Archive for May, 2012

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10 royal brandbuilders

Thursday, May 31st, 2012

1 The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Price of Wales can all grant royal warrants, a mark of recognition to companies who have supplied goods or services to them for at least five years.

2 Mohammed Al Fayed burned Harrods’ royal warrants, first granted in 1913, because he believed they were cursed.

3 Benson & Hedges had its royal warrant revoked in 1999 “due to a lack of demand in royal households”.

4 During the Queen’s historic visit to the Republic of Ireland last year, Diageo hosted a Guinness pulling demonstration. Her Majesty declined to sample the national drink but photographers caught Price Phillip taking a second glance.

5 High street brands have seen sales soar following their association with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, who favours labels including Reiss, Jigsaw, Whistles, LK Bennett and Zara. (more…)

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Alleged competitor

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

I thought I would expand on a previous tweet – call it a little rant if you like.

Just seen an alleged competitor has joined UKAN, but nowhere on that co’s website does it mention services for overseas companies? #fail
May 22, 2012 3:37 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite
@UKAccounting
Kevin Beare & Co

About three years ago, we received an enquiry from an Australian company. We responded to their email enquiry, and successfully helped them to setup in the UK – a true FDI (Foreign Direct Investment). During the course of forming that client relationship, the client explained that they had contacted other firms of accountants listed on the UKAN website, but only two bothered to respond. One, responded a week later and appeared pushy and insisted on having a speedy response, the other was us. (more…)

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Auto-enrolment and UK employee earning thresholds

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

With the new tax year well under way, this post brings you some of the new tax rates and allowances which you may want to take advantage of. Meanwhile, the Government has confirmed that employee earning thresholds for the upcoming pension auto-enrolment will be aligned with tax and national insurance thresholds – we take a look. Elsewhere, small businesses may stand to benefit from a new mobile app which allows them to access business records on-the-go. Plus, are you aware that different business accounting dates may offer various advantages, or disadvantages for your business? (more…)

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The UK tax year and choosing your accounting date

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

Whatever business model you are in, you must prepare annual accounts which report on business performance and activities during the financial year. What many may be unaware of, is that businesses are allowed a free choice of when to end an accounting year.

So, for 2012/13 tax, accounting dates can vary between 6 April 2012 and 5 April 2013. The date that you choose may be dictated by commercial reasons, but also by external factors such as interest rate movements, inflation, changes in rates of tax and changes to the tax system.

As a general rule, using a date towards the end of the tax year leads to the simplest application of a current year basis of assessment, although this leaves very little time before tax is payable. (more…)

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