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When starting or moving a business, finding a location or building can lead to difficult choices. A relatively cheap choice for getting exactly what you want without having to compromise is through the use of modular buildings

Modular sections are built off-site and to strict regulations

Modular building has been around for some time, but it is not always considered by businesses and construction firms with the benefits and opportunities not always understood. As with any method, there are positives and negatives, but some of the positives include:

Reduced on-site time producing lower costs.

Pre fabricated modular sections are built to the same standards as buildings made entirely on-site, in the materials used, finishes available and safety standards. Completion time is drastically reduced which has several benefits. Less construction time reduces waste, delays from adverse weather, occupation of public space and any possible material damage. With fewer contractors on site and for less time, this also reduces the cost of manpower. The total reduction in time can be up to 50%.

Reduced Risk

Health and safety issues are drastically reduced during the construction in a production line style environment. During assembly on site, labourers can work close to the ground, even for large structures, where pieces can be lifted into place with cranes. In addition to health and safety concerns, security risks, such as theft, can be minimized which leads to lower insurance costs during construction.

Minimal construction on-site can create great savings

Modular construction in recent years has improved environmental considerations too, with increasing standards in insulation and efficiency of construction, they can be better for the environment as a whole. Even during construction, the impact on a locality is reduced due to the decreased time on-site.

Using established firms such in your locality, such as modular buildings in Hull, can ensure a bespoke service which provides an attractive solution to suit your needs.

One of the concerns with modular buildings is the risk of churning out soulless repetitive buildings. Whilst the construction is done in a similar way each time, this is no different that most of the construction industry. With customizable solutions inside and outside the buildings, a unique building can be made time and again. These customisations can provide fully tailored solutions for buildings such as offices, school classrooms, medical centres, club houses and many more.

Increasing revenue and balancing income is tricky for all businesses, especially in crowded market places with people trying to get the best deals for all products. Providing a great service is also paramount, helping increase repeat business.

One method of integrating your buying and selling is through the use of Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) systems. Businesses of every size can benefit from functional Epos Software, from corner shops to multi-national companies.

Electronic tills can speed through payments and keep track of trends.

Nearly all companies who create and sell EPoS software offer bespoke services, due to the nature of company differences. From simple till type solutions that are solely used to process transactions, to full systems that integrate stock and various outlets, there will be something for every business.

Aside from updating your hardware, Electronic point of sale displays can prove to be beneficial in a number of areas.

Employee time: With intuitive menus and easily read displays, employees can process orders more efficiently.

Customer satisfaction: Employees are able to deal with customers more fully, helping with enquiries from one point, rather than passing people from place to place, which can lead to customers repeating themselves and getting aggravated.

Pricing accuracy: Prices can be updated onto EPoS systems, instantly changing any prices remotely.

Stock control: With detailed information showing what has sold and when, orders can be created when stock levels get low

Accounting: Items can be accounted for more easily, with increased functions from better systems. Information from items sold can be compiled automatically and used to create reports for future usage. This also helps with stock control and arranging worker’s hours, showing you peak periods and times when stock needs to be replenished.

Improved customer experience: Extra functionality for customers, such as price checking points around stores can add an extra level to a customer’s experience, increasing repeat custom.

Business expansion: With increased profits, come increased markets. Expanding online can be made easier with the appropriate systems, saving time and costs.

Whilst Electronic point of sale systems can seem like a large investment, they tend to pay for themselves quickly. There may be minimal extra costs, such as training, but with the range of options available, you can find the right system for you and your employee’s.

Finding what you need is the first step to getting a complete EPoS system for your business. Your customers and suppliers needs are also a large part of this, as they essentially are your company, without them no company can exist. If you want to increase your business and expand into new markets, advanced EPoS systems are vital for you.

For many women, having children can result in putting a career on hiatus or stopping it completely. The state of the economy hasn’t helped either, many people left jobs with the aim to return after a few years, only to find that they are surplus to requirements and unable to be offered employment again. An increasingly tough job market makes it difficult to get back on the ladder.

Working from home can provide great opportunities for mums.

There have been cases of fledgling businesses started from home really taking off due to people wanting a more personal level of service and the trend for local products, turning away from large faceless companies. These so called “mumtrepreneurs” are taking money making into their own hands, with a recent survey showing amazing figures.

1,354 new and expectant “mumtrepreneurs” were asked, finding that they earned £467.91 on average every month, working on average 18.4 hours a week, fitting in around family life very easily. This figure works out around the UK minimum wage, which is great for an exciting job from home in an area of genuine interest.

One such business venture that works from the ground up, but is gaining momentum very quickly is the idea of jewellery parties. By using sources of wholesale jewellery such as www.londonrockwholesale.com people can easily order large quantities on stock for re-sale, enabling people to organise their own parties in their home, or thinking larger and doing it from hotels, town halls or anywhere with a function room for hire. Jewellery is a large market, both for current trends and classic pieces for all tastes, with wholesale fashion jewellery a great option for many people to sell on, starting from a small outlay you can create great profits.

These events can also be turned into non-profit events for charity, fund raising events or celebrations, such as the Queen’s jubilee and recent examples from St. George’s day.

An example of high quality affordable jewellery available.

With a high demand for jewellery, making people feel good about themselves for minimal outlay, it is an excellent way to create a niche in the market place. Originally these businesses start locally, but there have been prime examples of people taking it all the way, developing into million pound ventures.

In Blackburn, single mum Martina had success with jewellery selling. “It’s Fantastic, with being a single mum I found it tough to find my way back into the workplace. Now I’m working for myself I still have time to look after my kids, so I don’t have to fork out for expensive childcare.” She added, “By buying wholesale jewellery I have total control over the business and no quotas to work to unless I set them myself. It’s quite liberating really.”

Economic downturns always encourage entrepreneurial activities, and combined with life style businesses there are many more options out there, it is just a matter of spotting a gap in the market and taking a chance!

Controlling your finances is one of the most fundamental parts of any business, although for many people it can be difficult to understand the processes behind tax and accountancy. Although hiring an accountant is easy, it may not always be necessary and is a substantial outgoing cost for those who are feeling the squeeze in a tough economic climate.

Because of this, it could be beneficial to take a basic course in accountancy and bookkeeping. Bookkeepers courses are available all over the country in adult colleges and online and can furnish you with knowledge of all the basic principles essential for the day to day running of your business.

How far you take your studies is ultimately up to you, and you can decide based upon the areas your business needs the most. Although it will take time to complete, you should find yourself with a far greater understanding of the processes behind your finances and new ways to cut costs and improve efficiency.

Bookkeeping courses are generally broken down into the following areas:

Basic Bookkeeping

This, as the name would suggest, is a basic course which will teach you methods of creating systems for recording cash transactions, credit transactions and trial balances.

Manual Bookkeeping

This course will give you a more advanced overview of bookkeeping principles and will teach you about bank reconciliations, sales and ledger control accounts, VAT Returns and balance sheets amongst other things.

Computerised Bookkeeping

This part of the course will help you to learn accounting specifically for limited companies, stock control methods, account preparation for incomplete records and other advanced level bookkeeping and accountancy techniques.

Knowledge of these processes will undoubtedly aid the smooth-running of your business and help you identify areas in which improvements can be made. Although initially fairly time consuming, all courses can be done on a part time basis and will ultimately furnish you with all the knowledge you need to be entirely self-sufficient in managing your company.

One of the most difficult financial changes that anyone is likely to undergo is involved in the setting up of a small company. It can be very confusing as your tax status and records change from personal finances into a commercial environment. For a start up company or anyone considering company formation, there are several options available when it comes to different types of companies:

Private Limited Company

A private limited company or Ltd is the most popular form of company in the UK, largely because they are very simple to set up and eligible for something called limited liability. This means that the finances and any debts incurred are part of the company rather than the responsibility of the owners or shareholders. The government is supportive of the set up of these types of small and independent businesses so the tax advantages are often favourable for an Ltd company.

Public Limited Company

A public limited company or Plc is more aimed towards very large businesses that want to go public for new shareholders. A Plc must release £50,000 of shares and appoint two directors in order to be allowed to trade. This can be a great source of money generation as new shareholders bring a significant investment into the company.

Sole Trader

A sole trader is one of the most popular types for companies that are independent with potentially only one person operating as both director and workforce – commonly called ‘one-man band’ companies. This type of company is particularly useful because it does not require finances that are particularly different from personal finances, you simply have to notify your local tax office. However, there are dangers involved with being a sole trader company; the director is personally liable for the finances of the company, meaning that the debts incurred through trading are the personal debts of the trader. Additionally, there is no transparency for a sole trader company because they do not have to publish their quarterly or annual financial situation – this can make some clients wary of working with the company.

Limited Liability Partnerships

This type of company can be an excellent solution for partners looking to work together. It allows them to divide profit appropriately with a signed agreement rather than going public by creating shares.

In conclusion,  so much to choose from when setting up your own company, and the potential risks of liability, it is important to seek professional advice before undergoing any serious steps towards start up

Every business needs an accountant, but not every accountant is geared towards providing a specialist service to businesses.  Bird Luckin is one of the more established firms of accountants Essex has to offer (the business dates back to 1870), and they pride themselves on their ability to maximise the potential of the businesses owned and run by their clients.

Successful businesses have the power to maximise their performance and profitability in order reach their full potential.  They also adopt an approach aimed at building and maintaining successful partnerships with their clients.  These things don’t come easily, and Bird Luckin have the expertise and know-how which allows them to provide a service fully tailored to meet the needs of a growing business.

It’s this ability to tailor their services that makes Bird Luckin stand out from the crowd.  They are fully dedicated to finding unique solutions to the unique problems faced by individual businesses, and this is achieved by investing valuable time into understanding how your business works and where your business wants to go.

Of course, they also offer all of the other services you would expect from a firm of accountants, such as auditing and bookkeeping, and they’re as equally efficient in these more routine aspects of accounting as they are with more specialist duties.  A network of business partners are on hand to provide expertise across a wide range accounting issues, whilst their team of specialists are able to devise a strategy which will add real value to your business.

If you’re really looking for a way to help your business to grow, you will surely benefit from taking professional advice from a team that really knows what they’re doing.  They also value the importance of putting people first, so you can be sure to receive an honest and open review of your aims and needs.

It’s worth checking out their website – www.bird-luckin.co.uk – where you can find a good deal of information on their services, as well as more information on the company itself and a whole host of valuable guides and resources which cover all aspects of accounting and finance.

It is imperative that we prepare for our retirement years while we are still young and working due to the benefits that it can give us later on. With this, we need to secure our finances through viewing this one page that provides interesting insights to the pension annuities market. As we all now, financial companies have been using technical terms and jargons when it comes to their financial products which make it difficult to understand fully understand the concept. By visiting this web page, everyone will have a clear idea about annuities and why it should be purchased.

Practically, this online site provides all the most relevant information about annuities. By taking a quick look, we will be able to understand what annuities are, how it works, how it deliver payments and how much will it take to acquire one. Basically, all the questions that we have in our mind will be answered just by taking time to view this amazing website. The good thing with this is that the site does not complicate things and instead uses terms that are easy to assimilate. Due to this, anyone can have a better understanding of the product and will be encouraged to purchase because they have fully understood the benefits.

With this website, no one can make the wrong decision because this provides the most complete and truthful information about annuities. So, anyone who are wishing to purchase or invest in annuities must think of this site as a very good reference. This offers the most updated and easy to digest information on annuities like the payment terms as well as details about enhanced annuities. Furthermore, it also includes a pension annuity rates calculator that allow us to compute how much we are eligible to get from our annuities considering a given pension fund or amount as well as other factors such as age, gender and existing medical conditions.

Simply put, a contract tax calculator is an easy to use online application that allows you to calculate the amount money you will pocket after paying tax to your Limited or Umbrella Company whenever you get paid for contract or freelance work.

One of the most popular contract tax calculators is hosted by SJD Accountancy who are specialist contractor accountants dedicated to serving only small businesses and freelance individuals.

So if you’re contracting for the first time it’s easy to calculate your money after tax based on whether you are paying yourself through a Limited Company or an Umbrella Company. So while you may be eager to pay yourself all the funds from your contract, it is important to leave some of your pay in your company for tax planning.
Generally contractors will run a short contract of under 3 months through an Umbrella company while anything over three months or on a particularly large rate may be worth going through a limited company.

If you are working through a Limited company you are likely to take after tax around 75% to 80% of your contract value whereas if you have set up an Umbrella Company, you would be looking to take after tax approximately 60% to 65%.

A contractor calculator will give you a more accurate figure based on your current situation in just a few minutes and can also be useful when trying to make the indecisive decision between limited company and umbrella. Ensuring you are using the correct type of contractor calculator, most websites offer you a total figure excluding all the necessary tax to be paid.

Why not try this freelancer calculator and work out your tax the easy way?

Using an online take home pay calculator is the quickest way to get an idea of pay for you. After putting in an hourly or daily rate the calculator does the rest. The take home amount assumes full tax planning and a number of other aspects which would need to be discussed with an accountant.

A recent study shows that IT experts are searching for long-term contracts, even though the pay is a smaller amount than less secure freelance work. Umbrella company Giant have undertaken analysis that reveals that temporary employees in the IT industry much prefer the security of lengthier jobs even though a more relaxed agreement might supply a larger wage in the short term.

According to the survey, two-thirds of IT contractors would take on a less lucrative position even when confronted with the opportunity to accept a higher paid short-term role. This means that that job security is one of the most highly valued elements of a position, specifically in the current financial state which could be referred to as ‘uncertain’ at best. Just over one third of those surveyed revealed that they might plump for the higher-paid deal, with the vast majority revealing that long-term stability is preferable to earnings.

Those who have taken a position with a lower salary can at least figure out what they will end up with following tax along with other deductions by using a take-home pay calculator. Additionally, any assistance you may need regarding IR35 law and laws is accessible from your accountancy firm, that happen to be well-versed in all aspects of the law with regards to these issues.

The market research also showed that IT contractors are experiencing fewer and shorter intervals out of work, with 80% of those questioned confirming spending 31 days or less without employment. The year before the same research showed this figure at 78% – while at the same time the retail industry put in more greatly in IT as modern advancements direct their thoughts toward mobile commerce. 17% of IT contractors surveyed claimed work from the telecoms industry – an increase of 43% in contrast to 2011.

A word of caution for IT contractors, nevertheless – the steadiness of long-term contracts is great, but try not to put all your eggs in one basket. This perspective originates from the experience of those that have observed themselves growing to be too associated with one firm particularly, leaving themselves open to latest changes in IR35 regulations. Standing on your own as a service provider as opposed to an employee provides much greater freedom.

If you’d like to speak with someone about the benefits and drawbacks of taking on long-term contracts with the same company, contact Nixonwilliams.com today and see what effect this might have on your taxation.

First up, there is no escaping IR35 – you are either inside or outside of this piece of legislation. I will come to this later on.

IR35

The legislation of IR35 has been banging around for a while now. The government are always discussing the legislation in parliament, however not much has been amended to it since it came about. However, government does want to ‘clean’ IR35 up, making it clearer for contractors to understand if they are inside or outside of legislation.

IR35 was created with meaning to ensure that everyone is on the same level. Basically, that limited contractors and small businesses work in a similar, proper manner – assuming the same level or responsibility, risk, liability and control as other directors of limited companies have accepted.

Limited Company

The most efficient way of functioning is through a limited company. So, it is only fair that only when a company is run legitimately to take advantage and control of these tax benefits. You must keep in mind that you will lose all benefits of being an employee by taking these new tax breaks – however in this day and age most of these so called ‘benefits’ are becoming defunct in this economic climate due to no jobs for life or work pension schemes being messed around with.

You can assume that you will definitely be caught by IR35 and the HMRC if you are working as the same level of risk, responsibility, liability and control as an employee.

Below, you will find reasons as to what kind of working practices HMRC are looking for to check whether you are inside or outside IR35.

• Substitution – State in your contract that in the circumstance of being unable to complete a task, somebody else will complete it.
• Control – You must always be in control, not your client.
• Financial Risk – Profit share is a no-no, and there must be some risk on your side – employees coming under no financial risk if, for example, you are not paid by one of your clients.
• Own Equipment – Try to use your own equipment, however in some cases this is very difficult.
• Right of Dismissal – Immediate termination is granted.
• Employee Benefits – You don’t have these anymore.

If you need help in the event of an investigation, get hold of an IR35 template – which you can just search for on Google.