In addition to the normal auditing and accountancy services, we can assist with the interpretation of management accounts and offer constructive advice so that the client can make informed decisions.

Besides the core bookkeeping, we can also maintain your VAT records, prepare your payroll and take on ad hoc projects to free up valuable time for your staff.

We believe that our high level of IT literacy can help improve our efficiency and help our clients to set-up their accounting systems to be efficient and effective. Carters are members of the Sage Accountants Club. We have been actively advising our clients on the set up and overall use of Sage accounting products for nearly as long as their products have been available. Our experienced team will ensure our clients get the maximum use out of their Sage system. We can help with selection; implementation; ongoing monitoring; training; and technical support.

Business planning: Mindshop
Every business must plan ahead in order to ensure success, but it is too easy to succumb to the daily pressures of work and delay or ignore strategic planning. The result of poor planning is often rushed and misinformed decisions, over/under capacity, inefficiency and missed opportunities.

Every business owner needs to invest time in developing a long-term plan, starting with what you want to achieve from your investment and what your reasons for being in business are, and then developing a plan to help achieve these objectives.

We are well placed to help you develop these plans and have a considerable pool of experience and expertise to draw on. The financial aspects are usually the backbone to any business plan and you need to ensure that this aspect has been adequately dealt with in your plan. To this end, we are an accredited facilitator for the Mindshop strategic planning tool. This is a methodology which looks at Where you want to go, where you are Now and How you are going to get there. It is particularly effective resulting in an amazing one page business plan!

Business start-up
Most people who start up in business do so because they have a good business proposition, not because they are experts in the financial aspects of running a business. These factors can often be quite daunting to the entrepreneur and this is where we can help by evaluating your ideas and helping you develop them into a feasible business.

We can also help you:

• decide on the most suitable structure for your business (i.e. sole trader, partnership or limited company)
• prepare a business plan, cashflow projections, budgets and trading forecasts to prove the financial viability of your ideas and demonstrate this to the bank / potential investors
• assess your finance requirements and access the most appropriate source of finance
• help you establish relationships with banks, solicitors, etc via our well established network of contacts
• carry out registration procedures with Companies House, Inland Revenue or Customs and Excise
• set up an internal accounting system which complies with statutory requirements

Call us for a free initial consultation to find out how we can help your ideas become reality.

Business valuation
One of our key objectives is to help our clients increase the value of their business. Each year we can carry out a valuation of your business using software developed by the Added Value Network.

We will produce a detailed report showing the current value of the business and ideas on how you can maximise its worth.

• graphs and charts illustrating how your business has performed this year
• ratio analysis to highlight areas of strength and weakness
• detailed commentary advising you which areas of the business can be improve

Cases may never come to court but with the help of an expert you may be able to obtain an earlier settlement.

Management accounts
The most important part of our compliance services is the preparation of periodic management accounts. Monitoring and controlling the financial performance of your business is of paramount importance and regular management information is vital to the continued success of your business. We can either carry out this function for you or help you set-up internal systems to generate the information.

We will also take this service one step further by interpreting these figures for you and making suggestions to help you improve your profits or to help your business grow.

• computer generated payslips
• administration of PAYE, national insurance, statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay, etc
• completion of statutory forms (including year end returns)
• summaries and analysis of staff costs
• administration of incentive schemes, bonuses and ex-gratia termination payments.

Even if you only have a few employees, you will make savings by engaging us to administer your payroll.

Taxation
A critical element in the provision of a complete professional service is taxation. Taxation has a major impact on both individuals and business planning and compliance with all aspects of tax law.

We ensure that the ever growing burden of tax legislation is interpreted effectively on our clients' behalf. Our aim is to manage our clients' tax affairs with optimum efficiency whilst keeping them fully informed of their tax liabilities.

Key benefits to clients:

• For Limited Companies the policy is intended to cover our fees in the event that the company is selected for an Inland Revenue enquiry. This can be a "full" detailed tax enquiry or the more limited "aspect" tax enquiry.
  
  
• For Soletraders and Partnerships the policy is intended to cover our fees in the event that they are selected for a "full" Inland Revenue tax enquiry.
  
  
• For Individuals the policy is intended to cover our fees in the event that they are selected for a "full" Inland Revenue tax enquiry.
  
  
• For Limited Companies, Soletraders and Partnerships the policy will similarly cover our fees for handling disputes you may have with HM Customs and Excise following the issuing of a VAT assessment or written decision or civil penalty.
  
  
• For Limited Companies, Soletraders and Partnerships the policy will also cover our fees for handling Employer Compliance disputes with the Inland Revenue (Contributions Agency) concerning your compliance with PAYE/NIC regulations.
  
  
• Limited Companies, Soletraders, Partnerships and Individuals will have free unlimited access to telephone advice lines run by our insurers for:
  - Employment Issues
  - Safety
  - Commercial Legal matters
  
  
• For Limited Companies - all directors of the company, where we are involved in preparing their personal Self Assessment tax returns, will also be covered for any tax enquiry into their own returns.
  
  
• For Partnership - all partners in the partnership, where we are involved in preparing their personal Self Assessment tax returns, will also be covered for a full tax enquiry into their own returns.

As you might expect, there are some conditions and exceptions to the policy, which in the circumstances are not unreasonable:

• The policy cannot cover any disputed matter already ongoing with the Inland Revenue or HM Customs & Excise before your cover is started.
• Any enquiry or investigation instigated by the Inland Revenue Special Compliance Office or by the HM Customs & Excise National Investigation Service will not be covered.
• Prior approval must be obtained from the insurers before we can start to deal with any disputed matters.
• The policy provides cover for your business up to a maximum of £50,000 per claim.
• If the claim is for an "aspect" tax enquiry the claim is limited to £4,000.

An "aspect" enquiry is where the Inland Revenue may ask about a specific point, for example, "Please provide an analysis of the repairs and renewals charge in the accounts." Or, perhaps "Please send me a bank certificate to support the claim for an interest deduction".

A "full enquiry" would be typically where the Inland Revenue asks for the accounting records to be sent to them together with a list of detailed questions to be answered.

If you are interested in cover our would like further information regarding premiums please contact Stephen Taylor.