Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all the team at Hillmans Chartered Accountants

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy Prosperous New Year from all the team at Hillmans Chartered Accountants.

We wish you and those close to you the happiest and safest of Christmases.

Our Christmas Opening Hours:

Our office is closed for the Christmas and New Year period from 5pm on Friday 23^rd December, re-opening at 9am on Tuesday 3rd January. 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy Prosperous New Year from all the team at Hillmans Chartered Accountants. 

I wish you and those close to you the happiest and safest of Christmases.

Our Christmas Opening Hours

Our office will be closed for the Christmas and New Year period from 5pm on Friday 23rd December, re-opening at 9am on Tuesday 3rd January. 

23rd December 2022 – Hillmans Weekly Update:

Welcome to our round-up of the latest business and tax news for our clients. Please contact us if you want to talk about how these updates affect you. We are here to support you!

Kind regards,
 
Steve
 
Steven Hillman BSc (Hons) ACA
Chartered Accountant
Tel: 01934 444100
https://www.hillmans.co.uk

Making Tax Digital postponed until 2026
Following an announcement from the Government this week, the mandatory use of software by landlords and self employed individuals has been postponed by two years, and will now be phased in from April 2026. This will impact those with an income of more than £50,000 (previously £10,000). Those with an income of £30,000-£50,000 will need to comply from April 2027.

The Government has also announced a review on the needs of smaller businesses, particularly those under the £30,000 income threshold. Mandation of MTD for ITSA will not be extended to general partnerships in 2025 as previously announced.

16th December 2022 – Hillmans Weekly Update

Welcome to our round-up of the latest business and tax news for our clients. Please contact us if you want to talk about how these updates affect you. We are here to support you!

Please note our office will be closed for the Christmas and New Year period from 5pm on Friday 23rd December, re-opening at 9am on Tuesday 3rd January. If I don't see you beforehand, I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Prosperous New Year.

I hope you have a good weekend. 

Kind regards,
 
Steve
 
Steven Hillman BSc (Hons) ACA
Chartered Accountant
Tel: 01934 444100
https://www.hillmans.co.uk

Ministers to review late payments to small businesses
Earlier this month, the business secretary Grant Schnapps announced a government review into tackling late payments for small businesses, while also urging large companies to pay their smaller suppliers promptly.

Small businesses routinely suffer from late payments from businesses they supply, which can lead to cash flow problems, putting their firms at risk and preventing them from growing. The majority of small businesses do not have large balance sheets and cannot accommodate long payment terms or delays to receiving payment within their cash flow cycle. Significant time and resources are spent on chasing late payments.

The Payment and Cash Flow review will scrutinise existing payment practices and the measures in place to make sure small firms are not ripped off by their larger clients – with over £23.4 billion currently owed in outstanding invoices to UK businesses.

The review will consider the progress made in specific sectors of the economy in combatting late payment and will also include an in-depth examination of current payment reporting regulations and the Prompt Payment Code.

In addition, the statutory review of the Small Business Commissioner will help to ensure that the UK has the right arrangements in place to support small businesses.

See: Business Secretary launches review to prevent small firms from being ripped off by larger companies - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you are concerned about the future of your cash flows, then take some time to reflect on where you are and what could happen in the next few months. It is now vitally important for all businesses to plan ahead for a range of scenarios. Cash flow and business planning in these uncertain times may appear difficult but there are some practical steps you can take to minimise potential disruption to your business.

• Review your Budgets and set realistic and achievable targets for 2023.
• Get your employees involved in a discussion of likely trading conditions and get their input on reducing costs and maintaining revenues. 
• Review and flowchart the main processes in your business (e.g. Sales processing, order fulfilment, shipping etc.) and challenge the need for each step.
• Put extra effort into making sure your relationships with your customers are solid.

• Review your list of products and services and eliminate those that are unprofitable or not core products/services.
• Pull everyone together to explain the business strategy and get their buy-in.

We specialise in helping our clients manage their cash flow.  We do this by preparing and updating detailed cash flow forecasts, using the latest and most powerful software.  

Please talk to us about cash flow planning for the next few months, we can help with a template so you can do this yourself or work together to produce estimates for a variety of scenarios.

9th December 2022 – Hillmans Weekly Update

Welcome to our round-up of the latest business and tax news for our clients. Please contact us if you want to talk about how these updates affect you. We are here to support you!

I hope you have a good weekend. 

Kind regards,

Steve

Steven Hillman BSc (Hons) ACA
Chartered Accountant
Tel: 01934 444100
https://www.hillmans.co.uk

Thinking long term is a key business strategy

We were finally getting over the financial crisis when Covid struck. Then, in the trough of the worst economic downturn in 300 years, we discovered that recovery was driving the FTSE to new heights and the job market into a frenzy. In the wake of that, it became clear that the recovery was overheating and that we are now facing a period of rising inflation and industrial action. 

Russia’s war in Ukraine has made things worse. It has not only meant human suffering – it has affected the entire global economy, driving up the cost of food and energy. It adds to the hardship for those on low incomes and means serious food security risks in the world’s poorest economies.

The economy has always had its ups and downs, but its resemblance to a roller coaster is currently more marked than ever. 

Businesses of every size face challenges that are now suppressing growth. A business might have a great product or service, but without a strategic plan to help it define, articulate and communicate where it is going, it will be at the mercy of outside events. We encourage our clients to take some time to think long-term about their business and to establish goals or targets that you can control.    

A plan starts with identifying and accessing opportunities within your market and should address how your business is going to evolve to meet the challenges of today and the future. The plan gives your business purpose and answers questions about your long-term goals.

The first step is to look at five important areas:

1. Think long term – invest time in understanding where the market is going and what this means for your customers. Short-term decisions do not help grow a business.
2. Having a good value proposition is essential – this states the relevance of your product or service, what it does and why customers need it. What is yours? 
3. Expand your reach – who is your target customer and what do you need to do to let them know you exist and that your product or service is relevant to them?
4. Growth means new people, systems and (maybe) different ways of doing things. Grow at a pace you can manage.
5. How will your marketing get your value proposition to relevant customers?

Once you have taken time to write your plan and decide where you want your business to be in (say) 2 years, the next step is to work out a marketing programme with actions to make it happen.

A marketing plan is a business document outlining your marketing strategy and tactics. It is often focused on a specific period of time (i.e. over the next 12 months) and covers a variety of marketing-related details, such as costs, goals, and action steps. But like your business plan, a marketing plan is not a static document. The plan should outline:

1.    How you are going to keep existing customers happy and returning to buy more often.

2.    What the goals are for getting new customers.

3.    The marketing methods you are going to use to achieve 1 and 2.

We specialise in helping our clients manage their businesses. We do this by preparing and updating detailed forecasts, using the latest and most powerful software.

Please talk to us about strategic planning. We can help with a template so you can do this yourself or work together to produce estimates for various scenarios and help you take control of your business!

 

2nd December 2022 – Hillmans Weekly Update

Welcome to our round-up of the latest business and tax news for our clients. Please contact us if you want to talk about how these updates affect you. We are here to support you!

I hope you have a good weekend. 

Kind regards,

Steve

Steven Hillman BSc (Hons) ACA
Chartered Accountant
Tel: 01934 444100
https://www.hillmans.co.uk

HMRC is changing how they assess profits for some sole traders and partnerships

How HMRC assesses profits for sole traders and partnerships who use an accounting date between 6 April and 30 March will change from 6 April 2023. This change will not affect companies.

Your accounting date is the last day of the period that you prepare your accounts for. You choose your accounting date when you set up your business and will normally make your accounts up to that date every year. Under the current rules, you are taxed on profits for the accounting date that ends in a given tax year. For example, if your accounting date is 30 November, for the 2022 to 2023 tax year you will be taxed on profits in your 30 November 2022 accounts.

From 6 April 2024, you will be assessed on your profits for each tax year that runs from 6 April to 5 April. This change will affect how you fill in your tax return if you use an accounting date between 6 April and 30 March. The way your profits are assessed if you use an accounting date between 31 March and 5 April will not change.

There will be a transition year from 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024 to allow any overlap relief that you may be due to be used against your profits for that tax year. You may be due overlap relief from when you started to trade, or if you subsequently changed your accounting date.

How your profits for the 2023 to 2024 tax year will be assessed

The changes will mean the amount of tax that you owe in the 2023 to 2024 tax year may change if you use an accounting date between 6 April and 30 March. You will be assessed to tax on both:

●        The 12-month accounting period you have previously been using (the one that ends in 2023/24).

●        The rest of the 2023 to 2024 tax year — minus any overlap relief that you may be due — spread over 2022/23 and the next 4 tax years. You can spread these ‘excess’ profits over a shorter period if you wish.

Example (assuming no overlap relief is available):

1. Your accounting period is from 1 January to 31 December.
2. Your assessable profit is £32,000 from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023.
3. Your assessable profit is £18,000 from 1 January 2024 to 5 April 2024.
4. The £18,000 profit is divided equally and assessed over the next 5 tax years at £3,600 a year (£18,000 divided by 5).
5. In the 2023 to 2024 tax year, your total assessable profits will be £35,600 (£32,000 plus £3,600).

Any increased profits from the 2023 to 2024 tax year will be treated in a special way to minimise the impact on benefits and allowances.