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You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to waste energy and money within your business. Here are 4 of the most common energy wasting examples many companies are guilty of. Hopefully, by reading the following examples you’ll make sure to avoid them at all costs and save your company money on utility bills….
Habit 1 – Poor Insulation
On average, many companies in the UK, are losing a staggering 35% of heat through walls and around 25% through ceilings by not fitting the premises with cavity …

We know that it can be hard to invest in the business training you need when you are starting a business and supporting a family. That’s why this year we’ve created the BusinessMums Summit Scholarship Programme.
In 2010, some lovely business owners sponsored a few people to attend the conference. This year we wanted to expand the programme and make it open to as many people as possible.  In this way we hope that it won’t just …

Do you have plans for growing your business? Would our prize package aid your plans? If so, we want to hear from you. Pitch perfect is more than a competition. It is a journey….an experience….and a chance to test and develop your thinking, skills and plans. Get through the early rounds and you’re well on the way to win the fantastic £10k prize package. In addition, it also offers a route to raising finance/investment and further free support, as last year’s finalists discovered.

Being your own boss: it’s something many of us dream about, but few of us actually go ahead and do. Not many people appreciate the time, effort and financial strain that can be involved.
If you’re going to make the leap and start up your own business – whether it’s as a freelancer working from a home office or a larger venture – it pays to keep a very close eye on your personal finances. When you’re in charge of your own salary, your business’ finances are (pretty much) your finances …

Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
With a SIPP you can invest your personal pension in a much wider choice of investments than personal and stakeholder pensions. The investments could be normal retail investment funds, but could also be investments vehicles such as art and fine wines. You can also invest your pension into property and actually hold a buy-to-let property in the pension plan. This is a very good way of saving as the Government offers tax relief on this scheme. This is a complicated saving process, so seeking advice is paramount.

Insured Personal Pension

With an Insured Personal Pension you pay a regular amount, usually every month, or a lump sum to the pension provider who will invest it on your behalf. The fund is usually run by financial organisations such as building societies, banks or insurance companies.You can make flexible payments such as, regular payments or pay lump sums when you can afford it. When you retire you can withdraw a certain amount, you must then use the rest to purchase an annuity from a financial provider.

Pensions for the self-employed

Working from home has many benefits; working around the kids, choosing your working hours and meeting childcare needs to name a few – but have you ever thought about your pension?
As a self-employed person you should be paying Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and, unless your income is very low, Class 4 NICs. This entitles you to the basic state pension. If you are employed in the basic employer\employee arrangement, your employer has a legal requirement to make contributions to your pension – this does …

Can you help a party planner with her accounts? Ann is looking for an accountant who specialises in this area. Just comment at the end of this post or get in touch via the ‘contact’ page. Thanks!

This book, which is a companion to the equally impressive “Mastering Bookkeeping” is difficult to describe as anything other than a textbook. This is not to dissuade you because this is a genuine attempt to provide help in computerising your bookkeeping. The software that is mentioned throughout the book is Sage50, but this is no IT manual.

When you look at “Mastering Bookkeeping” it is difficult to come up with any other thought than this is a textbook, but don’t let that put you off. From what I have gleaned about these pages, this is a genuine attempt to be a complete guide to teaching students how to be skilled in the art of bookkeeping.