Insights

Meetings and their documentation are important. The minutes of your considerations and decisions are the evidence on which you’ll be judged as to whether you’ve fulfilled your duties as a trustee. Read our top tips for trustees' meetings. 

There are many sayings about managing cash in a business – “cash is king” and “turnover is vanity; profit is sanity; cash is reality” to name but two. With many farms and estates diversifying their businesses, how can you be sure which part of the business is contributing to the cash inflow?

We recently launched the results of our annual tourism and leisure business survey, which cover all sorts of tourism related businesses in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. This includes hotels, sport and leisure, museums, pubs and visitor attractions.

The decision of how much, when and what to invest in can be a challenging one for trustees. What are a trustee’s responsibilities when making financial investments? What do trustees need to consider?

Recent research found that only 25% of law firms believed they were in compliance with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that comes into force on 25 May 2018. What should law firms be doing?

Our 2018 Tourism and Leisure Business Survey was again well supported this year and we would like to thank all of you who have participated in it and all those who have helped to promote it. Download our brochure to read the full results. 

On Sunday 15 April just under 2,000 runners took part in the MHA Larking Gowen City of Norwich Half Marathon.  Fifteen teams entered the Business Challenge, an inter-company ‘best time’ competition held within the main race. Click here to find out the results...

Some 300 tourism businesses completed the Tourism and Leisure Business Survey, co-ordinated by MHA Larking Gowen - Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors. The survey enables voices from Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex’s tourism sector to be heard. Read the results here

It’s not unusual for buyers to identify specific sellers and make offers. This is known as an off-market approach. It is often flattering for a seller, who may have not been thinking about a sale but is intrigued to explore it further.

In February the Government published a consultation document entitled “Health and harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit.” The document runs to 64 pages and sets out possible options for the future of UK farming over the next generation. It should be regarded as compulsory reading (The NFU have produced a more manageable 14-page summary).

At this time of year, we accountants are usually getting excited by the annual Budget, poring over the small print to make sure our clients aren’t paying too much tax, and hurriedly trying to put things in place before 5 April.

Chartered accountants MHA Larking Gowen have announced that they have joined Elmer’s Big Parade. The trail of 50 large and 100 small Elmers will hope to raise vital funds for St Elizabeth Hospice and arrives in Ipswich in 2019.

LLP’s have been around for some time now so it begs the question why MHA Larking Gowen has chosen now to convert?

There are three main reasons, read more to find out why. 

As one tax tear ends and another begins, there are employment tax issues that employers need to be thinking about. My previous blog covered reporting requirements for employment related securities. In this blog, I’ll look at some changes in legislation.

I’m guessing that most people’s answer to this is no. However, if you don’t plan to receive your income in the most tax efficient manner, you may well end up paying more.

Whilst time is short to get things changed prior to 5 April 2018, a review now may save tax in 2018/2019.

In the lead-up to 5 April each year there are plenty of employment tax issues to be thinking about, both in relation to reporting requirements for the tax year now ending as well as the legislative changes going forward. One area that employers need to consider is that of employment related securities.

As many charities are facing increasing pressure on their traditional sources of income they need to be innovative in either finding new sources of income or different ways to operate more efficiently. Read our blog to see how working with other charities could help.

MHA Larking Gowen are delighted to announce that their Tax Advisory Group have today been shortlisted for an award in the category of Best Tax Practice in a regional firm at this year’s national Tolley’s Taxation Awards.

VAT is an increasingly complex tax, particularly in the motor trade where mistakes can be costly due to the high unit values involved. HMRC continue to target motor dealers using specially trained officers, so it’s always worth reviewing your VAT accounting.

With the spotlight on governance it’s easy to overlook the clerk, who can be a vital resource, supporting the effective functioning of the governing body. The voluntary nature of governance makes the role all the more important as it provides a vital link to administrative, organisational and advisory support; contributing to the efficiency, effectiveness, productivity and compliance of the governing body.

Information technology (IT) continues to be one of the fastest growing industries in the world. It affects every other industry as most good businesses rely on IT to function smoothly and efficiently.

By now, everyone will have seen the reports about Oxfam, and the resulting damage to its reputation. Donations to Oxfam have certainly been hit but it appears that donations to charities in general may fall as the public’s mistrust of charities increases.  

With Christmas a distant memory, and January and February out of the way, we can look forward to spring with renewed optimism. The depressing dark days are behind us and we’ve got over ‘Blue Monday’. What else can we do to brighten the outlook? What do you need to start thinking about in terms of tax affairs?

Is your firm’s cash under strain? Are you hoping to invest in improvements but don’t have the ready cash? Do you have a retirement looming? What are your options?

We are looking for feedback from hundreds of tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.

With charities under increasing public scrutiny, there is added pressure to be seen to be ‘doing the right thing’ by potential donors. The recent high-profile allegations against the Presidents Club have resulted in some charities returning donations received from the Presidents Club Charitable Trust.   The Charity Commission has issued a news story on this area called Returning Money to Charities.

The Museums and Galleries Exhibition tax relief (MGETR) is now law and fully in effect. HMRC have updated their guidance so we also know more about how it works.

New small grants government initiative announced for farmers – claim window 7 February – 14 March 2018

Trustees have a duty to safeguard charity assets and to make sure resources are used wisely. A good system of internal financial controls is key to this. Sound internal financial controls can reduce the risk of loss through theft, fraud, bad decisions or error.

The results have just been released for the levels of business sales in 2017 and, despite a national 5.5% downturn in the number of completed deals, 2017 proved to be another busy year for the Corporate Finance team at MHA Larking Gowen.