Accounting & Banking

It could be said that the audit report is the most important aspect of the entire work process. You may have selected the correct area, evaluated the results effectively, analysed in depth the controls and recorded results elegantly in referenced work; but if the report does not reflect this excellence, you will not get the desired success. The internal audit report is perhaps the only tangible product that management can see in the work of this department.If you want to significantly improve the quality of your reports, apply the following tips:

1: Be Brief

The Brevity is probably the main key factor or characteristic of an excellent report. Brevity is not only about the number of pages to include in the report, but also to present only those aspects that are crucial for the user using the fewest words possible.

2: Highlight the Main Message

Readers prefer that the main message is placed first, and then read the reviews, details and explanations that support the main message. Studies on comprehensive reading support the basic principle of placing the main message first. These studies show that users absorb more information and better remember the details when the key message leads writing. The structure of the report should be developed intentionally and openly to push the main message forward.

3: Divide the Report Sections

Many users do not read the full report. They jump and fly to certain sections of the report, seeking the information they need. The high-level users read the opinion (or conclusion) and stop there. Depending on the severity of the issues, the manager`s responsible for the area under review, the opinion, observation posts and recommendations - but could not read the comments completely.Readers are selective, so we should not view the reports as a continuous text, but as a series of layers or sections. Each section allows the reader to delve into more details and explanations, depending on your needs. A high-level message must lead each section. Then continue the supportive comments, summary`s and details.

4: Present a Clear Conclusion

This is essential. You need to ensure that the reader clearly understands what you think about the effectiveness and efficiency of the area under review. The need to develop a statement of opinion and being concise is the best way to achieve this goal.The findings may relate to the whole area of work or only certain aspects. They may cover issues such as determining whether the goals and objectives of programs and operations are consistent with those of the organisation. The opinion may include an overall assessment of controls or may be limited to certain controls or aspects evaluated during the internal audit work. For more expert advice on this, you can speak to an accountant today, Your Virtual Office London work with experienced and qualified accountants who are able to help with such important matters.

5: Effective following up on corrective actions

A draft internal audit does not end until the recommendations are implemented.The internal audit activity can be monitored effectively by receiving and evaluating:

• The management responses and the proposed observations and recommendations during the engagement or within a reasonable time after communication of the results. The answers are more useful if they include sufficient information to evaluate the adequacy and timeliness of the proposed actions.
• Periodic updates from management in order to evaluate their efforts to correct the observations and implement the recommendations.
• Information from other organisational units that are assigned responsibility for monitoring or corrective action.

Every business needs to know and understand successful accounting principles. Business accounting represents the intelligent and logical transactions and resources of a company. You need to be aware of some important accounting tips to help new companies.

Here are some recommendations that are linked to this fundamental discipline for the company.

1) The accounting is the main tool for the control of management. Keep hold of all accounting records for the company business. It aims to be a true reflection of the reality of a company.2) You can not do business if the basics of accounting are not known. Large corporate losses are caused by accounting distortions.3) Accounting is directly linked to the business; it reflects the business. It isn`t all just about numbers, though they need to be very well kept. Numbers must corroborate with that of the marketing strategies and tactics.4) No indiscretions on the accounting numbers. If accounting is the basis for the reality of their business and control its management, any falsehoods will lead to wrong decisions. Financial institutions are specialists in measuring risk and targeting unrealistic figures.5) It should avoid crossings with the accounting subsidies between companies of the same group and/or shareholders. Loans to shareholders should be very limited and carefully followed. It is vital that the shareholder is disciplined and "takes care of" your company, whilst avoiding mixing the petty cash in your own pocket. This is key to successful long-term.6) The accounts must be evaluated over time and by the industry. Compare data over several years and this will identify positive and negative trends of the business and print a dynamic assessment.Finally, keep in mind that the structure of industrial accounting is very different to that of a company, for example, in retail sales or services. For this reason, it is good to compare the financial statements of companies in the same sector and who are leading companies as well.Speak to our business accountant today, they specialise in small and new business start ups.

Undoubtedly, one of the keys to invest successfully is to have a vision for the future. Having clear decisions to be taken with regard to long-term financial investments becomes vital, in order to achieve the desired results in investments and profits, after all, investment is the result of careful analysis.Generally, the goals are achieved by determining how far away the investment horizon is. But why is it so important to establish a horizon? Very simple. Establishing what the long-term investment is (5 years, 10 years, 15 years) has a great importance, since it directly influences the investment strategy. Generally, long-term investments allow investors to take more risk when investing.A clear example is the investment in gold , and that despite the ups and downs that occur in the market, the long-term trend is always upward, so that it always comes as a great way to invest safely long term and is profitable for your money. The key to any long-term investment is that it will ensure future financial security.

Here are just some key elements to successful investing:

1. Get control of your expenses before investing - Pay off your credit card debts and other high interest rates as fast loans or mini-credit is something unavoidable before you even think about starting to invest. If you get some extra income, I dedicate it to pay your debts and thus bring the moment you can start investing. Learn to cut your expenses and a little short in one of your unnecessary purchases to get away with your debts as soon as possible.2. If you're going to invest, do it - Once you have your financial house in order, no debt, and a good emergency fund set up , start investing.First start with simple investments in which you feel confident and let it rest there money for a while to see how you react to the ups and downs of profitability. Do not sell quickly to take short-term profits or bands to avoid big losses. Wait until you actually have a good reason to change your portfolio.3. Do not forget risk - Do not put all your money in one place. Make sure you have invested in at least a couple of different assets. Especially, do not put all your money into risky investments such as a large number of shares of small cap companies.4. Begin preparing for retirement. Your first objective should be to prepare to invest for retirement. If you have not started yet, do it now. Do not hesitate for a second, even if you do not know 100% what you are doing or exactly how you want to invest - invest your money in an index fund.5. Stop worrying about how to invest and just do it. Whether you later modify your investment for improving, then so be it, but do not get caught in the paralysis of the investment and become stagnant.6. Be sensitive to your impressions. If your gut tells you it's a bad investment, stop putting new money into the asset for a while.If after your instinct keeps saying it's bad, even long after you stop investing, move your money to another investment. Do not just keep putting money into something that does not work for you.7. Make sure you have the ego at the door. Do not ever think you're a great investor. The moment you think you are, your wallet will fall apart.8. If everyone invests in something, do not follow them. If you see that everyone is investing in the same asset, then it means that something is trending, but will not last, so you should be as far away from that kind of investment as possible.Your Virtual Office London are experts in helping businesses become more successful. We provide virtual office services including a prime mail forwarding address in London, telephone answering and registered office address. If you would also like advice about investing we have an accountant who is always on hand to help with professional advice.

For accountants who are responsible for project formulation, financial statements are the corollary of their work and the culmination of their efforts. For entrepreneurs and managers of businesses, this allows them to take actions and decisions they deem appropriate for the proper conduct of the business.This situation can be summarised in the financial statements, whereby they record the financial results for the integrated management of business that the organisation runs. This information is of interest to various sectors, such as:- The owners and / or shareholders and those fully interested in knowing the results of the economic entity.- The directors and officers are interested in the excellent conduct of the business, to know if you are meeting the objectives established.- Administration: To guarantee the proper administration of the institution in accordance with its goals and objectives.- Supervisors and control bodies: Those that manage audited financial statements give credibility to your financial information.- Government bodies: Interested in the financial statements that are audited by aspects of formality and regulation.- Workers : As a means of feeling security in their employment.- Suppliers and creditors: Because they are interested in liquidity and fairness of the financial statements.- Investors: Because they will be able to analyse, to invest or not to invest in certain types of business.- To the general public: To know whether a particular organisation has a good picture of trade, if there are good services, products and whether they have quality.Under this perspective, the audit of the financial statements involves an examination of the financial statements of its operations holistically, including media, economic, administrative, financial / accounting, legal, environmental etc. An established, well respected company such as thecheapaccountant.co.uk can help with this aspect.Due to the above, the financial audit should not only aim at the verification of the accounting record, but also the detailed examination of the actions of the organisation, areas, processes, licenses, operations, records and support in a responsible manner to be as efficient as possible.In that way a financial audit process requires consideration of, among others, the following:- Understand the organisation, policy, regulations, structure, processes, financial reporting and accounting handbook with your chart of accounts.- Prepare guidelines, programs or questionnaires for an audit and internal control and other working papers, based on the representative account.- Know the computer applications that manage the organisation, especially accounting and finance.- Review the different accounts assigned to the financial statements, considering the accounting, financial, administrative, legal, economic, environmental or otherwise. Determine for each of them, the cause, effect and impact as well.- Translate in technical working papers, supported and objective manner, each of the findings, to be considered in drafting the final review report.With respect to internal control you should:- Evaluate the quality of information systems and media in the accounting process.- Check profiles of who will be able and responsible for handling and recording of accounting functional areas.- Verify proper handling of correspondence and memory of the organisation file.- To verify the existence of control processes that perform the accounting area of dependencies and other sources of accounting information.- Monitor an Improvement Plan,Another insightful blog post produced by Your Virtual Office London.

A director of a company has different options when it comes to pay. Each option has different tax benefits. It is very important to be clear on what method you will chose as your accountant will need to know this.

Dividends

A dividend is rewarded to shareholders. An owner of a Limited Company is a shareholder and they will be able to pay themselves in the form of a dividend.An advantage of a dividend is that you do not pay any national insurance on the payment. You will need to pay income which does depend on the level of your earnings.A dividend will need to be paid to all shareholders of the company, this will need to be declared in the minutes of the meeting you will hold with the other directors.Legally a dividend voucher must be created which would show some important information such as the date is was issued, the company details i.e name and number, the shareholders details and the amount the dividend is.

PAYE

Pay As You Earn (real time). PAYE is a HMRC scheme to collect National insurance and income tax for employees of a company, including staff and directors. You will need to register for this scheme, if you`re the owner of a Limited Company you will be classes as an employer and employee.When you pay yourself a monthly salary, you will need to send a PAYE return to HMRC which will show the amount you have paid, including tax and deductions. Again the amount of National Insurance and income tax will depend on the tax code and your tax status.If you need help with your companies accounts please speak to us today. We offer free and impartial advice, our business accountant can help with PAYE registration and can help explain your current tax status and how best to optimise your current situation.If you liked this accounting blog post, you can read more from Your Virtual Office London blog.

Your Virtual Office London provides a free fast track business banking service for all Limited Company formations.A limited company in the UK should have a business bank account to show all the income and expenditure of the account. This makes it a lot easier as opposed to using a personal account, as the transactions are kept separate making it easier for your accounts.A limited company has to complete annual returns and tax returns which are legal requirements from Companies House and HMRC. A dedicated business bank account for your Limited company is the best way to keep a record of all your transactions, making it a lot easier to do your accounting as and when its needed.Your Virtual Office London have teamed up with Barclays to provide all clients with a free fast track business bank account. We have helped over 1000 clients start up with a Barclays bank account which are free and come with excellent benefits such as the following:A few of the Barclay's Business Bank Account Features:

• Free Business baking without charges for upto 12 months.
• A necessary introduction meeting at a Barclays bank of your choice.
• A free debit card, cheque book and safety chip and pin reader for online baking
• Free online banking, mobile apps for your phone, text alerts and paper statements.

I would like to go take your free business bank account up, what next?All Your Virtual Office London clients are able to apply for this offer. If you have a Limited Company and you would like to apply please contact us.Once we receive your details we will inform Barclays of your interest and they will the get in contact with you, its that simple.

The UK is to become the second largest economy by 2020, overtaking France. This is according to a consultancy firm PwC.PwC have said this is due to the strength of the pound against the dollar, when compared to the strength of the Euro to the dollar. The strong currency combined with continued falling unemployment is adding the economy`s growth.Germany is still forecasted to be the top economy in Europe, the US is top globally followed by China, Japan and then Germany.But it says the UK lags behind in areas including education, investment, trade deficits and income inequality.India`s economy is set to overtake the UK by 2030, this will also rise above Germany and Japans to become ranked third largest economy in the world.The UK`s economy is estimated to be worth £1.65 trillion while the French economy is valued at £1.60 million. The consultancy has noted that the UK has strengths in political, legal and regulatory institution. This also includes easing of doing business and strong communications technology. They also suggested that the UK scores well with relatively low unemployment rates and good inflation performance.

Why start a business?

Today has never been better to start a business; Your Virtual Office London can help advise you what the best option is for your personal circumstance. With a strong and growing economy the time is right for fledgling businesses to make the most of the market growth and positive financial forecasts. Good publicity for the economy can have a positive impact on business and this can relate to real growth in your new sector.

Online banking transactions now consistently hit over £1 billion a day a study has shown.The study does not show the percentage of transactions made on phones, tablets or PC`s, but the rise is probably due to the increase in mobile banking and the rise of new apps to aid this.The research shows that over 15,000 online banking applications have been downloaded every day. This total`s over 14.7 million bank applications have now been downloaded.The report does also show that many people still prefer online internet banking as opposed to mobile phones, especially when large transactions are involved.The rise of online banking, including mobile and internet has ultimately led to a fall in the use of bank branches. However people still like to use the branch for important moments such as mortgages and financial advice.

Business Banking

Business banking has also seen a large increase of its customers using applications to aid with the running of the business. Your Virtual Office London can help get you a business bank account with Barclay's. We are able to fast track your application and this is all totally free, just another great service we provide to all our clients. If you need advice or help do not hesitate to contact us today.

There are always plenty of valid reasons behind needing to closing a limited company. Whatever the reason for closing down your limited company, there are certain processes that you need to follow to complete this:

Dormant Company

Rather than closing your company completely, you may want to keep your company open and registered but physically stop trading for a period of time. If this is the case then making your Limited Company dormant instead of closing it down completely would be your best option.Making your company Dormant can also be more cost effective when compared to closing a company down completely. You can make a company Dormant for around £100, so if you simply want to take some time out and pause your trading activity for any length of time, then this could be your better option. Contact us if you need help. We will be happy to give you some free advice.Dormant Company info: https://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/about/pdf/gba10.pdfOf course when you make a company Dormant it is important to make your clients and trade partners fully aware of your situation and ensure that any existing agreements you have with your clients or customers are properly finished before you pause your trading activities.There are also tax implications involved with making your company dormant. You will need an accountant to help prepare your final accounts to ensure all tax owed, including corporation tax, is fully paid up. You will also need to close any bank accounts that are linked to the dormant company.

Limited Company Liquidation

If you don't want to make your company dormant and are sure that you want to close you Limited Company down completely, then you will need to be aware of any debts outstanding and clear them if you can. If there are any debts still outstanding the liquidation process can take a lot longer and can be more involved. We would highly recommend speaking with us or to a professional accountant to ensure that you are fully aware of your responsibilities and obligations. If there are unpaid debts outstanding the company will be forced to go into Liquidation. You can read more information on Insolvency here.

What next?

If you are in a good financial position where your Limited Company has no debts outstanding, or can meet its obligations, then the closing procedure is fairly simple and straightforward. You will need to choose a date for when the company should stop trading. On this date it is important that no more transactions are carried out and that any creditors have been fully paid.HMRC will also need to be notified of your closure and be given a final set of accounts including all the transactions up to the closure point. Also you must remember to cancel your VAT registration if your company is VAT registered.A final payroll will need to be completed and P45`s issued for your staff and yourself. A P35 Employer Annual Return will also have to be filled with HMRC.Once your company has ceased trading for three months, you can make an application to Companies House to get your company dissolved via the DS01 form.If there are no objections to your Limited Company being closed, it will be formally given the go ahead and will be removed from the register of companies that is held on record at Companies House. Your Virtual Office London provides leading Company Formation services including advice on trading, closing down companies and company accounting. We also provide leading supplementary services such as mail forwarding in London and Registered Office address for your Company. If you need help or advice don't hesitate to get in touch with us today.

Not sure what to do? Registering as a Limited Company can be more beneficial with tax advantages when compared to being a Sole TraderUpdated July 2016.Over the years, many of our clients have come to us and asked if they should change from being a sole trader into becoming a fully-fledged Limited Company. Our advice in these circumstances is that it all depends on the type of business you run, how much you are turning over and whether you plan to grow and expand business further. These questions are vitally important to help answer that all important question.There are a lot of differences between being a sole trader and a Limited Company. Let's take a look at how tax is affected under each circumstance.

What are the tax differences between a Limited Company and a Sole Trader?

Sole Trader

If you are self employed, and trading as a sole trader, your business profits and personal income are lumped together under the same roof. This means your income is taxed via the annual self-assessment process. You will not be able to defer profits to other years, so if you have a good year with a high turnover followed by a slower year with less profit, you cannot carry over any profit from the previous (good) year to see you through a lean year (share dividends can be held back). In addition to personal income tax you are required to pay National Insurance Contributions (NIC) on all your profits.

Limited Company

If you run a Limited Company and are a shareholder, the company is liable for Corporation Tax on the business profits. The advantages of a Limited Company is that you will be able to hold back profits and then distribute them as dividends in future years. This means you can maximise the tax efficiency and utilise all the tax breaks afforded to Limited Companies. Simply put, you are likely to pay less personal tax than being a sole trader.

The main benefits of forming a Limited Company when compared to a sole trader:

1. An obvious benefit is that the Limited Company is a separate legal entity from you in the eyes of the law and protects you and your personal assets from legal disputes. You are not liable personally, so if the worst should happen and you have to cease trading and close your business, you will not have to pay off any company debts with your own personal money, unless something like fraud or money laundering has taken place. However, a sole trader will be responsible for any outstanding debts left behind, and if they find themselves in a legal battle will be susceptible to losing personal assets if found guilty.
2. Limited Companies can be more tax efficient as a dividend has a lower flat rate of tax when compared to higher income tax bands. So a Limited Company owner can pay themselves in dividends, and ultimately pay less tax when compared to a high earning sole trader who could find themselves paying upward of 40% income tax on earnings.
3. If you expect your business to earn very little, a sole trader would be easier to manage, a Limited Company can often require the help of an accountant to ensure the correct workings of the company tax liabilities.

Professional Business Image

Many companies are only happy doing business with a registered company. Being a limited company can give you a more professional image and encourage more businesses to trust you and do business with you.Your trading name will also be protected as a limited company. When you go through the formation process, your company name will be filed with Companies House and no one else will be allowed to trade under your business name. This can be a great bonus while you are still growing your business and crafting a strong reputation for your company. You wouldn't want all your hard work and effort to build your company branding and credibility to go to waste through someone else stealing your trading name.If you are unsure what you require or what is the best option is for you, please contact us so we can talk through the best options for you and the future success of your business.Your Virtual Office London - the professional choice since 1971.