your mortgage that is allowable for tax.

A common misconception we come across is property owners thinking that their total mortgage payments are tax deductible. Only the interest part of your mortgage payment is allowable for tax. The capital part is paying off your original investment so is not allowable. Why is this an issue? Well some landlords have a strategy of paying off their mortgages quicker so they can get better cash flow from their investment. This is can be a great strategy but only if you ensure that you have taken into ...

Ditch convention with the two year plan.

Today I listened to Chris Boardman speak at the Edinburgh Book Festival. This is a man who has achieved incredible things, including an Olympic Gold Medal and World records. One comment he made resonated with me as I have never been a person who has a 5 year plan. Chris admitted he doesn't do 5 year plans. He has 2 year goals. His belief that you can be passionate about achieving a goal in 2 years and have focus on that goal. I tend to agree. Five years is a long time and the world we live in ca...

App of the Month: Receipt Bank - taking the pain out of monthly expenses

So it's time to look at your monthly expenses. Groan. Yes, I know it is a tedious job. I have to confess that I even put off doing my own. I love putting paper work in order for my clients but the thought of finding my receipts and invoices, processing them, adding them up and then paying them sends me off in a flurry of housework. And if you know me I hate housework.So why did I love doing my monthly expenses this month?  Because I used my new favourite cloud system - Receipt Bank&nbs...

Open your brown envelopes please!

Do you fear opening those brown envelopes from HMRC? It makes me sad when I help clients with backdated tax issues. Why? Because I see how much avoiding doing tax returns has cost them in penalties and  interest.  Sometimes in networking and in contact with clients, I come across people who fear the HMRC so much that they don't open correspondence from HMRC. I have met people who confess to stuffing them in drawers. I have a client who hands me any official looking letters unopened (wh...

Professional or environmental?

We aim to reduce our carbon footprint here at Gregory Accounting HQ but today I had to challenge my attitude.  My car is awaiting repair and I had a meeting booked in with a potential client today.  It was about 4 miles away so I decided the best thing to do would be to cycle there. But then I started to worry about being unprofessional.  How would the potential client feel when I turned up on a bike? Would they think I looked unprofessional? Would it portray an image of someone w...

Pricing for Perfection

Today I experienced the perfect example of how to stand out in a crowded market and achieve top prices. I was so excited about my experience at a local salon I just had to write about it.Pricing is more than figures, a lot of it is psychology. Price low and your brand is seen as cheap. Price high and your brand is seen as high quality. Of course to price high you need to meet expectations and have the belief in those prices.  To achieve a great price you need to differentiate. In a highly c...

Tax relief on landlord's mortgages is disappearing

Tax relief on interest on individual landlords is being phased out. As announced in Summer Budget individuallandlords will no longer be able to offset the interest cost of mortgages and loans. Instead they will claim a basic rate relief. This will be 20% of the lower of; finance costs not deducted from income in the tax yearprofits of the property business in the tax yeartotal income (excluding savings income and dividend income) that exceeds the personal allowance and blind person’s...

App of the Month - Tripcatcher

Tripcatcher: Our favourite tool for logging mileage As an accountant you would think I would be great at reclaiming my business mileage. Well you would be wrong. I find it tedious and time consuming. But I know it needs doing because, at 45 p per mile it can add up to a nice tidy sum to reclaim from my business and reduce my tax bill.  I had been putting off the job for awhile (6 months in fact - eeek!) and decide to tackle it head on.  So I starting looking around for a tool to do thi...

Limited Company or Sole Trader?

Have you considered what is the best structure for your business? Gregory Accounting, small business accountants in West Lothian advise that this is an important decision to make. One of the decisions you are faced with when starting a new company is whether to run your business as a sole trader or a limited company. The majority of small business in the UK are sole traders. The reason for this is because it is very simple to run. All you need to do is register as self-employed with HMRC and fil...

Top 10 Tips for Starting a Small Business - an accountant's perspective

Gregory Accountants West Lothian provide useful insights for business startups Starting a new business is exciting and daunting at the same time.  You probably have a fantastic idea for a product or service, and a million little ideas spinning around in your head. Great! But what do you need to do from a practical perspective to keep the tax man happy, keep your records straight and get support.  Here are our top 10 tips, based on our experience as small business specialist accountants...