Business set-up

Taking your first steps in business is exciting and scary in equal measure. There is much to consider. Should you be a Sole Trader, a Limited Company or a Partnership? What access is there to funding? How best to reward yourself for all your hard work? This is when you really need sound, professional advice and support that frees you to concentrate on what you do best: putting your ideas into practice!

M&S has advised literally hundreds of people on the best structure for their new businesses, setting up new Limited Companies for many of them, as well as dealing with all Company Secretarial matters.

As a minimum, we can help you prepare your business plan, cash-flow projections and trading forecasts.

We’ll also work with you to choose the best accounting system/software and can assist with Remuneration Planning, looking at ways to reward business owners while, of course, clearly detailing the tax implications.

We’ll also help you assess your finance requirements and draw up the necessary proposals. Access to funding may be available for new businesses. M&S has excellent relationships with the local financial community and enterprise organisation, enabling us to identify financial and/or additional support available to assist fledgling businesses and put them on the road to success.

Business Planning

From our first contact, we seek to develop a comprehensive understanding of your business and will make ourselves available, whenever required, to offer ongoing advice or help with particular events or transactions.

Once your business is up and running, experience tells us that the slings and arrows of business fortune will inevitably hit at some stage. Here, M&S can make a big difference, using our deep knowledge of the business/accountancy world to offer financial forecasting and get involved with negotiations with banks and key stakeholders to help you achieve your short and long-term goals and overcome any difficulties, from a short-term funding issue to a comprehensive business recovery plan. We want you to succeed and will do whatever we can to help you do so.

Business wind down

People retire, businesses get sold or taken-over. Exiting your business professionally and efficiently is very important. At some point, we all want to wind down.

This is where our ongoing account management comes into its own. Strategies should be put in place early in the life of a business and adapted to take account of changes in legislation, economic factors and personal circumstances. Equally, where decisions have to be made quickly, especially where an offer to buy a business is received, we provide advice and support on practical matters as well as detailed technical analysis, taking into consideration all available reliefs and tax planning options.

One of the questions we are asked most often when businesses are being wound up is, “How much is my company worth?” There are many reasons for knowing this, including: financial settlements in divorce proceedings; on events in respect of trusts which give rise to a tax charge; in relation to gifts, or sales, of shares; when certain transactions take place, for example, purchase of own shares by the company; in disputes between shareholders; and in cases of insolvency/bankruptcy. Whatever the circumstances, M&S has the experience and proven methodology to provide an accurate valuation for you.