The theme of the past fortnight has definitely been learning. Not just for us, but for our clients too. I have been busy attending CPD courses whilst Victoria and Ellie have been busy helping our clients learn how to use their Xero and Quickbooks systems to their full potential.
As a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) I am required to maintain 40 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) every year. Over the past fortnight I have completed 9 of those hours keeping up to date with the changes happening in the corporation tax system, the key areas of focus when dealing with small business taxation, and what HMRC are currently focusing their time and effort on investigating.
As much as that paragraph might make you want to close your eyes and doze off, it actually gets me really excited for the possible tax planning opportunities that I can create for my clients using this up to date information. I have already initiated conversations with some clients where I feel that the information I’ve obtained from those courses might help their tax positions…..just like a good proactive accountant should!
One of the most interesting items to come out of the seminars I attended was HMRC’s latest one-to-many (OTM) letter campaign that is aimed at people who earn money from online marketplace sales, and people who earn money from content creation on digital platforms. The campaign launched in January 2023 and will require all identified people to declare whether they believe that their tax affairs are up to date or whether they have additional income to declare. The outcome of this campaign will make for a very interesting read I’m sure! To find out more about this item specifically then you can read my article at here.
Whilst I’ve been plugged into my computer gaining additional knowledge, our office has been a hive of activity with Victoria and Ellie both welcoming clients into the office for some software support and accounting guidance. Although we offer a free 30 minute Xero training session to all of our clients, sometimes they require a little bit more support that we are more than happy to offer. Victoria helped a client who had never used Xero before, whilst Ellie helped support a client with the re-linking of their Quickbooks bank feed. Our clients appreciate that we spend the time to give them the personal touch required to get these things right with minimum disruption to their lives (or stress levels!).
With Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax just round the corner it’s so import that we help our clients invest in their cloud based bookkeeping skills now so that they are ready for a seamless transition to the new MTD system. I’m certain that when the time for the switch over comes they will be thankful that we got them ahead of the curve!
Until next time readers….stay connected 😉
