Tag Archive for Accounting

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How to choose accounting software

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By Nathaniel Dalby on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Keeping on top of your accounting can be time-consuming and tedious, especially if financials aren’t your forte. Even more stressful is the knowledge that inaccurate record keeping or missed tax deadlines could land your with with a fine or in legal trouble.

The right accounting software can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you, automating repetitive administrative tasks so you can have peace of mind and focus on what you do best – running your business.

Accuracy and compliance are just part of good accounting, and with specialised software such as Sage, you can enjoy features like AI-powered automation, tax reminders and generated invoices. But how can you work out which is the best option for you? Here, we’ll take you through everything you need to consider when choosing accounting software.

Assessing your business needs

Before you make any decisions about accounting software, it’s important to understand your business and what needs you have as an organisation. One major consideration is that, if you earn over the VAT threshold (currently £90,000), you’re legally required to use software that’s compliant with Making Tax Digital for VAT,

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How to spend less time on accounting and payroll

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By Ryan Grundy on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

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As a business owners, having autonomy over your time and lifestyle is one of the most attractive benefits of working for yourself. However, there are some aspects of running a business that compromise your ability to take full advantage of that benefit, the most prevalent (and unavoidable) being finances. 

Not everyone is a finance and accounting wiz by nature, so processing tax returns, keeping track of incomings and outgoings, payroll and saving cash where possible can become a lengthy and sometimes complicated process. 

Fortunately, it doesn’t always have to be this way, as some helpful accountancy and payroll software and practices can make the process less complicated and less time-consuming, leaving you more time to focus on growing your business or enjoying your free time. 

In this article, we’ll highlight:

How to keep your records clean

How to develop a seamless payment process

How reports could help you

Software that could save you time and energy

Keep your records clean

The first step towards simplifying your payroll and accounting process is to streamline your bookkeeping.

Not only will this help save

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Small business savings account comparison

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By Nathaniel Dalby on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

If you’re just starting up your small business, the idea of actually saving money might seem so pie-in-the-sky that it’s not even worth considering. However, saving the spare cash your business generates (no matter how small) can have huge benefits in the long term.

That’s why we’ve created this small business savings account comparison, which shows currently available in the UK. We will also cover why you need a business savings account and how you choose the best one for your business.

Continue reading or use the links below to jump to a specific section:

What are business savings accounts?

Why do I need a business savings account?

Can I use a personal savings account for my business?

The best business savings accounts

Which account is best for my business?

Paying tax on a business savings account

What are business savings accounts?

A business savings account is similar to a personal savings account, but used specifically for business. Using these accounts, a business can save any cash spare reserves and accrue interest on them, with different rate types available.

How business savings account work varies on the account and bank, with some requiring an initial

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How to do bookkeeping as a small business

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By Ryan Grundy on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

There’s no getting away from it – if you run a small business, you’ve got to run its bookkeeping too. Sometimes, this can seem like an overwhelming and lengthy job, especially if you’re not 100 per cent sure what you’re doing.

You also probably find it a bit of a chore, since you didn’t start your business to search through boxes of receipts, enter data into spreadsheets, or read through bank statements at eleven o’clock at night.

Here’s the good news. With the right approach and tools, you can make sure all aspects of bookkeeping when it comes to your small business are meticulously taken care of, without feeling stressed or sacrificing too many hours each month.

In this article, we’ll show you how.

It covers:

What is bookkeeping?

Can I do my own bookkeeping?

How to make bookkeeping easier

Which software features to look out for

What is bookkeeping?

Using “bookkeeping” and “accounting” interchangeably is common, but the two terms do have different meanings. You’ll need to know the difference, because accounting is not something you can really tackle all by yourself (though you’ll still need high involvement in it).

So, how do they

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What to do when facing financial adversity

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By Tracc on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

It’s a rare small business that doesn’t go through some periods of financial adversity, whether it’s right at the start or as it begins to scale up. Andrew Walsh believes that entrepreneurs will be much better placed to deal with those difficult periods if they take the time to learn at least the basics of accounting.

In this case a little learning shouldn’t be a dangerous thing, because it will mean you’re exposed to far fewer of those nasty moments when your banker jabs a finger at your balance sheet and asks, “how are you going to fund this?”

You’ll still need to hire an accountant and a credit controller of course, unless you want to spend a lot of your precious time with your company’s books, but when you need to go to the bankers for a loan it’s a big help if you can speak their language.

It’s great if you can start up without any debt, but it’s important not to be underfunded. If you don’t have enough cash in a young business, you risk stunting its growth. If you do decide you need finance, check

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5 steps to bolster your business finances

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By Mark Wright on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

In recent years, a number of large businesses have gone into administration, and this hasn’t resulted from lack of sales or custom, but rather a lack of control over finances, such as cashflow.

In fact, pre-pandemic, one in seven UK small business owners have been left unable to pay their employees on time due to finance and cashflow problems, while earlier this year 31 per cent of B2C firms reported that they will run out of cash within the next three months.

As we begin to emerge from Covid-19 restrictions, there are a number of key changes business owners can make to improve their business finances, and quickly.

#1 – Calculate your costs

It is vital to know your costs and one of the best cost-saving exercises is to regularly review your suppliers. As the famous 1980s story goes, Robert Crandall, the then head of America Airlines, calculated that if he just removed one olive from every salad served to passengers, no-one would notice and they would generate an annual cost saving of $100,000.

So, as a business owner, ask yourself this question: what is your one olive? We all

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