INSIGHT

Many people think accountants are there just to give good tax advice. We can of course do that, but our advice is so much more than that! One thing I am keen to talk to people about is the doomsday scenario – have you thought about what would happen to your business if something went drastically wrong? Perhaps an unfortunate accident involving an employee or customer, a major error leading to a loss of customer confidence, or a serious data breach? Unfortunately, despite all of the best planning in the world, serious issues do occur. What can businesses do to protect their assets in a doomsday scenario?

Boris Johnson yesterday (07/09/21) announced his long-awaited social care reform and the start of the much-anticipated tax hikes for the masses following the COVID-19 pandemic announcing increases to National Insurance and Dividend tax rates.

Transfers of assets between most married couples/civil partners in the UK are exempt from inheritance tax (IHT) whether made at death or during their lifetime.  At death transfers from an estate to other persons will generally be subject to IHT unless another relief, exemption or allowance can be set against the value of the transfer.

Getting the right management information and key performance indicators (KPIs) in the right format at the right time is vital to controlling a business. However, there are many common problems encountered on the road to getting this right.

There are two manners in which software development may qualify for R+D tax relief.

Qualifying as part of a larger project

The first is where it is being used as a tool as part of a project, rather than being an end goal, for example, developing software to use in testing machinery, recording results, or designing prototypes. The development costs will then be allowable as part of the expenditure on this larger project.

It always amazes me how many businesses out there still put little reliance on thinking about stock and work-in-progress. There are lots of practical reasons why counting stock and valuing work-in-progress is an excellent idea; forward planning on stock requirements, monitoring cashflow requirements, improving physical controls around stock, and reducing the risk of stock going missing to name but a few.