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Atlas Accountancy Gerrards Cross – Tax Briefing 2018

Accountant Gerrards Cross – 2018 Tax Briefing

This blog post is written for the general interest of our clients and is not a substitute for consulting the relevant legislation or taking professional advice.

The authors and the firm cannot accept any responsibility for loss arising from any person acting or refraining from acting on the basis of the material included herein.

If your business is VAT registered, and the turnover for the last year has exceeded £85,000, you should soon receive a letter from HMRC stating that you must comply with the making tax digital (MTD) rules from April 2019.

The MTD regime requires you to keep all records relating to VAT in a digital format and submit VAT returns through MTD-compliant software. The online VAT return form on gov.uk will be closed to all businesses required to comply with the MTD for VAT regime. This is because HMRC wants to minimise the risk of human error in submission of VAT figures.

Making Tax Digital – Online Accounting – Do You Need Our Help?

For more information in Tax call us on 01753 880 818 or send a message via our online Contact Form.

The online form will remain open for businesses who have voluntarily registered for VAT and whose annual turnover is under £85,000. But beware, as soon as your turnover for the last 12 months exceeds £85,000 you must comply with MTD from the start of your next VAT period.

You are responsible for keeping your business records in a digital form. This means recording the data from each transaction electronically. You don’t have to take a picture of each purchase receipt and sales invoice, but you must record the date of the sale, value excluding VAT and the VAT rate applied. Shops which use retail schemes can keep a digital record of the gross daily takings, so don’t have to record each sale separately.

A spreadsheet will qualify as a digital record if the VAT data can be transmitted via a digital link to MTD-compatible software, which submits it to HMRC. The digital link can be as simple as sending the spreadsheet to us by email, so we can import the data into our software.

Some businesses will prefer to use cloud-based accounting software, which enables people at different locations to access the data simultaneously. The accounting software will also automatically provide a back-up of the data.

If your accounting system hasn’t been updated for a while, contact us to discuss a more MTD-compatible model.

Income Tax Calculations

Every year HMRC reconciles taxpayers’ tax liabilities to the tax reported as paid for the individual via PAYE. This is happening now for the 2017-18 tax year.

If the calculation for your tax position shows tax owing, or a tax repayment due, you should receive a copy of the calculation on a form P800. If you are newly retired and have tax to pay you may receive a simple assessment form PA302. In this case the tax will be payable by 31 January 2019.

If you complete a self assessment tax return each year you should not receive a tax calculation on a form P800 or PA302, as all your tax should be dealt with on your tax return. However, sometimes the HMRC computer does not link the PAYE record to the self assessment return, so duplicate tax calculations are issued.

If you receive a form P800 or PA302 for a year for which you have submitted a tax return, please contact us immediately. If you have other income such as rent, dividends or interest, those amounts may be estimated on the P800 calculation, so check the figures carefully against your bank statements. HMRC often uses estimated figures of pension contributions or charity donations based on what was paid in previous years. It is important to check that any tax relief given for such payments relates to the correct year to avoid underpaying tax.

Contractor Loan Schemes

Contractors working through their own companies from 2000 onwards may have been told by their employment agency that it was tax efficient to accept

payment for their services structured as a loan. Some employees were also provided with loans in place of part or all of their salary where their employer used an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT).

HMRC now believes that as these loans were never meant to be repaid, they were in fact disguised remuneration for the employee or contractor. HMRC is demanding that the taxpayers who received the loans should pay tax and national insurance (NI) on the gross amount received, even if that was years ago.

The amount of tax owing on the loans is often so large that the taxpayer cannot hope to raise the amount due in one go. HMRC realises this and so will allow taxpayers to settle the total tax and NI due over five years. However, this spreading of the liability is generally only permitted if the taxpayer’s income for 2018-19 is expected to be less than £50,000.

Taxpayers with higher income can negotiate a shorter or longer instalment plan on an individual basis. Interest will be charged on all late paid tax at the standard HMRC rate of 3.25%.

Requirement to Correct Letters

HMRC is writing to taxpayers who may own assets overseas or have a source of offshore income. These assets could be anything from a Jersey bank account to an overseas holiday let, or more seriously trusts or companies registered overseas.

The letters inform the taxpayers that they must declare any overseas income or gains on their UK tax return and correct any omissions from past years’ returns by 30 September 2018.

From this date HMRC will begin exchanging data on financial accounts directly with 100 other countries under the common reporting standard. This will make it much easier for HMRC to identify offshore tax evasion quickly by comparing accounts or assets owned abroad to declarations made in the UK.

If you get caught out for not declaring overseas taxable income, transactions or gains after September 2018 you could face a penalty of 200% of the tax due. This penalty can apply even if you believed the income or gain was not taxable in the UK, and you had no intention to evade UK tax. However, if you took qualified advice that determined that the income was not taxable in the UK, you will have a reasonable excuse for not declaring the amount on your UK tax return.

There is not much time left to make a full correction and pay all the tax due, but if you contact HMRC before midnight on 30 September 2018 using one of its formal disclosure facilities, you will have longer to submit your full disclosure.

VAT Option to Tax

Commercial properties which are more than three years old will not have VAT attached to their sale or rent unless the owner or leaseholder has opted to apply it. This is called the “option to tax”.

There are three key questions to ask about your own commercial property:

Have you ever made an option to tax on this property?
If you did where is the evidence? This would be a copy of form VAT 1614 and acknowledgment from HMRC; and
If the option to tax was made more than 20 years ago, is it now appropriate to revoke that election?

All these questions will become urgent if you wish to sell the property as the buyer’s legal team will ask for evidence that VAT is correctly charged on the sale. Some businesses cannot recover VAT, so they would prefer to buy or lease a building without VAT.

If you believe that an option to tax is in place but there is no evidence, you could write to HMRC asking for a copy of the election but do not hold your breath. HMRC will take weeks to reply and if the election was made many years ago they may no longer have the paperwork.

If you have never let the property and VAT was not charged on the original acquisition, it is probably safe to assume that an option to tax has never been made.

It is a common misunderstanding that once a property is the subject of an option to tax it remains an “opted property” when sold. This is not the case. Each person with an interest in the property can make an independent decision whether to opt to tax or not.

Pension Lump Sum

If you have taken a lump sum from your pension fund you may have had excess tax deducted by the pension company, but you can reclaim it.

Although 25% of your pension savings can be drawn out tax free, the pension company normally interprets this as being 25% of any single withdrawal, leaving 75% of the lump sum to be taxed at your marginal tax rate. What’s worse, if the lump sum is the first withdrawal you have made from the pension scheme the company will apply an emergency PAYE code. This results in you having far more tax deducted under PAYE than is due.

There are two ways you can get this tax back:

If you are not expecting to take further pension payments in the same tax year you can reclaim the tax on the lump sum using form P53Z or P53. We can submit those forms for you; or
If you expect to take further pension payments in the same year your tax repayment should be dealt with through your PAYE code. The tax refund should be made when your next pension instalment is paid.

The second method requires an adjustment to your PAYE code, which you can request through your online personal tax account. Alternatively, you can phone HMRC to ask for your code to be changed. We can phone HMRC for you if we have authorisation to act on your behalf.

Landfill Tax

As an ordinary business you may think that landfill tax is someone else’s problem. You pay for your waste to be taken away and the waste disposal company is

responsible for paying the landfill tax when the waste goes into a hole, rather than to incineration or recycling.

However, since 1 April 2018 you could be responsible for landfill tax if you allow your business waste to be disposed of illegally, even if you do not dump it yourself. Anyone involved in the waste chain such as a haulier, broker, waste originator or landowner can be liable for landfill tax if they allow disposal of waste at an unauthorised site, ie one without an environmental disposal permit.

As well as having to pay the landfill tax (£88.95 per tonne for active waste, or £2.80 per tonne for all other waste) you could also find yourself liable for penalties for non-compliance or even face criminal prosecution. You can avoid such charges if you carry out reasonable due diligence on where your waste is going, as set out in the Defra Waste Duty of Care Code of Practice. If you follow this procedure you will not be penalised even if your waste is found to be illegally dumped.

Reclaim SDLT, LTT or LBTT

If you have acquired a new home since 1 April 2016 you should be aware of the 3% stamp duty land tax (SDLT) supplement which applies to purchases of second and additional homes.

This 3% supplement was copied in Scotland for land and buildings tax (LBTT) and in Wales for land transaction tax (LTT) from 1 April 2018. But there are different conditions for relief from the 3% supplement in each country.

Scotland has recently amended its law to provide relief from the 3% supplement where a couple buy a home together to replace their main home, but their former home was held in the sole name of just one of the individuals. If you fall into this category, you can now apply for a refund of the additional LBTT paid, right back to April 2016.

If you paid the SDLT supplement on the purchase of your property, it is worth checking whether a refund is due. For example, if the property acquired was not 100% residential the supplement is not due.

Where the new property was acquired as your main home and the old home was disposed of within three years, a refund of SDLT may be due. But don’t hang around, as a claim for overpaid SDLT must be made within three months of the sale of the previous main residence or within 12 months of the filing date of the land transaction return, whichever is later.

Penalties for late PAYE

All payroll payments and deductions must be reported to HMRC under real time information (RTI).

The main RTI report is the full payment submission (FPS), which should be sent on or before the day the payment is made to the employee. If no payments are made for the pay period, you need to submit an employer payment summary (EPS) to HMRC.

To ensure HMRC receives the RTI submissions at the right time, it is good practice to do things in this order:

Run the payroll;
Make the RTI submissions;
Pay the employees.

If the HMRC computer does not log that an FPS or EPS was received when expected, it can be programmed to issue an automatic penalty. However, HMRC has built in a three-day grace period so the computer will not issue a penalty if the RTI submissions are made within three days of the employees’ payday.

This grace period is not an extension to the deadline; if you consistently file within this three- day window you may be contacted by HMRC and considered for a penalty. You are permitted one late RTI filing in the year before a penalty is issued.

If you need to file an FPS late, get your excuse in early by including the code letter in the late reporting field in the submission. The code for having a reasonable excuse is “G”.

If HMRC has sent you a penalty notice that you do not agree with, you have 30 days to appeal, which can be done by letter or online. We can help you with that.

Company Cars

Electric cars are creating a buzz in environmentally-conscious companies, and not just because of the noise they make.

They are cheap to run and the price of many models is coming down. If your employer provides you with an electric company car or van, we have some good and bad news for you.

Good News: From 1 September 2018 your employer can pay you 4p per mile for every business journey you make in the electric vehicle. If you charge the vehicle at the company’s premises there is no taxable benefit for the use of that power. So you get paid 4p per mile for absolutely free fuel!

If you own the electric car personally you can also charge it for free at work with no taxable benefit for the use of the electricity. When you undertake business journeys in your own electric car your employer can pay you 45p per mile, tax free, for the first 10,000 business miles driven in the tax year, and 25p per mile for any additional mileage.

Bad News: The amount you are taxed on for having free use of a company provided electric car is currently 13% of its list price when new, but this is due to leap to 16% of the list price for 2019-Strangely the taxable benefit will drop to 2% of list price from 6 April 2020.

If your company vehicle is an electric van, which you use for private journeys other than commuting, you are taxed on a benefit of £1,340 for 2018-19. This taxable benefit is likely to rise to around £2,000 for 2019- 20.

Our initial review and consultation is always free of charge contact us here.

Cloud Accountant Stroud High Wycombe Chalfont Construction Accounting Company Atlas Film Entertainment Industry Blog 1

ByBill Duff

Accountant Gerrards Cross, Accountant High Wycombe, Accountant Slough, cloud accountant, Cloud Accountant Gerrards Cross, Cloud Accountant High Wycombe, Cloud Accountant Slough, Construction Accountant, Construction Accountant Chalfont, Construction Accountant High Wycombe, Construction Accountant Slough

Accountant Gerrards Cross – Tax Briefing

This blog post is written for the general interest of our clients and is not a substitute for consulting the relevant legislation or taking professional advice.

The authors and the firm cannot accept any responsibility for loss arising from any person acting or refraining from acting on the basis of the material included herein.

For more information in Tax call us on 01753 880 818 or send a message via our online Contact Form.

April 2019 Tax Qualifying Conditions

From 6 April 2019 all of the qualifying conditions must be met for at least two years ending with the date of disposal or cessation of trading.

If the business ceased trading before 29 October 2018, the one-year qualifying period will still apply to the gains arising from the shares or assets disposed of after cessation.

Making Tax Digital and VAT

There were rumours before the Budget that the VAT registration threshold would be reduced, but the Chancellor has committed to hold it at £85,000 until April 2022.

This will provide some certainty to businesses who need to know whether and when they must comply with the Making Tax Digital (MTD) rules.

Currently only VAT registered businesses with annual turnover above the registration threshold have to sign up to submit VAT returns under the new MTD procedures. This will apply to most businesses for VAT periods starting on and after 1 April 2019. However, a number of complex businesses, such as corporate groups and overseas businesses, have had their start date for MTD for VAT deferred until VAT periods beginning on and after 1 October 2019. If your business uses the annual accounting scheme for VAT you will also enjoy a deferral of MTD.

The MTD for VAT pilot is now open to single companies and sole traders but there are many businesses who can’t sign up to the pilot yet. When
your business is eligible to join the MTD for VAT pilot you should receive a letter from HMRC inviting you to join. The first of these letters are being sent out this month.

VAT periods starting on and after 1 April 2019. However, a number of complex businesses, such as corporate groups and overseas businesses, have had their start date for MTD for VAT deferred until VAT periods beginning on and after 1 October 2019. If your business uses the annual accounting scheme for VAT you will also enjoy a deferral of MTD.

Tax Data 2019-20 – All figures are annual amounts

Allowances Personal allowance £12,500
Allowance withdrawn from £100,000
Transferable marriage allowance £1,250
Trading income £1,000
Property income £1,000
Rent-a-room £7,500
Tax on earnings Earnings to £37,500 20%
£37,501 to £150,000 40%
Over £150,000 45%
Thresholds and rates for Scottish taxpayers TBA
Tax on interest First £5,000 0%
20% taxpayers £1,000@ 0%
40% taxpayers £500 @ 0%
Balance taxed at marginal rates

Tax on dividends:

First £2,000 0%
Balance in band to £37,500 7.5% / £37,501 to £150,000 32.5% / above £150,000 38.1%
National Insurance Class 1 employers 13.8% over £8,632
Under 21 (apprentices 25) 0% to £50,000
Class 1 employees 12% on £8,632 to £50,000; 2% above £50,000
Class 4 self-employed 9% on £8,632 to £50,000; 2% on profits above £50,000
Class 2 self-employed £156 Voluntary if profits under £6,365 Class 3 voluntary £780
Employment Allowance Set against employer’s class 1 NIC £3,000 (Not available for one-person companies)
Inheritance Tax Nil rate band £325,000
Residence nil rate band £150,000
Excess taxed at 40% (Where 10% left to charity 36%)
Pension Contributions No earnings £3,600 gross, otherwise 100% of earnings
Annual contribution caps: No pension taken £40,000 Some pension taken £4,000 Adjusted income over £150,000: annual cap tapered to £10,000 Lifetime pension fund cap £1,055,000
Capital Gains Tax Within basic tax rate 10%
Higher tax bands 20% – Surcharge for residential property and carried interest 8%
Entrepreneurs’ relief 10%
Investors’ relief 10%
Annual exemption £12,000
Corporation Tax All profits 19%
VAT Registration turnover £85,000 Deregistration turnover £83,000 Standard rate 20% Reduced rate 5%

Budget 2018 – Tax Cuts and Cliff Edges

There was good news for individual taxpayers in the Budget; the personal allowance will rise from £11,850 to £12,500 on 6 April 2019. This will provide taxpayers on the basic rate (20%) with an income tax saving of £130 per year.

Those who pay tax at higher rates will also rejoice that the 40% band will effectively start at income over £50,000 for 2019-20.

This will not apply to taxpayers in Scotland as they pay tax on earnings and profits at different rates and bands than apply in the rest of the UK. The Scottish tax rates for 2019-20 are due to be announced on 12 December 2018.
Welsh taxpayers will pay Welsh income tax from 6 April 2019, but the Welsh tax rates and bands have initially been set to align with those in England and Northern Ireland. Welsh tax- payers should soon receive PAYE codes with a pre-fix “C” (Cymru).

Rollout of IR35 Rules Postponed

The government wants to encourage businesses to invest in plant and equipment to help them grow their operations and operate more efficiently. Where the cost of those items qualifies for the annual investment allowance (AIA), 100% of the expenditure is set against profits in the year of where an individual works through his or her own personal company to provide services, such as IT consultancy, that company must abide by the “IR35” rules, which HMRC calls “off-payroll working”.

IR35 requires the individual to check whether he would be treated as an employee of his customer, if his personal company and any other intermediaries did not exist in the supply chain. If the relationship with the customer is effective employment, the income from the contract should be treated by the personal company as the individual’s salary, subject to PAYE and NIC.

For contracts in the public sector the final customer (the public body) makes the decision about the IR35 status of the contractor. Where IR35 applies the fee-payer in the supply chain should deduct income tax under PAYE and employees’ NIC at 12% from the amount invoiced by the personal company. Some public bodies have also incorrectly deducted employer’s NIC at 13.8% from the invoiced amount.

HMRC is convinced that many small companies in the private sector do not follow the IR35 rules to the letter, as by remaining outside of IR35 the individual retains more income from his company. HMRC has proposed that large businesses purchase, so the business gets an immediate benefit. The AIA is currently capped at £200,000 per company or group. However, the cap will be raised to £1 million per year for equipment purchased in 2019 and 2020.

Entrepreneurs’ Relief Curtailed

When you sell a business or shares in your personal company, the gain made on that disposal will normally qualify for entrepreneurs’ relief which applies capital gains tax (CGT) at 10%. Up to £10m of gains can qualify for this relief in your lifetime.

For a company to qualify as your personal company you must hold at least 5% of the ordinary share capital and 5% of the associated voting rights. For disposals made from 29 October 2018 you must also have a right to 5% of the net assets of the company and to 5% of its distributable profits.

These additional conditions may prevent managers involved in management buyouts from qualifying for entrepreneurs’ relief, although most owner-directors should not be affected. Currently all the conditions for entrepreneurs’ relief must be met for at least one year ending with the date of sale, or if the business has ceased, to the last day of trading.

From 6 April 2019 all of the qualifying conditions must be met for at least two years ending with the date of disposal or cessation of trading.
If the business ceased trading before 29 October 2018, the one-year qualifying period will still apply to the gains arising from the shares or assets disposed of after cessation.

Tax Exemption For Homes Clipped

When you sell your only or main home, you expect any gain you make to be free of CGT. But that CGT exemption only applies if you have occupied the property as your main home for the entire period of your ownership.

If you move out of your home before it is sold, the gain accruing for the final period when you were not living there would be subject to CGT. However, the tax rules allow up to 18 months of the final ownership period to be CGT exempt even if you were not living in the property.

HMRC is proposing to cut this final exempt period to nine months for properties sold from 6 April 2020. If the owner, or their spouse, is disabled or has moved into a residential care home, the final exempt period is extended to 36 months.

If you let out a property which had been your main home at some point, you can claim letting relief to reduce the taxable capital gain by up to £40,000. Letting relief is capped at the amount of relief due for the time (usually a different period) in which you occupied the property as your main home.

HMRC wants to restrict letting relief to cover only periods in which the owner occupied the property while part of it was let. Homeowners who move and then let out their former home will be hit by this change in CGT relief, which is due to take effect for properties sold on or after 6 April 2020.

HMRC wants to restrict letting relief to cover only periods in which the owner occupied the property while part of it was let. Homeowners who move and then let out their former home will be hit by this change in CGT relief, which is due to take effect for properties sold on or after 6 April 2020.

New Capital Allowances

If your total income is £50,000 or more and your family receives child benefit, you should inform HMRC that you need to pay the high income child benefit charge (HICBC) to repay some or all of that benefit. All the child benefit is clawed-back for income levels over £60,000. The HICBC is collected through the tax return of the highest earner in the family, or through their PAYE code, irrespective of who actually receives the child benefit.

This charge could make your marginal tax rate including national insurance, jump from 32% to 62% at £50,000 from 6 April 2019.

This switch will apply from 6 April 2020, but only where the final customer is a medium- sized or large business. If you contract though your own company, you should start planning for this change now and set against business profits, as there are no capital allowances available for commercial buildings other than those used for R&D.

The Chancellor has bridged that gap by introducing a new structures and buildings allowance (SBA) to apply to the cost of constructing non- residential buildings on and after 29 October 2018. The allowance will allow 2% of the building’s cost (excluding land) to be deducted each year.
If the building is sold during its 50 year “tax life”, the unclaimed allowance will be available to the purchaser. The cost of the building’s fittings and integral features (such as lifts) can be claimed as part of the AIA, up to that annual limit. Any excess expenditure must be claimed through the special rate pool which currently provides an 8% allowance. This special rate allowance will be cut to 6% from 1 April 2019.

The 100% capital allowances for expenditure on energy or water efficient equipment will cease from 1 April 2020. However, the 100% allowance for electric vehicle charging points will apply for costs incurred up to 31 March 2023.

Tax Relief for First Time Buyers

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is payable at rates ranging from 2% to 12% when you buy a residential property for £125,000 or more. Higher rates apply to the purchase of second homes and property acquisitions by companies.

If a residential property worth up to £500,000 is purchased by one or more first-time buyers, the first £300,000 of the purchase price is exempt from SDLT. This exemption applies for property purchases completed on and after 22 November 2017.

Many younger people buy their first home through a shared ownership scheme. In such cases the buyer can choose whether to pay SDLT on the
where they elect to pay SDLT only on the initial share acquired, as long as the market value of the whole property is no more than £500,000. This change in the rules will be back-dated to cover acquisitions completed on and after 22 November 2017.

The law will be changed to allow the exemption for first- time buyers to apply even
where excess SDLT has been property or only on the share paid since November 2017 it of the property they have can be reclaimed by amending acquired. If they elected to pay the SDLT return before 28 the tax on the full market value they could claim the exemption from SDLT, Scotland and Wales impose otherwise the exemption for their own versions of SDLT for first-time buyers did not apply.

Tax Business Rates

High street shops and restaurants feel the burden of business rates acutely, as the tax does not reduce if their profits fall.
The Chancellor announced some help for businesses who operate from retail premises with a rateable value of up to £51,000. Their business rates bills will be cut by one third for the two years from 1 April 2019. Local newspapers will also continue to enjoy a £1,500 per year business rates discount on their offices in 2019-20.

Business rates are payable by owners of self-catering and holiday accommodation instead of council tax, which is paid by individuals on residential property. In some instances the business rates charged are lower than the council tax would be for the same property, as small businesses can claim a number of discounts.

To qualify as a small business for business rates the holiday accommodation does not have to be let for any minimum period. This contrasts with the rules for furnished holiday lettings for income tax, which require the property to be actually let for at least 105 days a year to achieve the favourable income tax treatment.

Thus, a property which is held- out as a holiday letting but does not generate much income will benefit from registering as a business, even if it does not qualify as a furnished holiday letting for income tax. The government will consult on how to ensure that only genuine businesses pay business rates rather than council tax.

Atlas Accountancy – Qualifed Accountants in Gerrards Cross

We can help you sign up to submit VAT returns under MTD but first you will have to activate your business tax account on gov.uk. If you have not used your business tax account yet we can talk you through the procedure.

Call us on 01753 880 818 or send a message below:

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Atlas Accountancy Ltd
South Park Chambers
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Gerrards Cross
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SL9 8HF

Free Initial Consultation – Call 01753 880 818

ByBill Duff

Construction Accountant, Construction Accountant Chalfont, Construction Accountant Gerrards Cross, Construction Accountant High Wycombe

Construction Industry Accountant

Construction Industry Accountant – Small Business and SME

We have many Self Employed individuals who are contracted to work in the construction industry around the UK and overseas, together with sole traders who own their own Building, Plastering, Welding and similar businesses such as a Landscaper, Ironworker, Carpenter, Carpet layer, Fencer, Glazier, or a driver and operator of heavy equipment used in engineering and construction projects. We also work with Safety Officers and Site Managers.

Give us a call today on 01753 880818 or send a message via the Contact Form.

Small Business Accounts Explained

So you may have a carrier bag of receipts at Year End? Or you may be up to speed with modern methods such as scanning your receipts using a mobile app? We are happy to help.

Clear Accounting Advice

We are here to help you save money. We both want to see your business thrive and expand, as ours has over the years. We provide a platform for you to excel in your industry without having to fret about your finances, because rest assured they are in professional, knowledgeable hands. Whatever your turnover we work together with you to streamline the accountancy process and deliver exactly what you and your business needs.

HRMC, Self Assessment and and VAT Savings

Some companies ask for assistance in the preparation of accounts and other businesses require a more comprehensive accounting solution to cover their VAT, bookkeeping and final Companies House and HMRC requirements.

Although we have many happy years of experience working with people from all walks of life, we consider ourselves specialists when working with small to medium-sized businesses, freelancers in the Construction Industry, Film and TV industry, and the Medical Profession. Should you work in any of these areas, we are the accountants for you.

Accounting Hourly Rates

We firmly believe we offer very competitive rates for our excellent service by fully qualified Chartered Certified Accountants with our own High Street premises in Gerrards Cross.

Our hourly rates range between £25 and £90 an hour + VAT dependent on the type of work undertaken and who completes the tasks required. We also offer a fixed pricing package where applicable and always provide an up-front cost proposal before any work begins.

Our intention is always to provide great value to all our clients and maximum tax savings where possible – read more about our accounting rates here.

Cloud Accountants Atlas Accouting Slough High Wycombe Quickbooks

ByBill Duff

Cloud Accoutants – Cloud Accounting Explained

Cloud Accounting Features and Benefits

Here at Atlas Accountancy we are huge advocates of Cloud Accounting and we’re writing this blog post to illustrate why. Let’s start with explaining The Cloud:

What Is The Cloud?

‘The cloud’ refers to various services (not just accounting) where files and information are saved on servers connected to the internet. In simple terms this means that instead of keeping them on a computer in the office and physically sitting in front of it to access your files, you can access them anywhere you are connected to the internet. Similarly, using a tablet or mobile device that’s connected to WiFi or the internet means that any device you use that is able to get online means you can access your files. You can’t actually see the cloud up in the sky, but it’s got a large silver lining and here’s 8 reasons why.

QuickBooks Platinum Partner

The Cloud is perfect for accounting and bookkeeping and you’re missing out if you’re not using a Cloud accounting package. Atlas Accountancy are a QuickBooks Platinum Partner, additionally we are also a member of the Sage Accountants’ Club.

Access To Cloud Accounts At Any Time

All of our Cloud accounting clients have access to their financial information anytime and anywhere. You can update your accounts in seconds, whether you are on a train travelling to a meeting or online in the office at your desk.

A Real Timesaver

You will save time as you’re able to login to the cloud and check your finances whenever you have internet access. Automation of tasks and bulk actions on multiple entries will save you many hours, and Cloud accounting means you can fit in your bookkeeping tasks during those periods travelling for business when your time might otherwise be wasted. Cloud updates and fixes are automatic too, so you’ll always be up to date with the latest version meaning you don’t have to install updates on hardware or software.

Money Saving

As you don’t need to buy special hardware or software or keep updating them to the latest model or version you’ll be saving your hard-earned cash.

Safe And Secure Data Cloud Accouting

Laptops, memory sticks and tablets are easily lost, damaged or stolen which means your data could be lost or end up in the wrong hands. Then you have the physical problem that servers can malfunction too. Even if your data is backed up on a device in your office, it’s vulnerable to theft or physical damage. Accounting in the Cloud simply means that your data and files are held on many servers in many locations, and it’s is the responsibility of Atlas Accountancy for the safety and security of your financial data. A rigorous secure authentication is provided to all Cloud clients and we recommend you don’t share the login with anyone. Contact Us should you have any queries.

Go Greener and Help The Environment

Some accounting hardware owned by companies, particularly small businesses, is usually excessive. Quite often there’s a lot more equipment and processing power than they require. Energy-efficient, modern servers in data centres with climate control offer the ease to replace such unnecessary hardware in thousands of offices UK Nationwide and globally. Polar bears will be thanking you we promise!

Collaborate Accounts In Real Time

Cloud accounting is brilliantly simple so we can be logged in at the same time as your chosen members of staff, allowing the access to company accounts to easily collaborate on financial tasks and bookkeeping.

Continual Updates

As a part of our Cloud accounting services we provide the whole package, seamlessly integrating financial reports, future projections and transactions with invoicing and payment systems. Everything is in one place, interacting in real time and simultaneously updating when you’re sleeping.

Atlas Cloud Accounting Support

Cloud based accounting apps are being constantly developed and updated by us, we provide you with all the support that you require with your chosen Cloud application, giving you and / or your IT department one less thing to be concerned about.

We love everything about Cloud accounting and you will too – begin your journey now by calling 01753 880818 or send a message via the Contact Form.