Professional Bookkeeping Services – Shropshire

All businesses have to keep accurate records of their financial transactions. At the Hollies Bookkeeping, we understand that bookkeeping, payroll and accounting demands are involved in the running of a business no matter how small or large. We also understand that maintaining your financial accounts and records, supervising accounting staff, dealing with accountants, debtors and creditors all place pressure on the valuable time and monetary resources of your business.

Our services include Bookkeeping, Payroll – RTI and Auto-enrolment, VAT returns, Self-Assessments, Partnership Tax Returns, Construction Industry Scheme, Limited Company Set up and filing of Annual Returns. We aim to relieve you of these demands by providing professional and efficient services at competitive rates whist at the same time helping you to avoid paying the high costs involved when engaging accountancy firms over an extended period of time.

New company car fuel rates

New company car fuel rates, which took effect from 1 March 2019, have been published. The guidance states: “You can use the previous rates for up to one month from the date the new rates apply” – so you must have ensured you change your company car rates by 1 April. The rates only apply to employees using a company car.

The advisory company car fuel rates for journeys undertaken on or after 1 March 2019 are:

Engine size         Petrol

1400cc or less    11p

1401cc - 2000cc   14p

Over 2000cc          21p

Engine size   ...

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National Minimum Wage changing in April 2019

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) are changing in April 2019. They are the legal minimum wage rates that must be paid to employees. Employers are liable to be penalised for not complying with the NMW and NLW rules.

There are different levels of NMW and NLW, depending on age and whether the employee is an apprentice. The rates are due to increase from 1 April 2019 as detailed below:

From 1 April 2019 (£)

NLW for workers aged 25 and over - 8.21

NMW main rate for workers aged 21-24 - 7...

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Self employed or contractor the tax rules

Whether you are self employed or a contractor you may wonder just what are the tax rules applicable to each one?

A person is self-employed if they run their business for themselves and take responsibility for its success or failure.

Self-employed workers aren’t paid through PAYE, and they don’t have the employment rights and responsibilities of employees.

Someone can be both employed and self-employed at the same time, for ...

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Tax self-assessment deadline 31 January 2019

The deadline for submitting your 2017/18 self-assessment return is 31 January 2019. The deadline applies to taxpayers who need to complete a tax return and make direct payments to HMRC in respect of their income tax, Classes 2 and 4 National Insurance Contributions (NIC), capital gains tax and High-Income Child Benefit Charge liabilities.

There is a penalty of £100 if a taxpayer's return is not submitted on time, even if there is no tax due or the return shows that they are due a tax refund.

The balance of any outstanding income tax, Classes 2 and 4 NIC, capital gains tax and High-Incom...

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Increase of automatic enrolment pension contributions April 2019

From 6 April, 2019, the minimum pension contributions you and your staff pay into your automatic enrolment workplace pension scheme will increase.

This is also sometimes known as ‘phasing’. It is your responsibility to make sure these increases are implemented.

Who does this apply to?
All employers with staff in a pension scheme for automatic enrolment must take action to make sure at least the minimum amounts are being paid into their pension scheme. This applies to you whether you set up a pension scheme for automatic enrolment or you decided to use an existing scheme.

However...

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Get ahead and invest in an accountant

A challenging task for start-ups and new business owners in the first year is the annual and rather scary prospect – the self-assessment tax return so get ahead and invest in an accountant. It’s a challenge which often results in a mad rush to meet the taxman’s end of January deadline.

As daunting as the self-assessment process is, getting your return filed on time (and paying what you owe) is crucial for avoiding the late filing fees that are automatically incurred if you miss the January 31st deadline.

You’ll get an initial £100 fixed penalty, (applies even if there is no tax ...

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Autumn Budget 2018: a summary for landlords

Following Philip Hammond’s Autumn Budget announcement, we’ve taken a look at what it could mean for landlords in the UK – including changes to the income tax personal allowance and higher rate thresholds.

Even though the 2018 Budget was relatively light on announcements for landlords and the private rented sectors - the most important announcements were around personal tax, including the changes to the personal allowance and higher rate income tax thresholds.

Landlords have been at the sharp end of taxation changes in recent years. So, what does today’s announcement mean for land...

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Why Is Bookkeeping Important?

Bookkeeping dates back thousands of years, the oldest records of bookkeeping have been found in archaeological digs and National Geographic reported on a 5000-year-old stone tablet showing a record of how much barley was used over 37 months – books!

So why is bookkeeping so important?

Bookkeeping is the foundation upon which the rest of your accounting practices are built.

Everything from payroll to tax deductions needs a solid bookkeeping base to work from. Without it, you cannot hope to manage your finances.

You couldn’t save for tax because you’d...

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10 Reasons to hire a Bookkeeper

Consider a scenario where your business is on its way from idea to actual business. There are many, many things to think about and consider so here are 10 reasons to hire a bookkeeper.
And one of them may just include that all-important decision of when to bring in outside experts to assist you with some of the operational functions that go into running a business.
Those functions almost certainly include the financial aspect of your business. While you may not need - or want - an accountant, you coul...

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Universal Credit and self-employment

The government has published a report, called ‘Universal Credit: supporting self-employment’ which considers the issues faced by self-employed claimants.
Universal Credit is a monthly payment to help with your living costs. You may be able to get it if you’re on a low income or out of work – but self-employed people may also be eligible from time to time.
The report considers the impact of the Monthly Income Floor (MIF) earnings requirement. To be eligible for Universal Credit (UC) claimants m...

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