Budgets are not just for large and complicated businesses – defining goals and priorities and measuring progress towards them makes sense for any business.

A budgeting expert from APS Accountancy will guide you through this practical and relevant session which will outline a general approach to business planning, explain the jargon and answer your questions.

Who Should Attend?

Owners and managers wanting to feel more in control of their business. Whether you are still in start up mode or have an established business, taking time to understand your current situation, analyse cycles and trends and then set future goals will promote the health of your business and remove much of the worry of day to day ups and downs.

What are the Benefits?

This workshop will demonstrate that by reviewing prior year expenses and income it is possible to create a simple ‘model’ of how a business operates. Defining a set of objectives for the future will create a business goal and a budget will provide the framework for measuring progress towards it. Participants will leave with a sample budget and techniques to enable actual results to be continually reviewed against it, ensuring prompt action can be taken when required and the worry that often results from normal fluctuations in business activity can be minimised for everyone.

You pay too much tax right? By understanding the rules governing personal tax it is possible to improve income, both now and in the future, and make sure these rules work in your favour.

An experienced personal taxation expert from APS Accountancy will guide you through the elements that make up a personal tax calculation, highlighting where tax savings might be achieved.

Who Should Attend?

This interactive session is aimed at company directors, higher rate tax payers and anyone completing a personal tax return.

What are the Benefits?

There are many rules covering everything from property income, pension and charitable contributions to dividends and salaries, loss relief and application of the High Income Child Benefit Charge. This can seem daunting but our APS expert will guide you through the labyrinth and ensure that participants leave understanding how the rules work and how they can be applied to their own benefit.

Generating business-specific reports to help you run your business smarter.

Good management decisions need good management information. Your APS expect will explain the types of reports that most businesses use to review their sales, profitability and cash and then help you identify exactly what makes your business tick. A set of bespoke management accounts produced quickly and accurately each month or quarter will help business owners save both time and money by identifying opportunities and problems as they happen

Who Should Attend?

Business owners and managers responsible for setting targets or budgets and monitoring performance and profitability will find the workshop invaluable

What are the Benefits?

Just like their owners, all businesses are different and have their own unique key performance indicators (or KPI’s). Once these are identified and targets are set it can be straightforward to run standard reports, or make use of the many categories and classes present in your accounting software, to track critical items. This in turn enables reporting on everything from overall profitability and cash to individual job costings or sales by person, department or product type. Monitoring actual results in real time enables owners and managers to react quickly to any new opportunities or potential problems highlighted in their tailored reports pack. And if numbers just aren’t your thing, there are ways to quickly create graphs and charts too. A case study will illustrate the options followed by an opportunity to design your own customised reporting pack with an APS expert on hand to guide you.

Being self-employed is demanding so it is vital to understand how to get the most from your hard earned profits without paying more tax than you need to

The experts from APS Accountancy will guide you through the various options, explaining how you could better structure your small business to ensure you get the most from it both now and in the future.

Who Should Attend?

Whether you are operating as a sole trader or limited company, are new in business or looking to retire soon, or maybe experiencing a growth in sales that has taken you a little by surprise then this workshop will be invaluable. If you find tax confusing and worry that you are paying too much or too little then this jargon-free session will explain all you need to know.

What are the Benefits?

By clearly and simply illustrating the differences between the way a sole trader might extract a salary when compared to a director of a limited company, the benefits will become evident. Add to this a clear explanation of the rules surrounding pension contributions, company benefits and how to wind up a business and you will feel confident that the future decisions you make will be tax efficient. A Q&A session at the end of the workshop will also provide an opportunity to discover how the rules apply in your particular situation.

A workshop for businesses new to VAT, considering changing their VAT Scheme or just wanting a refresher

A VAT expert from APS Accountancy will guide you through this hands-on session which will cut through the jargon and explain when you must register for VAT, what the different VAT rates are and how you should go about selecting the best VAT Scheme for your business.

Who Should Attend?

Any business feeling confused or worried about VAT regulations and how they apply in practice.

What are the Benefits?

This workshop will offer practical tips on best bookkeeping practice, show how a few simple calculations will highlight the best VAT Scheme for you whilst illustrating how a VAT Return is completed and finally provide the opportunity to quiz an expert on any particular VAT issues that may be keeping you awake at night.

Standard VAT schemes might not be the best fit for your business. Making sure you are up to date with VAT rates, special schemes and knowing where the most common pitfalls lie will ensure you get it right.

A VAT expert from APS Accountancy will cover the recently introduced Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT system, including a refresher on VAT rates, special VAT schemes (including the tricky ones) and a cheat-sheet summary on the most common mistakes made and how to avoid them. The current VAT rules when trading inside and outside the EU will also be covered enabling business owners to face the future with confidence.

Who Should Attend?

VAT registered businesses who find their trading activities do not fall neatly into the usual VAT schemes along with businesses new to VAT or about to register.

What are the Benefits?

Any VAT registered business will benefit from this clear, concise session covering the basics and also the more complicated details. You will find out how the various VAT schemes available might apply to you and be able to consider in detail how any trading activity outside the UK might be affected by the upcoming Brexit deadlines. There will also be the opportunity to quiz our expert on any particular VAT issues that may be keeping you awake at night.

De-mystifying the dark art of creating, interpreting and learning from your accounts.

Accounting software is becoming smarter, offering an ever-expanding range of ‘standard’ reports to help you run your business. An expert from APS Accountancy will guide you through this interactive session in which you will find out more about the Profit & Loss Account, Balance Sheet and why profit may not always equal cash!

Who Should Attend?

Any business keen to get more management information out of their accounting software but may be feeling confused by all the reports available as ‘standard’. And if you dread your annual accounts meeting then this workshop is a must.

What are the Benefits?

By illustrating how the two most popular standard reports can be used to highlight errors, trends and growth this session will provide a good working knowledge for anyone needing to quickly understand and report their business performance on a regular basis.

Your APS Accountancy expert will then explain how these ‘management’ reports are adjusted at each year end, in order to ‘dot the I’s and cross the t’s’ of the standard legal accounting framework, before formal filing with Companies House and HMRC.

Establishing good routines to gain control over your accounting software and maximise the benefits

Accurate bookkeeping is critical to keeping a busy business on track and there are many software options available to help. APS will explain how to create simple routines to ensure records are up to date, compliant and error-free. We understand that not everyone enjoys bookkeeping but by working efficiently you can reduce the time you spend on it, improve the quality of the information your software then provides and create time for the activities you enjoy.

Who Should Attend?

This workshop is aimed at VAT-registered businesses using accounting software to manage their accounts.

What are the Benefits?

Good bookkeeping habits will reduce both time and errors. Your APS Accountancy expert will explain the key monthly, quarterly and annual tasks – highlighting common mistakes and sharing ‘quick tips’ to make your life easier.

You’ll also find out which reports your accounting software can product to help you manage cash, chase debts and pay your own bills on time.

It is vital to understand how best to plan your personal tax position to maximise the money you keep from that which you earn.

Tax rules can seem complicated and perhaps even overwhelming for new start-ups but understanding, filing and paying tax is a necessary part of doing business. Make sure you are not caught out in future by finding out what taxes your business must pay and when – HMRC fines for late payment can be hefty and a little time spent planning will pay dividends (and yes there are taxes to be paid on those as well).

Who Should Attend?

Sole traders or directors of their own limited companies wanting a better understanding of the taxes they must pay, why there is a difference between the profit the business makes in a year and the profit figure used to calculate tax and when the different taxes must be paid.

What are the Benefits?

There are five types of taxation that will be explored during the workshop. Corporation tax, income tax and national insurance will be covered in detail with a brief overview of VAT and business rates to enable participants to leave with a complete picture of all the taxes that apply to their particular business.

A practical session will also help business owners identify how they may be able to plan expenditure to minimise their tax liability.

All things self-assessment

January can be a long and stressful month for many reasons. By making sure you know your UTR from your NINO, your CGT from your HICBC you can ensure completing your tax return isn’t one of them.

Who Should Attend?

Whether you are newly self-employed or a long standing company director, a partner in a business or planning for your retirement, this workshop will provide a jargon-free update and ensure that the 31st January deadline for paying self-assessment tax does not cause undue sleepless nights.

HMRC provide extensive information on the rules surrounding personal tax. It can be difficult to sort through which rules and reliefs apply to your particular circumstances which is why your APS expert will help you navigate through the legislation. The session will cover the types of income you have to report on a tax return along with the various allowances and reliefs you can use to reduce the tax you owe. It will also explain the various tax bands that apply and how and when you have to pay any tax you owe so penalties (and those sleepless nights) can be avoided.