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!

 

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.

Accountants and business groups had argued that business owners were being harassed by a pilot version of the scheme. HMRC was also accused of going after small businesses while turning a blind eye to huge unpaid tax bills from big businesses.

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.

Don’t forget: VAT is moving online from April 2012 – register now

Did you know that VAT is moving online for all VAT-registered businesses from April 2012? Time to get registered as paper VAT returns will soon be a thing of the past.

What’s changing?

Currently, only newly registered businesses and those with turnovers of more than £100,000 have to submit their VAT online, as well as pay electronically. Anyone else can send HMRC a paper VAT return, if they wish.

That is changing from April, when all 1.9 million VAT-registered businesses in the UK will have to submit their VAT returns online, and pay electronically, for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2012.

You may be charged a penalty if you submit your VAT Return on paper instead of online once the new rules kick in.

Why?

According to HMRC, online filing has a number of benefits, compared to paper filing. These include:

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

Is anybody out there? Why getting feedback is important (and a little request for your feedback!)

Feedback is important for your product or service but it’s easy to get so swept up in the day-to-day business of working that you don’t find the time to ask whether you’re actually giving people what they want.

If you don’t ask for feedback you’re unlikely to make the best improvements quickly and you might only hear about the bad things when people make a complaint – by which time it’s often too late. In addition, people are more likely to speak up when they want to complain, and quite understandably so. By soliciting feedback directly you’ll find out what you’re doing right so you can keep on doing it or even do it better.

You can get feedback in all sorts of ways, such as surveys, focus groups and social media monitoring and at Intuit we’re doing a bit of that ourselves just now through Zuberance. 

Prime Minister visits Intuit UK!

As part of Intuit’s commitment to supporting small businesses and helping them be successful, the Intuit UK office today hosted a question and answer session for SMEs with the Prime Minister, David Cameron.

The PM Direct event, at Intuit’s office in Maidenhead, provided a unique opportunity for small business owners and entrepreneurs to engage in dialogue about the Government's drive to support entrepreneurship and create the best possible climate in which to start up and grow a business in the UK.

The event was organised in association with StartUp Britain, a national campaign designed to celebrate, inspire and accelerate small business enterprise in the UK, which has the active support of the Government including the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor. Intuit is a founding sponsor of StartUp Britain.

Intuit: Supporting small businesses

After being greeted, the Prime Minister was introduced to the entire Intuit UK team, joining them for a chat and coffee.

Financial fitness test finds entrepreneurs are in need of a workout

In lean times, businesses need to be on top of their game, but when testing the financial fitness of 155 entrepreneurs recently, Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks accounting software, found many in dire need of a workout. 

Intuit tested entrepreneurs thinking about starting or already running a business and found many are:

• Without a plan. The research found that 20% of aspiring entrepreneurs and 15% of existing business owners do not have a plan or expect to have one by the time they start their business.
  
  
• Baffled by accounting speak. Entrepreneurs aren’t always financial experts and many find even basic accounting terms confusing. Almost half (47%) do not know the correct definition of gross profit and 31% do not know what turnover means. 19% of respondents do not know what margin means and 16% do not know the correct definition of cash flow.
  
  
• Confused by compliance. Only 61% are aware that the VAT threshold is £73,000 and more than one in five (23%) do not know the correct definition of VAT taxable turnover. Tracking, recording and reporting VAT is one of the biggest headaches for small businesses and getting it wrong can have a negative impact on cash flow and leave a business vulnerable to a penalty from the HMRC.

How to choose an accountant

Last week we looked at some of the essentials for keeping your business financially fit. 

 One of the top tips given by the Intuit experts in their recent financial fitness workshops was ‘get an accountant to support your business’ – even if you’re fastidiously keeping good finance records and getting paid on time, an accountant is still essential and something you shouldn’t skimp on. Accountants know tax inside out and they’ll help you save money, time and stress.

So, how do you find one that’s right for you? Here are some ideas.

Five practical tips for improving your business’s financial fitness

The financial side of running a business can be stressful if you don’t have a good system in place. If you’re constantly forgetting to invoice, running low on cash or finding essential receipts in random pockets, it’s time to take action.

First, why not take our short quiz to find out how financially fit you actually are.

Get your finances in shape

These practical steps will quickly see you go from bronze to gold in terms of your financial fitness.