Business Basics Series: Webinar Recordings & Blogs

The Budget announced on October 30th 2024 will bring substantial changes for many organisations, resulting in increased costs.  So, how can we navigate our way through these changes and still have profitable businesses.

This webinar covers:

1. The impact on costs for Small Businesses:

How to quantify the impact of the changes announced in the budget on your business’s

• National Minimum Wage
• Employers National Insurance

How to forecast the other cost increases the business is likely to see next year

2. How to maintain your margin in light of the above:

• Increasing prices
• Reducing prices
• Exploring new opportunities

3. Putting in a plan for business success:

A Workshop for any business impacted by the announced changes in minimum wage and national insurance.

Check out the Companion Blog; a deep dive resource available to read on our website now

Are you charging enough for your products/services to allow you to provide a service you are proud off and that allows you to not become a busy fool?

This webinar will cover:

1. How much your product or service is worth and therefore how much to charge
2. Unique selling points and how to use yours to maximise selling price
3. Mid-tier pricing and how this will allow you to charge more
4. Offers and Discounts – when to use them
5. Avoiding Scope Creep
6. When to charge?
7. The mindset of pricing

Learning points and outcomes:

1. Are you charging the correct price for your goods or services?
2. Techniques for improving profit through pricing
3. Techniques for getting paid faster

Check out the Companion Blog; a deep dive resource available to read on our website now

Are you looking to learn the basics of bookkeeping for your business? Discover how bookkeeping has evolved, the benefits of cloud-based tools, and the essentials of VAT. Learn key processes to get it right the first time and streamline your finances.

This workshop will cover:

1. How Bookkeeping has changed over the years
2. Why use cloud based bookkeeping software
3. The bookkeeping process flow
4. Why it’s important to get it right first time
5. The importance of understanding some VAT basics
6. Making Tax Digital

Learning points and outcomes:

1. You will decide if cloud bookkeeping is for you
2. You will have a structure to follow when bookkeeping
3. You will understand the implications of Making Tax Digital

Check out the Companion Blog; a deep dive resource available to read on our website now.

Owning a business comes with much responsibility and red tape.  This workshop offers an insight into what these are and how you can best deal with them to avoid getting into trouble.  This workshop is mostly aimed at the owners of Limited Companies, but much of the content is also relevant to other business formats too.

This workshop will cover:

• Directors Duties – What are your responsibilities as a company Director
• Accounting and Bookkeeping – What do you need to know:
  • All the relevant deadlines
  • What software should you use
  • Should you do your own bookkeeping?
• Money earned in the business
  • Should you have a separate bank account
  • How can the money in the business bank account be extracted:
    • legally
    • tax effectively
• VAT in summary:
  • Should you be registered and if so, what options do you have?
  • Accounting correctly for VAT
    • Should you use an accountant or bookkeeper to do this?
• Employing people – what do you need to know?
  • Payroll and auto-enrolment
  • HR legislation
  • Contracts of employment
  • Minimum wage
• Insurances – what do you need?

Learning points and outcomes:

1. Improve your understanding of the duties of business owners
2. Have a better understanding of what your capabilities are and when you should bring in competent professionals.
3. A better understanding of your knowledge gaps and priorities so that you can address any weak areas

This workshop will cover:

• Directors Duties – What are your responsibilities as a company Director
• Accounting and Bookkeeping – What do you need to know:
  • All the relevant deadlines
  • What software should you use
  • Should you do your own bookkeeping?
• Money earned in the business
  • Should you have a separate bank account
  • How can the money in the business bank account be extracted:
    • legally
    • tax effectively
• VAT in summary:
  • Should you be registered and if so, what options do you have?
  • Accounting correctly for VAT
    • Should you use an accountant or bookkeeper to do this?
• Employing people – what do you need to know?
  • Payroll and auto-enrolment
  • HR legislation
  • Contracts of employment
  • Minimum wage
• Insurances – what do you need?

Learning points and outcomes:

1. Improve your understanding of the duties of business owners
2. Have a better understanding of what your capabilities are and when you should bring in competent professionals.
3. A better understanding of your knowledge gaps and priorities so that you can address any weak areas

You can also check out this Companion Blog; a deep dive resource available to read on our website now.

Master the art of financial planning, track your key performance indicators with precision, and make smarter, real-time decisions to drive success.

This workshop will cover:

1. The importance of having up to date numbers
2. Understanding your Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet
3. Understanding cash flow
4. The importance of financial planning
5. Your key performance indicators

Learning points and outcomes:

1. If someone asks you “How’s Business”, you will know the answer
2. You will understand the importance of real time information for decision making
3. You will understand the importance of forecasting

This workshop will cover:

1. The importance of having up to date numbers
2. Understanding your Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet
3. Understanding cash flow
4. The importance of financial planning
5. Your key performance indicators

Learning points and outcomes:

1. If someone asks you “How’s Business”, you will know the answer
2. You will understand the importance of real time information for decision making
3. You will understand the importance of forecasting

We also have a Companion Blog for this session available on our website

What are the rules and exceptions to these rules when looking at whether expenses are tax deductible? Some of the rules can be complex and the exceptions to these rules don’t always appear to be logical.

Sometimes we can be given incorrect advice, because we didn’t ask the right person.  The advice might not be right for you, or it might be just wholly incorrect, and just because the person who told you what you could claim “had never been caught” doesn’t necessarily make it legal!

The session covers:

• Wholly, Exclusively and necessarily – what do these words mean and when to apply them
• The rules around each of the major areas of business spend including:
  • Costs of Sale
  • People costs
  • Premises costs
  • Travel related costs
  • Food and drink
  • Gifts and Benefits
  • Clothing
  • Training
• Pre trading expenditure

Read the Companion Blog; a deep dive resource available on our website now.

There is a lot of information around about company formats and the associated rules and tax regimes and a lot has changed in recent years.  So, what is the best company structure to run your business through?

The session covers

1. The main company structures available
2. The pro’s and con’s of LTD Company and Sole Trader structures
3. The different tax systems associated with these company structures and how this will affect you
4. Starting and stopping a business with each structure type
5. Associated costs
6. My 5 badges of professionalism that every business owner should consider

In 2023 the Corporation Tax rate changed to 25% and along with this change, Associated Company rules were brought in.  In short, these rules mean that if you control more than one company, you are likely to pay more tax.  So, what are the rules and how can you avoid paying more tax?

The session covers:

1. The new rates, and what they mean in practice
2. The word Control, and its importance in this context
3. When family members shares can impact your tax bill
4. When total strangers’ shares can impact your tax bill
5. Which companies are not caught by these rules

Read the companion blog here

Who should register for VAT and if they do so, what are their options and what additional responsibilities do they now have? There is a lot of misinformation out there when it comes to our VAT system.  So, its important to get the correct information to avoid paying too much tax or facing penalties.

The session covers:

• When you MUST register for VAT
• When you may choose to register for VAT
• The VAT registration process
• Pre-registration expense claims
• VAT schemes and who they are likely to suit and why
• The main rules of VAT
• The complexities of VAT
• Making Tax Digital for VAT

Employing people for the first time can be daunting. There are so many rules and responsibilities to understand, some of which you may be aware of, but be unsure how to apply them, and others may be totally new to you.

Disputes and grievances with employees are very expensive as well as being stressful and time consuming, so its important to have an understanding of what you need to do and also what you should never do and when to bring in the experts.

The session covers:

• Payroll
  • Who needs to be on the payroll
  • Registering as an employer
  • Understanding your payroll
  • SSP and SMP
• Pensions and auto enrolment
• HR
• And more