Small Business Matters

QuickBooks Online updated: What’s new?

We’ve introduced some exciting new updates to QuickBooks Online.

The new features are:

Income List and Copy Estimate

Your feedback is important to us and thanks to some valuable customer input, we’ve added some great new features.

The new Income List lets you view, sort and filter all your invoices, estimates and sales receipts in one place. You can also print and email these forms as well as packing lists.

You can now also easily copy all the information on an estimate to another estimate.

Customers > Estimate > Copy button

Change Your Accounting Scheme

Now you can change your VAT accounting method from cash basis to standard VAT accounting.  As your business grows, HMRC requires you to use standard VAT accounting to report your VAT.

(Available in Essentials and Plus only)

VAT > To Do List > VAT Accounts > Change Basis

Purchase Orders

We’ve added purchase orders to help you keep track of what you’ve ordered and what you’ve received (available in Plus only).

Here are a few things you can do with purchase orders:

• Email a purchase order directly to a supplier
• Copy it to a bill, cheque, cash or credit card transaction
• Create a template for recurring purchase orders
• Track open orders by supplier or product and service

Company > Preferences > Suppliers & Purchases > Purchase Orders

Not using QuickBooks online yet? Try it now for free. 

Do you have any feedback or requests for improving QuickBooks Online even more? We’re all ears!

 

Small business news round-up (4/2/12)

We search out key small business news stories and articles each week so you don’t have to, leaving you more time to spend on running your business.

Want to keep up with regular small business news, features and tips, why not subscribe to our blog by RSS or email?

HMRC records checks campaign halted

HMRC has announced that its business records checks scheme  is on hold and will be relaunched with a “fresh approach” early in the next financial year, following a review.

The review, which included discussions of the pilot programme with trade and professional bodies’ representatives, recommended that the checks are more targeted in future, linking to available education and support.

Find out more

Builders most likely to make mistakes on tax returns

Those in the construction industry are seen as the most likely to provide incorrect information on their tax returns, according to a survey of accountants.

In a poll by Bloomsbury Professional, a third of those questioned regarded builders as high risk due to frequent use of cash payments and poor bookkeeping.

Find out more

More than one million will face tax fine, says HMRC

Just over one million taxpayers face a penalty of £100 for failing to submit their self-assessment tax returns on time. The figure of 1.1 million is the lowest since online filing first started, and compares with 1.4 million last year and 1.6 million the year before.

February tip: Get professional advice

As part of our monthly calendar tips, our tip for February is:

If you don’t already have one, get an accountant and talk to them about financial management.

To find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor in your area, visit quickbooks.co.uk/february

Here’s why:

You’ll save time and stress

Successful business owners know it's best to focus on what they’re good at, rather than struggling on with something they could pay an expert to do better in half the time. Time spent tearing your hair out over tax forms is time away from doing what you do best – running your business and generating income.

Even if you’re comfortable filling in all the relevant paperwork yourself, with an accountant you’ll have the peace of mind that you’ve filled in everything you need to and that you’ve filled it in right. If you make a mistake you’ll certainly be asked by HMRC to correct it, taking more of your time. However, in the worst case scenario, a tax inspector may want to look over all your financial records

QuickBooks tips and tricks: Make QuickBooks even quicker with shortcuts

By pressing different combinations of keys on your keyboard, you can quickly perform common tasks within QuickBooks.

Here are just a few of the things that you can do.

Open windows - E.g. To open the Write Cheques window, press Ctrl + W

Edit pre-filled data - E.g. To increase or decrease a date by one day, press -(minus key) or + (plus key)

Move around a window - E.g. To move to the next field in a window, press Tab.To move to the previous field, press Shift + Tab.

QuickBooks shortcuts

Here are more shortcuts to make QuickBooks even quicker.

General

General action	Shortcut
Start QuickBooks without a company file	Ctrl + double-click
Suppress the desktop windows (at Open Company window)	Alt (while opening)
Display information about QuickBooks	F2
Cancel	Esc
Record (when black border is around OK, Next, or Previous button)	Enter
Record (always)	Ctrl + Enter

Dates

Small business news round-up (28/1/12)

We search out key small business news stories and articles each week so you don’t have to, leaving you more time to spend on running your business.

Want to keep up with regular small business news, features and tips? Why not subscribe to our blog by RSS or email?

HMRC Self Assessment returns – two more days to file and pay

HMRC has agreed that customers who can’t get through to HMRC's call centres on 31 January because of strike action will have a couple more days to submit their returns. Late penalties will not be imposed for people who file their Self Assessment returns on 1 and 2 February, the HMRC has said.

The SA deadline remains midnight on 31 January. However, HMRC will treat all returns that come in by midnight on 2 February as though they were submitted by 31 January. No one will have to pay interest on payments due on 31 January that are paid on 1 or 2 February.

Find out more

Set up your business in a Government department, says Cameron

Entrepreneurs will be allowed to set up their companies in empty Government offices, David Cameron has said this week.

StartUp Britain Enterprise Calendar launch

A few key members of the Intuit team had a great day yesterday, attending the StartUp Britain Enterprise Calendar launch.

The StartUp Britain Enterprise Calendar is a new, interactive calendar of enterprise events, showcasing Britain’s vibrant and dynamic enterprise community. The calendar should be a great tool for entrepreneurs, signposting them to key events and growth opportunities. You can also submit your own events to the enterprise calendar.

Following the launch of the new calendar, Mark Prisk, minister for business and enterprise, said: “We want 2012 to be the year of enterprise, where entrepreneurs can unlock their business potential. Enterprise events don’t just take place on one day, or during one week, but they appear throughout the year and across the country. We need to make sure people know that there is support and advice available, that it is easy to get, and it is often on their doorstep.”

He added: “The Enterprise Calendar is a great addition to our support for business in 2012 and beyond.”

(pssstt…don’t forget you can download our calendar too, which will also help you keep up to date with events as well as key financial dates.)

Expert advice

“I shifted to QuickBooks and I understood how the business ran. In some ways that was one of the most delightful periods of my life with King of Shaves because I understood everything financially.” Will King, founder of King of Shaves

There was also a panel discussion on the day, with some expert advice from Intuit UK's very own managing director, Pernille Bruun-Jensen, as well as Will King, founder of King of Shaves, Doug Richards, original Dragon, investor and serial entrepreneur and Bob Forsyth, head of UK SMEs at Ernst & Young.

Watch a snippet here:

You can see more short interviews with Pernille over at Business Zone.

Pernille discusses shows how the Enterprise Calendar can help kickstart your business 

Is there a business in you? Intuit’s Pernille explains how everyone can be involved in startups 

New small business resources

StartUp Britain, which Intuit is a sponsor of, has also launched a range of new resources for small businesses. These were highlighted at the event and include:

Download your free month-by-month guide to financial fitness

At Intuit, we know that when you’re running your own business there are lots of things to keep up with, and when they’re all scattered in various places it can be tricky. That’s why we have produced a calendar to pull everything together – you can see all the important information you need at a glance.

Download our calendar month by month as we publish a new tip each time or download it all at once so you can plan everything out right now.

Our calendar includes:

Key financial compliance dates

Self Assessment, payroll, Companies House requirements - every month there are compliance deadlines to keep on top of. We’ve picked out the key dates so you don’t have any unforeseen disasters, or fines! Put them in your computer calendar, set reminders on your phone, stick post-it notes on the fridge – whatever you need to do to make sure you meet those deadlines.

The most useful small business events

Industry events are a great way to compare notes with other small businesses and to meet new suppliers and even prospective customers. However, if you don’t keep your ear to the ground they can pass you by.

Small business news round-up (20/1/12)

We search out key small business news stories and articles each week so you don’t have to, leaving you more time to spend on running your business.

Want to keep up with regular small business news, features and tips, why not subscribe to our blog by RSS or email?

UK may have slipped back into recession

An economic forecast from The Item Club has suggested that the UK has slipped back into recession. The think tank said GDP shrank in the final quarter of last year and would contract again in the current three-month period.It said that even if the eurozone problems are resolved, the UK economy would grow by just 0.2% in 2012.

The Item Club's chief economic adviser, Peter Spencer, told the BBC: "We are probably in technical recession.” However, the economic forecasting group said it did not envisage a full double dip recession.

Small business formations on the rise

The number of small business formations in the UK is increasing, new figures have shown.

According to Companies House data, 435,856 new businesses were registered in 2011, compared to 384,981 in 2010. In addition, registration volumes in the first two weeks of January 2012 are up by 12% compared to the same two weeks last year. 

The majority of these startups are tech firms taking advantage of growing demand for software, apps and online tools.

Find out why self-employment is booming, even in uncertain times.

QuickBooks Tips and Tricks: Getting around QuickBooks 2012

In this regular QuickBooks Tips and Tricks series we’ll provide lots of information, including video tutorials, expert advice and more, to help you get the most out of your QuickBooks software.  

Want to keep up with regular QuickBooks tips and tricks as well as small business news, features and insights? Why not subscribe to our blog by RSS or email?

Previously we’ve provided an overview of QuickBooks 2012and a handy quick-start guide. Today we’ll look at navigating around the software.

Don’ forget that you can try QuickBooks out for yourself for free.

If there are any QuickBooks tips, tricks or features you’d like us to cover, please let us know and we’ll do our best. Similarly, if you have any tips of your own, please send them in. 

 

Small business news round-up (13/1/12)

We search out key small business news stories each week so you don’t have to, leaving you more time to spend on running your business.

Want to keep up with regular small business news, features and tips, why not subscribe to our blog by RSS or email?

Late payment problems not letting up

New research out recently revealed that small businesses are facing a continued and growing problem with late payments. The research from Bacs found that late payments have reached an “all-time high” and the outstanding amount owed to small firms by larger companies now stands at £33.6 billion.

Are you finding this a growing problem? Read our tips on managing late payments

Small business owners would risk homes to stay afloat

According to a new study, over one in ten small business owners would risk losing their home by putting it up for loan collateral if they were unable to secure finance in the face of financial difficulties such as staff wages or cash flow issues.