Okay so neither this year nor this Christmas is perhaps going to turn out as we expected but that doesn’t stop us from taking time to reflect.
This month we thought we would merge our usual operational/financial newsletters we spread across the month and give you some things to think about going into a well-earned festive break all together given that a lot of people will be wrapping up soon for the Christmas.
Operationally
So it might feel like groundhog day with all of the recent announcements but operationally we must keep pushing to be stronger and more resilient and we have a fantastic blog on our website around the four pillars any successful business should have in place.
If any of you are after some reading over the Christmas, we fully recommend ‘Profit First’ by Mike Michalowicz whereby he speaks about going back to basics.
Whilst further lockdowns might be on the horizons; and the likelihood of further Government support remains uncertain, it does not stop an individual or business owner going back to basics to reduce wastage when it comes to finance and strengthen their overall cash flow position.
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.
While we miss our loved ones, we’re actually seeing more of our immediate family than ever before.
Have you taken the time to reflect?
Perhaps you’ve been thinking about the times you missed meals at home because you were working for small margins.
Or all those weekends you worked; missing out on time with the family, to get your business to where it needed to be a success.
And how; during lockdown, you’re now reaping the benefits of feeling healthier compared with beforehand when you found no time to exercise.
Before the pandemic broke out, was your business on its feet? If you could ask your ‘startup self’ if they’d be happy with where you are now, would you say yes? If so, why have you, up until now, been continuing to work in that way?
It’s time to pivot your business and your life. Why? To make sure you can continue to enjoy everything you appreciate right now and previously took for granted.
Family
For the first time ever, I can eat two meals a day with my two daughters and my wife. I love it.
I’ve watched my daughters, aged four and six, bond so much over the past couple of years. Even though we were close to begin with, we’ve grown even closer and I’ve seen first-hand their development.
That, to me, is priceless. So, I’ve pivoted my attitude and outlook.
I thought I was missing out on these moments because of ‘work commitments’. In reality, it’s taken this pandemic to show me that it was actually because of the decisions I made as a business owner.
Not anymore.
Work
I work long hours. I bet you do too.
Why do we do it? To provide for our family and our team. If we hated it, we wouldn’t do it. My job is a hobby to me, and I’ve got no hesitations in telling anyone that I absolutely love it.
Most of my clients have the same mindset, but because everyone’s working the hardest they can for their own business this presents a unique challenge: everyone is working ‘too ethically’.
What this looked like for us was we let certain clients ask and expect a service they could not afford or were not willing to pay for. We tried too hard to please.
You want to do your best and keep everyone happy, so it’s an easy trap to fall into.
Don’t get me wrong, we will continue to go above and beyond for our clients. However, we pivoted our business to start working how we wanted to work, with the people we wanted to work with.
Did that mean letting some clients go? Yes. Was it scary? A little. But was it best for our own business? Absolutely.
The ultimate goal is to run your business, and not let your business run you. Now we’re in control of the margins we want to make. It’s a work in process, so we’re using the downtime to give us a chance to explore this further to find a fit we’re happy with.
You
Fitness has always been important to me.
I’m approaching 40, so I had been going to the gym three times per week (on top of other weekly sports) for a while now. Mentally and physically, it’s an escape.
If you work out, you’ll have made the switch from the gym to home exercises, and like thousands of other people across the UK you might’ve taken up running.
This testing time has made me appreciate this more than ever.
If you’ve recently started, ask yourself why you haven’t done this before now? What was it that put you off?
Going Forward
There’s a real risk that once the pandemic passes, you’ll fall back into the bad habits we’ve discussed.
Perhaps you’ll have less free time than ever before. The demands of your business may outweigh the demands of your family and health as you try to recoup the time lost.
So how are you planning on stopping this? If you’re enjoying this time with your family and are feeling better for it, what are you going to do to maintain this?
If you’re unsure, it might be time to contact us. We will help you rebuild your business without sacrificing the work/life balance you’re now enjoying.
There’s one thing you can never get back – time. So how do you save more of it to spend on the things you love?
Technology is just one of the ways to achieve this, but there are many other ways dependant on what’s right for you.
Contact us today to put measures in place now that you’ll enjoy in the future and never take for granted what you had previously.
"Graeme and the team have recently shown me and created budgets and forecasting and gave me tools to be able to drill into the accounts to look at changes that have happened and more, how I can improve on them"
Carla Sleeth – Managing Director of Northern Installer’s 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 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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