The Happy Accountant

Before giving your customer credit, it is advisable to do some checks.  Below, in no particular order are some of the checks that could be made:

request a bank reference
request trade references
check the limited company’s details against Companies House
credit reference check
analysis of customer’s year-end accounts

You can ask for bank references, trade references (from your prospective customer’s [...]

Hopefully, you will have already made your customer aware of your standard terms and conditions at the start of business relationship.  Many businesses consult a solicitor for help in setting these out clearly.
Having clear standard terms and conditions can help protect your rights in the event of a dispute.  Having them printed on the back [...]

If you give your customers credit (and most businesses do), it’s important to get your invoicing and customer payments systems in order.  The obvious benefit is to aid cash flow and it is the first step to good credit control and fewer bad debts.
Some while ago, I posted about some basic details that need to be [...]

As soon as you list your business in directories and telephone books, register a limited company or otherwise publicise your business, it can generate an overwhelming amount of unsolicited mail and cold-calling.
It has been possible for some time, to register a residential address and telephone number for the mail preference service and telephone preference service.  Companies must check that the addresses/telephone [...]

For anyone frustrated by automated call-centres and endless “touch-tone” menu options, this great site, GetHuman.com, shows you how to get through to a proper human being.

The financial consequences of being inside IR35 are mainly (there are other consequences) you lose the tax-avoidance facility of dividends. 
Essentially, if you are within IR35, you must calculate a “deemed payment” and pay NICs and PAYE (tax) on that deemed payment.
The tax-deductible amounts that you can claim in travel and expenses will also be affected.

HMRC publishes an introduction and a list of guiding questions to help you to decide whether you fall inside or outside IR35.
You will need to examine whether IR35 applies on a “contract by contract” basis.  It is possible to have some contracts within IR35 and some outside IR35
The circumstances of your “intermediary” is also a [...]

Although, traditionally IR35 affected IT contractors and engineers, the legislation is not actually limited to a particular trade, occupation or business sector.
If you personally perform services for your customer, through an intermediary, but you could be deemed an employee of your customer if it were not for the existence of the intermediary, you could fall [...]

IR35 was first propsed in 1999 and was introduced into UK legislation in 2000. The primary aim has been to prevent the avoidance of tax and national insurance by trading through an intermediary (commonly a limited company) rather than being an employee.
Prior to IR35, individuals could form a limited company and invoice their “client”/”employer” and [...]

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 [...]