Our Services

One of our core services is the preparation of annual accounts for limited companies, LLP's, partnerships, sole traders, self employed, clubs, societies and charities from the accounting records provided to us by the client. The accounts are of course fully compliant and are prepared in accordance with the appropriate Financial Reporting Standards and accounting principles. We are also happy to advise clients on the best and most appropriate accounting systems for their business in order that annual accounts may be prepared as efficiently as possible.

Many small businesses prepare quarterly or monthly management figures, which have similar content to full annual accounts but are less formal. At the same time, these accounts can be more informative in terms of internal controls, and perhaps comparison of the business actual performance against plan or budget, to enable the business owner to make informed decisions about the future. We prepare such figures for many of our clients, who find them very useful as an effective management tool.

No business owner wishes to pay more than the bare legal minimum in tax and this is to the forefront of our thinking when acting on behalf of our clients. We plan and advise to ensure that our business clients are in the best possible position to take advantage of all appropriate tax breaks which may be available to that particular business.

All limited companies must file an annual Corporation Tax Return with HM Revenue and Customs, together with tax computations and copy of the annual company accounts, and this is a routine part of our service to our many limited company clients. We remove all the pressure on the Directors by preparing and filing the full package of information and acting as the conduit between the Revenue and the limited company client.

We have an in house bookkeeping service which is used by many of our clients and, as part of that service, we prepare the periodical VAT Returns and calculate the net VAT due for many of our VAT registered clients. We can prepare the Returns either from the most basic of client records (copy sales and expense invoices, bank statements etc) or from the client's own full accounting records. We also advise on the merits of the various VAT schemes, some of which can be extremely beneficial to many clients.

HM Revenue and Customs is developing an unfortunate name for itself in making errors in individual PAYE tax coding. This has become particularly true for many taxpayers who may be in receipt of private or state pensions, and also for younger people (students or the newly employed) who are becoming taxpayers for the first time. We are happy to assist any such taxpayer in resolving and correcting PAYE coding errors, and in claiming repayment of any tax overpaid as a result.

We take the pain and pressure out of the completion and filing of the dreaded annual Self Assessment Tax Return. We help our clients with collating all the relevant information, we complete the form on our clients' behalf for their approval and signature, and then we file the form on line to ensure maximum efficiency and minimum delay (particularly important if a tax repayment is due!). We calculate the net tax position before the Revenue does, we advise our clients of any tax liability well before it is due, and we deal with Revenue enquiries should they arise. In short, we take the worry away and deal with the whole process as if the client Tax Return were our own.

Should any client have the misfortune to experience a Revenue enquiry, we will work hard to ensure that the Revenue queries are dealt with, finalised and resolved as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.

We provide a very efficient and cost effective payroll service which is tailored to each individual client requirement. The payroll may be weekly, fortnightly, 4 weekly or monthly and we provide printed payslips to each employee, a full payroll summary, full calculations of PAYE/NI payable to the Revenue plus any other payroll related report or service which any particular client may require. In addition, we automatically deal with all PAYE/NI year end filing and reporting as part of the service, which can be a major headache to many small employers.

Our clients appreciate our approach to tax planning which, we like to think, is proactive rather than reactive. It is of little use to say to a client"you could have done this" when the time has passed for the effective implementation of that advice - clients much prefer to hear "you might like to consider doing this" whilst there is still time to act upon the advice. Whether it be Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax, business or personal tax, VAT, or any other area of tax where advance planning can be effective, we prefer to shut the stable door before the horse bolts!

In association with Lighthouse Carrwood, Independent Financial Advisors, we are pleased to be able to offer truly independent and unbiased financial advice through our associate Jim Monger. Jim is with us in the office at least one day per week and he is very happy to advise on investments, pensions, insurances, in fact virtually anything to do with your money. Jim is highly qualified and not tied to any financial institution so his advice and recommendations are truly independent and not influenced by commission. Click here for a menu of the types of finance related issues in which Jim specialises.

It is a huge step to move into business, or even self employment, for the first time and many clients turn to us for key advice at the outset. It is important to consider whether the new business is to be run as a limited company, or a partnership, or a sole trader and the right advice at the very start can prove to be very beneficial as the business progresses and grows. We also advise on initial business funding, insurance issues, potential employment issues, business premises and of course all taxation issues connected to a new business. We have acted for many successful business start ups over the years and have been proud to assist in their development.

Many owners of small businesses build their businesses with a view to selling, whether it be at retirement or simply to cash in on their success and move on to the next challenge. Others seek to grow by acquisition of other businesses and there are also many would be entrepreneurs who start out in business by purchasing an existing going concern, or maybe a franchise area. Either way, we have the experience and expertise to advise in these potentially difficult and demanding negotiations. We can advise on business valuations, effective tax planning when either buying or selling and also on funding and structure. We have been involved in many such deals in recent years and therefore have acquired some hard earned experience!

This is an often overlooked part of what should be a routine service to limited company clients. All limited companies are required to file annual accounts at Companies House within a strict time deadline, and also to file an Annual Return. In addition, all changes to the share structure, directors, company secretary, address of registered office, accounting reference date and other statutory information must be advised to Companies House in a proscribed format. This is a service which we see as routine and automatic but some companies fall foul of the legislation and incur late filing penalties! We do our very best to ensure that that doesn't happen to our clients and we even provide our office address as the registered office address of our limited company clients for free!