I have decided that for the remainder of September, I will give some extra incentives for new clients that join us.  These are completely free and have a combined value of at least £500.  They are available to any size of business that join us before 30th September 2008.

What are these extras?

• free website hosting for as long as you stay a client with us for your main business website or blog.  There are no limits to be placed on the size of sites.  This will include all databases and email accounts necessary and you will get your own administrator access so that you can tinker and change things to your heart’s content.
• three free initial consultations to discuss your marketing strategies to be applied over the next weeks, months and years.  Extended loan of any items in my extensive library of marketing materials and free support during the first six months of your time with us of your marketing efforts.

Don’t think that because the website hosting is free it is on cheap, rubbishy servers.  It is on the same system as our own sites and I will help you move your site, or set up one if you don’t have one, so that you get the benefit of your own name domain email and internet prescence.

I am offering these extras because I know how hard it is to choose a good webhost, to set up a website and all the email configeration.  We have the host facilities and it doesn’t cost me any extra so why shouldn’t I pass this on to new customers?

As for the marketing free offer, well, I really enjoy helping businesses planning their marketing ideas and strategies, getting things moving and watching the growth that businesses achieve.  I feel I am doing a grave dis-service if I do not help clients to the very best of my ability to achieve the growth and results that can be easily achieved.

In case you are worried, I will not hold your website to “ransom”.  If we don’t get along I will gladly help you move your site elsewhere - no penalties, no hassles.  The marketing information and help you get from me will be yours to keep, completely free of charge.

What do I get out of it?  a fair question.

I get to work with a client that is hungry for growth, open to ideas and one that by then will know that I am genuine and keen to be involved for the long term.

Remember, I am only offering these valuable extras until the end of September so ring me NOW.

I look forward to working with you soon!

~Ray

Technorati Tags: website hosting, accountancy, bookkeeping, marketing

This is a question that I, as an accountant, find incredible when I am occasionally asked.  Why would any busy business owner think there would be a need for more than one set of records?  There is barely time to keep one set, let alone more.  The only time I have found two serious sets of books was when fraud was involved and a grim determination by the businessman to pay as little tax as possible.  No, he didn’t escape prison - 2 years in fact.

Sometimes the question is born out of a huge distrust of computers and computer based bookkeeping packages.  There is more than a little reluctance to rely on the machine - just in case it breaks down, or accidentally wipes all data off it’s hard drive - so should we keep a hand written set of books “just in case?”  The answer is no.  Just make sure you have a disaster recovery procedure - and check your backups regularly just in case they cannot be restored when you really need them.

Sometimes the question is genuine as the questioner heard somewhere, usually the pub, that as VAT on some expenses cannot be reclaimed, that these need keeping in a different set of books.  Likewise, entertaining and other expenses which are not tax deductible should be kept separately from other expenditure which is tax deductible.  The answer again is no.  One set of records is all that is needed and let your accountant worry about what is tax allowable and what isn’t when he prepares your annual accounts.

I advise anyone who asks this question to focus on keeping the most up to date, detailed books they can - just the one set! - or let someone like me deal with it for them for a monthly fee.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to know more about our bookkeeping bureau service.

~Ray

This is a question that rears its head from time to time here in the office.  My initial reaction is “Why not?”.

Occasionally there is a reasonable reason for the lack of evidence of someone’s business activities.  It may be that the business has grown really quickly and they haven’t been able to keep up.  They may have only just started the business and don’t know the first thing about bookkeeping and are seeking help.  Sometimes there has been a known disaster such as a major flood or a fire.  However, sometimes a person thinks they are being clever in deliberately not keeping records so they pay little or no tax.

My reaction to this question will completely depend upon the circumstances as to why a business owner has no records.  If it is genuine, I will move heaven and earth to help them reconstruct whatever is missing or destroyed and will then stand with them, side by side during a tax investigation, if necessary, to explain what and how we have done the reconstruction.

I will never act for a client who chooses not to keep adequate records of their business activities.  I deal with HM Revenue & Customs all the time and I will never put my professional reputation on the line for any shady character.  Unfortunately, there are accountants who will deal with these people and if they get away with it for a few years before HMRC catch up with them they broadcast their cleverness all around the area.  This can make genuine, honest people doubt that what they are doing is right if this character gets away with it.  The flip side is that they are always found out.  It may take 1 year or 20 years, but they will be called to account eventually.  With all the resources of HMRC and the bounty offered to anyone who shops these characters, they never get away with it.

Ignorance of the law has never been an excuse for lack of records.  Anyone in business knows they may have to pay tax and should inform the authorities when they start their business.  These days there is an unprecedented level of help, information, advice, packages, coaches, accountants, bookkeepers, marketers and consultants both paid and free for the new and established business owner alike.

So… if in doubt about any aspect of business or the requirement for keeping records - ask!!

~Ray

After more than 34 years working as an accountant, it is clearer to me more now than ever that many accountants are letting clients down in spectacular fashion.

Unfortunately, you may never know and you may never find out unless a good friend strongly recommends you have another expert look over your figures and points things out that have gone awry.

I recently took on a new partnership client and they had been using an accountant recommended to them for the last 3 years. When an existing client of mine was talking to them about accountants, tax bills and general service given by expert advisors, a number of alarm bells started to ring in the ears of this partnership.

Why is that?  My client was talking about the presentation of their accounts and how the bank manager clearly understood them when it was time to review the overdraft.  “What’s a balance sheet?” asked the senior partner.  “Our turnover is about the same but why do you pay so little tax in comparison?” asked the junior partner.  Many other questions followed…  “Why won’t our bank manager talk to our accountant and why won’t he give us the backing we are asking for, and need?”,  “Why did our accountant rush around to our homes last January 31st to get us to sign another tax return as she had lost our original ones?”,  “What is filing online?”,  “Does your accountant really speak to you in plain english and actually answer a question immediately in terms you understand?”,  “Can you really call your accountant on his private mobile if you need a quick answer?”.

Once the partners plucked up the courage, and I know it is not something easy for a business owner to face up to, to call me and let me review their last 3 years accounts and tax returns, they quickly realized just how bad things were.

For example, the senior partner had been doing the bookkeeping himself on a number of excel spreadsheets.  The accountant had never explained the dangers of doing this from a defence against the inevitable tax investigation point of view, nor of the massive benefits the business would gain if the books were done properly.  He had a spreadsheet for each heading of expenditure and one for sales. The accountant would just use the total of these and prepare a statement of profit and loss. No balance sheet had ever been prepared, no balancing of the spreadsheets to the bank account had ever been done to make sure all expenditure was in there, no-one was tying up the cash movements.  Cash taken from the “hole-in-the-wall” was ignored, even though the partners used it to put fuel in the coaches, etc….

The accountant had not even asked them about their personal expenses, for instance the drive from their home to the yard which was a 24 mile round trip for each of them, 6 days a week.  They each bought spares and other items for the business from their own drawings and never thought to record it anywhere.  They had never been led through a detailed examination of their business; the records; the potential opportunities for growth; the savings that could be realized.

This story is not just hearsay or made up. It is very real and very recent. Please ring me if you would like the name and address of the business and I will put you in touch with pleasure.

So, what was the result of my doing the most recent year for them?  Tax savings in excess of £10,000 and establishment of a solid bookkeeping system that now lets them track the monthly profit and loss, accurately, and which makes the VAT return a one mouse click event.  We also held detailed discussions about the future of the business and how to stop the senior partner rushing round in ever decreasing circles.  The opportunity to get the extra 2 operator licences for 2 coaches that were taxed, MOT’d but kept in reserve in case of need.  These will soon be active and earning the business money and no longer just sucking it away whilst parked up.  Awareness of how to claim back every penny they spend of their own money on the business and how to claim the government approved mileage rates for using their own cars for business travel.  Generally giving the partners back control of their lives, awareness of how the business is running, and a plan for how the business is to progress.

This brings me to why I am writing to you today.

I am sick and tired of coming across businesses that are simply not getting the service and quality of care from their accountant that they have every right to expect.

The worst cases I have come across tend to be businesses of about the size of yours, as in the coach business I outlined above.  It tends to happen because when you start out, the choice of accountant is generally made by plucking one quickly out the phone book when, at the last moment, you realize the Tax Office needs those tax forms when the ad’s start to appear on the TV around Christmas. Or you speak to another small business owner for a name of their accountant.

Unfortunately, the choice is rarely one made at leisure, more like “can you sort this out for me today? yes - ok” and then no need for change appears necessary until someone, such as an existing client of mine, starts talking to you a couple of years later.

Knowing this, I am writing this to ask you to accept a challenge. A totally FREE and no obligation challenge.

I am offering you the chance to have me, with my 34 years experience, go in-depth into your last set of accounts, tax computations and tax returns.

I promise to give you a full, detailed report, into my findings of tax saving opportunities that I may find, of improvements into your bookkeeping that may be highlighted, of simple suggestions for growth and expansion for your consideration, and any other matters that I feel need bringing to your attention - completely free of charge - within just 3 weeks.

There is no obligation on you at all.  I would just love the chance to prove to you either that your accountant is doing a fantastic job and you are fortunate indeed for having them, or that you should give my report to your accountant and ask them openly why they haven’t done this, suggested that, or cost you more tax than necessary.

I am doing this for FREE because I want as many businesses in the position you are in to make sure they are getting the best quality service possible, and if not, a chance to be made aware of it without it costing any money at all.

Yes, I would welcome you as a client as a result of my review and report, but you have no obligation to me at all.

Once you have read and digested my report you have two options:-

1. Receive the report, act on it, benefit from it - which I sincerely hope you will anyway - but never have any more contact from me and carry on with your existing accountant. Or…..

2. Receive the report and contact me for a one hour chat, either at my home, or in your office, whichever suits you better, and I will gift you another hour completely free, to go into much more depth than my initial report and chat about any aspect of your business that you want.

Whichever option you choose, although I would really love you to choose the meeting option, you still have no obligation what-so-ever to me for my time spent on the report, or the meeting.

You really have nothing to lose, but possible a huge potential of tax savings and growth possibilities to gain by accepting my challenge.

I will do the review myself.  I will not pass your personal information onto another living soul.  It will be just between you and me.

If you would like to take advantage of my challenge, please ring my office as soon as possible on 0800 047 0731.  I will collect the information personally from you at work or at home, or you can bring it round to my home by arrangement, and I will immediately get to work on it.

Let me reiterate.  This is a limited time offer just for you as my research has shown you to be in the demographic that I have experienced is the worst treated by accountants.  It is totally FREE, no obligation of any kind to you, offer.  It will remain totally private between you and me.  If the report shows your accountant is doing a good job, show it to them and give them some praise for doing their best work for you.  If the report shows opportunities that haven’t been spotted by your accountant, show them and ask why they are not giving you the best possible service.

I really look forward to hearing from you shortly.

~Ray

p.s.  Remember, this gift cannot be offered for long, just over the summer whilst I have a little free time as most clients are on holidays.  So ring me Today on 0800 047 0731.