Answer No, we offer fixed accounting fees in line with the value we bring to you, We will never surprise you with big bills as costs will be established prior to any work commencing. Contact Us to find out more.

Answer: We are always happy to meet wherever is most convenient, we have high quality and relaxed meeting facilities at our office in Weybridge

How to find us

Answer: We have built a reputation for building long term relationships, so we quote what we anticipate will be a fair fee for the work required over the year.

Answer: You get the best of both worlds, a local personal company that gets to understand your needs backed up with an army of more than 1600 advisors with many specialising in niche areas – there is now no accounting challenge that we cannot provide a solution to.

Answer: One of the first decisions you’ll make when starting up is your business structure. The structure you choose impacts taxes, liability, control, and how to pay yourself from your business. You can structure your business as a:

• Sole Trader
• Limited Company
• Registered Charity

Depending on how you structure your company you will have differing filing and reporting requirements.
Before selecting a business entity, lay out your business goals and consider the pros and cons of each. ABG can help you select the right vehicle for your circumstances and the type of business you want to run. .

Answer: If your turnover is more than £85,000 per year you will be required to register (unless all of the products/services that you sell are VAT exempt). The good news is that ABG can help you set this up and make managing your VAT returns as painless as possible. .

Answer: Sole traders are not required to open a separate business bank account. But mixing personal and business funds can make preparing your accounts more difficult and potentially less accurate. If you use a personal bank account for business purposes, you will find it increasingly difficult to distinguish your company’s finances from your own. You may accidentally use business funds to make personal purchases or miss payments relating to business expenses. There is no legal requirement for a limited company to have its own bank account. But it is a separate legal entity so should have a separate bank account from your own to reflect that distinction. Most banks’ terms and conditions will require that you use a business account for a limited company. To open a business bank account, you must:

• Choose a bank
• Gather necessary documents (e.g., articles of association)
• Open the account

Contact ABG – we can guide you through the process.
.

Answer: Not every aspiring entrepreneur can afford to fully fund their new start-up business. You may need to think about financing options if you want your business dream to come to life.
ABG have masses of experience advising new business owners on how funding can best be achieved. This can include helping you build a clear and accurate business plan and advice on the types of funding available and how best to approach them.
If you’re interested in borrowing funds you can apply for:

• Business overdraft or other line of credit
• A business loan

Instead of borrowing funds, you may want to find investors to invest in your business, like venture capitalists or angel investors.
You’ll likely need to offer them business equity or a share of control in your company. Having a clear and detailed business plan is key to winning funding in this way.
Another financing option is crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is a financing method where you ask for investments or donations, generally from a large group of people.
Keep in mind that you probably need to offer an incentive if you want crowdfunding to be effective (think about company-branded goodies, early access to products, or personal shoutouts). You can also ask friends and family for loans or investments.
Treat funds from family and friends seriously by creating a contract and payment plan Come and talk to us about business funding to get the best advice and assistance.

Answer: Below are some basic accounting terms. If you need any further explanations get in contact and let us help.

• Cost of goods sold (COGS) :
An expense that represents how much it costs you to produce your offerings. COGS is a crucial factor when determining your business’s profit.

• Debits and credits :
Equal but opposite entries in your books (i.e., one increases an account and the other decreases the opposite account).

• Inventory:
Includes the raw materials in storage, items in the production process, and finished goods available for sale.

• Assets:
Your business’s physical (tangible) or non-physical (intangible) property that adds value to your business.

• Liabilities:
The money that your business owes. You can have both short-term liabilities that are due within one year and long-term liabilities that are not due within one year.

• Equity:
The value of your business after subtracting liabilities from assets.

• Revenue:
The amount of money your business brings in from sales.

 

Answer: One of the first decisions you need to make when setting up your books is deciding how to record transactions.
You can:

1. Record transactions by hand
2. Hire an accountant like ABG
3. Use accounting software

Recording transactions by hand is the most inexpensive but time-consuming method. It also opens up your business to common accounting errors and it’s fairly easy to miscalculate or fail to balance accounts.

Hiring the right accountant is a cost effective and least time-consuming method. When you hire an accountant, you don’t need to manage your books. You may hire an in-house accountant or outsource to an accounting firm.
As a new business it allows you to concentrate on driving revenue. With ABG you will be compliant and on good terms with HMRC, and we will be able to give you great advice about all aspects of your business accounting and tax responsibilities.

Accounting software to manage your books is a good middle ground between recording transactions by hand and having an accountant do it all. Using software streamlines the way you track incoming and outgoing money and helps continually organise your books. With software, you can automate your record-keeping responsibilities, then hand over your books to an accountant for the more complicated accounting requirements (end of year accounts and tax preparation).

Answer: Key to this is getting good advice. Our help with all aspects, especially in the early days, can offer substantial money and time savings as we will help you avoid mistakes.

With ABG on your team any confusion can be removed quickly, allowing you to concentrate on building your business, winning customers and growing revenue.

Cash-basis accounting is the simplest way to manage your books. With cash-basis accounting, you only record transactions when you physically make or receive a payment.
This is a single-entry accounting system, meaning you record each transaction once and do not need to record debtors or creditors.

With accrual accounting, you use basic accountancy principles to ensure that only receipts and expenses which apply to the accountancy year are recorded in that year. Incoming and outgoing transactions are recorded when an invoice is sent or received, even if no money has changed hands.
This is a ‘double-entry’ accounting system, which means that you will record two entries for each transaction. Although this method is more complex it does give a more accurate position of the business’ finances. Note, not all UK businesses can use cash basis accounting. For example, it can't be used by limited companies or those with a business turnover of more than £150,000.

Answer: If you go with accrual accounting, you’ll deal with accounts payable (creditors) and receivable (debtors). So, what’s the difference?

• Accounts payable: Money you owe to suppliers (a liability). Record accounts payable when you purchase something, without necessarily paying for it right away.
• Accounts receivable: Money owed to your business (an asset). Record accounts receivable in your books when customers purchase something and have been invoiced, but you have not yet received payment.
 

Answer: To file your business tax return, you need the unique tax reference (UTR), financial records, and access to online services or software.
The form you file depends on how you structured your business.
Contact ABG and let us demonstrate what we can provide which best supports your business circumstances.

Answer: Yes! You can claim tax deductions to lower your tax liability.
ABG have decades of experience in legally complying with HMRC rules to optimise your tax returns and corresponding liabilities.

We can make sure you have all the tax deductions and other allowances in place to give your new business the best start in life.

Answer:An investigation is an examination by HMRC of your business’ financial records. HMRC reviews your records and checks for inconsistencies in your books. For people without the help of an experienced accountant this can be very stressful. The right advice before this happens can make a massive difference to how this may or may not impact on you and your business.
Receiving an investigation doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve done anything wrong. HMRC usually looks at a business if its tax returns look in some way suspicious or inconsistent, if it is repeatedly late with its filings or sometimes they will target a particular industry sector. Occasionally they choose a business at random.
The easiest way to handle an investigation is to engage our services to ensure compliance from the very start and avoid fines and potential issues with HMRC.

Answer: Yes - Invoices are bills that businesses send customers to request (and acknowledge) payment. You will always need to create invoices if you provide goods or services to a customer without demanding immediate payment. As invoices can also act as a payment receipt to a customer they should be part of your record keeping regime.

To create an invoice, include information such as:

• The date of the transaction and payment due date
• Customer information
• Seller information
• Product or service information
• Amount due
• Invoice payment terms
• Invoice number for reference

Answer: Getting paid on time is one of the most important aspects of a start-up business.

If you extend credit to customers, your business success may depend on when customers finally pay you. And sometimes, it can be like pulling teeth to get customers to pay you on time.

Take a look at a few ways you can encourage early or on-time payments:

• Agree payment terms before you provide goods or services and get written acceptance.
• Set clear payment terms which show when payment is due.
• Send reminders
• Offer an early payment discount

Answer: To determine your business’s financial health, you need to know how to calculate profit. Use the following net profit formula:
Net Profit = Turnover (Sales) – Cost of Goods Sold – Expenses

When calculating expenses, you will need to include costs of salaries, insurance, IT, equipment hire or purchase, services such as phones and internet connectivity, consultancy services and accounting costs.

Answer: If you want to increase net profit, you must decrease expenses and increase turnover.

This can be easier said than done.

There are a few ways you can decrease expenses. You can shop around to find better deals on supplies, goods, and equipment. Or, you could look for expenses that you can reduce or cut out altogether. You can increase sales by:

• Revisiting your market analysis – which includes understanding your competitors, their pricing and their value proposition.
• Finding ways of demonstrating the advantage for customers by using you.
• Offering discounts.
• Decreasing your prices in line with the competitive market.
• Improving your marketing strategy including your social media presence.
• Look at the best off-line methods of advertising your business, this could include trade shows, paper-based advertising, sponsorship.
• Increasing your value proposition and encouraging referrals from happy customers