Accounts

Our experienced Business Services team are able to ensure that you receive accurate, high quality financial reporting, providing piece of mind that you are in full compliance with all relevant regulations and standards.

This can include:

• Advising on UK GAAP
• FRS 102 transition
• GAAP conversions, including IFRS
• Specialist advice in complex areas such as financial instruments, business combinations and leasing

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has replaced current UK GAAP with FRS 102 - The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland with effect from periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015, with earlier adoption permitted. FRS 102 is based on the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs), amended for use in the UK. The introduction of FRS 102 will have a major impact on the financial statements of any entity currently preparing accounts under UK GAAP.

The adoption of FRS 102 will lead to some changes to the format of the financial statements and the disclosures required, but most importantly for many businesses there will be changes to the numbers as well. FRS 102 will change the recognition criteria for various assets and liabilities, the basis on which some items are measured and the treatment of certain gains and losses compared to current UK GAAP.

There are a number of bodies who may ask you to be able to provide them with an Accountant’s Certificate either to report on your present financial position, on ability to pay debts or on ability to service or repay a loan. These often include banks, building societies, insurance companies and lettings agents.

Such references are usually for individuals or small businesses and we can confirm useful information such as how long we have acted for you and your net income and profits reported in preceding periods.

In many cases, we are also able to complete industry specific reports, as well as grant reports.

Industry specific reports include those dictated by various property professional bodies (such as ARLA).

At Shaw Gibbs, we understand that bookkeeping can be a stressful and time-consuming process. Consequently, we offer a service that provides you with the peace of mind that you are on top of your company’s finances.

No two businesses are the same and for that reason we take time to understand your accounting needs and tailor our services accordingly. In addition, to ensure the best service possible, we use the highest quality systems such as Xero, Sage and QuickBooks.

As well as processing sales and purchase invoices, our bookkeeping service can include, but is not exclusive to, the following:

1. Reconciling your bank accounts.
2. Sending you a listing of monies owed to and by your business.
3. Recognising fixed asset additions and posting monthly depreciation figures.
4. Reviewing expenditure and posting prepayments and accruals as necessary.
5. Making wages postings and reconciling to payments.
6. Preparing, reviewing and submitting the quarterly VAT returns to HMRC.
7. Building in a provision for corporation tax.

At Shaw Gibbs we are also able to offer ‘Business Health Checks’. These will include a review of the current position of your business and your aims and ambitions, both for your business and yourselves personally. This independent review will typically include looking at the following:

• Business structure
• Business risks and protections
• Financial tax and efficiency
• Regulatory compliance
• Business operations
• Personal and business plans, including retirement
• Life cover

Once we have met with you, we will provide you with a written report and recommendations and agree an action plan.

Our fees vary depending on the scope and size of your business. The fee can be fixed at the outset so you know exactly what the costs will be.

Having the right expertise on your side when setting up your company or partnership is vital in achieving growth. In using Shaw Gibbs, we offer a service that not only gets the company up and running, but advises you of all your compliance requirements and remuneration strategies. We look at your long term goals and make sure that you have the plans, documents and structure in place to achieve this.

Our service will include registering with Companies House, appointing officers and issuing shares and share certificates. We can also assist in writing up statutory records and minutes of your first directors’ meeting. With strong tax expertise, we offer support in registering for VAT, supplying details to HMRC, providing tax advice on ‘benefits in kind’ and advising on tax efficient income extraction.

Contact us for a full list of our company formation services.

Consolidated financial statements are the combined financial statements of a parent company and its subsidiaries. Because consolidated financial statements present an aggregated look at the financial position of a parent and its subsidiaries, they let you gauge the overall health of an entire group of companies as opposed to one company's standalone position.

Your group of companies may be required to prepare consolidated financial statements, either by virtue of having been dictated by Companies Act 2013 or by non-statutory demands, such as those of third party stakeholders (i.e. insurance providers).

At Shaw Gibbs, we can prepare these statements, including; making all relevant adjustments for inter-group transactions, costs of investment and dividends as well as recognising minority interests and goodwill where applicable. We can also assist where the financial year of a subsidiary differs from that of the parent company and where interim accounts for that subsidiary need to be prepared to the parent company’s accounting date for consolidation.

Our management accounts service allows your business to make informed decisions for the future.

At Shaw Gibbs, we advocate the preparation of periodic management accounts, as opposed to waiting until the year-end to gauge your business’s performance. Our management accounts service can assist you in making informed, timely decisions for the future of your business.

As well as the services including within bookkeeping, our management accounts service can include, but is not exclusive to, the following:

1. Providing you with a monthly or quarterly management pack, including reports detailing money owed both to and from the company.
2. Reviewing distributable reserves and the ability to pay dividends where applicable.
3. Reviewing expenditure to highlight any reportable benefits provided to employees, other than salary, which may need to be reported separately to HMRC.

From this we can help to develop clear Key Performance Indicators for your business, as well as assisting with budgeting and cash flow forecasting. With these tools in place, you will then be placed to take control of your expenditure and prepare yourself for future stability, or indeed growth.

Most of our Business Services clients meet with us at least once or twice a year to discuss timings for the forthcoming preparation of their year-end accounts and audit work, as well as discussing results, signing off the previous year and looking to the future.

If you are a sole trader or sole director / shareholder you may find that more regular meetings are beneficial, providing you with a ‘sounding board’.

In other organisations, we are also able to attend your monthly or quarterly board meetings. We can attend in any capacity you wish from chair, to a silent observer or minute taker. We can even prepare the agenda if you would find that helpful.

Whatever your size, regular board meetings will help you keep focused on your goals, as well as the level of growth and profits that you are aiming for.

Whether you are a sole trader, partnership, limited company, limited liability partnership or other type of entity (such as a charity), we can assist you with your year-end (or end of period) accounts preparation, from agreeing timetables to ensuring that technical accounting standards have been met, as well as meeting the deadlines of the bodies with whom you need to report.

Many year-end accounts are only needed to be filed with HMRC (alongside a Self-Assessment tax return) and Companies House where applicable. However, we believe that year-end accounts should be prepared in a timely manner, as soon after the year end as possible. These will provide you with a finalised picture of your business’s performance in the last period and allow you to best position your business going forward. They may also be required to support income references and meet other reporting requirements.

We aim to contact all clients two months before their period end to ensure that any tax planning opportunities arising before then can be explored, as well as agreeing timeframes for preparation.

It is, however, also important to emphasise that we do not advocate only being in contact with your accountant as your year-end approaches. We can be of assistance throughout the year and in providing us with regular updates, we can highlight opportunities (and threats) for (and to) your business in a timely manner.