Tax & Business

Interim FD

Growing businesses know they would benefit from a full-time Financial Director, but all too often such individuals are an unaffordable luxury. Instead, it is far more cost-effective to buy in interim, part-time expertise from M&S. We bring our discretion, professionalism and wide-ranging experience to bear on the day-to-day realities of your company’s financial performance.

More specifically, having one of our senior staff working with your management team to ensure financial compliance and probity, while delivering and analysing management accounts to ensure the company is on track, can make a significant difference to your prospects.

Secondment and Project Support

Short-term support can help your business: when you are setting out; growing fast; embarking on a vital project, and at other times when your own resources are stretched. M&S can provide individuals or teams covering all levels and disciplines, as well as temporary staffing solutions to augment your in-house team's skills and keep your business running effectively. We offer access to quality accounting & tax staff, industry/sector-specific expertise, flexibility and continuity of quality support, and integrated, multi-disciplined service delivery.

Business Process Review

Sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees, or there just aren’t enough hours in the day to step back to see clearly how your business is performing. That’s where having a fresh pair of experienced and impartial eyes to review your existing systems and processes can be really useful.

Whether it’s suggesting improvements to increase efficiencies, such as identifying areas that can be automated or cut, and integrating existing systems to minimise manual inputs, or tightening internal controls to reduce the potential for errors, M&S has the strength and depth of experience to make a real impact on your processes.

Making Tax Digital

This is the most radical proposed change to the tax system in over 20 years and its introduction will affect all businesses, but with a particular onus initially on small businesses and VAT. Although MTD was originally scheduled to start for most SMEs on 6th April 2018, the government has consistently delayed its introduction. It was eventually introduced in 1st April 2019 for VAT reporting for all businesses with a turnover greater than £86,000 and which are not sole-traders.

MTD requires online/cloud accounting software for you to file your VAT returns and, in time, your tax submissions.  Many of our clients already use such software and find it helps make their businesses more efficient.  By allowing you to access your financial records anywhere, anytime, online software allows you easily to monitor the performance of the business without waiting for annual or quarterly accounts.  It also reduces filing your VAT return to a few simple clicks and once most people start to use it they wonder why how they ever did without it!

Crucially, we, as your accountant, can also access your software if you choose, so that both parties can see how your business is performing in real time. M&S can advise you on the right package for your business’s requirements and can provide training and advice to get you started as well as ongoing support to ensure you maximise the benefits of cloud accounting.

We are a Silver Certified Partner for Xero Online Accounting Software and are have many clients using the other key online accounting software, such as FreeAgent and QuickBooks.