2 Sisters Accounting

Is getting a response from your accountant harder than finding your cat that's got a new hiding spot?

It shouldn't be. Leave the playing hard to get to the cats.

Your accountant wont be available at your every beck and call, but you should be able to get a response to your emails without sending smoke signals, doing interpretive dances and making an offering.

If your accountant makes you feel needy with the amount of emails you're sending before you get a response thats a problem.

Its not normal to wait 14 business days to get an email back.

Changing accountants is super simple, tell your old accountant you're leaving, your new accountant will sort the handover with them. There will be a few forms for you and some paperwork but its not the big scary process you're telling yourself it is.

Paid for a business expense on your personal card and furious with yourself for missing out on that sweet sweet tax relief?

Never fear! All is not lost.

If you pay for business expenses personally keep a note of them, and make sure you keep the receipt.

As the cost was for the business, its still an allowable expense.

We can pop it into your software and the business can repay you the money. Simple!

My fave part of this video is when Jessie starts saying "blah blah blah" instead of explaining accounting things.

Nothing but pure professionalism over here 🤣

Payroll basics explainer for small businesses.

I can't provide legal advice but I can tell you how to pay people.

Set up a payroll scheme with HMRC, use payroll software for the calculations, make sure to pay your employee and HMRC, send your employee a payslip.

There is also pensions to take into consideration.

I'll be honest, the best advice I can give on payroll is pay a professional to take care of it for you!

Accounting detectives are back, and this time we're solving a mystery we fix regularly for VAT registered businesses.

Why are the figures you've invoiced totally different to the figures in your accounts?

Because within your accounts VAT is ignored mostly.

The VAT you charge clients and the VAT you've reclaimed on purchases is knocked off the figures in your accounts.

VAT is a lil beastie all of its own and best ignored when it comes to looking at how your business is doing.

If you're thinking about your business income with the VAT included you're doing yourself a huge disservice, VAT is not your money.

Are there any mysteries you'd like us to solve for you?

Accounting detectives are back solving those accounting myths.

What can you claim as a business expense when you're out the office as a small business?

There is no magic allowance, scrap that myth from your mind.

If you are away from your regular place of work you can pop your subsistence on the business card.

In reality that means if you're out the office at client meetings you can grab a coffee and the business pays. Or if you're driving miles to see and client and need to stop for lunch at the services put it on the business card.

The big caveat is if your usual place of work is on the road. If you're always out and about, that is your usual place of work, so the business can't pay for your lunch.

Its for occasional use, not every day use.

And as always, keep your receipts to prove what you're buying and why.

Growing a business is really hard, especially when you're growing it in the wrong way.

If you're an entrepreneur growing your business but not increasing your profit as you do somethings going wrong.

There's no point in working more for the same or less money. That's not how things are supposed to work!

We help businesses fix this problem all the time, its part of what we do as accountants.

But we also know not everyone wants to pay us for the advice month on month. So we wrote it all down.

Into one handy guide so as many businesses as possible can benefit from the advice.

Head to my profile to get your copy of our business growth guide and grow your business and your bank balance.

If you're a small business that's wildly confused and overwhelmed by your accounting, never fear, the accounting detectives are here to help.

We're smashing those business finance myths one amdram master piece at a time.

We're starting with the big lie that accounting is maths, and if you're not good at mental maths you're guaranteed to be bad at managing your finances.

Accounting is rules and patterns. Understanding your business finances is looking at reports and seeing changes. No adding up required.

You can make yourself graphs using fun colours if you're a visual person.

Bar graphs comparing your cash in vs cash out each month.
Line charts showing your profit each month and you can compare year on year.

There are loads of options and clever ways to make your business numbers super easy.

If you want help with it, send me a message and I'll see how we can help.

Being a new business owner is really hard. There is so much to learn and think about, especially when it comes to accounting and tax.

For some people its so overwhelming it stops them starting that side hustle or small business idea because they can't face hours on the internet trying to work out what they need to be doing.

Don't let that fear and confusion stop you.

Being compliant as a business owner is super important, and its essential you know what you're doing as a business owner, but it doesn't need to be a huge headache or involve hours of scrolling the internet reading over complicated blogs.

We know the struggles small businesses have, we speak to them every single day. Years of these conversations means we know all the questions people ask when they start up.

We've put the answers to all those questions and more into one easy to understand guide. And because we're great we've added in tax calculators, start up checklists, cheat sheets and loads more.

And you can get all that for only £45.

BARGAIN!

Head to the link in my bio to get yours and get your business started.

Can you claim petfood as a business expense?! No.

I'd say for 99% of small businesses you're going to struggle to justify pet food as a business expense.

Regardless of how hard the cat tries to get involved in your filming day.

The cat stealing the show and photobombing aside, expenses have to be wholly necessary and exclusively for the business.

HMRC have pretty strict rules around pet food as they are used to business owners trying to take the mick with pets and business expenses.

This big fluffy boy is Bunbury, Jessie's cat. He might be handsome but he's not a business expense. He also loves to headbutt a laptop and shout when the laptop is in his way of cuddles.

Do your pets get involved when you're working?

How much tax should you be saving as a small business?

If you save 20% every time you get paid that should cover most of your tax bill.

My maths on this really upsets some people but there is method to my madness I promise.

Tax is very roughly 30% these days if you're sole trader or limited company and are in the basic rate.

The higher your profit the more you need to save, if you know you're making big bucks maybe the saving to 25% to 30%.

Once we take all your expenses and tax allowances off your income that 20% is usually a pretty good estimate for the tax you'll actually have to pay.

And for most people a quick and easy close enough is better than a long complicated exact.

Not saving your tax as you go? This is your reminder!

Jessie is up this week telling all.

What does she love most about working with me? Everything of course.

Mostly that I mother her. I am a feeder so I make it my job to make sure Jessie is fed and watered at all times. The tea round ratio in our office is about 80% me and 20% her. At a push.

In turn she becomes a lazy child and expects me to do everything for her, and the thing she likes least about working with me is that I refuse to do that 🤣

She loves working with clients to help them understand their numbers and plan their growth.

She is our resident chartered accountant and most definitely the adult in the business. She keeps me under control when my ideas start getting a little over excited.

Say Hi to Jessie!

Confused about how to pay your corporation tax?

I put Jessie under pressure this week to explain how to pay it.

I know you see post from HMRC and automatically want to toss it in the bin without opening it.

This is your friendly reminder to not do that.

Not opening HMRC post is bad for so many reasons, but one of those being HMRC send you one single letter with the reference you have to have to correctly pay your corporation tax.

Helpful right?!

You can get this online, but if you haven't got your government gateway account set up and leave paying your corp tax until the last minute you'll cause yourself a problem.

Do you open the dreaded brown envelopes or are they sit in a pile being ignored?

Jessie is back in the hot seat proving she's worth the title of good accountant, and this time I make her work for it.

The VAT threshold increased to £90k from April which gives you some extra wiggle room these days.

The key thing to remember is its VATable turnover, which can make things slightly confusing. That will mean its income from UK businesses.

If you work in an industry where you know some things might be outside the scope of VAT then I'd suggest doing some extra research for your specific industry.

Remember as well, its a rolling 12 month period, the VAT threshold doesn't follow calendar year or tax year or anything simple!

Want a great accountant to help with your VAT? Drop me a message to see how we can help.

Business expenses, every always wants to know what they can put through their business.

The key rule is always wholly necessary and exclusively for the business.

People get cross with me for adding in necessary, but I know for people that are unsure its a really helpful addition.

What does it mean in reality?

Things that are clearly for your personal welfare that happen to allow you to work better wont be allowed. They aren't exclusively for the business.

Expenses that happen because of business are allowed. Travelling to a business meeting, food while you are away from where you usually work, these are allowable.

My top rule is if it feels like you're taking the mick you probably are. HMRC don't care how clever your argument is, they care if its allowable or not.

HMRC have paid nearly 500,000 parents their child benefit payments late this week.

Payments were due to reach parents on Monday and failed to do so, with HMRC saying they should reach parents on Wednesday.

If you're affected and its cost you money in DDs bouncing or other costs then keep track of all the costs and write to HMRC asking for these to be repaid.

It will likely take forever as it always does with HMRC but its really worth doing.

In this weeks FFS we discuss the crisis that is HMRC, they're having some of their massively slashed budgets reintroduced as they are a complete disaster and failing to provide good enough service. This latest mistake it further proof of the ongoing issues there.

We also answer what's happening with MTD for the self employed, if you've been thinking "I must look into that" just listen to the podcast instead.

Search FFS on any of the podcast platforms to find us.

Or if you love a raspy voice give it a listen just to hear Hilary!

How can you work the most effective way possible with an accountant?

Mostly by actually working with us.

Don't ignore us, don't make huge decisions without talking to us first, DON'T IGNORE US.

We are completely useless if you don't reply to us and don't tell us what's going on. Our mind reading skills are pretty good, but they aren't that good.

Remember we're here to help, not to do everything for you. You do still have to be involved.

What would your 3 top tips for working with you be?

I can confirm Ribena did not sponsor us for this video, and yes we are giggling at microphone m**f a lot at the end of the video.

Business expenses, everyones favourite panic point of "but can I claim this?!"

We've got some pretty specific examples this week but the rule stands, wholly exclusively for the business.

Is there clear person benefit? You may want to pause and double check what you're buying.

Anyone else a big Ribena fan or just me? I go through real stages and right now I'm lightly obsessed.

Also, are is the fluffy bit on a microphone actually called its m**f or did I make that up?

Got a rapidly growing business and losing your mind a bit?

It happens!

Its so exciting seeing your business take off and feel like you're taking over the world, but it can all come tumbling down super quickly if you don't have the right processes and building blocks in place.

You need to be on it with your numbers.

This means you can check its good profit making growth, and not bad time sucking money losing growth.

Getting monthly meetings in with an accountant forces you to face these things, which will make a huge difference in making sure your business is growing in the right way!

Promised loads of cash by someone if you set up a business and follow their 3 easy quick steps? Or their magic 6 week program?

Run a mile. Speaking from experience, its never that easy.

But once you're up and running how can you make sure you're definitely making money and not working for nothing.

Look at your outgoings, are you making enough to cover the basic non negotiable spending? If not, you either need more clients or more money.

If you're already working every hour under the sun, you need more money. And that usually means you need to charge more.

How do you decide what to charge? Look at what you want to earn and how many hours you want to work with clients. Not how many hours you want to work. They're two different things.

And if the hourly rate is a silly number no one will ever pay, you'll need a rethink.

Simple when I put it like that isn't it!

This week might be a shock for some, I talk like a real adult accountant.

When it comes to recruitment companies I do know my stuff, having worked in them or with them for 10 odd years. (Never doing the recruitment though, lets be clear.)

So, how do you work out if your billing team members are making the money you need them to?

Are you keeping track of who's billing what? A salesboard can be a really simple way of seeing who's billed what.

Are you tracking what everyone's commission is costing you or are you just paying it as it happens and having a horrible surprise each time.

Are you just looking at the revenue they're making or are you looking at their overall contribution to the business?

Want help with those things? Pop me a message, I know my stuff

A gift for everyone today, showing off yet another talent with a little sing song.

AND a game of hide and seek.

Where's your cash hiding?

Have you actually been paid it?
Have you paid yourself it?
Was it your cash in the first place or was it the tax mans?

There's a whole lot of places it could be hiding, make sure you know where yours is!

Right lets get Jessie back in her cage with her grand plans to try and escape from accountancy.

I'm here to crush some dreams.

CPD, so continuous professional development, is totally allowed as a business expense. Course it is.

But training for something totally new? That's where HMRC say no.

Which means no acting classes are on the horizon for us anytime soon.

Sorry to crush even more dreams that these videos may improve one day 😂

What the jeff is a KPI and why does it matter?

Officially its a Key Performance Indicator. To many of us KPIs are just something we've been shouted at for at some point in our career during miserable performance reviews.

But they can actually be helpful!

They can help you track your goals within your business.

A KPI could be your gross profit margin, or how much your staff cost you, or if your commission schemes are costing you wildly too much.

Who knew they could link to actual business performance and not just to make you feel bad about yourself?!

Anyone else hate KPIs because of dodgy management?

Want to set some good ones for your business that link to your numbers, we can help.

What's a CAC code and why do you need it?

If you're a limited company you need your CAC code to file anything online with companies house. So its really important!

They will send it out when you first set up your company, try to keep hold of it.

If not we can request a new one, but if you've moved addresses and not told companies house it can become a bother.

A reminder to keep addresses up to date, and keep important letters filed well!

Clients regularly don't have a clue which of us is Beth and which is Jessie, we're pretty used to it by now.

But just because we're related, doesn't mean we're the same.

Its the same for directors and their limited companies. You might be related, but you're not the same thing.

This was the simplest way we could think to explain the same same but different nature of being a director of a limited company.

Did it make sense to you? Or did our endless "yeaahs" put you off? 😂

PROVE YOU'RE A GOOD ACCOUNTANT!

I got so excited about it being back I accidentally spat on Jessie...

The basics. What tax do Limited companys pay and when do they pay it?

They pay corporation tax at a rate of somewhere between 19% and 25% on their profits, and they pay it within 9 months of their year end.

Directors pay personal tax on their drawings from the business and need to get their tax returns sorted by 31st January each year.

Jessie is a good accountant and gets to keep her job....for now.

Do you want to look as snazzy as Jessie does here?

You too can treat yourself to ever such a fancy jacket and rock the office runway with style.

If its got your logo on it loud and proud, like our lovely new coats, then it becomes a business expense and is tax deductible.

We've got poloshirts, joggers, hoodies, and now coats.

Yes, most of my wardrobe is branded at this point 😂

Do you make the most of this lovely tax rule?

We all know how much I love HMRC, like super loads.

But here is our public service announcement on behalf of all accountants that you don't shout at us because of HMRC's failings.

We know its frustrating when the info they sends makes no sense, it drives us up the wall as well.

Lets channel our inner high school musical and sing we're all in this together and whinge about them together, instead of separately.

Who's ready to hold hands and sing Kumbaya?

I cackled hard watching this back and realising you can hear Jessie's whisper.

Turns out the mic's work well!

The important takeaway is not that I smell, its that MTDITSA has been delayed again.

If you're self employed and got all excited about it, don't worry, stand down again until 2026, maybe even 2027.

If it ever happens. 🤣

And for the record, I don't smell!

But where's the money gone?!

We went searching high and low in the woods for the cash you think should be in your bank but isn't.

We came up with these ideas for you.

1 - Yes you've had a storming few months, but has everyone actually paid up?! Remember turnover doesn't always equal cold hard cash.

2 - Are you charging enough? Did you consider tax, outgoings and everything else when setting your prices? You might have billed loads, but if its going straight back out, then you need a look at your pricing.

3 - Are you forgetting VAT money isn't your money? Never fall into the trap of thinking all the money is your money, a lot of it is the governments money.

Want us to help you hunt down your money? Drop me a message to see how we can help.

But I can't guarentee it will involve a trip frolicking in the woods.