The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire September 2014 Edition | Page 10

FINANCE Hear It From The Experts… “The grease that keeps the economy rolling” Growth costs money, and hard as it is Some business owners considering for companies to grow without access to embarking on a fundraising exercise, do finance, it’s as difficult for the economy worry it may not be successful and therefore to grow without companies starting and a waste of their valuable time. growing their business. It’s a catch 22. The assurance we can give, is that if we Owner managers are loath to borrow commit to helping you raise investment, we from the banks, seeing them as inwardly are only paid when the new funds become focused unreliable partners, so as a available. Structuring our fees this way business owner - what are your options? demonstrates our belief in the success of According to Economia magazine, chartered the project”, says Richard Buzzoni. accountants are better placed than most to “What’s more, we ensure the fundraising offer advice on how to grow a sustainable process is well planned, and the information business. going to the right funders will lead to Mike Gregory, owner of Lovingtons competition between them. By creating this Ice Cream Ltd, agrees: “The team at competition we can deliver the best deal for Watersheds corporate finance, were you and your business”, he adds. instrumental in helping us secure additional If you are a business owner who would equity investment and the deal was like to grow your business, please do get in completed in less than two months. touch for an informal chat. They knew what was required to make Please call Sue Green on: 01793 719788 us ‘investment ready’ and attractive for or email on: [email protected] funding”, said Mike. The additional funding meant we could achieve our growth goals ahead of our targets”, he added. “It’s good news that the options for companies looking to raise finance are greater than ever, but building a compelling story that ‘stacks up’ for potential investors and lenders,SBE critical part of the process. 19/8/14 09:18:38 is a Ad Mailer 103x122.pdf The Auto-Enrolment Pension Scheme for Small Businesses The point of this scheme is to encourage everyone to pay more towards their pension, reducing pressure on the State. Under auto-enrolment, UK businesses employing one or more “workers” will have to enrol them into a pension scheme from a pre-defined “staging date”. Workers can opt out of the scheme – but only after you have enrolled them. There is a timetable for businesses to set up pension arrangements under autoenrolment. You can find your “staging date” if you enter your PAYE reference into www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/ employers/tools/staging-date.aspx No employees If you are a director of a Company with no employees (assuming you haven’t issued yourself a formal contract of employment), then your Company is counted as having no “workers”. This means you are not required to take any notice of autoenrolment. It’s good news because you won’t have to get involved with any extra administration. If you have low paid employees You don’t have to automatically enrol employees who earn less than £10,000/ year but they can join if they choose to. If, say, you employ your spouse or partner earning less than £10,000/year, you can make your own pension arrangements without engaging in the auto-enrolment scheme but remember, if you have other employees they have the right to join. Higher Earning Employees & NEST (National Employment Savings Trust) If you do have employees earning over £10,000 p.a. you will need to auto-enrol them. You will also need to choose a pension scheme provider. It is possible that some pension companies will not be interested in running extremely small pension schemes. NEST is a Government backed pension scheme that you could use, however, you can’t transfer funds from another pension scheme into a NEST scheme and you cannot transfer funds out of NEST. It is less flexible than other pension schemes where you can transfer funds from one to scheme to another. Ask AMS Advice for small businesses Re changes to the Childcare Voucher scheme, will I be able to give childcare vouchers to my Employees next year? C From autumn 2015 (dates to be confirmed), Employers will no longer be required to issue childcare vouchers, and many may view this with some relief! The Childcare Voucher scheme will be phased out – and the new Tax-Free Childcare scheme (using an online National Savings account) will begin to replace it. M Y CM MY CY However, many Employees may want to stay in the old voucher scheme - because it benefits children up to 15 years of age, whereas the new scheme only benefits children up to 11 years old. CMY K Employers can opt to continue administering the old scheme for the benefit of some existing staff, but new staff/parents cannot join the current scheme from next autumn. Peter Bromiley ACA , AMS Accountancy Ltd., Swindon SN5 7XF 01793-818400 [email protected] www.ams-accountancy.co.uk 10 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2014