MATTANS: Support with managing your cash flow & finance

MATTANS – Agile Accounting Business Support

Contact us to discuss your cash flow, finance management and accounting needs. We are offering the following for new clients:

• Free QuickBooks cloud accounting software for new clients signing up to our full bookkeeping and accounting package, plus a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7” 16GB tablet (after 3 months of service). Alternatively, we’ll give you £150 one off credit towards the cost of any cloud accounting software. 

• Free payroll for 3 months (from calculation to direct credit into employees accounts – must have (or be able to obtain) a Bacs service user number. Free payroll limited to first 20 employees for one employer at one location,  additional will be charged at agreed rate. There are only 3 employer slots for free payroll offer.

• Offers valid till 31st December 2016.

Contact us today to find out more about the above offers and how we can help manage and grow your cash flow and finance.

Running a limited company and record keeping

You must keep:

• records about the company itself
• financial and accounting records

 

Records about the company

You must keep details of:

• directors, shareholders and company secretaries
• the results of any shareholder votes and resolutions
• promises for the company to repay loans at a specific date in the future (‘debentures’) and who they must be paid back to
• promises the company makes for payments if something goes wrong and it’s the company’s fault (‘indemnities’)
• transactions when someone buys shares in the company
• loans or mortgages secured against the company’s assets

 

Financial and Accounting records

You must keep accounting records that include:

• all money received and spent by the company
• details of assets owned by the company
• debts the company owes or is owed
• stock the company owns at the end of the financial year
• the stocktakings you used to work out the stock figure
• all goods bought and sold
• who you bought and sold them to and from (unless you run a retail business)

 

You must also keep any other financial records, information and calculations you need to prepare and file your annual accounts and Company Tax Return. This includes records of all money:

 

• spent by the company, eg receipts, petty cash books, orders and delivery notes
• received by the company, eg invoices, contracts, sales books and till rolls

 

You must also keep any other relevant documents, eg bank statements and correspondence.

 

You can read more on record keeping by clicking here

Gift Aid declarations

Before a charity can reclaim tax on a donation received from an individual, it must have received a Gift Aid declaration from the donor. Without this declaration, a donation from an individual won’t qualify as a Gift Aid donation.

A Gift Aid declaration must:

• state the donor’s name and home address
• name the charity
• identify the gift or gifts to which the declaration relates (for example, a particular donation or all donations)
• confirm that the identified gift or gifts are to be treated as Gift Aid donations

In addition, in order for a Gift Aid declaration to be valid, the charity must give and be able to demonstrate it has given an adequate explanation to the donor of the personal tax implications associated with making a Gift Aid donation (see paragraph 3.5) including the responsibility to pay any difference. This explanation can be included on a Gift Aid declaration but can also be made separately.

Gift Aid declarations can be given in writing (including by email, fax, or text message) or orally (in person or by telephone). A declaration can cover a single donation or any number of donations.

Donors are able to give the charity a declaration:

• in advance of their donation
• at the time of their donation
• at any time after their donation subject to the normal time limit within which tax can be reclaimed

Find out more information on time limits for making a claim.

A charity must keep adequate records to be able to show a clear link between an individual’s donation and the Gift Aid declaration made by the individual. This is referred to as an audit trail and enables HMRC to trace a donation back to the donor to ensure that they’ve paid sufficient tax to cover the tax that is reclaimed by the charity.

A charity may want to add further information and notes of its own on a declaration form. HMRC has no objection to this or to the inclusion of a declaration in other documents, such as standing order mandates provided the statutory requirements for a Gift Aid declaration are met.

HMRC doesn’t produce an official form for Gift Aid declarations, so a charity can design its own. But the HMRC website contains a model Gift Aid declaration and it’s recommended that charities use the model adapted, as appropriate, to reflect the period of the intended Gift Aid donation(s).

The notes at the foot of the declaration are purely explanatory and can be omitted if you wish.

Many charities believe a signature makes an individual more committed to their charity. However, there’s no requirement for a declaration to contain a signature and so the ‘signature requirement’ can be removed if you wish.

The declaration doesn’t require a date but a date serves to identify the period covered by the Gift Aid declaration and where this isn’t otherwise clear from the terms of the declaration it’s necessary to include a request for a date.

The charity must tell a donor of the tax implications of making a Gift Aid donation. The charity can choose to leave the tax explanation on their Gift Aid declaration or omit it. If it’s omitted then the charity must ensure that they clearly explain the donor’s tax requirement to their donors and are able to demonstrate to HMRC that they’ve done so.

A statement that ‘I am a UK taxpayer’ isn’t sufficient to meet the charity’s requirement to advise a donor of the tax implications of making a Gift Aid donation. A full explanation is essential to protect the individual donor and the charity. If the donor hasn’t paid enough tax to cover the tax deducted from their Gift Aid donation(s), HMRC may ask the donor to pay the difference in tax and donors must be made aware of this. If the explanation is insufficient the Gift Aid declaration won’t be valid and the charity may need to repay tax to HMRC.

There’s no need for a charity to get approval from HMRC for own-design declarations – but HMRC will review proposed designs on request.

Record Keeping for Charities

All charities must keep accounting records, and prepare annual accounts which must be made available to the public on request. Paper or electronic records must be kept.

All charities must:

• keep accounting records – these records (eg cash books, invoices, receipts, Gift Aid records etc) must be retained for at least 6 years (or at least 3 years in the case of charitable companies); where Gift Aid payments are received records will need to be maintained for 6 years with details of any substantial donors and to identify ‘tainted charity donations’ in accordance with HMRC guidance

• make the accounts available to the public on request; this is important for public accountability, and must be complied with in all cases – it is open to trustees to make a reasonable charge to cover the costs of complying with the request (eg photocopying and postage)