The Happy Accountant

From Monday 1 December 2008, the VAT rate will drop to 15% and remain at this level until 31 December 2009, when it will revert back to 17.5%
The new VAT fraction is 3/23.

Also, called the “carrying value”, the net book value is the value of an asset in the accounts at any given point, calculated by: original value less accumulated depreciation OR previous year’s value less current year’s depreciation.  (Ignoring, for the time being, revaluations and so on)
In yesterday’s examples, the net book values would be as [...]

There are several ways of calculating depreciation.  Two of the most popular are:
Straight line method
If an asset is bought for £10,000 and it’s useful life is estimated at 10 years (with no residual value at the end of the ten years), then the annual depreciation charge is £10,000 ÷ 10 = £1,000 per year.
Reducing balance [...]

Depreciation is the decrease in value of an asset.  It reflects the use of the asset and the passage of time.  It spreads the cost of the asset across the years (or more correctly, accounting periods) of it’s useful life.

Capital expenditure is quite simply expenditure on buying or improving an asset (whether that asset be a physical one or not which “provides future benefits” over more than one accounting period).
It is commonly abbreviated to Capex.

Once a payroll is in operation, HMRC lay down certain requirements as to what records and information needs to be kept.  These include:

employees names, addresses (and their dates of birth)
gross pay, NICs, PAYE, other deductions, net pay (keeping a copy of their payslip would normally satisfy this requirement, assuming the payslip contained all the correct [...]

Logically, the basics of payroll are straightforward but unfortunately, there are various rules and thresholds which can make actually operating a payroll less so.
In calculating an employee’s pay, normally, you begin with their gross pay and then work out the deductions.  After taking away all the deductions, the net pay figure is what is left owing to [...]

It is generally possible to register as an employer by telephone or email (if special circumstances apply, you may have to register via and HMRC office).  Either way, you will need the following information to hand:

general information about yourself and your company (including your national insurance number and UTR number - unique taxpayer reference number)
information [...]

As soon as you take anyone on where any of the following conditions apply, you need to register with HMRC as an employee.

the employee already has another job
the employee receives a pension (state or occupational)
the employee will earn at or over the PAYE (tax) threshold
the employee will earn at or over the lower earnings threshold [...]

Online banking is now normal for many individuals and businesses.  It is great for keeping right up to date with your bank transactions.  It’s also a great way to save money:  many banks will charge business customers for processing cheques (either drawn by the business or paid in), however some banks will not charge for [...]