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New Homebuilding Skills Hubs to try and address UK construction challenges

5,000 additional construction apprenticeship places are to be made available annually as part of a £140 million initiative aimed at addressing workforce shortages and meeting housebuilding targets.Central to this plan is the establishment of 32 new Homebuilding Skills Hubs, which are designed to accelerate training. What will the Homebuilding Skills Hubs offer?The hubs, which will be purpose-built training centres, will aim to provide a fast-track route into key construction trades such as...

Be wary of Self Assessment scams

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have issued a reminder to be careful about scam attempts that target people filing Self Assessment tax returns. In the last year, nearly 150,000 scam attempts were referred to HMRC, a 16.7% increase on last year. With the 31 January 2025 filing deadline approaching, fraudsters are likely to step up their activities.HMRC reports that around half of all scam reports in the last year were fake tax rebate claims. Fraudsters are usually aiming to get hold of personal inf...

Inflation on the rise: What October's figures mean for businesses

The latest inflation figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) for October 2024 rose to 2.3%, up from 1.7% in September. This marks the first increase in inflation since July, and it has sparked interest among business owners, economists, and policymakers alike. The rise in inflation was widely anticipated, and as a result the Bank of England have already signalled that any future cuts to the base rate will happen gradually. However, t...

New regulations of Buy-Now, Pay-Later proposed

The UK government has announced a consultation on new legislations designed to regulate Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) products. The forthcoming rules, which will bring BNPL products under the supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), are designed to provide the same key protections for BNPL as exist for other consumer credit products.If you offer BNPL, what do you need to know?Affordability checks and responsible lendingUnder the new rules, BNPL providers will be required to perform affo...

Employment Rights Bill progresses and consultations are launched

Following the release of the Employment Rights Bill, its Impact Assessment was published last week showing that the new Bill will have a “positive direct impact on economic growth.”The Bill received a majority vote at its second reading in the House of Commons last week, and now goes to committee stage, where it will be given a detailed examination.The government has now launched consultations on 4 areas of the proposed legislation, which will become part of amendments that will be made to t...

Having trouble with your banking?

A strong relationship with your bank is a crucial part of the success and stability of your business. You may rely on them for tailored financial solutions, ranging from short-term credit facilities to long-term loans, to support your growth plans or manage cash flow fluctuations.At the same time, we can sometimes feel that the bank is calling all the shots, and it is difficult to get any redress when something goes wrong. If you are in that position, then the Business Banking Resolution Service...

lockdown strategy?

Set out your goals The current disruption being experienced by businesses across the world is a huge challenge. However it may also be an opportunity for your firm. Start by thinking about your current market position, relative to your key competitors. Where would you like your firm to be in 12 months’ time? Is there an opportunity to overtake a competitor? Take some time to set out your key business objectives for the next year including the key deliverables that you will need to focus on eac...

Managing your wellbeing

Stay connected Having a sense of connection with family and friends is important for our mental health. Ensure you schedule calls or video chats with your family and friends during lockdown. In addition, there are many online book clubs, virtual coffee groups and online workout challenge groups that you can join in order to avoid feeling isolated. Routine is your friend It can be easy to fall into bad habits. Set out a routine that clearly distinguishes between work time and home time/family ti...

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a collaboration platform that provides document sharing, online meetings and more to help your people to work together. Most businesses use Microsoft Office. Microsoft Teams has been designed to work well within that ecosystem. Microsoft Teams is user-friendly and helps to drive collaboration across different offices or between remote workers. The chat-based functionality helps teams of people to work together, share ideas and ask questions without clogging up their email inb...

Gov.Uk Updates Guidance On Which Employees You Can Put On Furlough To Use The Corona Job Retention Scheme

Find out which employees you can put on furlough and claim for through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which-employees-you-can-put-on-furlough-to-use-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme This is a summary of information on the Government website....

UPDATE ON CORONA JOB RETENTION SCHEME

The government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will remain open until the end of October, The key points announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak are: ·       Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will continue until end of October ·       furloughed workers across UK will continue to receive 80% of their current salary, up to £2,500 ·       new flexibility will be introduced from August to get employees bac...

C19 BUSINESS NEWS UPDATE

HMRC have issued updated their guidance when you submit a CJRS claim. Save and return option now addedHMRC have added a 'save and return' option. This means that you can now return to a partially completed claim, rather than having to do it all in one go. Avoiding common mistakes When you make a claim through CJRS, you should receive the funds within six working days after you apply, provided your claim matches records that HMRC hold for your PAYE scheme. Making sure that you submit your claim ...

NEW SYSTEM FOR REPORTING CGT ON PROPERTY DISPOSAL STARTED 6 APRIL 2020

A new CGT reporting and payment on account system was introduced for residential property disposals by UK resident taxpayers from 6 April 2020.  The new system as originally announced required the disposal to be reported and any CGT on the disposal to be paid on account within 30 days of completion. HMRC have now announced that for disposals between 6 April and 30 June there will be no penalty provided that the return is made by 31 July 2020 although HMRC will still charge interest! We can ...

CGT PRIVATE RESIDENCE RELIEF CHANGES GO AHEAD

The latest Finance Bill includes important changes to private residence relief that took effect from 6 April 2020. The first change is to limit to just 9 months the period prior to disposal that counts as a period of deemed occupation and thus exempt from CGT even though the owners are not living in the property during that period The second is to limit “letting relief” to periods where the taxpayer is in shared occupation with the tenant Final period exemption now reduced to 9 months The f...

C19 BUSINESS NEWS UPDATE

England’s dairy farmers will be able to access up to £10,000 each to help them overcome the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The new funding will help support dairy farmers – who together continue to produce over 40 million litres of milk every day – who have seen decreased demand for their products as bars, restaurants and cafes have had to close. With some dairy farmers facing financial difficulties and excess milk, the new fund will provide a level of support. Eligible dairy farmers...

C19 Business News Update

HMRC updated their guidance 4 May to outline the process for applying for SEISS. Full details:  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme The scheme will allow you to claim a taxable grant of 80% of your average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months, and capped at £7,500 altogether. You will get a taxable grant based on your average trading profit over the 3 tax years: 2016 to 2017 2...

C19 Business News Update

The Government has updated its page on financial support for businesses. No details regarding the operation of Business Bounce back loan scheme are included other than the eligibility criteria and overview have been published yet. We will keep you up to date when we know more. We are also awaiting details on how the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will work but we will let you have the full details when they are known to us.  See:  https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/finan...

IMPACT ON THE HIGH-INCOME CHILD BENEFIT CHARGE

With many employees and the self-employed being furloughed, being made redundant or making lower profits their income for 2020/21 may well fall below the £50,000 limit at which child benefit starts being taxed. The charge is 1% for every £100 that adjusted net income exceeds £50,000 multiplied by the child benefit claimed in respect of the children. Note that the rate of Child benefit increased from 6 April to £21.05 a week for the eldest child and £13.95 for each additional child. Many co...

MORE DETAILS ON SELF-EMPLOYED GRANT SCHEME

Like the CJRS scheme for employers the initial HMRC guidance on the grant scheme to support the self-employed and members in partnerships was also very sketchy. In outline the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) allows the self-employed to claim 80% of their average profits for the period up to 2018/19 limited to £2,500 a month, initially for a three-month period. Like CJRS there are lots of conditions that need to be satisfied such as being self-employed in 2018/19 and continuing to tr...

NEW “FURLOUGH” SYSTEM FOR EMPLOYEE WAGES UP AND RUNNINGost

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) claims portal opened on Monday 20 April and early indications are that it seems to be working smoothly but with a few teething problems as you would expect from a brand-new system.In the run up to the start of the system there was limited detail from HMRC on what could be claimed as the initial guidance was rather sketchy and did not cover all situations. The government also decided late on to change the qualifying conditions so that it would apply to ...

New fast track government loans

We wanted to bring to your attention to a new loan scheme from the government that could help your financial situation during this difficult time. The Bounce Back Loan scheme is aimed at small businesses. The scheme is available from 9am Monday 5 May. It is designed to provide financial help, quickly. Businesses will be able to borrow up to 25% of turnover, from £2,000 to a maximum of £50,000.Lenders will not require forward projections or business plans.You ...

PIVOTING AND REPURPOSING A BUSINESS

Covid-19 has had a big impact on many SMEs in the UK. A recent study by the Office for National Statistics showed that nearly 40% of businesses in the UK had a substantially lower turnover. With the current level of disruption likely to remain for some time, many businesses are adapting their practices to continue trading in some form.Please see below download link for the full document...

Fluidly Cashflow Webinar

We’re thrilled to announce that The Bean Counters have partnered with Fluidly, an industry-leading provider of cashflow planning software and solutions. By now you should have received your invitation to Fluidly’s free cashflow planning tool. Join our Webinar next weekTo support you to understand your cashflow better and get set up on Fluidly, we will be running a live webinar with Fluidly on 4th May at 11.30am.The session will cover:Introduction to FluidlySetting up your cashflow ...

C10: Latest News

Some businesses will prosper during the Pandemic (e.g. those that are already online), and some will need to repurpose or “pivot” into new areas. Others will need to hibernate and regrettably some will not survive the Pandemic. Last week we talked about “Cocooning a business” and this week we focus on pivoting or repurposing. This means thinking about selling or providing goods or services in a new way. Is it possible?...

How purpose drives success

Profit is important of course. However, in order to create a business that enjoys sustainable success, managers and business leaders must look beyond profit and focus on the purpose of the business. More satisfied customers It is a competitive world. Having a business with purpose allows you to stand out from the competition. Not only does having a purpose attract customers, it also tends to make them more loyal. Tesla is a good example of a business with a strong purpose. Tesla enjoys a famous...