Starting A New Business

Business startup - putting your new business venture on a sure footing

Are you planning to start a new business? Buying a company 'off the shelf?', Buying a franchise?, Buying an already well-established business? We understand that starting a new business can seem like a minefield. What do you need to do? What is the initial cost? What and who do you need to know? Where and what do you need to register? How to register? What records should be maintained? What options do you have for using Cloud accounting? How can you minimise your tax liability while maximising your profits?

• Preparing a comprehensive business plan
• Determining the best structure of your business: sole trader, partnership, limited liability partnership, or limited company
• Where appropriate, assisting with company formation and company secretarial duties
• Registering your new business with the Inland Revenue and, where appropriate, Customs and Excise
• Establishing relationships with banks, insurers, etc
• Preparing cashflow projections and assessing finance needs
• Preparing and submitting finance applications
• General bookkeeping, VAT, and payroll duties
• Tax planning
• Management accounts
• Annual accounts and (where necessary) annual audit
• Choosing your accounting date

Accounting solutions

By adopting best practice technology, David Howard helps clients to achieve their goals faster and more cost-effectively through expert knowledge and access to the latest technologies and solutions. At David Howard we are able to:

• Help choose an accountancy system that is right for your business
• Design and implement that system
• Make sure the right level of reporting and management information is passed back to you in order to help you make better decisions for your business
• Minimise the cost of book-keeping and management accounts as a result of increased productivity, good systems and reporting design
• Provide training on your accountancy solution
• Provide outsource book-keeping and management accounting services
• Provide continuous support and remotely access your system if necessary
  
  

We realise that ‘one size' does not ‘fit all’ and to that end, we are skilled in a number of different products to suit individual requirements.

Having taken our commitment to technology seriously we are Accredited Partners with:

• Xero – An online internet based accounting system that is very easy to use and particularly useful for small businesses or where Directors or other staff wish to access the system from different locations
• Sage – The most commonly used small business accounts software in the UK. This software is very well known by most book-keepers and provides a very strong system for small and medium sized businesses
• Quickbooks – A major player in the small business market with strong desktop and online systems. The online product has some really strong features for CIS and other benefits
• Access Accounts – A high-end solution, aimed at businesses with more complicated needs or reporting requirements.

David Howard also has expertise with a large number of other systems such as TAS, Pegasus, Quicken, Dosh and other systems. One of our team is a qualified programmer and can write applications, as well as intergrate accounting products with other software to provide improved reporting, time and cost saving soluntions.

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Bookkeeping & accounting services

Bookkeeping and accounting can become a major headache for a lot of small and medium-sized businesses.

It should be so simple, but often through a lack of expertise and experience things are not done in the best way and time is eaten away in an unproductive way. How many times do you hear the phrase ‘not enough time’?

In working with our clients (both small and medium) in this area, we find that many experience similar problems:

• It is difficult to buy just the right amount of time from the people at the right level. If you employ good level competent staff you risk overpaying and they still may not have enough skills in certain areas. With not enough expertise, problems then regularly occur and it frequently becomes more costly to unravel difficulties.
• Management/Directors often receive inaccurate and poor quality information, later than they would like, and
• As a result of the above, the process costs the business much more than it should.

We believe with small amounts of time from people with higher skill levels, time can be saved to stop the fire fighting and keep things on track.

The best way to learn more about what we can do for you is for us to discuss matters with you in detail as our solutions are tailored to each individual situation. To give you a flavour of what we can do for different sizes and different types of business, we have given a number of case studies below to illustrate the sort of services we are providing to our clients.

How accounting services can help

More and more we find that outsourcing gives a lower cost and better quality solution. We see ourselves as an assistant ‘Finance Director’ of your business and will work with you to understand your requirements and devise the systems, processes and personnel mix to match your business needs, maximize the quality of information and minimize the cost to you. We would also highlight that our remote access services mean that several of our staff can keep closely involved with your business without running up unnecessary costs. We provide services to clients either on-site or at our own premises. As data can be accessed from anywhere, work can be performed in different places and in our evaluation we will assess the best locations of different tasks.

Knowing we have these areas in control, you can focus on making your business work for you. We can give you the optimal level of time at different skill levels to match your needs and budget.

Business and personal tax services

We can conduct a full tax review of your business and personal tax affairs and determine the most efficient tax structure for you. Very often such reviews result in considerable tax savings, which show up as real improvements in your bottom line.

It is essential to be proactive and plan ahead when dealing with personal and business matters.

We can advise on all areas of taxation, including Self Assessment, Capital Gains Tax, IHT, VAT, Corporation Tax, Stamp Duty, National Insurance and help:

• Minimise your tax liabilities
• Make the most of any available reliefs, tax losses and deferment opportunities
• Ensure you meet all your deadlines and file your returns correctly, thereby avoiding any potential penalties

In addition to helping you with your tax planning, we can also represent you in any communication with the tax authorities.

Why take up valuable time and resources dealing with corporation tax when we can do it for you?

Outsourced service

At David Howard, we can take a great deal of the pain away from the mundane and time-consuming elements of business administration. We can work with you as part of your business team to look after your day to day bookkeeping and payroll matters. Freeing your business from these tasks and focusing on your income-generating activities is often a more productive way to operate. You have no worries about recruitment or staff cover and peace of mind that your affairs are being dealt with by professionals.

By enhancing our relationships with you, we can also build a stronger relationship with you and therefore have a greater depth of knowledge and understanding of your business which helps you in that you have regular contact with someone who can help you drive your business forward. You will get more accurate and timely information, as well as regular advice through the year, and through efficiency savings, we can often provide these services at less cost than you could yourself. With all the added value of knowing that your affairs are being professionally dealt with, reducing problems with HMRC, and extra financial expertise .. why wait now!

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Payroll services

dhpayroll is a specialist payroll company in our group which has operated for over 25 years. We have a large number of payroll clients over a wide geographical area, industry base and size. Our business thrives on client referrals and our unrivalled professional and flexible approach. Whether a single employee business or a multi-branch Company with thousands of employees we can tailor cost-effective solutions using the latest systems and technology.

We have taken our Accountancy Practice approach to payroll work and believe our professional standards and approach is more focused on understanding our client's businesses, requirements and assessing needs than traditional bureaus. We have strong systems to cater for reporting requirements of larger businesses but retain the personal more flexible approach that larger bureaus tend to lose.

Staff retention is important to us and our clients. Our staff and clients have strong and long-standing relationships and this improves efficiency, accuracy and understanding. Our highly qualified payroll team has an average of 8 years of service and again we believe that this is unusual in the payroll bureau services environment.

Company secretarial services

The last thing you need as a busy business owner is to use up valuable time and resources to make sure you are complying with the Companies Act.

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015.

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act received a royal ascent in March 2015 and important matters need to be addressed for all companies to ensure compliance with the Act.

You need to be sure you are fully aware of how the changes affect you and your fellow directors.

We can give you complete peace of mind in this area by carrying out your duties on your behalf with our company secretarial services which include:

• Company formations
• Preparation and filing of statutory returns (Annual Confirmation Statement which replaces the Annual Return from June 2016)
• Maintenance of the new People with Significant Control Register (Psc) , a new requirement from April 2016
• Preparation of all documentation related to minutes and resolutions
• Maintenance of statutory books
• General advice on company law

Pricing – please follow the link to find out more details of our services and the value to your business.

VAT - relieving you of the burden

VAT can be the bane of everyone affected by it.

The complex regime of regulations imposes a tremendous administrative burden on businesses.

With the rate being so high, mistakes in calculating VAT can be costly - and the rigid system of penalties and interest charges for mistakes and the late submission of returns adds to that burden.

Our cost-effective VAT compliance and planning services can relieve you of this burden.

Our team of VAT professionals will help to keep your VAT affairs in order, make sure you are collecting the right amounts for each transaction, and ensure that you make payments and file returns correctly and on time.

In addition to providing a comprehensive bookkeeping and VAT accounting service, we can also advise on and help with:

• The pros and cons of a voluntary registration
• The timing of compulsory registration
• Extracting maximum benefit from the rules on de-registration
• Partial exemption
• Timing and delaying VAT payments
• Flat rate VAT schemes
• VAT on imports and exports
• VAT control visits by Customs and Excise

Contact Us today to discuss how we can help you get your business up and running.

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