CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AND BUSINESS ADVISORS
As an SME owner you're probably keen to optimise your work life/balance, but individuals’ goals always differ. At William Hinton the emphasis is always to listen to you so that we can understand what you want to achieve not only today, but in 5 and then in 10 years’ time. Planning today will help you achieve your goals.
The most common query from the SME owner relates to optimising their tax position. Using a mix of salary and dividends is generally second nature to most SME’s, but it is also important to consider cars (buy or lease?), allowable expenses, pension contributions and the like to make sure that the individual is paying the least amount of taxation and optimising their personal financial position.
Often lower taxes mean funds are available to fulfil personal goals such as schooling for the children or hobbies.
Research and Development Tax credits are a real benefit to some SME’s who are overcoming uncertainties in developing products or systems.
Our support is varied. One common problem is the lack of up to date financial information. Once management accounts are reconciled and up to date (often with our assistance) we are keen to help the client understand their future liabilities and cashflow.
We feel a quarterly review of financials is essential to make sure the SME is making commercial operating decisions based on accurate figures. All SME’s should be aware of their corporation tax liabilities before their year-end has finished. The same principle applies to personal tax liabilities due in July and January.
Being in control of the cashflow for the business (and personally), makes life much easier for the business owner.
Reviewing the business financials will help the owner recognise efficiencies. Such as collecting cash in a timely manner to improve cashflow or reviewing product margins to improve gross margins and profitability.
