Compliance

Annual Accounts Preparation

This is probably the one service that most people associate with the use of an accountant. Yet while it’s obviously very important, it’s even more important that you know exactly what each line of your accounts says about you and your business. That’s why a key part of our service, be it for a Sole Trader, Limited Company, Charity or a Not-for-Profit organisation, is to explain what we have prepared and why, with relevant action points (including any deadlines!) being identified and followed up.

Management Accounts

Your business must plan ahead, however, the day-to-day pressures often make this difficult. Management accounts and financial projections can help you see how your business is performing throughout the year and help you focus on key objectives, shortfalls or other issues.

M&S can help your financial budgeting and forecasting by preparing bespoke management accounts with appropriate reports, analysis and identification of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and recommendations where necessary.

Company Secretarial

Through our use of professional software, we provide companies with a reliable service for maintaining the statutory documents and filing deadlines that have to be met under the Companies Act.  

For Scottish companies, we can act as the company’s registered office, to ensure that all company documents are dealt with.

We also prepare all paperwork necessary to properly document dividends declared and advise of any changes required to a company’s share structure or Articles and Memorandum of Association.

Payroll

Anyone who employs others knows the process of paying them and complying with HMRC’s requirements can be time consuming and confusing. Get it wrong and you can easily fall foul of HMRC’s penalty regime. Moreover, since the introduction of Real Time Information (RTI), there is an additional burden for employers to make sure that their payroll software is capable of dealing with the monthly reporting requirements.

To make your life easier, M&S offers a comprehensive payroll service. All data is securely backed up on our servers and you won’t need to invest in payroll software or technology upgrades. We’ll ensure that the correct amounts of PAYE and National Insurance Contributions are calculated for each payroll run, keep you informed of payroll changes and if you have difficult payroll issues, our tax experts are available to advise you.

We maintain employee records and process RTI compliant payrolls on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. Our payroll clients range from a variety of different industries, including: leisure; construction (including CIS returns); expatriate services; oil and gas; and retail.

VAT

Even some of HMRC’s non-VAT specialists recoil from this subject. Horror stories of what can go wrong with VAT are all too frequent - and true. VAT for specific sectors, such as land and property or partially exempt businesses, can involve complex legislation and intricate calculations. Moreover, substantial fines can be issued where incorrect assumptions are made or VAT registration deadlines are missed.

M&S will guide you through the registration maze and help you ensure VAT efficiency in transactions.  Our VAT compliance service will make sure your returns are submitted correctly and on time and can also be incorporated as part of our Bookkeeping Service.

Expenses and Benefits (P11D)

This is an area where everyone wants to believe that they can claim everything going – but HMRC invariably disagrees!

The reality is that the rules for the reporting of non-cash expenses and benefits can be complex.  We’ll work with you to gather the information required to prepare the annual reporting forms (P11D) which have to be submitted to HMRC by 6th July, following the end of the tax year.  In addition, we shall prepare your P11D(b) form and calculate the employer Class 1A National Insurance Contributions payable.

PAYE Settlement Agreements

When an employer decides to provide employees with an ad hoc, non-cash benefit as recognition for a particular achievement such awards are usually taxable. However, the positive message of the reward might be diluted if the employee has to pay tax, so an employer can take the responsibility for paying the tax and this can be done by entering into a PAYE Settlement Agreement with HMRC.
We’ll help identify which benefits can be covered by such an agreement and make the application to HMRC on behalf of the employer. Once agreed, we calculate the liability and prepare the submission to be sent to HMRC.

Book-keeping

Maintaining accounting records and the completion of VAT returns can be a drain on resources, using up time that could be better spent developing your business. Our friendly, professional team will liaise closely with you to understand your needs before then tailoring our range of book-keeping services to your specific requirements.

These vary from a full book-keeping service and maintenance of day-to-day accounting records to the provision of Cloud Accounting software, training and support. This software is easy to use and will allow you to maintain your own records and prepare useful meaningful reports when required.

With Cloud Accounting, we provide book-keeping services to clients based all over the UK. This service is particularly useful for clients who do not operate from just one location.

Tax Return Preparation

Whether for individuals or businesses, the preparation of tax returns is one of our core services. We take a particular interest in changes to legislation, notifying you of any changes that might impact on you personally and/or your business.

As with the delivery of all our services, our aim is to understand your objectives and work in partnership with you to deliver what you need. For some, this may simply involve the preparation of an annual tax return: for others, advisory work is crucial to planning future transactions and the preparation of short longer-term plans.

We pride ourselves on providing an efficient, reliable tax return preparation service, covering the preparation of all personal, partnership, corporate and trust tax returns. Wherever possible, we’ll give you early notification of any payments due and will deal with all routine HMRC correspondence on your behalf, checking the accuracy of statements and refunds.