Ian Cooke, Edward Watkins and Jonathan Crowther

Our Ledbury Office team has been strengthened by the arrival of Edward Watkins and his team.

Previously trading as Edward Watkins & Co the client base is very similar with a mix of local businesses, farming clients and personal tax work.

Edward becomes a Consultant with Crowthers and will ensure a smooth transition of the client work takes place. Ian Cooke will oversee the business clients and Jonathan Crowther will lead the farming work.

On Tuesday 29th November, Chancellor George Osborne presented his Autumn Statement to the House of Commons.

Draft legislation will be published on 6 December 2011 and we will provide an update for you if significant changes are announced.

In the meantime we have provided a summary of the Statement and a reminder of other key tax developments which are to take place from April 2012 in our attached report.

Here are five questions we invite new clients to ask us:

Q1       What are the firm’s qualifications and experience?

“Our team” section on our website gives you some detail on the experience and qualifications of our team.

Q2       Can you offer client testimonials and examples of success with clients?

We always preserve the confidentiality of our clients and so we do not publish any client lists.  However, if you would like to discuss our services with an existing client in your business sector, please ask and we will approach one or two clients to see if they are prepared to speak to you about us.

Q3       How transparent are your costs, and who delivers your services?

Please review our fee quote and menu of services in this section of our website, then ask us for a fixed fee quotation tailored to the services you require.

Q4       Why pay more than if I use a sole practitioner (qualified or not)?

The size, nature and complexity of your business AND your desire to become ever more successful will determine your answer to this.

Q5       What added value can you provide?

Over and above all areas covered by our menu of services, we provide the opportunity for regular contact with our senior team, and business advice and support on any area of your business.  If we do not have that specific skill we will know someone who does.

We are very happy to discuss these questions further with new or potential clients.

Cash flow forecasting should be an integral part of our business planning process.

It is vital to monitor actual performance against budget and calculate key performance indicators such as:

• Length of order book
• Sales compared with budget or last year
• Profit margins
• Stock levels and stock turnover
• Debtor days and overdue collections.

We have noted 7 bad practices that every business needs to avoid:

1. Taking on financial commitments before you can afford to pay for them.
2. Undertaking large amounts of speculative work in the hope of making a sale.
3. Overstating stock, WIP or fixed assets in your management accounts.
4. Not planning for major expenses you know will arise. .
5. Failing to prepare cash flow forecasts, particularly in today’s difficult market.
6. Failing to agree all the details of an order, leading to a customer dispute.
7. Poor credit control system, starting with credit checks before taking the order.

How do you score on these 7 bad practices?

Please telephone your main contact at Crowthers if you would like to discuss how we can help you to improve your business systems.

From October 2011, the National Minimum Wage rate increased as follows:

• £5.93 to £6.08 : Employees aged 21 and over
• £4.92 to £4.98 : Employess aged 18 to 20
• £3.64 to £3.68 : Employees aged 16 to 17
• £2.50 to £2.60 : Apprentice rate

Please contact Sarah Smith, manager of our payroll bureau, on 01386 552644 for further details.