What do we mean by profit?

When most business owners refer to business profits, they are likely to mean the difference between sales and costs, and more concisely, that sales exceed costs.
However, the word “profits” can prove to be a moveable feast as HMRC, banks
To register or not to register

In the recent Spring Budget, the VAT registration threshold was raised to £90,000 (previously £85,000) which means that smaller businesses that did not want to register for VAT, now have an additional £5,000 of turnover they can make each year
We are unpaid tax collectors

Clients often refer to the VAT added to supplier invoices as if it were a cost to their business regardless of their VAT position.
This is true if you are not registered for VAT, you do not have to add VAT to your sales and you cannot recover any
Time to rethink the credit you offer your customers

Most business owners are driven by sales targets and to meet these targets they may be tempted to offer extended payment terms.
For example, if your business grants a customer time to pay – say 60 days – after the services or goods supplied have
Public sector productivity

In a recent announcement by the Treasury, it was announced that plans are afoot to deliver up to £1.8bn of productivity benefits by 2029.
The aim is to improve public sector productivity, including releasing police time for more frontline work.
Companies House rolls-out new powers

The first measures under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCT Act) came into force on Monday 4 March 2024.
Changes introduced include:
greater powers to query information and request supporting evidence;
stronger checks
Crack down on ‘fire and rehire’ practices

The Government has announced action to tackle the use of controversial ‘fire and rehire’ practices. In a press release issued 19 February 2024 they said:
“Action against unscrupulous employers to tackle the use of controversial ‘fire and
A new champion for small businesses appointed

An experienced entrepreneur has taken up a key role to promote the needs of small businesses to government and ensure suppliers seize the benefits of the Procurement Act.
Shirley Cooper OBE, former chair and president of the Chartered Institute of
Top-line, bottom-line?

Most small business owners are happy, from a financial point of view, if sales are in line with expectations. And there are obvious grounds for this conclusion, after all, if sales dry up there are no funds feeding into cashflow.
Unfortunately,
Importing or exporting for the first time?

If you are considering selling or buying to or from companies based outside the UK, you may well be overawed by the plethora of regulation you are required to be familiar.
As a first step, you could make use of the GOV.UK website and access HMRC’s