November 20 Newsletter

November 2, 2020

Business Update

How to make your business recession-proof
So, the UK is in a recession for the first time in 11 years. How can we weather the storm as business owners? How can we be one of the ones who come out of it stronger than ever and ready to grow when the economy bounces back?
4 ways to recession-proof your business

Change your mindset (and quickly)

Henry Ford said “whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right” and it’s true. If during the recession, you think that you are going to come out of it, then you will. Just make sure to surround yourself with people who support you and reconnect with why you started your business. It will make a positive mindset so much easier.
2. Increase your marketing activity The temptation is to cut marketing to save on some costs but often that will do more harm than good. Increase your marketing in the right areas. For example, refresh the copy on your website, review your marketing to see what is working the best, and increase your activity on your LinkedIn.
3. Make it easy for your customers to pay little and often By offering them the ability to pay regularly via direct debit payment method or by giving them a payment holiday on their normal monthly payments.
4. Increase your business efficiency and reduce your overheads The best changes that you can make for your business during a recession is to cut your overheads in a way that will increase efficiency. For example, what can be automated or eliminated? Automating certain processes will cost initially but they will increase productivity. Don’t forget to involve your team in this process. Ask them every week what they think can be improved on and you’ll see that they will have some great ideas.

Accounting Update

Furlough Scheme Extension
Firstly, details are still very sketchy. Indeed, the government’s own website on the job retention schemes have not yet been updated after the Prime Minister’s announcement on Saturday evening. For more details about the support for businesses announced yesterday see the government’s press release here

This is what we are aware of at the moment:

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or ‘Furlough’ as it has come to be known will be extended for another month on more favourable terms.
The replacement for Furlough, “The Job Support Scheme” due to start today, starts in early December after the Furlough scheme officially finishes.
A grant available to self-employed people affected by COVID-19 has also been doubled to 80% of profits, with a maximum grant of £5160 over a 3-month period.
There are still grants available for businesses with rateable premises who are forced to close due to local or national restrictions.

The good news for small business owners (if there can be a silver lining) is that now the government will put in the full 80% of wage costs, up to a max of £2500 per month, for furloughed employees, with employers only needing to cover the pension and NI contributions. And similar to the scheme rules from July, you can have your furloughed employees working part-time under the scheme.
You will be able to furlough anyone who has been on the payroll by 30th October 2020. And they don’t need to have been furloughed before. And similar to how the scheme has operated, you will make your furlough claims with your payroll submissions.

Businesses required to close in England due to local or national restrictions will still be eligible for the following:

For properties with a rateable value of £15k or under, grants to be £1,334 per month, or £667 per two weeks;
For properties with a rateable value of between £15k-£51k grants to be £2,000 per month, or £1,000 per two weeks;
For properties with a rateable value of £51k or over grants to be £3,000 per month, or £1,500 per two weeks.

If your clients are based in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, they will have money made available to them to replicate a similar grant scheme for closed businesses.
Let’s not forget….
We’ve all been here before. We know that it is a tough time for business owners. And there are no guarantees that this lockdown will stop after the 2nd December. However, we are here for you and have got your back. If you need help with bookkeeping or cashflow management please get in touch.

App of the Month

XAVIER
Xavier is a tool that we use with the majority of our clients to make sure that their data is accurate and as clean as possible.
How does it work? Xavier pulls in data from Xero and runs through a number of checks. The checks highlight common errors such as duplicate contacts or mis-codings.
Special Offer We would like to offer you a FREE Xavier Health Check so that you can see your company’s health score and you will also see the areas which you can improve yourself. We typically aim for a health score of 85%+, what will your score be?
Please contact Joe before 30th November to arrange your free health check report, or give us a call on 01908 751 972 .

Until next month, Stay Safe,

Katherine, David, Kasia & Joe

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