HMRC has updated its guidance on how to perform usual hours calculations where employees come off furlough or flexible furlough partway through a claim period. The change affects claims made from 14 September. As you will remember from 1 July Flexible Furlough started and there was confusion about how to calculate an employee’s usual hours.…Read More
Jim Harra, Chief at HMRC, confirmed to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday 7 September that £3.5bn in furlough grants has been paid out in error or due to fraudulent activity. That equates to 5%-10% of the £35.4bn furlough grants spent in 2020 so far. During the televised meeting, Harra calculated that the margin…Read More
Let’s get into our fourth installment of our ’50 Ways to Grow a Business’ series. If you missed the third part which discussed the 80/20 rule, focus groups, and more, click the link. 15) Get your pricing right Many of us resist the idea of raising prices for fear that our customers will go elsewhere.…Read More
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched the Kickstart Scheme, designed to create new 6-month job placements for young people who are currently on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. The £2 billion Kickstart Scheme is designed to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across…Read More
Welcome back to our ’50 Ways to Grow a Business’ series. If you missed part two, which discusses outsourcing, customer surveys, technology and more, click here. This installment covers managing complaints, the 80/20 rule, focus groups and more. Let’s get into it: 11) Resolve complaints If your customers have complaints that are appropriately resolved, they…Read More
SMEs will now have access to an additional support fund with grants of between £1000 and £5000 to enable them to access equipment and technology to diversify or continue in business. The grant can also be used to access specialist finance and business advice from HR, accountants, IT providers, consultants and more. The £20m fund…Read More
Written by Carol Rigby, Partner at Cardens Accountants We are really excited about the latest release from Xero as it will help our clients with managing their cashflow in these difficult times. You can now set credit limits for your customer in Xero and you can block invoices being sent out to customers where the…Read More
Employers will be able to claim a one-off payment of £1,000 (Job Retention Bonus) for every employee they have previously received a grant for under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021. To be eligible, the employee must have received earnings in November, December…Read More
Welcome back to our ’50 Ways to Grow a Business’ series. If you missed Part 1, which discussed USPs, SWOT analysis and more, take a look for more tips. Let’s dive straight back in to the series, with our next set of business fundamentals. If you want to explore any of the following sections further,…Read More
The Government has announced details on how to claim the reimbursement for discounts given to diners with the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme. Please talk to us if you need COVID-19 support advice and accountancy services. Who can claim? If you have registered your establishment for the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme and…Read More
It is fairly common, particularly in the summer holidays, to pay a deposit when booking a hotel or self-catering hospitality accommodation but how should the deposit be accounted for? HMRC have confirmed that the hotel has the option of charging VAT according to the ‘basic tax point’ (dates of the stay) rather than the ‘actual…Read More
What does it take to grow a business? Let’s jump straight in: 1) Do a SWOT Analysis As part of your business planning process, conduct a SWOT analysis to help you identify your company’s: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Use this to again set actions for improvement. Here are some questions to ask: Strengths What are…Read More
Thousands of smaller businesses in England are set to benefit from £20 million of new grants to help them recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government has announced. Small and medium sized businesses will have access to grants of between £1,000 – £5,000 to help them…Read More
This August, people across the UK will benefit from 50% discount vouchers whenever they eat at a registered Eat Out to Help Out Scheme establishment. The scheme, designed to bring life back into our hospitality industry, will stretch between 3 to 31 August. The following guide outlines the scheme for would-be diners and the businesses…Read More
The government published an overview of Making Tax Digital (MTD) on 21 July 2020. The big news is that all VAT registered businesses with VAT turnover below £85,000 will be required to follow MTD rules for returns filed on or after April 2022. That might sound a long way off, but we strongly recommend you…Read More
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