The Happy Accountant

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 [...]

A bad debt is a debt that is unpaid possibly because the customer has gone bankrupt or more often simply because the customer refuses to pay for some reason.
Whatever the reason, a business may decide that a particular debt is unlikely to ever be paid and thus declare that debt “bad”.

Advantages
Encourages customers to pay early, thus helping cashflow.
Can be used as a marketing device.
Disadvantages
Some customers take the discount without actually paying within the timescale required.

It is quite common to offer a settlement discount to customers who pay within a certain timescale.  The main reason for offering such a discount is to aid cash flow.  However, do not miss the sales/marketing advantage that this also offers:  Make sure that all your customers are aware that you are offering a settlement [...]

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On a more personal note - the name of my own company is now Figurate Ltd.
The legal name change at Companies House was quite straightforward.  It took a little more time to communicate the change to my clients and bank.  However, what will take the longest is changing all the directory/advertising entries that had been set up [...]

People to tell: 

Your customers
Your employees
 Your suppliers
Your bank
HMRC (the tax man)
Professional bodies/trade associations

 Other things to do:

maximise the marketing opportunity
change your business stationery
obtain a new domain name and relaunch your website.
update all your advertisements

There are two ways of changing the name of a limited company, the first of these is by Special Resolution.
This is a resolution that must be passed at a general meeting of the company with a majority of 75%.  An ordinary resolution only requres a 51% majority.
A Change of Name by Special Resolution form (NC19) [...]

It’s always best to chose a good name for your business at the outset , but in case you hadn’t, it is possible to change the name of a limited company after it’s registered.
You must first check to make sure that the new name you have chosen is available.  This can be done online using Comapnies House [...]

I know it’s a cliche but  time management is even more important when working from home  to avoid an unproductive merging of work/home/family.  Here are just a few blogs on work/time management sites:
Time Management at Home
A Matter of Time
Mark Forster
 Pick the Business