2017 -
May
WEB SERVICES - ONLINE COMMUNITIES - 31.05.2017
A smart social-media strategy
Almost everyone is on social networks these days. This applies to your (potential) customers too. How can you make smart use of these channels? Here are some useful tips collected from different experts.
SOFTWARE - MISCELLANEOUS - 31.05.2017
Remote assistance with Quick Assist
Did you know that Windows 10 comes with a built-in tool - Quick Assist - which lets you organise remote computer assistance? Is it a match for the popular TeamViewer?
E-MAIL - E-MAIL SOFTWARE - 31.05.2017
Take good care of Outlook’s PST file
The PST file of the Outlook software contains all your e-mails, appointments, contacts, notes and other data relating to your account(s). It’s therefore essential to back up this file. How do you do this?
SOFTWARE - APPS - 31.05.2017
Better communication through Google
Google is finally making an attempt to create some order in its chaos of communication tools: it now makes a clearer distinction between consumers and business users. What has changed?
COMPUTERS - PERIPHERALS - 31.05.2017
Attach a USB keyboard to your tablet
Do you often need to type texts on your tablet and would you like to work on an external keyboard? You can buy a wireless Bluetooth keyboard, of course, but couldn’t you simply use a cheaper USB keyboard?
SOFTWARE - WINDOWS - 31.05.2017
Lock your computer!
If you don’t want anyone to have access to your files and personal data, it is very important to lock your computer whenever you walk away from it, even for a short while. How do you do this in Windows 10?
SECURITY - PARENTAL CONTROL - 31.05.2017
Child-friendly Internet
The Internet contains a great deal of content that isn’t suitable for children. How can you protect your kids against this and prevent them from spending too much time online? Here’s how in Windows 10 and Android.
WEB SERVICES - MISCELLANEOUS - 31.05.2017
Going back in time…
Webpages are constantly updated. Chances are that today you will no longer be able to find online information from the past. Is it still possible to retrieve “old” webpages, and can you save the current version of a webpage?
BUSINESS - APPLICATIONS - 31.05.2017
Productivity apps for SMEs
Time means money for SMEs. Being as productive as possible, using time wisely and being better organised is vital. We have checked out apps that can help.
E-MAIL - E-MAIL USE - 31.05.2017
Control your mailbox
If you don’t like the Inbox Zero principle (deliberately striving for an empty inbox) then here are some practical tips that may help you to get your inbox under control all the same.
PERSONAL WEBSITE - WEBSITE PROMOTION - 31.05.2017
SEO in 2017: what should you pay attention to?
By focusing on search engine optimisation (SEO), you can make your website appear higher in the Google search results. However, you should adapt your SEO efforts constantly to the latest developments. Here’s a checklist.
INCORPORATION - 30.05.2017
Elections on transferring stock or fixed assets
If your client plans to incorporate or disincorporate an existing business, transferring either plant and machinery subject to capital allowances or trading stock can have tax implications. What can your clients do about them?
NON-DOMICILE TAXATION - 30.05.2017
Advising non-domiciled clients in 2017/18
A new deemed domicile rule was introduced on 6 April 2017. What impact will this new rule have on non-domiciled UK resident clients and what action should they take to protect their status?
MAKING TAX DIGITAL - 30.05.2017
Making Tax Digital: where are we now?
Making Tax Digital seems to have been just around the corner for a long time; however, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about its implementation. What do we know that you can advise clients?
CORPORATION TAX - 30.05.2017
Substantial shareholding exemption rules change
When a limited company sells shares, it might be able to take advantage of a tax break, known as the substantial shareholding exemption (SSE). How does this work, and what changes effective from April 2017 mean it might be highly useful for your clients?
BENEFITS IN KIND - LOANS - 30.05.2017
An alternative calculation basis
You will probably be starting to complete P11D forms for clients who have made beneficial loans to employees (or directors). How might using an alternative basis of calculating the cash equivalent save them some money?
PAYE CODES - 30.05.2017
HMRC gets dynamic with PAYE collections
Starting in April 2017, you may notice your clients’ PAYE codes being amended for a 2016/17 tax underpayment. This is earlier than you might expect, so what is going on and what can you advise your clients?
ALLOWANCES - 26.05.2017
Getting more from your tax-free allowances
Government tinkering with the tax rates and allowances now means you should approach working out your tax bill differently. Relying on usual practice or HMRC to get it right might mean paying too much. How can you ensure you don’t?
VAT REGISTRATION - 26.05.2017
Can you avoid registering when you hit the threshold?
You run a business which has a steady monthly stream of income. You have never breached the registration threshold, but a large one-off contract has changed this. Can you avoid registering for VAT?
ACCOUNTS - 26.05.2017
Are you looking for a change of accounting date?
If you’re in business as a sole trader or in partnership, a change in your accounting date can affect when your profits are taxed and even the amount of tax payable. Could you benefit from a change?
RAISING FINANCE - COMPANIES - 26.05.2017
Raising finance without giving away control
You’ve found someone who wants to invest in your up and coming company. They want shares so that their return is based on profit, but you’re not keen on them having any control of the business. Is there a way to keep you both happy?
PAYE - 26.05.2017
Real-time tax codes
When RTI was launched HMRC promised to use it to increase the accuracy of tax deductions. Finally, it’s launched a system which might achieve that. How might it affect you and your business?
CORPORATION TAX - 26.05.2017
Sharing the risk of a joint venture
You had an idea for a new product, but it’s outside your company’s field. You’ve persuaded two other businesses with the expertise to come on board, but it’s still a risky venture. Where do you stand if it makes a loss?
CAPITAL GAINS TAX - PROPERTY - 26.05.2017
Private residence relief and “off-plan” homes
The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) recently ruled on a dispute involving private residence relief (PRR) and an off-plan property. Anyone who has bought, or is considering buying, a home this way should take note. What’s the full story?
ACCOUNTS - 25.05.2017
Can you save money by filing your own accounts?
A friend tells you that he files simplified company accounts himself. He says it saves him accountancy fees and he’s never had a problem with the authorities so he must be doing it right. Is this something you should consider?
TAX - PROPERTY - 25.05.2017
Moving premises - how to maximise the tax allowances
You’re moving your business to a new location and are at the stage of fine tuning the contract. This should include identifying all the equipment that’s being sold with the building as it can save tax. How should you approach this?
HEALTH & SAFETY - 25.05.2017
Display screen equipment assessments
A senior manager claims that they are entitled to a display screen equipment (DSE) assessment and eye test by law. However, as they don’t use a computer that much, you believe this is unnecessary. What are your legal duties here?
PROFIT EXTRACTION - 25.05.2017
Is there an advantage to paying a non-working partner?
Your other half is out of work and therefore not using their tax-free allowances and losing out on credits towards their state pension. Is your business allowed to pay them a wage to save tax and rescue their pension rights?
DEBT RECOVERY - 25.05.2017
New debt recovery rules for businesses
From 1 October 2017 businesses that wish to recover debts will be required to follow a new “pre-action protocol for debt claims” in certain situations. When will it apply and what are the consequences if it’s ignored?
ENERGY - 23.05.2017
Clean energy - what does it really mean?
Energy companies have a history of fudging their environmental claims. How can you avoid any dodgy marketing around renewable energy and be sure that it’s as green as you might expect it to be?
INCIDENT INVESTIGATION - 23.05.2017
Keep photographic records
In the event of an environmental incident, it’s vital to collect as much evidence as possible so that you can ascertain what happened and the extent of any damage caused. Our new photo record document will help you to do this.
WASTE - 23.05.2017
Landowners being scammed
The Environment Agency has reported that business owners are being targeted by waste criminals, costing them hundreds of thousands of pounds in clean-up costs. What’s happening and how can you avoid getting caught out?
CARBON - 23.05.2017
Carbon accounting
Experts have analysed the government’s system for calculating carbon emissions and identified some flaws. How might this affect you and is it likely to matter a great deal?
RENEWABLE ENERGY - 23.05.2017
Solar power, but without the sun
Solar panels are one of the most popular renewable energy technologies, but the main drawback has always been consistency of supply. How can you solve this problem?
GREEN INITIATIVES - 23.05.2017
How green are your security arrangements?
It appears that there’s a green angle to almost any business decision these days - not least premises security systems and arrangements. What can you learn from research published earlier in 2017?
GREEN INITIATIVES - 23.05.2017
Town halls gone green?
The local elections on 4 May 2017 saw the appointment of six new regional and city mayors. What green moves can you expect them to make, if any?
CATERING - 19.05.2017
How safe is the food and drink industry?
An industry body has published the results of its annual study into the UK’s food and drink industry, examining the number of accidents and instances of ill health across the sector. What can be learned from this?
CONTRACTORS - 19.05.2017
Watching every move
You’re planning to appoint a contractor to complete some refurbishment work on your premises. Do you need to make arrangements for this to be closely supervised or can you simply allow them to get on with the job?
HSE - 19.05.2017
The HSE’s plans for the year
The HSE has published its business plan for 2017/18. What does it have up its sleeve and how might you be affected?
GAS - 19.05.2017
What’s the best way to move gas cylinders?
Moving gas cylinders, particularly the larger ones, is a real challenge. They are heavy and awkward, especially if they need to be carried for distances or up or down steps. What are the rules?
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE - 19.05.2017
In-house grounds maintenance
A member of staff is taking on your grass cutting, hedge trimming, sweeping up, etc. What are the health and safety implications and how should you go about managing them?
FIRE SAFETY - 19.05.2017
£460,000 for fatal retirement home fire
A property company has been handed one of the biggest ever fines for fire safety offences after a large retirement development in Surrey was destroyed. What happened and why were the owners implicated?
PLANT AND EQUIPMENT - 19.05.2017
Killed by his own brother
A construction company has been fined £800,000 after a worker was tragically run down while he and his brother were working together at Heathrow Airport. What happened?
RECRUITMENT - 19.05.2017
GCSEs and the new grading system
As part of your recruitment process you probably ask candidates about their exam results. For many years GCSEs have been graded A-G, but starting in August 2017 this will change. What do you need to know?
MATERNITY LEAVE - 19.05.2017
Sickness during maternity leave
If an employee falls sick during a period of annual leave, they may be able to have that time classed as sickness absence. But what happens where an employee who is on maternity leave falls sick - does that change anything?
DISMISSAL - 19.05.2017
Can we dismiss an obese employee?
An employee has put on lots of weight and is now unable to do their job properly. The easiest solution would be to dismiss them. Can you simply trigger your capability procedure or do you need to do something else first?
DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS - 19.05.2017
Employee denied companion awarded £2
In Gnahoua v Abellio London Ltd 2017 the employer refused the employee’s choice of companion for his disciplinary appeal hearing. However, when it came to compensation, the tribunal awarded him only £2. Why was this?
PAY - 19.05.2017
What’s the latest on pay rises?
When you are contemplating pay rises, it’s useful to know what other employers are doing. New research has revealed the median pay rise for the first quarter of 2017. What is it?
pensions - 19.05.2017
The last big push for auto-enrolment
Your pension obligations are now just as much a part of payroll as deducting tax and NI. So what lessons have been learned since auto-enrolment first arose five years ago and what does the future hold?
maternity leave and pay - 19.05.2017
How to avoid the baby blues
Unless you have a female-dominated workforce you may not have to deal with maternity cases very often. But when they do come along they can provide several payroll challenges. What can catch you out?
Tax-free childcare - 19.05.2017
The end of childcare vouchers?
The government’s new Tax-Free Childcare scheme launched on 21 April 2017. But what does it mean for payroll professionals like you?
RTI and universal credit - 19.05.2017
Pay frequency and Universal Credit
It’s now four years since employers like you rushed to implement RTI so that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) could roll out Universal Credit. Now with 500,000 claimants, how does the system interact with wages?
illegal working - 19.05.2017
Make sure they’re legally OK to add to payroll
It’s your duty to ensure that any new staff you add to payroll have the legal right to work in the UK. Get it wrong and the penalty could be up to £20,000 per illegal worker. What steps can you take to ensure legal safety?
NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE - 17.05.2017
When do sleep-in shifts count as NMW working time?
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that determining the national minimum wage (NMW) entitlement of sleep-in workers requires a so-called “multifactorial evaluation”. When will sleep-in time now count as NMW working time?
apprenticeships - 17.05.2017
Growing talent through apprenticeships
The government has made a commitment to deliver three million apprenticeships by 2020. With funding available for training and assessment, is now the time to consider employing an apprentice to help you grow your own internal talent?
DRESS CODES - 17.05.2017
No new “high heels” legislation
The government has confirmed that it won’t be amending the Equality Act 2010 to cover workplace dress codes. Does this mean you don’t need to do anything?
workplace relocation - 17.05.2017
Is a refusal to relocate a redundancy or misconduct?
Where your business is considering a move to new premises, you’ll need to tackle the employment aspects. If an employee refuses to relocate, are they redundant or should you treat it as misconduct and discipline them accordingly?
bonus schemes - 17.05.2017
Exercising bonus scheme discretion
Where your bonus scheme provides for any bonus payments to be “at your absolute discretion”, how much discretion do you actually have and how can you avoid a bonus payment becoming contractual by custom and practice?
DATA PROTECTION - 17.05.2017
GDPR: consent and privacy notices
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) takes effect on 25 May 2018 and will substantially change the UK’s data protection regime. How does it impact on obtaining employee consent to data processing and on privacy notices?
DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS - 17.05.2017
What’s the role of HR in disciplinary proceedings?
Where it’s alleged that an employee has committed misconduct, it’s likely that you’ll institute disciplinary proceedings against them, commencing with a formal investigation into their actions. What role can HR play in this whole process?
COMPANY LAW - 16.05.2017
Forcing a director out
Your company has been trading successfully for many years but the chairman and majority shareholder is past his prime and becoming a liability at board meetings. Can you and the other directors force him out?
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES - 16.05.2017
The risks of providing services “free of charge”
In a 2017 case the Court of Appeal considered whether a business owner who had provided professional services to two friends free of charge was liable when things went wrong. What did it decide?
DRIVING - 16.05.2017
Speeding fines: tougher penalties brought in
On 24 April 2017 steeper speeding fines were introduced that are based on the driver’s weekly income. If one of your employees is caught speeding whilst on company business, who is responsible for paying the fine?
HEALTH & SAFETY - 16.05.2017
Are potted plants a potential problem?
A member of staff has put some potted house plants around your workplace to brighten the place up. Whilst they look pretty, it’s been suggested that this could cause you unexpected problems. Is this correct?
TAX - BENEFITS - 16.05.2017
Can your business pay for (tax-free) pensions advice?
Employers can now pay up to £500 per employee for advice regarding pension savings without it counting as a taxable perk. Strictly, to qualify for the exemption all employees must be offered advice, but is there a way around this?
COMPANY LAW - 16.05.2017
PSC registers: important changes
Every company must maintain a register of people with significant control (PSC). From 26 June 2017, any changes will have to be notified to Companies House (CH) differently. What do you need to know?
RETURNS - BENEFITS - 16.05.2017
2016/17 P11Ds - what’s new?
Major changes to the benefits and expenses rules were made for 2016/17 (and later years). These must be incorporated in the P11Ds you submit to HMRC. What, especially, should you be looking out for?
EXPENSES - TRAVEL - 16.05.2017
Working abroad - a tax break for travel expenses
Your company has landed a blue-chip contract, but it means you working abroad for a few months. Your company will pay for you to return to the UK mid-contract to see your family, but is there a more attractive and equally tax-efficient alternative?
VAT - 16.05.2017
Buy-to-let and VAT-saving opportunities
You’re buying a residential property with the intention to let it. To keep costs down you’ve gone for a property that’s cheap because it’s in need of a fair amount of work. How can a VAT break help to reduce the cost?
PENALTIES - 16.05.2017
Paying for employees’ mistakes
There can be times when the Taxman holds you responsible for mistakes your employees make. An important case at the First-tier Tribunal recently considered the consequences of just this point. So how can you protect yourself?
PROFIT EXTRACTION - 16.05.2017
Can a dividend ever be too high?
When you started your company you took a small salary plus dividends. Your accountant now says because the company’s profits weren’t sufficient some of them were illegal and you might have to pay tax on them. Is he correct?
NEW LEGISLATION - 16.05.2017
New tax rules axed
Around half of the tax changes proposed by Finance Bill 2017 have been set aside because of the general election. How might this affect you and your business?
SOFTWARE - OFFICE - 15.05.2017
LibreOffice with ribbon: an alternative to Office 2016?
All recent versions of Microsoft Office are equipped with a “ribbon” to increase user efficiency. Free open-source office suites didn’t have such a ribbon. However the new version 5.3 of LibreOffice does have one. How good is it?
BUSINESS - MISCELLANEOUS - 15.05.2017
Opportunities for SMEs to talk
There are many sites that offer SMEs an opportunity to belong to a community. We look at those that succeed and those that don’t.
E-MAIL - MAILING LISTS - 15.05.2017
Are your mailings opened?
Most of the newsletters you send out are probably not opened at all. Don’t be too disappointed as this also happens to your competitors. Still, this doesn’t mean that you should remain idle.
E-MAIL - SPAM - 15.05.2017
Prevent spam!
In 2015 the share of spam messages in global e-mail traffic dropped from 70% to 55%, but it has risen to almost 62% again. In other words, spam remains hard to eradicate. How can you prevent spam or deal with it effectively?
SOFTWARE - PHOTOGRAPHY - 15.05.2017
Cool photo apps for your smartphone
The default photo app on your smartphone lets you make quick snapshots, but a dedicated app allows you to do more than that. Here are some useful photo apps for Android and iOS.
SOFTWARE - APPS - 15.05.2017
Automate your smartphone
Do you want to make even more productive and efficient use of your smartphone? There are various apps which can automate a wide range of tasks. Here are some useful examples.
