Move your business forward using Accounts Software

Author: Alan Butler

Have you noticed that there is a lot of doom and gloom in the business world? Companies are losing money so fast it is unbelievable. All we hear about is the recession and peoples' houses being worth less than the mortgage on them. Jobs are being lost and people wonder where they will get the money to pay the bills. But as a business you want to move your business forward and you can by using accounts software.

Think about it for a moment, if you do not know where your business is financially, you will be moving backwards. Now, you might wonder how that can be if you have more sales, and you think there is more money in the bank.

You think, but you do not know. The problem is that a lot of businesses take their bank balance as a sign of how their business is doing. More money in the bank means a healthier business, but that is not true. What it means is you have not spent more money yet. People tend to spend the money they have, and then they realize that money should have been used to pay bills.

When you use an accounts program, you can see the true picture of your business. You will not be relying on your bank statement to tell you how much money you have.

You will be able to print reports which will allow you to move your business forward, which is crucial if you want to survive the recession.

About the Author:

Alan Butler is a director of A Butler and Company, chartered certified accountants, based in Derby, providing a personalised service to local business owners and individuals.

Four Software Limited, 5A Darley Abbey Mills, Darley Abbey, Derby, DE22 1DZ, Tel 01332 200 604, Fax 01332 344329, Four Software
Email bookkeeping@siteweave.net

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Move your business forward using Accounts Software

How might National Insurance and tax affect your business?

Here is an introduction to the different kinds of taxes that you might have to pay - working on your own or in business with others. There is also an introduction to ways of paying less tax.

But before you read on...
...three questions you'll find helpful

As you read about these taxes, you'll find that the rules change a lot according to the answer you give to these three questions:

1. Are you setting up in business as a self-employed individual, or as a company/limited liability partnership?
   
   
2. Will anyone be working for you as an employee?
   
   
3. How much turnover do you expect to have in your first year of business, and how much profit do you expect to make?

If you can answer these questions early on, when you read through the information, you'll find it easier to pick out how the different rules affect you.
...and one tip

Remember - the key to paying no more tax than you need to is keeping proper records.

Get more help from the HM Revenue and Customs web site

Keep Track of Your Money With Accountancy Software

By Alan Butler

You have money in petty cash, in your current account, your deposit account and in the building society. But, do you know how much money is in each account? How can you easily keep track of your money? By using accountancy software!

Are you missing out on interest because you forgot to transfer the money from your current account to your savings account?

You have been charged bank charges this month, because you forgot to transfer that small amount of money from your deposit account to your current account, which would have kept you above the limit for paying bank charges.

Using accounting software you will no longer have a problem knowing which account you need to make a transfer from or to. Account software will let you know to the penny how much money is in each account. You will wonder how you managed before you had an accountancy software package - no more scraps of paper! Referring to your accounts package, you will know before your staff asks for more petty cash, how much they have spent and how much they need.

Every penny counts in a recession and you need to know exactly how much money you are making each day. You need to know when to stop promoting a product because it is no longer making you any money and when to promote one that is doing well.

Now you can know exactly what is happening with your business. You can keep track of your money when you use accountancy software. Do not delay, get your accounting software today and see the difference it makes in knowing how much money you have.

Alan Butler is a director of A Butler and Company, chartered certified accountants, based in Derby, providing a personalised service to local business owners and individuals.

Four Software Limited
5A Darley Abbey Mills
Darley Abbey
Derby
DE22 1DZ

Tel 01332 200 604

Fax 01332 344329

Web Site: www.foursoft.co.uk

Article Source: Ezine Articles

Keep Control of Your Business Finance Using Accounting Software

By Alan Butler

In the past, people hated keeping accounts. It was time consuming, and boring. People would write something in a book, but most of the time it did not mean anything.

Bank accounts were not balanced, because it was not something a lot of people understood. What do you do when you spend money out of the business account and it was for your own use? It was too confusing, that is why you pay your accountant.

That is true, but it also meant that a business person had no idea what the true financial affairs were for their company. Even, if they did have some idea, often it did not make sense to them. They would check their bank balance, and too often the balance showing either told them how much they could spend or how much they owed the bank.

But that has changed now. No longer is accounting a hidden secret, not when you purchase and use accounting software. You see a product that will enhance your business but can you afford to buy it or not? Now you can know exactly what money is available to spend on that product.

You no longer have pieces of paper around your house and office with notes, pay this supplier by a certain date, or chase up that customer if they do not pay by a certain date.

You now have it all automated, as you check your debtors and creditors on a daily basis. Nothing is left to chance. Having accounting software makes you wonder how you ever managed without it before.

Alan Butler is a director of A Butler and Company, chartered certified accountants, based in Derby, providing a personalised service to local business owners and individuals.

Four Software Limited
5A Darley Abbey Mills
Darley Abbey
Derby
DE22 1DZ

Tel 01332 200 604
Fax 01332 344329
www.foursoftware.co.uk
Article Source: Ezine Articles

PAYE for employers: the basics

PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is the system that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) uses to collect Income Tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) from employees' pay as they earn it. The term 'employee' in this guide includes directors of limited companies.

As an employer, you'll have to deduct tax and NICs from your employees' pay each pay period and pay Employer's Class 1 NICs if they earn above a certain threshold. You pay these amounts to HMRC monthly or quarterly. If you don't send the correct amount, or if you send it in late, you may have to pay interest.

Further help from the HM Revenue and Customs Web Site

Information at Your Finger Tips Using Accounts Software

by Alan Butler

Have you ever wanted to get some information and you have to telephone your accountant to get it? Well now, you do not have to wait for your accountant to finish preparing your accounts to get your books back.

The accountant then spends time looking for the information, and finally you get the information you desperately need. The problem is that telephone phone call did not just cost you time, it cost you the amount the accountant has added to your invoice.

No longer do you have to do that. If you use accounts software, then you will be able to go to your computer and immediately get the information needed.

You need to complete your VAT return? Not a problem because the VAT report will be printed for you.

A customer telephones you and wants to get a duplicate copy of their invoice - not a problem because you can immediately find it and print off a new copy.

No more rummaging through boxes of invoices or going through the ledgers to find the items you are looking for. Now, you can do it immediately as you use your accounts software.
You wonder what your bank balance is, and you find that your bank is updating their web site, so you cannot access your account. No problem! You can now find out the exact balance on each bank account. Not the balance at the bank, but the exact balance including all the outstanding checks and banking.

Nothing could be easier as you have every piece of information at your finger tips when you are using accounts software.

Alan Butler is a director of A Butler and Company, chartered certified accountants, based in Derby, providing a personalized service to local business owners and individuals.

Four Software Limited, 5A Darley Abbey Mills, Darley Abbey, Derby, DE22 1DZ, Tel 01332 200 604, Fax 01332 344329,
Article Source: Ezine Articles