We felt it only right to highlight again the fact that wages are going up and specifically the minimum and living wage is rising from 1 April 2022 for which you can find more information here.
This in itself present an opportunity to forecast what the year ahead might look like cost-wise and give you an opportunity to see how best you deal with this.
If you would like some assistance with preparing this forecast click here.
Setting up to sell/exit
We are having increasing numbers of conversations around business owners and have a fantastic white paper that we can share to:
Help you set up successfully for sale
Share why many people get it wrong
Help show you how you could actually “grow” your own buyer
We all know this but it still shocks us a little when we type the fact that we often spend more time with work colleagues than we do family.
Have you ever assessed the culture of your business though; factoring in those internal and external to it.
We did a fantastic exercise alongside a client of ours that ultimately led us to establish our values for which if you click the link below and we will happily share these with you.
One of the biggest downfalls when it comes to running a business is the lack of planning when it comes to exiting it which subsequently results in only 1 in every 2,222 business owners exiting when they want, with how much they want.
Start planning ahead now to improve these statistics and we can help.
P.S. More information on our client awards very soon …
We are all getting more e-mails than ever and we are constantly looking at how we can add more value to our regular bulletins so have slightly tweaked the format for this month.
We are splitting the content into shorter and more “punchy” sections so you can jump into those which are of greatest interest value to you and will save you time looking for the “golden nuggets.”
Save me tax
Did you know there are three different elements to the tax advice and support that we provide and for which greater attention can be paid?
Click on the image below to find out more.
Make me more money
We have mentioned this before on a previous newsletter; with reference to inflation, but have you thought about this:
“Money left sat in your bank account is COSTING you money.”
Given the current rate of inflation, I don’t believe there are any banks currently paying interest in current accounts that exceed the current rate of inflation so; with it left sat there, as each month passes it worth less than the day it was put in.
What should you do? Speak with an IFA. Don’t have one? Get in touch with us by clicking here and we will contact you.
Help me focus on what matters
We started this end of month newsletter saying how a deluge of e-mails and content is meaning that people are struggling to see the woods for the trees.
The amount of information at people’s finger tips often leads to what is commonly known as “analysis paralysis” so basically you don’t know where to start, so don’t start.
We have some great overview reports that we are sharing for no cost up until the end of March for those on our bookkeeping package so let us know if you would like yours.
If we don’t do your bookkeeping, get in touch regardless and we’ll send you a template report based on demo data and a bit like Bullseye show you would could have won; or could still get in the future …
Yes please I’ll have a business overview report click here
Improve my cash flow
One of the most common issues we find whereby businesses could improve their cash flow is by changing the way in which they quote.
Whilst it is quite easy to factor in those costs directly attributable to a sale, it is more difficult when it comes to those overheads you incur regardless i.e. insurance, rent etc.
Quick tip
Go through your overheads for the past year and work out what these equate to based on the number of working hours there is in a year for you i.e. the hourly costs of these same overheads.
Start then applying this hourly overhead rate; with a mark-up to future quotes and see what difference this makes.
This is rough and ready; and not perfect, but is better than nothing and it will provide a great platform to build from.
Make sure you start with this gradually to get your confidence in adding it and in the calculation itself or just a few clients. We are here to help where needed.
Takeaways (everybody loves one, Indian would be my choice)
Look at tax from one of three angles to think of it more proactively.
Don’t have spare money in the bank costing you money, have it make you money.
Draw from your figures what matters the most and we have a great report to help so get in touch for what this could look like.
When it comes to improving cash flow; start with looking at how you quote for work. Then, take this a step further and monitor your REAL profitability per job thereafter.
P.S. More information on our client awards very soon …
32 ways to extract value, tackle rising costs and reduce tax
Many business owners and individuals will now be faced with challenges in the year ahead including:
rise in living costs/subsequent rise in wages
rising inflation
increased taxes
repayment of government-backed loans
rising cost of debt
In this month’s bulletin we’re going to specifically focus on rising taxes and wages and some things for you to consider.
Tax (a quick fix)
There are 32 ways to extract value from your business; or at least this is what we have reduced it down to.
Want to do a quick tax health check on your business? Click here and we’ll send through a checklist for you to fill in.
Wages (and another way to save tax)
For many we are approaching the time when wage rises will be discussed and with the rising cost of inflation pay rises of 5% upwards may commonly be asked for by your team and that is just to maintain their standard of living rather than being seen as a pay rise.
There are ways to counter-act this in terms of providing your team with benefits they have not had previously whilst reducing tax at the same time.
Still not clicked the link above for that checklist and just want to drive straight in; then click here for our template 32 ways to tackle rising costs; whilst reducing tax.
P.S. More information on our client awards very soon …
We know that so many people were busy leading up to Christmas so many people might have missed what we first out prior to Christmas so we thought we would share again some key points for those sneaking in a bit of work time late December.
Yes I know we did say we wouldn’t send an end of month newsletter out but I sensed some might need this so scheduled this one in advance.
Operationally
Want to work less and achieve more in your business?
Improve your finances with our book recommendation again – ‘Profit First’ by Mike Michalowicz whereby he speaks about going back to basics.
We’ve summarised some of the key points if you want to take a look here.
Want to be a bit more proactive and hit 2022 with a bang?
Why not join those who have already committed and jump onto our workshops where we take the points above and convert them into actions to help you work less in your business and ultimately exit sooner and with more money.
I know what I’d be asking for off Santa but I am an accountant and a little bias.
When Sir David Brailsford took over the British Cycling team in 2002 as performance director, we had only won 1 gold medal in our 67-year history. Add to that, in 110 years, no British cyclist had ever won the Tour de France and top bike manufacturers refused to sell bikes to the team for fear that it would damage the company’s reputation!
All of that changed from 2004 onwards when the British Cycling team won two golds at the Athens Olympics followed by 7 out of 10 gold medals at both the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and London in 2012.
British Cycling riders then went on to dominate the Tour de France, winning six of the following seven Tour De France.
Improve component parts
This extraordinary success has been well documented but how did they achieve it?
Sir David Brailsford was credited with introducing one the most talked about ingredient of this success – the philosophy of ‘marginal gains’. By breaking down everything that went into competitive cycling and finding ways to make small, 1% marginal gains to every component part, an aggregated increase in overall performance was achieved.
Marginal business gains
What worked for the British Olympic Cycling team can also work for you and your business. Not by breaking down everything that goes into competitive cycling, but by breaking down everything that goes into running a successful business and finding ways to make small, 1% marginal gains that lend towards success.
We have been practicing this philosophy in business ourselves for several years and we bring the approach to life in the different elements of our ‘Insight’ client support package. Brailsford used data to analyse and redesign the bike seats to make them more comfortable, whilst discovering that rubbing alcohol onto the tires would give a better grip. He re-imagined the secondary impact that small actions could have.
Reimagine your business insights
Now imagine you started looking at your numbers slightly different and made some minor changes to the way you think about them i.e., rather than looking at staff as an expense, consider them a knowledge base upon which you can quickly establish flaws in processes that with improvement, could improve profitability.
We applied this scenario to our own business by internally drilling down to profitability per transaction for work completed. But we didn’t stop there, because we went on to look at the staff member doing the job, the industry in which the client was based, the nature in which the work was received and time of the month it was received i.e., was it always at the end of month?
There were so many areas ripe for subtle changes right at our fingertips that might be otherwise be ignored because of their minimal isolated benefit. But by combining multiple improvements together, the impact began to feel more monumental.
Facing realities
We had to really challenge ourselves as well and face some brutal realities. For example, by tracking phone calls we were able to identify and develop significant improvements to the way clients were handled. By enabling the team to answer queries at the first point of call, we gained both time and cost efficiency as well as alleviating the frustration of being passed around for the client – just being honest! We also started adding more answers to the most commonly asked questions on our website to reduce phone call volume and move towards the ambition of delivering a hybrid 24/7 service for clients for time when the office is closed.
Where are your 1% improvements?
What information do you already have at your fingertips which; with some assistance, you could turn into 1% improvements in your business? Sometimes you just need a fresh approach or new set of eyes to help build out and identify the key metrics and drivers within your business that are most likely to identify change that will help drive your business forward.
Okay so you you might be thinking us a little bit mad here but hear us out as we explain this within our very first operational newsletter.
We as human beings surprise ourselves in terms of operating within our means.
Think about this – have you noticed how much we get out of the end of a toothpaste tube compared with when it is full – “just one brush then I’ll open the new one.”
Let us also think about some simple tricks to be more healthy:
Want to eat less – try using a smaller plate
Want to eat more healthily – start with the vegetables on your Sunday dinner rather than the meat and Yorkshire pudding
Want to maintain this – get into a routine and get rid of temptation i.e. buy less alcohol, crisps and chocolate
Okay so we might give a little leeway on the last one.
By looking at the facts and figures in a different way can make a massive change to your business and we ask this of you from a business perspective:
“Do you know your top 10 customers based on activity?”
“Do you think additional sales is the quickest and biggest way to grow your business?”
If you start digging a little deeper with the second point; you might actually find you grow your sales by additional marketing but actually suffer on the bottom line as this group of customers is of a lower margin or even loss-making!
So how else are we going to help?
As we’ve mentioned in the video above we are going to subtly start asking of you; and in turn have you ask yourself, different questions to those you might have historically expected your accountant to ask.
We are embedding this into our processes, have been building out a “flagging system” within certain packages and will start talking more at a business level rather than just a financial level so that you the business owner are not left with the “scraps” as profits but instead start working up the food chain in your own business.
The data beneath the video is available for all clients who currently use Xero so if you want to have a discussion around your data then if you can just click here and answer a handful of questions then we will be in touch.
Want to know what potential is yet to be realised in your business? Mention that through the link above and we’ll even share a report on that for you.
"Tennick Accountants perfectly understand our needs, nothing is too much trouble and they are always there to help. We highly recommend Graeme and his team to anyone looking for a first class accountancy service."
Stuart Moy – Managing Director of Arcot Grange Developments Limited”
Speak to the team about your goals and vision. We'll tell you how we can help you make them a reality.
Are you looking to work with a strategic
accounting partner to help shape your
business’s future?
We’d love to hear from you
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Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
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PRIVACY NOTICE
The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) impose certain legal obligations in connection with the processing of personal data.
Graeme Tennick & Co Limited T/A Tennick Accountants is a data controller within the meaning of the GDPR and we process personal data. The firm's contact details can be found on our website at www.tennick.co.uk with Graeme Tennick being the Data Protection Officer.
We may amend this privacy notice from time to time. If we do so, we will supply you with and/or otherwise make available to you a copy of the amended privacy notice.
Where we act as a data processor on behalf of a data controller (for example, when processing payroll), we provide an additional schedule setting out required information as part of that agreement. That additional schedule should be read in conjunction with this privacy notice.
In addition to the information detailed below within this privacy notice; and upon request, we can supply a more detailed breakdown of:
sources of data
information stored
purpose
computer program/processing/storage
access/security
deletion policy
The purposes for which we intend to process personal data
We intend to process personal data for the following purposes:
to enable us to supply professional services to you as our client
to fulfil our obligations under relevant laws in force from time to time (e.g. the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 ("MLR 2017"))
to comply with professional obligations to which we are subject as a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
to use in the investigation and/or defence of potential complaints, disciplinary proceedings and legal proceedings
to enable us to invoice you for our services and investigate/address any attendant fee disputes that may have arisen
to contact you about other services we provide which may be of interest to you if you have consented to us doing so
The legal bases for our intended processing of personal data
Our intended processing of personal data has the following legal bases:
at the time you instructed us to act, you gave consent to our processing your personal data for the purposes listed above
the processing is necessary for the performance of our contract with you
the processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligations to which we are subject (e.g. MLR 2017)
the processing is necessary for the purposes of the following legitimate interests which we pursue e.g. investigating/defending legal claims.
It is a requirement of our contract with you that you provide us with the personal data that we request. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide professional services to you. If this is the case, we will not be able to commence acting or will need to cease to act.
Persons/organisations to whom we may give personal data
We may share your personal data with:
Companies House and HMRC
any third parties with whom you require or permit us to correspond
any third party software companies whom will better support us in delivering an improved service with respect to those pieces of work covered within our letter of engagement; a full list of which can be provided upon request
subcontractors
an alternate appointed by us in the event of incapacity or death
tax insurance providers
professional indemnity insurers
our professional body (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and/or the Office of Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervisors (OPBAS) in relation to practice assurance and/or the requirements of MLR 2017 (or any similar legislation)
If the law allows or requires us to do so, we may share your personal data with:
the police and law enforcement agencies
courts and tribunals
the Information Commissioner's Office ("ICO").
We may need to share your personal data with the third parties identified above in order to comply with our legal obligations, including our legal obligations to you. If you ask us not to share your personal data with such third parties we may need to cease to act.
We may also pass your details on to other third-party organisations who may in turn contact you whereby we feel it would be of benefit, but will only do so having first notified you of this and having sought your agreement prior to this.
Transfers of personal data outside the EU
Where personal data is transferred outside the EU; which is common with many software companies, further information can be supplied upon request as to the specific measures taken by these companies to make this process GDPR-compliant.
Retention of personal data
When acting as a data controller and in accordance with recognised good practice within the tax and accountancy sector we will retain all of our records relating to you as follows:
where tax returns have been prepared it is our policy to retain information for 7 years from the end of the tax year to which the information relates
where ad hoc advisory work has been undertaken it is our policy to retain information for 2 years from the date the business relationship ceased
where we have an ongoing client relationship, data which is needed for more than one year's tax compliance (e.g. capital gains base costs and claims and elections submitted to HMRC) is retained throughout the period of the relationship, but will be 7 years after the end of the business relationship unless you as our client ask us to retain it for a longer period.
Our contractual terms provide for the destruction of documents after 7 years and therefore agreement to the contractual terms is taken as agreement to the retention of records for this period, and to their destruction thereafter.
You are responsible for retaining information that we send to you (including details of capital gains base costs and claims and elections submitted) and this will be supplied in the form agreed between us. Documents and records relevant to your tax affairs are required by law to be retained by you as follows:
Individuals, trustees and partnerships
with trading or rental income: five years and 10 months after the end of the tax year
otherwise: 22 months after the end of the tax year.
Companies, LLPs and other corporate entities
six years from the end of the accounting period.
Where we act as a data processor as defined in DPA 2018, we will delete or return all personal data to the data controller as agreed with the controller annually at the termination of the contract.
Requesting personal data we hold about you (subject access requests)
You have a right to request access to your personal data that we hold. Such requests are known as 'subject access requests' ("SARs").
Please provide all SARs in writing marked for the attention of Graeme Tennick.
To help us provide the information you want and deal with your request more quickly, you should include enough details to enable us to verify your identity and locate the relevant information. For example, you should tell us:
your date of birth
previous or other name(s) you have used
your previous addresses in the past five years
personal reference number(s) that we may have given you, for example your national insurance number, your tax reference number or your VAT registration number
what type of information you want to know
If you do not have a national insurance number, you must send a copy of:
the back page of your passport or a copy of your driving licence
a recent utility bill.
DPA 2018 requires that we comply with a SAR promptly and in any event within one month of receipt. There are, however, some circumstances in which the law allows us to refuse to provide access to personal data in response to a SAR (e.g. if you have previously made a similar request and there has been little or no change to the data since we complied with the original request).
We may not charge you for dealing with a SAR.
You can ask someone else to request information on your behalf – for example, a friend, relative or solicitor. We must have your authority to respond to a SAR made on your behalf. You can provide such authority by signing a letter which states that you authorise the person concerned to write to us for information about you, and/or receive our reply.
Where you are a data controller and we act for you as a data processor (e.g. by processing payroll), we will assist you with SARs on the same basis as is set out above.
Putting things right (the right to rectification)
You have a right to obtain the rectification of any inaccurate personal data concerning you that we hold. You also have a right to have any incomplete personal data that we hold about you completed. Should you become aware that any personal data that we hold about you is inaccurate and/or incomplete, please inform us immediately so we can correct and/or complete it.
Deleting your records (the right to erasure)
In certain circumstances you have a right to have the personal data that we hold about you erased. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk). If you would like your personal data to be erased, please inform us immediately and we will consider your request. In certain circumstances we have the right to refuse to comply with a request for erasure. If applicable, we will supply you with the reasons for refusing your request.
The right to restrict processing and the right to object
In certain circumstances you have the right to 'block' or suppress the processing of personal data or to object to the processing of that information. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk). Please inform us immediately if you want us to cease to process your information or you object to processing so that we can consider what action, if any, is appropriate.
Obtaining and reusing personal data (the right to data portability)
In certain circumstances you have the right to be provided with the personal data that we hold about you in a machine-readable format, e.g. so that the data can easily be provided to a new professional adviser. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk).
The right to data portability only applies:
to personal data an individual has provided to a controller
where the processing is based on the individual's consent or for the performance of a contract
when processing is carried out by automated means
We will respond to any data portability requests made to us without undue delay and within one month. We may extend the period by a further two months where the request is complex or a number of requests are received but we will inform you within one month of the receipt of the request and explain why the extension is necessary.
Withdrawal of consent
Where you have consented to our processing of your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Please inform us immediately if you wish to withdraw your consent.
Please note:
the withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of earlier processing
if you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to continue to provide services to you
even if you withdraw your consent, it may remain lawful for us to process your data on another legal basis (e.g. because we have a legal obligation to continue to process your data).
Automated decision-making
We do not intend to use automated decision-making in relation to your personal data.
Complaints
If you have requested details of the information we hold about you and you are not happy with our response, or you think we have not complied with the GDPR or DPA 2018 in some other way, you can complain to us. Please send any complaints to Graeme Tennick.
If you are not happy with our response, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the ICO (www.ico.org.uk).
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