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Pensions Update – It’s all change with Auto-Enrolment

It's all change with Auto-Enrolment .  In October 2017 auto-enrolment hit its five-year milestone and we head towards the first increase in contributions.What's involved and what might be the additional cost?BackgroundAuto-enrolment began in the autumn of 2012 and in the last five years millions of workers have begun saving for a pension for the first time. On 1 October 2017, providing access to a pension for workers became part of setting up a new business. It was also due to be the point ...

Did you pay too much tax last year?

You met the Self -Assessment deadline of 31st January with ease and also paid your tax liability. However, you feel that perhaps you have paid too much tax?    Does this sound familiar? If so, you are not alone. Here are a few of our tips for consideration during the current tax year to help mitigate the impact of your tax liability:  Keep accurate records throughout the year, supported with management accounts, so you can easily identify your likely liability at the earliest...

A new staff member at Cashtrak

We are looking forward to welcoming Electra Webb to the Cashtrak team.  Electra will be joining us from February 2018....

What is the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant?

We’re often asked what the difference is between a bookkeeper and an accountant? Here’s a primer… Bookkeeping: Let’s take a look at the dictionary definition: Bookkeeping is “the skill or occupation of maintaining accurate records of business transactions”. The main responsibility of a bookkeeper is to accurately record financial data, ensuring that entries in and out of the company’s accounts are correct on a daily basis. They record and calculate income and expenses, and u...

Useful information on Value Added Tax (VAT)

VAT  (or Value Added Tax to give its full name) was introduced in the UK in 1973 and is the third largest source of government revenue  after income tax and National Insurance.  VAT is levied on the sale of goods and services by UK businesses. The standard rate of VAT is currently 20% and this rate has been in place since 4 January 2011.   This rate covers most goods and services. The other rates are: Reduced rate of 5%, which covers some goods and services, such as domestic ...

What is the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)?

Construction Industry Scheme (often shortened to CIS) is a scheme put in place by HMRC in 2007 where contractors deduct a percentage of money from a subcontractor’s payments which is then passed on to HMRC.The scheme only requires contractors to register, however subcontractors are advised to register as unregistered subcontractors have a higher rate deducted from their payments.Why should a subcontractor register with the scheme?Subcontractors are advised to regi...

Are you ready for GDPR?

Since the Data Protection Act (DPA) was launched in 1998, the world has changed. According to the latest figures from Ofcom, the average adult now spends double the time we spent surfing the web ten years ago. Which is not surprising - we shop, bank, work and even date online; and whilst that’s great for convenience it throws up some huge issues around data security. So, how do we keep our businesses and their customers safe when there’s so much personal information floating around in cyber...

Winners at the LUCA Awards

Cashtrak are pleased to announce we won another LUCA Award at the ICB's annual awards this week.This year we won Employer of the Year and are absolutely delighted with this achievement.  Congratulations to all the winners, it was a truly fantastic evening....

Carol is now a Fellow of the ICB

Exciting news this week.  Garry Carter, CEO of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, has invited Carol to be a Fellow of the ICB. Fellow is the highest grade of ICB membership, reserved for the best of the best and ICB bestows this honour on very few. Fellows are vital to ICB's decision-making processes and their collective knowledge and experience are regularly called upon. This is an extremely deserved accomplishment to Carol and we are all delighted here at Cashtrak....

We have been shortlisted for a LUCA Award

We are delighted to share with you today that Cashtrak has been shortlisted for a LUCA Award in the Large Practice and Employer of the Year categories and Aaron Lilley has been shortlisted for Employee of the Year.  We are so proud of these achievements – the awards will be presented at the members' dinner on the evening of Monday 16 October. The LUCA Awards are the ‘Oscars’ of the bookkeeping profession and are presented by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers in recognition of th...

We are off to Xerocon

We are getting ready to attend Xerocon on 4-5 October at the ExCeL London.  Xerocon is an innovative conference for leaders in cloud accounting and Carol is looking forward to participating in the highly engaging and interactive workshops, updating her knowledge of Xero and learning all the latest handy tips and tricks. ...

A warm welcome to our newest member of the team

A warm welcome to Jill Evans who joins the Cashtrak team as a Bookkeeper.Jill holds a BSc in mathematics with computer science but comes from an accounting background with over 10 years’ experience in bookkeeping and accounts. She also has recent experience in management accounts. Jill is a student member of ICB aiming to gain experience in a practice environment both to use and to aid these studies....

Happily ever after…your ongoing Auto Enrolment duties

Over my recent blog posts, I’ve hopefully given some insight and easy-to-follow guidance on how to ensure you’re fully compliant with Auto Enrolment before final deadlines pass this autumn – it should all seem much less daunting now! But before you skip off into the sunset, happy that you’ve satisfied every legality in plenty of time before your staging date deadline, it’s worth having a think about your continuing responsibilities in administering your Auto Enrolment pension scheme l...

Auto-Enrolment: Does your current pension scheme cut the mustard?

So far, we’ve looked at the broader picture of what’s involved in complying with Auto Enrolment, as well as timelines and the eligibility of your workforce. But what about Auto Enrolment pension schemes themselves? Employee pension schemes are complex creatures, and only some meet the government’s strict requirements for Auto Enrolment compliance. You’ll need to assess whether yours is a fit, how to get it ready for the new requirements, or how to choose and implement a new scheme if n...

Auto Enrolment - Eligibility is Not Just for Bachelors

If you’ve been following my last couple of blogs, you’ll be starting to build up a good picture as to what is required to bring your business in line with new Auto Enrolment (AE) pension legislation reaching final compliance deadlines this autumn. Having got your head around definitions and deadlines, one of the key facts to face is that auto enrolment may not necessarily apply to all of your workforce… It’s up to you (and your accountant) to work out who on your payroll is eligible...

Auto Enrolment: the Stage is Set

My previous blog post may have got your cogs churning about bringing your business into line with new Auto Enrolment pension legislation, required of all UK employers and with compliance deadlines fast approaching. But as promised, Auto Enrolment doesn’t need to give you stage fright – there are some very straightforward ways of handling the whole thing smoothly. And the first step in doing this? Know your staging date. In other words, find out when your deadline for complying actually is&he...

Get your ducks in a row on Auto Enrolment

Deadlines are looming for all employers to have complied with Auto Enrolment legislation. Have you got your ducks in a row? For a lot of small businesses, the prospect of complying is a daunting one. As one of my clients plaintively put it, it’s as if “the whole ruddy thing has been deliberately designed to drive me round the bend”.  I honestly don’t think that is HMRC’s intention; it’s just that as with so many new things, the AE process can appear a lot more complicated than...

Don't Panic About Auto Enrolment

I know from talking with clients that they're not thrilled about Auto-Enrolment. I'm afraid though AE isn't a dream and it won't disappear if you shut your eyes and don't look at it. But it doesn't have to be a nightmare. As you're probably well aware, all employers with at least one worker in the UK will need to automatically enrol certain members of their workforce into a pension scheme.If you're an employer you'll also have to make a contribution to this pension and ensure you correctly me...