Consider this conversation between two rather earnest accountants: “I suspect that I will need to report this to the MLRO, drastic I know, but needs must…” “Are you sure you have your facts straight? Surely your client has a valid claim for WTA, and what he’s suggesting is a basic... read more →

Many practitioners will have been too busy, embroiled in the impending SA filing deadline activities, to have given too much thought to new year resolutions. Now that the deadline is almost upon us (for most of you reading this it will no doubt be over), what about setting resolutions for... read more →

The self assessment filing cycle for 2015 ends next week. For over twenty years this ground rush of activity has plagued professional activity (and made January one of the best billing months of the year). Can you remember the advent of Self Assessment? The legal framework was first introduced by... read more →

Although, for most practitioners, January is brilliant month for invoicing, it comes at a heavy cost. Many smaller accountants are required to burn the midnight oil in order to ensure as many client’s tax returns as possible are filed before the 31st. Leaving aside the issue of charging higher rates... read more →

The Bank of England reported in their Q3 Quarterly Bulletin that for spontaneous payments (for goods and services purchased at the point of sale, for example from retailers either face to face, online or by telephone), 52% of the volume of payments are made in cash and this represents a... read more →

The 9th December may not seem an auspicious date but embattled practitioners across the UK will be keeping a weather eye open today as the Treasury publish the draft clauses for the Finance Bill 2016. Much, of course, is in the public domain already: • Changes to dividend tax •... read more →

We have all noticed the HTTP and HTTPS prefixes to website addresses, but what exactly do they mean? The acronyms stand for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol and it is the agreed format of messages between servers that allows us to access websites. According to the technical review on Wikipedia: HTTP... read more →

Unless you were trading in the days before computers were in common usage, you will not remember the shelves in your office stacked with shopping bags: in the main client’s record keeping consisted of dumping bank statements and receipts in a plastic bag. The diligent few used manual record systems,... read more →

What do you do with the tax updates we provide? Obviously, they have an update purpose, all your staff should read and take note, but what about your clients and prospects? How long is it since you added new names to your newsletter distributions lists? In some respects sending out... read more →

Why do we invest in keeping staff skills up to date? Obviously, it makes a contribution to securing a solid base of qualified staff, and it fulfils our training and CPD obligations. But on its own staff training is of no practical use to a firm if it fails to... read more →