Child Benefit Tax Charge
From 7th January 2013, child benefit will be subject to a tax charge, where one member of the family earns over £50k.
The charge will increase by 1% of the amount of benefit for every £100 earned over £50k so that by the time you reach £60k, the charge will be equal to the benefit received.
As this cannot be calculated until after the end of the tax year, the charge will be payable in the following tax year, either via the PAYE code or via self-assessment.
Don’t get caught out as there may be instances where the recipient of the child benefit is different to the person who will be paying the charge, so make sure you are aware of any consequences of this difference.
This blog was written by Lorraine Dale from Rightway Accounting Services. Do contact Lorraine for more information or if you need clarity on any of the points.
Record Keeping Apps
Have you thought about using your smartphone to help you with your record keeping?
If so, you may be interested in the new Record Keeping Apps. There is a list of these on HMRC’s website, although they are not endorsing them in any way.
It might be useful for those of you who are always out and about and need to record items of income and expenditure as you go. Although these are suggested for those who only complete very simple tax returns and who are not registered for VAT, they do not offer a proper bookeeping system, and may be best used as a supplement to an existing system.
This blog was written by Lorraine Dale from Rightway Accounting Services. Do contact Lorraine for more information or if you need clarity on any of the points.
Privacy – a cautionary tale
There are often news stories about the internet and privacy.
Clare Lauwerys aka The IT Fairy built up a pretty full profile of a stranger just from a phone message and using Google.
Find out how she
- Knows who he works for
- What his hobby is
- And his “romantic” intentions
All this and more – see “Privacy – it’s not just cookies and Facebook you need to worry about”
Karren Brady shares her 6 Ingredients of a Leader
Bridget Greenwood, our Norfolk co-ordinator, shares this from her own blog
Karren Brady shares the 6 key ingredients she believes makes a Leader, what qualities would you add to the list and why?
Leadership – A real leader faces the music even when they don’t like the tune, how do you behave when you don’t know what to do? The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort, but where he stands in times of challenge
Ambition – Nobody ever started anything without ambition, although it’s hard work that usually finishes the task. Sir Alan Sugar when working on The Apprentice is the first one in in the morning and last out at night. His ambition continues despite his success, there is a real sense of pride, a sense of who you are. If you don’t champion your career who will?
Determination – the ability to pick yourself up when you’ve been knocked down. The importance to keep going. What ever has knocked you down, learn from it and move forward.
Attitude – If you don’t like something then change it – for the better. And if you can’t change it, change your attitude. Karren Brady recommends you think “if I accept this challenge – what is the worst thing that will happen to me and my business?”
Direction – The whole world steps aside for those who know where they are going. You can’t change where you start, you start where you start, but it’s where you finish that you can control.
Be Positive – Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Press On has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
For more great posts from Bridget Greenwood, check out her blog
Angry Birds and Einstein – Business Women can learn from both
Have you played Angry Birds? Do you realise what a great lesson it teaches you about business? (Are you now beginning to think I’ve lost the plot?!)
Angry Birds, for those of you who haven’t come across it, is a game where you fire birds with different powers out of a catapult at green pig creatures that are seeking shelter in a variety of structures. Quite what the back story is to explain why the birds are so angry and why the pig creatures must be destroyed eludes me. The game started on the iphone, spread to other touch screen phones and is now playable on Facebook. If you want an in-depth description pop over to this wikipedia article
Now what can it teach you about business? No, it’s not that you can waste a lot of time playing it. True, but not the point I want to make. There are two things you can learn.
In Angry Birds you have a limited number of birds and you can’t change the order the birds are fired. This can be frustrating if you want a bomber bird and all you have is the ones that split into three. So lesson one is that sometimes you just have to work with you what with you’ve got. No good saying “if only…” If only isn’t going to happen.
Lesson two is that plans sometimes need to be changed.
When you start a new level in Angry Birds, you quickly form a plan of how you are going to attack the structure. I was playing yesterday and I was convinced that I knew how to do it. As I failed on the first time I thought, oh maybe I just need to aim a smidge higher. Or maybe I need to zap the speed on a bit sooner. So I keep on trying, doing pretty much the same thing and not really accomplishing anything. Then I remembered what Einstein said.
Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.
So so true, and I wonder why I forgot this. As soon as I took a different approach, my results improved DRAMATICALLY.
Doing the same thing and expecting different results is something that I sadly see too many people repeating in business. It can be hard to get out of rut – if you’ve been doing something that used to work and no longer does it can be hard to accept that you need to change tact. Taking that leap can be scary. After all, it’s not attacking computer generated green pigs we’re tallking here, it could be the survival of your business that’s at stake.
But if what you’re doing isn’t working then you need to do something else. Ask an expert for advice. Try in small scale. If you have our Premier Pack, use the Focus and Feedback slot to test your idea so you get get confidential feedback. Sealed box that everyone is able to place their feedback in & only you get to see it (not even the events organiser if you wish!) (See BPP for more details)
Don’t be afraid of change
As Isaac Asimov said (though he himself took part of the quote from Heraclitus a 500BC, Greek philosopher.)
The only constant is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.
So that’s Angry Bird, Eistein, Isaac Asimov and Greek Philospher Heraclitus teaching us about business. Talk about a stellar line up.
What lessons do you have to share?
Richard Denny’s Top Ten Tips
Bridget Greenwood, our Norfolk co-ordinator, shares this from her own blog
Richard Denny shares his top ten tips and when a man who has won praise from the BBC claiming”Richard is a legend on the international speaking circuit”, the Daily Telegraph describing him as “The UK’s guru of motivation” whilst the Times says he is “The master of professional salesmanship”, it’s worth taking note.
Richard Denny Top Ten Tips
1- Look the part – your appearance should apply to your product/service
2- Don’t sit in receptions – (why? – because you want to meet someone at the same level, not with you sitting and them standing. By not taking a seat, reception thinks you’re terribly important). You feel much more significant – so don’t sit in reception areas)
3- Decide your payment terms
4- Results on your business cards – how you achieve the results on the reverse
5- Really listen – what is said and what is not said
6- Build your database of every contact, our market place is people – Richard’s biggest guilt is that he has not captured all the names of the people that he has worked with through out the years
7- Negotiate a deal – if someone asks for a discount, reply with do you mind if I ask you why do you want a discount? Always exchange don’t do a price crumble
8- Welcome a complaint – be enthusiastic about receiving complaints, we all get them from time to time. Great opportunity to turn them into an ambassador, a business shows it’s real strength on how it rectifies it’s problems
9- Provide a guarantee
10- Say thank you
For more great posts from Bridget Greenwood, check out her blog
Do you buy and sell regularly on line?
If so, you may be trading, and you may need to contact HMRC to disclose any undeclared trading income from previous years.
HMRC are not interested if you are clearing out your loft and getting rid of things you don’t want any more, but it is targetted at companies and individuals who regularly acquire items to sell at a profit online.
You have until 14th June to come forward if you think it applies to you. If you log onto HMRC’s website, they give you a list of questions and answers to help you decide whether or not you may be trading. Otherwise contact your accoutant for further help.
This blog was written by Lorraine Dale from Rightway Accounting Services. Do contact Lorraine for more information or if you need clarity on any of the points.
Tax Calculations
Worried about how much tax you need to pay?
If you would like a quick and rough response, you can log onto HMRC’s website and click on the Calculators and Tools tab.
In there is a self employed ready reckoner which will allow you to enter your expected net income (ie sales less expenses) to work out roughly what you can expect to pay in tax and Class 4 NI.
Bear in mind this does not take into account any other income you have, and if this is your first year of paying any tax, you may well need to pay double the amount, as you need to pay upfront for next year.
It will also not include any loss relief you may have if you have made a loss in a previous year.
This blog was written by Lorraine Dale from Rightway Accounting Services. Do contact Lorraine for more information or if you need clarity on any of the points.
Why Twitter is good for your business
Are you one of the group of sceptics who thinks that social media is a waste of time and that it has no place in business?
If so, you are going to get left behind. Using social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook can help you find new customers in a low cost way and new customers means more money.
(Note I don’t suggest it is free as there is of course a time consideration but using the tools that are out there mean that your time expense is minimised)
In my role as The IT Fairy I’ve written two articles that illustrate how two quite different businesses used Twitter to find new clients.
One is an UK based insurance company and the other is tourist attraction in the US.
So take a read of Social Media – Good for Business! and Twitter – Yes it can bring you new clients
And if you’d like to take your social media to the next level, then let us know as it’s something we use a lot and we’d love to teach you how you can too.
Learn to take your medicine!
The other night, as I was taking my medicine, I reflected on how easy it was to do compare to when I first started.
The medicine in question is an immunosuppressant drug called Cyclosporin. I had a lung transplant back in 2008 (rare lung disease called Lymphangioleiomyomatosis as you’re asking – see LAM Action for more on it) and I take cyclosporin to stop my body from rejecting the lung. It’s something I’ll have to take for ever.
Anyway, when I first started taking it, it was horrible. It smells just terrible. My stomach would do cartwheels as soon as I opened the package and the only way I could take it was by holding my nose. Yes it was that bad (and remember I’ve got children so I’ve done the nappy thing!) Several times my stomach flipped so much I was actually sick and so would have to take another dose of it. (The drug was originally isolated from a fungus found in a soil sample in Norway. That might explain the smell. See Wikipedia for more if you have an interest in such things)
Learn to take your medicine
But as time went on, I got more and more use to taking it and now it doesn’t bother me at all. If you’re at a networking event with me then you might notice me opening my pill box and quickly taking some of the cocktail of meds that keeps me alive, but it’s no big drama. I’ve got use to it and I am quite accomplished at it now.
And yes, there’s a business lesson here (why else would I be sharing this with you?!)
Think about something you have to do in business that you really don’t like and/or feel uncomfortable doing. Well, as I dish out a bit of tough love, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do it.
Yes, you can out-source things. But there’s a cost to that and if you are just starting out then maybe you don’t yet have the resources. Or maybe you haven’t found the right company to outsource it to. Trusting someone else can be difficult.
Or maybe it’s something that you can’t outsource and you have to do it yourself. There was no-one I could out-source taking my medicine to! I just had to learn to do it.
And now I can do it and it doesn’t bother me at all.
So what tasks in your business do you dread?
Can you outsource them? If you can and the cost of doing it makes sense then outsource.
If you can’t outsource then put on your big girl (or boy) pants and just do it. Ask for help from people who can do it and learn.
You might find that the more you do it, the easy it will become and you may even learn to love it. I used to hate public speaking but I love it now. Why else would I have stood on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square
I’ll tell you another time how I got over my public speaking fear, but in the meanwhile share with us what you want to get better at and we’ll look to running a session on it. The BWN is all about supporting your business growth.
(For another dose of tough love, read Steve Clarke’s blog called Can you please stop complaining!)