999 – what’s your emergency?

“But, but… there is – my deadline is two days away”

That comes up a lot in this industry. And our standard reply? HMRC’s reporting timetable doesn’t change much from one year to the next, so it is absolutely possible to have everything laid out ahead of time.

With a little preparation, the right information and support, and some financial discipline, there should never be an accounting emergency.

There are monthly deadlines like payroll and pensions, but these shouldn’t be a surprise – they happen every month!

If you’re registered for VAT, that deadline rolls around every three months.

Annual filings for personal tax and company tax happen… you guessed it, once a year, and you have at least nine months from the end of your accounting year before the submissions become due.

And paying your personal tax might happen in January and July each year, but next year’s payments will be set out in this year’s tax return, so again these shouldn’t come as a surprise.

“Do you really believe that?”

Yes. 100%. Part of our job as your accounting partner is to keep you on the straight and narrow, informed of all your upcoming deadlines, so there are no surprises. That means we aim to deal with everything in plenty of time.

It’s not always possible of course – work, and life, gets in the way of admin quite often! But we’ve allowed for that in the way our processes are designed. We don’t work towards the HMRC due dates, we set deadlines that benefit you and your business.

So as long as you’re properly prepared and fully informed, there really is no such thing as an accounting emergency!

“What about tax inspections?”

Well, if you happen to get an HMRC investigation, they’ll contact you several times, and try to agree a timescale for you to prepare your responses. They will never send the heavies round unannounced!

Which in turn means no surprises, no emergencies! Honestly!

BATMAN HAS THE BATPHONE, BUT WE AREN’T COMICBOOK HEROES

We use email as our primary contact method, so we don’t have a landline or mobile number on our website.

Three reasons;

1. It doesn’t suit our flexible working arrangements to be tethered to a landline – we don’t always know where we’ll be working (at home, in the office, from a cafe or even in the tattoo studio!), and while it is possible to get landlines re-routed to mobiles, see number 2.
   
   
2. The nature of our work is detailed and complex. It requires focus. Intense concentration. Attention to detail. Deep thought to make sure we’re doing everything right to achieve the best possible results for our clients. Being available on demand interrupts our flow, breaks our concentration, and impacts our efficiency and effectiveness. This is unacceptable for us, and bad for our clients.
   
   
3. If you have a quick question, why not try an Ecosia search (not Google!) for a quick answer. But because of number 2, chances are your “quick question” actually requires a bit of research into the exact issue, finding the accounting and tax aspects, and then setting your question in the context of your own circumstances to give you specific, tailored advice. We’re not here for quick, generic answers, we’re here to support impactful, transformative decision-making. Which needs careful thought.

Generic answers aren’t particularly helpful.

What you need is an answer to your specific question, filtered through our knowledge and expertise, and applied to your personal circumstances. Then you can make informed decisions and continue working towards your goals.

Working by ‘email first’ means we can properly investigate and thoroughly research your questions, apply our knowledge of your business, then give you an answer that is bespoke, personalised to your exact situation.

That’s how we turn raw data into meaningful information that can be used to transform your business.

“Surely this thing needs to be fixed right away?”

We know how annoying bookkeeping issues can be – they sit there in your system, staring at you every time you log in, demanding your attention, reminding you that there’s unfinished business!

But they can definitely wait a day or two; getting it done right is always more important than simply getting it done.

And if you’ve processed a transaction but you’re worried it’s not right? Accounting software is pretty clever these days, and corrections can be made after the fact. So, as long as you’ve asked the question and passed the problem onto us, it will get sorted.

“I’m sold – ‘email first’ seems like a great idea”.

Thanks! It works for us. Think of it like putting a post-it note on our desk, or adding a task to our to-do list. But unlike post-its, emails don’t go missing, don’t lose their stickiness, don’t fall under the desk!

And when we do get to your message you’ll know that it will have our full attention, because we aren’t being interrupted by phone calls every ten minutes.

So if you’d like a disciplined, calm accounting function keeping you fully informed and eliminating nasty tax surprises, give us a ring.

Just kidding! Send us an email and we’ll be in touch.