You may not know that local accountants HB Accountants, based in Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire and on the Essex border, was originally a London accountancy practice. We moved out to this lovely market town over 40 years ago and are so happy that some of our original London-based businesses are still our clients.
A critical part of running a small business is managing your accounting. Not only do you need to manage the bookkeeping – the recording and organising of your financial data such as invoicing, expenses, payments and payroll – you also need to manage your accounts – the presentation and interpretation of that financial data including preparing tax returns, generating reports and forecasts, and auditing. So, which is the best way to record your financial information if you’re a SME? Should small businesses use simple spreadsheet accounting or invest in an accounting software package?
Welcome back to the HB Accountants Podcast. After the success of our first episode, we are excited to bring you Episode Two, where we tackle a crucial topic for every business owner – tax planning.
You may wish to change how you pay a director’s salary and dividends due to the changes to Employer’s National Insurance Contributions (NICs) announced in the October budget. NICs are not payable on dividends so despite salaries being tax deductible, the optimum balance between paying a salary and a dividend may have shifted – depending on how many directors are in your business. If you are a director or shareholders of a small, limited company, read on to find out more.
We haven’t gone crazy! The snake is one of the animals in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac signs. The new Chinese lunar year is the start of the Year of the Snake in 2025 so we thought it would be fun to apply the stated behaviours of someone born in a snake year and think about why a snake would be a great accountant!
While it is incredibly tempting to wind down in the days leading up to Christmas and take it easy between Christmas and the New Year celebrations, it really is the perfect time to ensure that your accounts are in tip top shape.
Advisory fuel rates (AFRs) are recommended reimbursement figures for drivers reclaiming business mileage, usually for those in company vehicles. The advisory fuel rate is updated by HMRC based on fuel prices every quarter, and publish revised figures if required in late February, May, August and November each year
As we leap towards the start of the festive season, with Christmas only a few weeks away (sorry!), we are sure that marketing and people teams are full speed ahead with planning Christmas parties and finding ways to to thank everyone for their hard work and loyalty over the past year. This means it is a great time to revisit HMRC’s guidance around parties and Christmas giving to your team and to your clients.
Finance professionals are not only responsible for financial transactions and reporting, they are directly involved in the operation of their organisations; providing strategic direction and high-level decision making. However, with this expanded responsibility and new technology, there comes new challenges.
It’s a delicate balancing act to keep expenses down whilst still investing in growth and innovation. It is tough but it is possible to reduce costs without impacting growth by identifying and eliminating wasteful spending and ultimately build a lean, efficient business that can weather economic storms and be poised to seize new opportunities. Here are 5 proven cost reduction strategies that can help your business achieve longterm positive results.
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HB Accountants is the trading name of HBAS Limited, a company registered in England with registration number 5085258. The registered office of HBAS Limited is Plumpton House, Plumpton Road, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire EN11 0LB, England. Registered for VAT number 866062806.