Monthly Archives: August 2021

Hot Business News Today

Claiming back childcare costs

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By Jo White on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
Childcare costs can’t be offset against business expenses but there are a couple of options available for help.
For both the self-employed and those in employment, individuals can receive 20 per cent of the costs towards childcare from the government. To qualify you need to open an account – go to www.childcarechoices.gov.uk to find out more.
The scheme is open to those earning under £100,000 and at least £142 per week who are not receiving Tax Credits, Universal Credit or childcare vouchers. Your children must be aged 0-11 or 0-16 if they are disabled. You, family members or employers can contribute to the account and for every £8 paid in, the government tops it up by £2. This means that, over the course of a year, you could receive up to £2,000 per child. Payments over the £10,000 threshold do not receive the additional government top up.
All families in England, regardless of income, receive 15 hours of free childcare or early years education for 38 weeks each year for children aged two. Some childcare providers will allow these hours to be used over 52 weeks so speak

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Hot Business News Today

How to take the uncertainty out of your business energy bills

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By Dan Matthews on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
Running a successful small business means ensuring you make more money than you spend, but this isn’t always an easy balance to get right. Seasonal changes in revenue and late payments can dwindle money coming in, while unexpected bills put a strain on money going out.
According to recent research by Xero and PayPal, 28% of small businesses owners describe cashflow management as a challenge, while almost the same number admit struggling to pay suppliers on time, creating a vicious circle of money arriving late.
But while an unexpected bill from your supply chain can cause sleepless nights, so too can costs you know are coming, such as your business energy bills, which are notoriously difficult to predict accurately and are too often underestimated.
This is not a problem to sniff at: for the smallest businesses, those with no employees, of which there are millions within GB, gas and electricity costs are among the biggest sources of expenditure after tax.
A question mark over costs
Figures from Smarter Business show the average small business consumes between 15,000 and 30,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity each year, equating to bills of

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