The professional choice for your business

Services for Businesses

Accounting & Book-keeping

Let us provide you with more time to concentrate on running your business, and peace of mind that your accounts and returns are in order.

Our accounting and compliance services include:

Preparation of annual accounts
Preparation of periodic management accounts and analysis
Advice on your accounting systems whether manual or computer
Maintaining PAYE and VAT records and associated returns
Preparation for HMRC investigations
PAYE and National Insurance compliance
Self-Assessment advice

We also offer a flexible and proactive book-keeping service which is based on your needs and can be completed at your premises or in our office.

Our specialists can assist in writing simple spreadsheets, advise on the most suitable accounting package and provide training on all major packages.

For established businesses it may be advisable to review procedures to establish whether they are still the most cost effective and efficient way to prepare your accounting records.

For a fixed quote please contact our experts.

Auditing

We can perform your auditing and financial analysis with a minimum of fuss and maximum efficiency and accuracy.

As well as giving you the peace of mind that your accounts are fully compliant with statutory requirements, we can identify strengths and weaknesses in the finances of your business, helping show the way to future success and profitability.

At Peter Howard & Co we can audit: SME companies, specialising in owner-managed business; pension schemes; and solicitors and other regulated professions.

Our audit includes:

A fixed fee agreed at the outset
A comprehensive statistical report on your trading over the last five years (where applicable)
Proactive advice on your systems and trading activities.

For more information, please contact us.

Corporate Tax Planning

Corporation tax represents a substantial part of your trading costs. Moreover, the increased reporting obligations, robust investigation policies on the part of the tax authorities, and harsher penalties for non-compliance mean that an undue amount of your time and resources can be taken up collecting revenue for the Government.

We offer a range of services to help you minimise your corporate tax exposure and relieve you of the administrative burden of complying with tax legislation. These include:

Determining the most tax effective structure for your business
Taking full advantage of tax opportunities and reliefs
Achieving the optimum capital or revenue tax treatment
Reducing tax on disposals and maximising relief on acquisitions
Making the most of tax opportunities specific to your industry
Meeting the rigorous demands of compliance including corporation tax self assessment
Acting on your behalf in discussions with the tax authorities
Efficient corporate tax planning can result in potentially significant improvements in your bottom line.

So call us today to discover how we can help you minimise the corporate tax burden.

Company Secretarial

The Companies Act places strict obligations on companies to submit the required documents according to deadlines. We can provide peace of mind, by taking the hard work off your hands.

Our Company Secretarial services include:

Preparation and filing of statutory returns
Preparation of minutes and resolutions
Company formation
Company searches

Please contact us to discover how we can help your business.

Business Support

Our support for you stretches far beyond the essential compliance services. We aim to be your business partners, working with you to ensure the best possible chance of success.

We want to help improve your bottom line, not just tell you what it is!

Areas where we can assist you include:

Business start-up planning and advice
Raising business finance
Strategic planning
Financial management
Financial information systems
Computer systems advice
Cashflow forecasting and management
Efficient billing and cash collection
Business valuations
Long term plans for your business and your exit

… and much more.

Payroll

Let us relieve you of the time consuming process of administering payroll, allowing you to get on with what you do best - running your business.

Our comprehensive payroll service will alleviate you of this responsibility and ensure your business complies with the relevant legislation.

Clients of this service can expect to receive:

Customised payslips
Administration of PAYE, national insurance, statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay, etc
Completion of statutory forms, including year end returns, to issue to your employees and submit to HM Revenue and Customs
Summaries and analyses of staff costs
Administration of incentive schemes, bonuses, and ex-gratia and termination payments
Administration of pension schemes

VAT

Many businesses unintentionally over or underpay Value Added Tax (VAT) as a result of its complexity.
The widening parameters of this burdensome tax and frequent changes made by HM Revenue and Customs often require the assistance of a professional to ensure that businesses comply with the relevant regulations.

Peter Howard & Co provides an efficient VAT service, which includes:

Assistance with VAT registration
Advice on VAT planning and administration
Use of the most appropriate scheme
VAT control and reconciliation
Help with completing VAT returns
Planning to minimise future problems with HM Revenue and Customs.
Negotiating with HM Revenue and Customs in disputes and representing you at VAT tribunals

Call us today for more information on VAT and your business.

Marketing

High on most business's agenda is the wish to expand their client base. We are no exception to this objective and we have developed our own marketing skills. Whilst accounting and taxation services have long been regarded as the domain of Accountancy firms, we regard a successful marketing strategy to be a key requirement for our clients.
In particular the ever increasing availability of both computer and marketing software provide an ideal opportunity for most businesses to provide their own in-house marketing function. We can provide the training programme and contribute to the ideas.

We believe there are considerable advantages to be gained in working with our clients to provide an effective marketing team and strategy.

Our services include:

Assistance with Seminars
Mail Shots
Mail Merge Letters
Newsletters
Information Finding

In many cases we can provide the necessary training to enable you to produce these products yourselves.

Accounts Training

We are an authorised Sage Accountants Club Reseller and can provide training on numerous computer accounts packages including Sage and manual systems. Training is tailored to suit individual requirements and skills level.
Because most packages work on a double entry bookkeeping system it is vital that the bookkeeper understands the areas that are affected by postings and alterations and that they have an understanding of how the Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet interact. This provides improved knowledge of how accounts are produced which will reduce year-end work and a better understanding of your programs capabilities allowing faster and more accurate inputting.

For further information, please contact us.

Tax Investigations Service

Our Tax Investigations Service supports our clients in the event of certain HM Revenue & Customs investigations and reimburses the professional fees incurred defending you during an investigation.

Our comprehensive service covers the following events that all our clients are eligible to benefit from:

Income Tax Self Assessment Full and Aspect Enquiries
Corporation Tax Self Assessment Full and Aspect Enquiries
Employer Compliance Disputes
HMRC VAT Disputes
IR35 Enquiries

As an additional benefit, all clients who take out this service have access to a free 24 hour business legal helpline covering the following areas:

Commercial
Employment
Health & Safety matters

Please contact our experienced, specialist Tax Advisers for more information and to request an application pack.