Business News
Are you keeping the right records?
More than ever before, businesses are being called to keep on top of their administration and tighten up on their record keeping. HRMC has put together a Business Record Checks practical guide to assist businesses in invoicing, receipts, and deductions and what information needs to be kept up to date.
The benefits of running a tight ship administratively are lucrative, making life easier when it comes to form filling on tax returns and in turn, save you money.
By tracking your income and expenses, you can also budget forecast on any tax bills, and shave costs off suppliers’ bills such as accountants and consultants, by doing the work yourself.
In keeping up to date, you will have a clearer view on the state of your business and how best to manage it as you will have full control on proceedings. This in turn will create scope for growth, and you will be able to better spot potential opportunities within the company to do so, as you will be best informed rather than the external sources you employ to tell you the same things!
Key points to focus on:
Invoices, receipts and deductions – keep records of all purchases and sales with invoices and receipts. Do this for all expenditure including wages, taxes and payments to external sources. You will also need to show personal expenses, and anything that can be tracked back to the business. If you have made or accepted payments in cash you must track this in a record book for the same reasons.
Updating Records – there is help at hand! Don’t guess, if you don’t know which records you need to keep up to date, check on Business Link’s online record checker to make sure you don’t miss a thing! They will also give you feedback and tips on how to improve the procedures you already have in place, and have a factsheet covering self employment, contracting, VAT and more.
Now keep these records up to date! Now you have the right information as to what you need to keep up to date, keep on top of it! Whilst this may seem an uphill struggle in the beginning, once set in place it will become part of your daily business practice and not a mammoth chore at the end of the financial year!
Visit the Business Link and HRMC websites for more information on how they can help you to stay on top.
