When you are running a business, administration and paperwork can take up precious time and resources. At H&K Consultants, we offer a range of efficient, cost-effective business support services to keep your finances under control and provide information vital for decision-making and increasing profitability.

Whether you are looking for a cost-effective alternative to employing an in-house bookkeeper or for additional expertise to extract bookkeeping data so that you can prepare more detailed management information, we can help.

Our bookkeeping reports will give your management team the key financial information needed to run a business, including listings of trade creditors and debtors, bank reconciliations and VAT calculations. We can also issue statements to all customers and arrange for BACs payments to your suppliers.

Making informed decisions about your business is impossible without up-to-date financial data. Regular accounts and management information are a key source of the information you need and vital to your continued success.

We can prepare monthly or quarterly management accounts to ensure you always have reliable and accurate information on which to base your business decisions. We can help set budgets and targets against which to measure your future progress.

If your turnover is more than the current VAT threshold then you may have to register for VAT. If this is the case then you will have to complete and submit a VAT return to HMRC, usually each quarter.

However, even if you are not required to register it can sometimes be beneficial to register voluntarily. Deciding whether you have to or should register can be confusing but don’t worry, help is at hand. We can talk this through with you and ensure that you receive the best advice possible based on your circumstances.

If your VAT Returns are relatively simplistic then in certain circumstances it may make sense for you to complete them yourself. We can advise you on whether you should feel comfortable filing your returns on your own.

If you use a bookkeeping software package then more than likely it will have the ability to submit your VAT returns electronically based upon the bookkeeping you have completed.

However, VAT can be a very complex area and sometimes it can be worth outsourcing the completion of your VAT returns to professionals. This is where we come in!

When we complete your VAT Returns we do not just take the figures from your bookkeeping and submit them to HRMC. We start by reviewing your bookkeeping, because if there are any inaccuracies then this will mean that the VAT Return may also be incorrect.

We pay particular attention to ensuring that we are claiming for all VAT your business has incurred, ensuring you pay as little VAT as possible to HMRC. Once we are happy that the bookkeeping is accurate we will review your businesses circumstances to see if any recommendations can be made to you.

These recommendations range from advising you to de-register for VAT if you fall below the threshold, to ensuring you are on the most beneficial VAT scheme for your business. So for example, if your customers tend to take a while to pay you after you raise your invoices but you pay your suppliers straight away then we may recommend cash accounting for your VAT as this would vastly improve your cash flow.

Once the recommendations have been considered, we will send you the VAT return to check and approve and once everyone is happy we will submit the VAT Return to HMRC.

This thorough process ensures that there is a vastly reduced risk of errors, keeping you and HMRC happy! It also ensures that you do not pay a penny more in VAT over to HMRC than you have to!

Another great benefit to asking us to complete your VAT Returns is that we will act on your behalf should HMRC decide to investigate your VAT affairs.

HMRC can launch an investigation into your VAT affairs either at random or because figures you have submitted to them do not look correct. They also conduct VAT inspections more frequently for industries that are more likely to submit inaccurate returns or for industries that tend to have complex VAT affairs.

By appointing H&K Consultants to handle your VAT Return calculations and submissions you will have peace of mind and confidence in your figures in the event you receive that dreaded letter through the mail!

Get in touch with our Team to find out more about how we can help you with your bookkeeping, management accounts and VAT.