Other Things To Do when Renaming your Company

People to tell: 

Your customers
Your employees
 Your suppliers
Your bank
HMRC (the tax man)
Professional bodies/trade associations

 Other things to do:

maximise the marketing opportunity
change your business stationery
obtain a new domain name and relaunch your website.
update all your advertisements

Choosing an Accounts Package

I’ve recently been in the position of choosing accounting software, so this has been forefront of my mind.  This is a (by no means exhaustive) list of things to consider (in no particular order). 

price
functionality
ease of use/user friendliness
accounting knowledge
upgradeability
upgrade cost
ongoing support costs
flexibility
does it meet your legal obligations

Why use Accounting Software

The whole point of using accounting software is to make your life easier by saving you time and money.  Therefore, if it doesn’t and you can meet your legal requirements without it, you should question whether it’s worth the effort.
It should save you time because:

the whole process of bookkeeping should be faster (although setting up a [...]

Appropriate Bookkeeping

It’s important to remember that, over and above meeting legal requirements, day-to-day accounts are there to serve the business and not the other way round.
It is not always appropriate to keep full double-entry accounting records.  Indeed, for many businesses, it would be a mistake that would be costly in time and effort for very little return.  [...]

Simple Sales Ledger in Excel IV

To use the sales ledger spreadsheet is easy.  Just record all your sales invoices as you raise them.  Allow one row per invoice.
Enter the total amounts in columns D and E (if VAT registered) and check that the figure in column F is as you have put in your actual sales invoice.
If you give different periods [...]

Advantages of Double Entry Bookkeeping

Double Entry Bookkeeping dates back to Venice, 1494.  As it’s name suggests, it means that every transaction is entered twice into the “books” of a business.  Once as a debit and once as a credit. (How this works in detail will be the subject of a later post)

It provides a specific means of dealing with [...]

Simple Purchase Ledger in Excel IV

To use the purchase ledger spreadsheet is easy.  Just record all purchase invoices, receipts and other payments on the spreadsheet.  Allow one row per invoice/receipt.
Enter the total amounts in columns D/E/F (allowing for the VAT split if VAT registered) and then allocate the relevent amounts in the appropriate analysis columns (column I to N in [...]

Using Excel for Accounts and Bookkeeping

The great thing about MS Excel (and others say it’s greatest downfall) is that it is so adaptable and because it normally comes bundled with the PC you bought for your business, it’s cheaper than buying accounting software.
For start ups and possibly for the sole trader or small limited company, it’s a very easy way of keeping track of [...]

Choosing Your Accountant

Speak to your prospective accountant on the phone first and then, if you are still happy, set up an initial meeting – which should be free of charge.
Ensure that they are professionally qualified and are current members of a professional body (Chartered Accountant (ICAEW/ICAS/ICAI), Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA), Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) for a fully [...]

How to Save on Accountant’s Fees

If you hire an accountant, you will want to make sure that you are getting value for money.  Here are a few tips which may help you bring down your accountancy fees, which may or may not work for your particular business.

File your invoices and receipts and reference them to your records.
Fill in your cheque book stubs, keep [...]